A Dance with Life: Bring your heart along with your eyes. Come dance with me.

By Marlene Neumann and David Dr Lilley

In this beautiful book filled with a wealth of wisdom, fine art photographer and spiritual teacher Marlene Neumann shows us her stunning inspirational images -spiritual insights from nature. Her personal stories tell us how she has peeled back the layers of life to discover what it means to be human, to thrive in life and how to make life count.

Many of us are scared and struggle to fit in, conforming to follow what society tells us to do. We choose to stay stuck feeling that it's safe and secure to live in our comfort zone rather than step into the unknown and seek change and personal transformation.

"Learning that by accepting myself, owning the darkness in my life, and how to be open to spirit, has helped me understand what life is about. With nature as my teacher, I've learnt that connecting to my inner self has allowed me to find serenity, embracing my whole self. Being in flow with life is a beautiful dance if we simply surrender to the moment and have compassion for ourselves. I've discovered joy and freedom to be myself, flowing with the rhythm of life. I'm honoured to teach others through my programs and my books how to follow inner guidance so they too can dance with life." Marlene says.

She invites us, through her spiritual photography and love of nature to begin this personal development process for ourselves by asking us to consider: "What if our purpose as humans is to dance to nature's rhythm, to soar like eagles and to truly experience everything that life brings us?"

Marlene draws us in to her world through her openness, vulnerability and her photography. She shares stories of anxieties and how she healed herself through rebuilding emotional foundations and owning her darkness. By sharing the spiritual symbolism in photography, she teaches how to connect to your inner self. After facing emotional poverty and surrendering to the moment, she found her path to the divine through her spiritual connection with nature.

Throughout this book you will be inspired to discover your own steps to dance with life, have compassion for yourself and re-connect to your true nature, the very heart of who you are. Following Marlene's personal spiritual journey allows you to recognise the jewel that is hidden within each of us, so you can shine your light and start living your best life, fulfilling your potential.

Marlene gently leads readers through healing and self-awareness, a spiritual journey in photography. Through her 38 incredible black and white photographs A Dance with Life allows us to explore our own lives, allowing growth, healing and transformation. Marlene's stories and soul photography will support you working with your strengths and weaknesses, discovering the rhythm of life, how to make life count, so you too can find the freedom to be yourself.

Reviews:

"If you are ready to pause, take time to reflect on your life and self, then this book is an ideal way to begin to do so. Put yourself first and begin a delightful journey into self-discovery." Anne

"A very beautiful book, with a wealth of wisdom & authenticity. It's an uplifting and meaningful work of art." Carol

"I'm absolutely blown away by the insights in it. Gorgeous book!" Cheri

"Marlene escorts us away from the restricted confines and 'suffering' of our 'boxed' city lives into a world of singular beauty and invites us to let go - let be - and surrender to a beneficent, bountiful and loving existence and to dance to its rhythm with trust, freedom and joy." Dr David Lilley





 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marlene Neumann
• Release date: Jan 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780639755960

Book preview

A Dance with Life

Copyright 2022 by Marlene Neumann

Photographs © Marlene Neumann

Edited by Tracey-Jane Hughes

Front cover and print book design by Cuan Miles

All rights reserved. Published 2022

No part of this publication, words or images, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise – without the express permission of the author and publisher. Failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action and damages for copyright infringement.

ISBN: 978-0-6397-5595-3(print)

978-0-6397-5596-0(e-book)

First printed 2022

Independently published by Marlene Neumann

Marleneneumann.com

What people are saying

If you are ready to pause, take time to reflect on your life and self, then this book is an ideal way to begin to do so. Put yourself first and begin a delightful journey into self-discovery. Anne

A very beautiful book, with a wealth of wisdom & authenticity. It is an uplifting and meaningful work of art. Your words touch both heart & mind, & encompass wonderfully the trials & tribulations we must endure to try to survive at least partly intact. Carol

You certainly bared your soul with no holding back. I felt your pain on so many levels. I felt as if I was seeing you for the first time. I felt your raw emotions so beautifully written. I went through your hurt with you personally. Thank you for allowing us into your world. Gerry

"Marlene’s new book is beautiful on many levels. It is a series of visual and prose meditations. Each image evokes feelings and takes the viewer on a journey. Depending on your point of view it could be an internal trip back to a memory or forward to a dream you wish to realize. I confess I looked at all the photos first. 

