Shiva Nata: the Dance of ShivaHelp me out? Title for the Shivanaut Manual?
So I just came back from a week of teaching Dance of Shiva and assorted wackiness at Jennifer Louden’s Taos Writer’s Retreat.
And it was awesome.
Epiphanies like mad!
Also — among other things — I completely revised the Shiva Nata Manual.
Which means … I rewrote a couple of sections. I tossed a couple of sections. Had a messy, messy break-up with the Table of Contents. Made sweet, sweet love to some subheadings.
You know. Stuff like that.
But where I’m getting stuckified is the title.
Here’s where I’m at so far:
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain _______________.
Help?*
*Is there a word that goes in the blank? Am I even in the right direction? Is there a better title I’m not thinking of? Do I need to devote my practice for the next few days to finding a perfect simple solution? Brainstorm and namestorm with me, please!
Re-Booting?
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The shivanauts guide to wacky brain re-booting.
Yay for your new creation! I can’t wait to dive into this new manual Havi.
Suggestions for the blank:
illumination
insight(s)
revelations
metamorphosis
or perhaps changing brain to “mind”
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Mind…
shifting
manifestations
But I’m not loving any of these. Hopefully they’ll help in your search though.
Twitter: amysnotdeadyet
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain…
Restructuring
Rebuilding
Patterns
Repatterning
Pathways
Connectivity
Good luck! I’m very excited for the book — I can only imagine your Writer Fairy swooping and looping in perfectly dignified glee.
Training
Twitter: LuminousHeart
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The Shivanaut’s Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything
reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy Wherein the answer to the Ultimate question is 42. ( Was that verticals?)
I know titles are supposed to be important. Frankly, in this case, I don’t care. Name the manual 42. I’ll buy it.
So excited for you, and for all of us!
I’d be tempted to leave it as a blank!!
Twitter: copylicious
[Warning: potentially annoying and incomprehensible grammar nerdiage to follow.]
1. It can’t be a “manual to” something. But it could be a “manual of” something. Or a “guide to” something, like Dayna suggested.
2. The structure of the sub-headline is setting up that last word to be a gerund, but when you end on a gerund, the rhythm seems a bit off, partly because sometimes gerunds function as adjectives, so you almost expect a noun to follow. So, maybe what it needs is another noun to modify the missing gerund.
Maybe “Training” or “Retraining” could function as the gerund.
Or “Reengineering.”
And “Techniques” could function as the noun? Or “Tactics.”
“A Shivanaut’s Manual of Wacky Brain Retraining Techniques”
or
“The Shivanaut’s Complete Guide to Wacky Brain Reengineering Techniques”
Or you could substitute “Idea” for “Brain” and just say, “The Shivanaut’s Complete Manual of Wacky Idea Generation Tactics.”
Hmmm… titles are tough! I need epiphanies!
I like “training” or “retraining”. I also like that they rhyme with (or at least have assonance with) “brain”. (is that how to spell assonance? where words have the same vowel sounds? eesh)
How ’bout:
“Untrain Your Brain: A Shivanaut’s Guide to Liberating Your Mind and Freeing Your Spirit”
But I must say that I love “Hot Buttered Epiphanies” as that’s what induced me to buy the dvd in the first place, since I want lots of those.
And I also really Kelly’s suggestion above: “A Shivanauts’s Manual of Wacky Brain Retraining Techniques” because I think that title would really sell books.
Or maybe an itty-bitty personal ad is in order! :-)
Or maybe “Retrain Your Brain: The Shivanaut’s Guide to …”
rather than “Untrain Your Brain”…
Twitter: copylicious
I take #1 back. Carry on with “Manual to.” My bad!
Wacky brain “transformation”?
sounds good to me. altough obvious. the rhythm of the whole title is pretty good:
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain Transformation.
Maybe “mental” instead of “brain.” “Brain” makes it sound more technical. And I know it’s about neurological connections, but for someone new to it, it could be confusing if they haven’t read everything about it or are reading about it on your website.
So, mental -
Transformation
Evolution
Liberation (if you steal this term from Andrey ^_^)
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain Connections
or,
Shiva Nata: Rewire your brain for hot buttered epiphanies
or my favorite:
Shiva Nata Dance: Train your brain for hot buttered epiphanies
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Whacky Self-Realization?
I woke up thinking about this morning – like Kelly said, titles are tough!
