Day One: Arrival

I have the stamp on my visa. I am officially in Indonesia for 40 days. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and became a prophecy fulfilled. I wonder what will happen for me. Truly, I wonder what it is that will come through me. What will the Universe have me create? I am so excited! It was such an initiation just GETTING here. 36 hours of flights, layer overs and everything in between. Maui > Honolulu > Tokyo > Jakarta > Bali. 

I always meet such sweet people on planes. This time I sat next to (on four different flights) a man named Tracy stationed in Osaka with his wife and two kids, who was astounded I could make a living from hula hooping. He proclaimed his daughter would think I was very cool, and that she would want my boots (My new cowgirl boots from Texas). There was Sara, who is Indonesian but lives in Australia, and was going diving with her boyfriend in Flores. She was also very excited about my chosen career and was also very excited that this was my first time in Bali. “You’re going to love it!”, she said with a heart felt smile. Then there was the kid in the rock metal band. 22 years old and leaving California for the first time. He was so stoked! He couldn’t believe I was 30. We had one thing in common (and one thing only I realized deeper into the conversation). This ‘one thing’ is the most important ‘thing’ to both of us, and probably the most important ‘thing’ to many others. We do what we love. We are doing what we love and traveling the world and making a life. A good life. A GREAT life! He gets to travel all over Asia and play heavy metal with his favorite bands, and I get to travel and teach hoop, breath and conscious living. 

I am so happy that there are so many people creating lives like these. 

And it has brought me to beautiful, beloved Bali. To Sacred Circularities 2015 Bali! Where there are flowers and coconut leaves in water bowls as offerings all over. Where there are women carrying heavy objects on their heads. Where there is delicious curry. Where there are butterflies and dragonflies and frogs in your bathroom that is mostly outside. Where there are terraced fields of rice patties sparkling in the sun. Bali. 

Where the smell of flowers permeates the air and everyone seems to be smiling because they know that they live and breathe beauty. I am so grateful to be here.

I got a massage as soon as I checked in to the hotel, Ananda Cottages. I unpacked my bag and my altar and went to the Spa straight away. It was imperative that I take care of myself after all that crazy travel with hardly any sleep at all....so I ordered the 75 minute Double Hand (two people, four hands) Massage and a Rice and Turmeric body scrub. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....the relief! 

Rhythmic and synchronized awesomeness. After the hot shower I recognized I felt like a new woman. And then I realized, I AM! I am a woman, a new me, on a new day, on a new continent, in a new country, learning a new culture, being touched by new people, opening to new possibilities. 

I am so ready to receive the blessings this will bring. 

After my relaxing treatment I had a nice dinner by myself, which felt really good after being around so many people on planes and such. After dinner I brushed my teeth and was in bed by 7:30. I woke up this morning at 3:55AM feeling amazingly rested and ready to write THIS blog. I am inspired to write 40 blogs in 40 days. I want all of you to experience this beauty through my eyes. Today is officially Day Two as I am writing this....and today the Sacred Circularities officially begins with an opening circle at 7:30PM. I am so grateful to this hoop community for showing me so much love, enough love to bring me all the way across the ocean to teach and share more about hoop, breath and being impeccably YOU. It is because of this amazing community, and the generous and visionary Jaguar Mary X, that I am able to live this aspect of my biggest dreams. We are all living our dream together! Me, you and that rock metal kid on the plane ;) Hundreds of hoopers are gathering here in March and July to celebrate and recreate who they are, celebrate The Year of Realization.

 In a good way, with a good heart, we dance in the land of sacred devotion, we thrive on fresh faces and old friends, we hold hands to form the most ancient and knowing of all shapes; The Circle. We truly are creating a new world. I am honored to be your eyes from the other side during this time of great transformation and celebration! Stay posted....there is so much beauty yet to be revealed. 

Until tomorrow, baik-baik ya (take care) <3 

Bali: New Beginnings

I can feel that this Thursday will be the beginning of the end. The End of an amazing chapter in my nomadic Book of Life. I began my travels ten years ago, a woman on a mission to find herself; a wanderer, a wonderer. My travels first took me from the middle of South Carolina where I was born, raised and spiritually dead (no fault to the Carolinas) to so many beautiful and balmy beaches along the gulf coast of Florida, where I became a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist in 2005. Now, in 2015, I have traveled using my hands for massaging and my hoops for healing all around the world. WV, TX, LA, TN, PA, NC, GA, AZ, CA, OR, NV, Maui, Big Island, Australia, Peru and now….Bali. Bali has been at the top of my list since the moment I decided “I’m leaving Florida to travel the world”. Finally, I’m doing it! It feels so amazing, blessed, luxurious and well...scary.

Yep, I said it. I’m a little nervous. I know that this is going to be another one of those times where I feel completely humbled and kind of silly as an awkward American. English is my only fluent language. I need to brush up on my Balinese. Or, learn my first few words of it, actually. And the Culture! The culture seems so rich and authentic compared to the image based, technological and material culture of The States. I can already tell this is going to be a bit of a ‘culture shock’, and honestly I am ready. I invite a bit of a graceful shock to my system so that I may detach from the non-beneficial aspects of my American culture and begin to embrace something new and more beneficial to my ability to positively impact others.

I am going to Bali because I was invited to blog, teach, massage and emcee at an amazing event that is held twice a year in two super sacred and simply gorgeous locations; Bali, Indonesia and Sedona, Arizona. I have been teaching and offering healing work and guidance sessions at hoop dance events since 2008, and at SC Sedona since 2013. I am so honored to now be taking a role as mentor in mystical Bali. Thank you, Universe! Great Spirit is smiling upon me, I can feel her warmth.

I can also feel her protection. I choose to stay protected while traveling from any disease carrying mosquitos (I was fine in Peru and I feel sure that Bali is only infested a fraction of what it was like in the Amazon). I choose to stay protected from theft, illness, injury, bad spirits, bad luck, and anything that does not serve me in my fullest. I have heard that Bali brings RAPID spiritual development, and for this I am ready, yet I know what this can mean….So I am calling on all of this growth with the intention of Ease, Grace, Gentility and Gratitude always! 

I recognize that this trip is the end of a seven year travel stint, and that after this I will begin to slow my rolling stone. Not to a complete stop, but to a slow and steady rhythm that will allow for more family and focus. The beginning of the end sure is beautiful, and then again, the ending is only just the beginning. That is the nature of the Sacred Circle. Each point a prophecy fulfilled in it’s own right. Blessings as you sustain your own sacred spin around this planet!