The book is an invitation to explore ideas and feelings, to reflect on our own journeys, and to dive in deeper if we choose." Laura

Why this book now?

Seascape I_Marlene_Neumann

What if our purpose as humans is to dance to nature’s rhythm, to soar like eagles and to truly experience everything that life brings us? What if we are meant to learn how to move, sway and when to stay still to navigate our life path rather than hide, or to sit certain dances out?

Life is sometimes slow and steady, other times rocky and uncomfortable. It may seem as if we are going through rapids and feeling as if we will never get out of the cycle that we find ourselves in; being bashed against the rocks of the whirlpool with no place to grab onto to take a breath. Then there are those times life feels as if it’s there for us to ride gracefully; like a dolphin joyously dancing in and out of the waves with no effort, having fun with every swoop and dive.

Our lives flow through cycles which are as natural as the seasons. Yet we’re not given a map, or even a guide, at birth. We learn from our experiences. We learn from our families, friends and teachers. We gather knowledge and information from our cultures, religions and the societies in which we live. We pick up tips, ideas and rules, mainly unconsciously, and expect to know the best way to live our lives. We don’t know what we don’t know, and from my own experience of the dance with life, we know very little about ourselves and the world in which we live.

As a child, I was never taught how to dance through my own life, but I learnt, as others do, the hard way - by watching my dearest Mother suffer through her emotions. Yet, I’ve learnt how to stay on my feet even in the most terrible of life’s storms. I’ve taught thousands of students to learn how to dance through their lives during my 40 years of teaching.

After the last few years of world storms, the time was right to share my life through my images and some of the stories they tell to help more people learn to dance with life. So many have felt alone, abandoned and abused these past few years. Nature too is showing us that she feels that abuse.

Nature is such a wonderful and magical teacher and shows us love through every season that comes around. Nature loves us unconditionally, which I’ve been fortunate to capture through my photographs for most of my life.

To live fully is to know you have loved those around you and know you have been true to your heart; to know that you have danced and loved fully even when your heart is breaking; to know that you never played it safe. 

This book is the story of how I dance with life – waltzing now, fox trotting or doing hip-hop on another day, and sometimes just sitting out, watching others dance. The images in the book reflect the various insights nature has shown me as I’ve danced with life.

I believe profoundly that we are all one. In our essence, I am a part of you and you are a part of me. The things that we think separate us, are illusions and, very often, delusions. Our inner dance is the process of ridding ourselves of them.

So, in that sense of connectedness and unity, the images and thoughts in this book reflect not just parts of me but also parts of you. The ways in which you respond to them will reflect your dance with life, too.

I hope you enjoy these reflections on my dance and look forward to hearing about your dance with life…

Marlene x

December 2022

A TRIBUTE

I dedicate this book to my dearest sister, Jenny, whom I loved so deeply.

I treasure the gifts you left with me. The most important was the knowledge that we leave this life with absolutely nothing that we accumulated - except the love or lack of it in our hearts. Your death lifted the veil and allowed me to see more clearly.

To all the township dogs that I spent months getting to know and helping: you are courageous beyond belief. I fully understand why the word ‘dog’ spelt backwards is no coincidence.

FOREWORD

I am greatly honoured to have been asked to provide a foreword to A Dance with Life. Both in imagery and text, it is a beautiful and spiritual book. It is food for the soul: the very sustenance needed by so many living ego-driven lives, bemused and monopolised by the material world.

Marlene escorts us away from the restricted confines and ‘suffering’ of our ‘boxed’ city lives into a world of singular beauty and invites us to let go – let be – and surrender to a beneficent, bountiful and loving existence and to dance to its rhythm with trust, freedom and joy. She does so with the humility of a fellow soul, traversing the