Sending you good title vibes Havi.
re-cabling, overhaul, tweaking
Twitter: havi
Okay, these are all really, really good.
I kind of need to sit with all of them some more …
But I’m loving the collective namestorming. Really good bits here, and I am 100% sure that it’s all just collecting in my consciousness to spit out the Right Combination.
What about …
Wacky Brain Training Techniques and Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Manual
That combines Kelly’s thoughts and Sarah’s suggestions and some other stuff.
Though it’s also super long.
Okay, I’m going to go sweep the floor and let all of this sift through my poor brain. :)
You guys are so wonderful for helping me with this!
Hi Havi,
Just came across your site(s). Intriguing stuff that I look forward to exploring more! Upon reading about Shiva Nata (and watching the short video), the first thing that came to mind was the phrase “brain dancing.” Of course, Google reveals some other efforts along these lines:
BrainDance.com
and
http://www.creativedance.org/about/braindance.cfm
That said, how about “Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Manual of Wacky Brain Dancing?”
Or “The Shivanaut’s Manual: Wacky Brain Dancing for Hot Buttered Epiphanies”
I’ll keep pondering. It’s what I do. :)
Twitter: elizabethhalt
I really like starting it with Hot Buttered Epiphanies .. because how can you not resist a title like that (when I read that I knew I had to buy the DVD). :)
I also like the word Guide. It sounds more friendly. Manual reminds me of user’s manuals or car manuals (is there such a thing? maybe I’m imagining things)
Here’s my suggestion:
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Guide to Mental Breakthroughs
Have fun!
:)
Twitter: copylicious
I really like it!
Except I’d reverse the order so you had a short title and a long subtitle…
Kelly
Twitter: elizabethhalt
here’s another one:
Wanted: Hot Buttered Epiphanies
The Shivanaut’s Guide to Wacky Mental Breakthroughs
A playwright friend of mine says the title is the poem of the play. Just throwing that out there.
My corny idea is playing with the word “Patterning” by misspelling it (ie, re-patterning the pattern of words that is “Patterning”, if that doesn’t corkscrew you enough).
So–”The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain Re-PattRenIng.” Gah, it looks too cutesy and too much of an in-joke. Maybe a graphic designer type could help it out :)
For people who might be allergic to the word “wacky” (perhaps a clue that they’re not your people) I wonder if something like this would work:
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: Your Guide to Becoming a Modern Mental Shivanaut
Best of luck with this! Looking forward to seeing it.
Havi, whenever you ask for “help” with something, I end up having a hot-buttered BLAST!
Speaking of hot buttered, as others have said, I love “Hot Buttered Epiphanies” so much, I implore you to let it stand as the main title. The stringing together of those three words is so crazy-brilliant because that unforgettable trinity is probably the *result* of said epiphany. How’s THAT for meta-fantastic?!
As for sub-title suggestions…
* The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain Biggification (though it risks implying brain swelling or a head injury. Ewww, gross.)
* The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain Sizzle (though it risks implying that fried-egg Public Service Announcement about what your brain is like on drugs. Again, gross. And yes, I’m old. For those of you who missed that anti-drug campaign of the late 80′s, look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs)
Wow, creating titles can be gross, risky business. Who knew?
* The following fillers don’t swell or fry, but they’re a little auto-repairish. The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain… Acceleration? Optimization? Enhancement?
Finally, even though this one sounds like snack-cakes or mini-muffins, my favorite subtitle submission is:
The Shivanaut’s Manual to Neural Delights.
Mmmm, hot butter on my muffins :-)
P.S. Dance of Shiva creates new neural pathways. But a lot of times — *especially* in creative processes — I feel like my brain is actually path-free… like it’s just off-road, wild-terrain freestyling. [Insert jazz-scat here.] I have never been given a greater gift than this. Shiva Nata gives access to the 90%-submerged iceberg. 10% functionality of ANYthing is obscene. Who keeps a phone or computer or relationship that only works 10%? We would consider those things broken and useless. Well, how did we get to be so complacent with that dim figure for our brain? I know this sounds like a rant. But it’s really a love-explosion. An explosion of love for Havi. For Shiva Nata. For access to my previously unused 90%!
My practice gives me tastes of boundlessness, in exchange for barriers and blocks. So, yeah, I’m a wee bit zealous about all this. XOXO
P.P.S. 1,000 words: http://benskerrett.com/images/iceberg.jpg
Twitter: ericnormand
I think “brain training” is too vague.
