Check out this awesome tutorial with Rainbow Michael Haynes on Anti-spin flowers and sacred geometry. Next month, we'll be posting another video, Multi-Hoop Flow and Kick-ups with Bunny Hoop Star! Another season of fun and informative hoop videos has begun. Yay!

The Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance Retreat in Bali has had two amazing years of gathering stellar beings from around the world into one space for high-vibrational, hoop-tastic experience. See what folks have said about this unique expression of hoop community on our new Testimonies of Love page.

The ritual expression of cleansing yourself with holy water is a profound thing to experience. During the 2011 Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance Retreat in Bali, we went to the water temple at Tampak Siring to cleanse, clear, and reflect.

What Sacred Circularities is about:

Sacred Circularities is a spiritual retreat gathering that takes place in inspiring parts of the World with a focus on healing, self-expansion, spiritual skill-sharing and community-building through ritual. Using the art of hoop dance as a starting point, Sacred Circularities retreat gatherings fuse various movement modalities with leading edge, spiritual thought and practice. 

Why hooping?

We use the hoop to create spin; a circular force in the universe and in our lives, that produces energy. With the power of our hearts, we channel that energy into pure joy and creativity. The channeling process is fueled less by the mind and more by the heart. Indeed, hooping is part of an alchemical recipe that alters and transforms our bodies, minds, and spirits toward positive projection/expression whether we are mentally aware of it or not. All we have to do is commit to the practice. Get in the Hoop. Step on the Mat. Open your heart. Be Still. Breathe. This is one of the ways that hooping relates to other mind-body-spirit practices like yoga, ecstatic dance, and tai-chi. When you feel this force, and it begins to work on you, the impossible becomes possible. You have hope again. You believe that the world can be a better place and that your spinning with a hoop is critical input toward that goal. For me, hooping is a sweet trance that through practice, transports my body and inspires my mind to produce thoughts and feelings that support my health and well-being. When I am well, I am more able to love myself and therefore, to love you and to see and appreciate our connectedness.

Tools for Navigating the Third Dimension

As mentioned above, Sacred Circularities projects engage the body, the root tool for third dimensional experience, through hooping. Then we incorporate other transformational practices like yoga, meditation, sound, sacred geometry, mudra technology, flower essences, Mayan time concepts and on and on, to diversify our experience and to experiment with what we can create for ourselves in this particular instance of life. The intention is that by coming together in a focused setting (like a retreat) and blending various techniques and tools, we can discover more about the immense power in our lives and how to share that power and brilliant magic with our communities.

The saying "we are all one" used to sound cliche. We know now that separation is an illusion. But knowing that we are all connected and staying aware of that connectedness is challenging sometimes. Sacred Circularities projects promote healing from the trauma produced from separation by advocating for the increased use of holistic ritual practices. In daily life, ritual expressions can be as grand as a commitment ceremony, as common as a birthday party or as beautifully simple as expressing gratitude before a meal. When ritual encompasses the senses, the five elements, the cardinal directions and the human body, it becomes an intentional act of multi-dimensional presence that can potentially provide deep clearing for burdened hearts. When performed in community, the healing affects of ritual are amplified and the vibrations created by the intentions set by the group spread beyond those present, into the space where we gather and into the world, accelerating the release of old patterns. Gathering to dance, pray, share, and play can heal emotional wounds of separation from each other and deepen our connection to our own divine nature.

So how do we traverse this terrain of infinite possibility? What is our process? Sacred Circularities retreats are laboratories where a particular set of tools is called in. Hoop dance, meditation, and flower essences are parts of an evolving equation. Each individual discovers their own formula for expansion and growth with the tools provided. If you were a Painter about to render the Landscape of your Heart's Desire, what Colors would you choose to ignite your Creativity?

Ivy Elwyn and Kandice Korves-Kaus fire-hoop at the 2010 Nyepi (Balinese New Year) celebration in Ubud. This was the first time hoop dance had ever been performed during Nyepi. It was truly a special and unique event! Nyepi festivities usually happen in March or April of any year, although the actual date changes, according to the Balinese calendar. Nyepi 2010 conveniently took place on March 16th, one week before the Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance Retreat in Bali. Next year, we will be similarly fortunate! Nyepi 2011 falls on March 5th, exactly one week before the retreat's Opening circle on the 12th! Come to Bali in March! It's going to be one fantastic event after another! And don't forget, the Balispirit Festival takes place from March 23-28, just three days after the Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance Retreat (March 12-20) ends! Get details about our Early Bird rates at www.sacredcircularities.com. To connect with Holistic Hooping, go to www.holistichooping.com. Thanks for watching!