the wonder of simple moments...

Today was a magical day. Nothing “special” happened, no specific source to point to. For no reason at all I just felt lighter. I noticed the little things; A flower sprouting up through a crack in the cement, the sun glinting of a woman’s hair as she jogged... her dog bounding playfully at her side. Two friends lost in peals of laughter as they walked down the street. The smile on my face was ever present and varied from a tiny lifting of one corner to a full grin ear to ear. It kinda felt like this SNL episode, though a bit more pure.. haha!

No matter where I was or what I was doing all things beautiful jumped out at me; the sunshine on the hills, thoughts of a dear man sleeping peacefully on a boat on the other side of the world, tensions lifted between co-workers, a sweet friend saying “I like you”, a man in traffic smiling broadly at me as I tapped my hands on the steering wheel and bobbed my head to the sound of my car stereo. I felt a buoyancy of heart as even driving through a “bad” neighborhood, all I noticed was two children running and laughing ahead of their parents, who also smiled and held hands.

Hard at work sorting through thousands of photos for a fun hooper project, I marveled at the joy and playfulness of a community so dear to my heart. I even came across an amazing photo shoot of my own from 4 years ago that I had forgotten about!

In full appreciation of the life I get to live and ever more GREAT-FULL for the rich and wonderful myriad of people, places, things and ineffable goodness that surrounds me.!!

MMMM, the 4 M's of Hoop Dance

I just returned home from teaching my newest workshop series at Sacred Circularities retreat in Bali! Sacred Circularites is a spiritually focused hoop retreat facilitated by Jaguar Mary. Because of the nature of this retreat I felt very free to explore the deeper aspects of hoop dance and as a result wrote a truly unique and wonderful series (IMHO)! In my contemplations I was drawn to develop a sense based, yet concrete pathway to the elusive state know as "flow". Flow is a buzzword often used in the hoop community, but what is it and how do we get there? This was the starting point of my creative process and here is the result

"MMMM, the 4 M'sof Hoop Dance"

Moment + Movement + Music = Magic

Moment~ your state of being, or presence in the moment

Movement~ your body's movement in combination with the hoop's movement

Music~ connecting to and losing yourself in the music

Magic~ the arrival into the state of flow

Starting with a guided hoop journey you will be guided to connect with your body, your emotions, and your surroundings, bringing you into the moment. We will play with different emotional/mental states and how they relate to your success or challenges in Hoop Dance (and all of life for that matter).

In the second segment I will lead you through a series of energetic and focused movement exercises designed to connect movement to hoop and erase the line between body and hoop. We will also learn some new "tricks" or moves to pump your hooping up to your next level.

In the third segment we will combine your new skills with a focus on rhythm and full integration into the music. Finally we arrive at the goal... Magic!

If you missed Sacred Circularities, not to worry! You can get this workshop at the up and coming HoopVillage in Ojai, CA!

www.HoopVillage.net

You can also sign up now for Sacred Circularities in Bali for next year! Check out www.SacredCircularities.com

See you in the circle soon!!

xo~ Anah aka Hoopalicious

On this Valentines day, 2011, most of the day I celebrated all the tremendous love in my life. Friends, family and the witnessing of the love of my many friends that are in gorgeous partnerships. It wasn't till I was driving home (from a very satisfying day in my Yoga teacher training with Christy Marsden) in thick traffic full of people heading out to celebrate with their lovers, that I began to feel a deep sadness well up in me. I am no stranger to being single, and in fact have been single more than not most of my adult life. I have grown accustomed to feeling varying degrees of alone-ness, and actually love has always been a little mixed with sadness for me. Usually, though, I tend to sink into feeling sorry for myself a bit, or conversely, burying the emotion entirely. This time, rather than talk myself out of the feeling, I let it be and breathed into it.

After only a few moments I recognized that the TONE of my emotion has changed. There is now a beauty to my sadness. Where once, I felt despair and jealousy of others romantic success (when compared to my relative romantic failures), this new percolation of emotion feels more like a soft yearning. The rooted and whole desire of a strong and capable WOMAN, ready to be utterly TAKEN by a competent man. No longer the tantrums of a child wishing to be loved, but a woman full of love and yearning to burst under the skillful touch of a powerful man.

Most of my dating life I have rejected overt romance, thinking I was a woman that didn't NEED all the "frivolous" gestures that seemed to annoy most men. Flowers, remembering birthdays, surprises and gifts. I dated only one man that was "romantic" in these ways and I rejected it. Clearly I hadn't yet learned to joys of receiving! I have come to find out that I have a VERY romantic and soft heart that does indeed desire to be cherished by a sexy and inventive man... Flowers on my pillow, candles lit and a bath drawn when I come home, ravishing me in a deserted hallway on the way back from dinner, surprise weekends away to somewhere delicious. I am ready to cherish and be cherished, to surrender and be taken, to RISE into an expansive love affair. So, even as I feel the sadness of being sans lover, I CELEBRATE. For finally.. My heart has matured and ripened into the heart of a WOMAN, ready for her MAN.