How about something with “Intuition Superpowers”? I kinda feel like a crazy alien tapping into the substrate of the universe.
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
The Shivanaut’s guide to melding with the overmind
Kind of transcendental, Arthur C Clarke stylel
The Shivanaut’s guide to cosmic consciousness, hyperintelligence, and the destruction of ego
Wow, that one sounds pretty epic.
The Shivanaut Manual of Wacky Brain Repatterning
“Repatterning” is kind of not a word, so you get to brand it yourself.
Oh my. Melding with the overmind sounds a little too much like succumbing to the Borg. (Who gets to be “7-of-9″?)
I must say, though, that it makes me realize that the really nice thing about the word “wacky” and the phrase “hot buttered epiphanies” is that they sound warm and human and approachable and I think that’s important. Making hard things feel safe to try seems like a big part of what Havi’s giving out to the world….
A few more, with a scientific slant:
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: Shiva Nata Brain Dancing on the Neuroplastic Frontier
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: Shiva Nata Brain Dancing on the Neuro Frontier
Here’s my 2 pennies:
The Hot and Wacky Shivanaut’s Guide to Neuro Re-alignment
The Hot and Wacky Shivanaut’s Guide to Neuro Re-aligning
The Hot and Wacky Shivanaut’s Guide to Brain Re-alignment
The Hot and Wacky Shivanaut’s Guide to Brain Re-aligning
;o) Goodluck!
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Manual to Wacky Brain _Serendipity.
Does “Hot Buttered Epiphanies” need to be in the main title?
Because one of your recent posts over on The Fluent Self has the following stuck in my head:
Then Weird Stuff Happens:
A Shivanaut’s Guide to Hot Buttered Epiphanies
Twitter: spiralshannon
I keep thinking something along the lines of stretching would be good…
Maybe
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: The Shivanaut’s Guide to Stretching Your Mind
or
Hot Buttered Epiphanies: Moving Your Body to Stretch Your Brain
Hot Buttered Epiphanies:
Move Your Body, Mend Your Mind
….???
Sorry, I don’t like the “Hot Buttered” thing. FOr me Epiphanies is enough.
I like “Fluent Self”.
2 words, lot of meaning.
You are presenting something new, so if it’s “too new” many may not understand what it is and what is for.
And what is not!
I would like something people can relate, and describe the core of what it is and why. The esential.
“Epiphanies: Active Yoga for Your Mind.”
You may change Epiphanies for ShivaNata, and/or Mind for Brain and/or Delete “Active”.
Or
“Dance your Brain.”
Something like that.
Don’t have us waiting for too long!
Twitter: sandrajapandra
Shivanautical: A Brain Dancer’s Guide to Hot Buttered Epiphanies ?
Of course, “brain dancer” kind of doesn’t make any sense. But it also kind of does?
The Shivanaut’s Guide to Transformation
Retrain your brain through The Dance of Shiva.
*Break lifelong patterns: Connecting new neural pathways that lead(ing) to Hot Buttered Epiphanies!
(*I can even see/imagine the subtitle as a path winding around and leading to (the words) Hot Buttered Epiphanies.)
(I know it’s long…as a newbie though, I keep coming back to the brain retraining; how it works on breaking patterns and connecting new neural pathways… and THAT’S what allows those hot buttered epiphanies!!! Did you “not” want to use The Dance of Shiva in your title? I don’t know if I would know what a Shivanaut is if I was not familiar with your work.
Ok,I’m going to breathe now and practice “grounding my giving”)
Thanks for letting me share.
C-
Twitter: annabarnett
@Chris omg, I absolutely LOVE that. I don’t know why, but “Then Weird Stuff Happens” + “hot buttered epiphanies” = incredible sizzling brain chemistry for me.
Forget “Whacky Brain.” Everybody that’s trying, and, of course, NOT succeeding, knows from your stuff that you are an Exemplar Of Whacky Brain. They’ve bought the kit or, as in my case, the upgrade. Your preaching to the choir. I’m struggling [but having fun] at the beginning of the first level and you’re on the sixth level. I assume you travel around the world on your Magic Persian Carpet with the Golden Lasso of Truth and do all kinds of incredible/ incomprehensible things.
The Shivanaut’s Manual for Never Getting There. Or more koan-like The Shivanaut’s Manual for “Never” “Getting”
“There.”