Day 6: The Temple Within

This morning at breakfast the lotus was closed, quiet and resting. As the sun rose and the people began to bustle, the lotus unfolded, opened, and revealed it’s beauty. This was a foreshadowing of the day that was about to unfold. The Sacred Circularities group is going to pray and cleanse at the Tempak Siring Water Temple. Because I am on my moon cycle, I cannot go. There was a small amount of disappointment, but mostly, relief. I need some self care. Instead of a trip in a van, to practice devotion in the sun in a traditional Balinese Way, I will relax by the pool, receive a massage and go to the Temple next week instead. Today, my body is my temple. The Sacred Waters are within. My rest is my devotion. Tonight is the Tribal Market and Performance Showcase, which I am honored to be Emceeing. I will be like the lotus, quiet and folded, until it is time to shine.

I took my Beloved, Kellen, on a tour around the gardens of Ananda Cottages here in Ubud, Bali via Skype. It was so fun to show him the statues adorned with offerings and the lush jungle, the expansive rice patties and the freshly blooming pink lotus. He was so happy! Just what he needed to feel included on my journey. It’s amazing how we can be thousands of miles and entire oceans and continents apart, yet feel so connected through technology and virtual face time. I loved being able to include him in my morning routine of tea, blogging and walking around these beautiful grounds. It felt like he was right here with me, and on the esoteric level, he is. Love knows no distance, no space, no time. Love just IS. It is always there, present, ready to be expressed in any and every way possible. Love is limitless. I am so grateful to know a love like this :)

Last night walking back from the drum jam, I crossed paths with a snake. It was small, thin and black. It was quite calm, actually. I was more fascinated than startled, and took it as a sign that it was time to shed some skin, shed some layers. Heal my body. This is happening naturally, and I can also assist the process. When a snake sheds it’s skin, it also sheds the skin over its eyes, leaving it blind during the final phases of the process. I feel ready for the shedding, and recognize that we don’t always see with our physical eyes the transformation occurring, but we can feel it, and know for sure that we will be renewed and refreshed on the other side. As my womb is also shedding my most inner layer; my moon blood, I release a water with a creative capacity that could have formed physical life. The Sacred Moon Water holds great life force, and I choose to use it as fuel for this creative writing project, my personal hoop practice, and honoring my body through rest and rejuvenation. There is always much to be discovered beneath the surface of the old, and exploration of the new. I loved myself up today and nurtured my ‘old’ skin that is ready for shedding with some yummy sunshine by the pool, a cooling dip, and a super deep and well deserved massage. I love this body, and vow to treat it as a temple always!

The Performance Showcase and Tribal Market went so well! Oh my goddess, the Performers were incredible. I can’t really put into words the fullness of my heart when watching these beautiful dancers express themselves in such an authentic and unique way. I was genuinely moved by each one. Lex took the stage for the VERY FIRST TIME! And totally rocked it. Luna put so much feeling and release into a tear jerking contortion hoop number. Caterina blew our minds with her debut of a six hoop routine. Tiana gracefully delivered a sweet and savory lyrical piece. The Fire Pixies (Shouniez & Shaheen) brought the delightful element of couple’s acro play into the mix for us all to adore. Each act was just perfect. All 14 of the performers had their own flavor and style, and brought so much joy to the Ubud community. Thank you to everyone who made my job as the emcee last night so wonderful by simply shining! Thanks for your courage and sharing of talents.

After a day of amazing, relaxing beauty and witnessing others shine in their light, I headed to a well known community house for an epic party. I was invited by my friend who I met in Oz but lives here, and once I got there I realized I knew at least ten people! That’s how it goes for me frequently, actually. I meet people all over the world and then meet them again in another amazing corner of the planet! I mingled and danced and chanted mantra, had some coconut cream cake and really enjoyed myself big time. I made new friends and embraced old ones. The connections here are powerful, and the web we are weaving runs deep. Roots deep. I am honored to be connected into this amazing tribe, and trust Great Spirit is weaving some Divine Magic in a very profound way. I can feel that some of the connections I made last night will come full circle soon. A lovely evening!

The whole day was just what I needed. Rest, Water, Sun and Massage for my body temple, emceeing the show for my community temple, and then some awesome dance and music for my Spirit Temple that is not seen, but being built and beautified every day. The Temple Within me is grateful for these offerings and prayers. May you honor your own body as a Sacred Temple for Great Spirit to move through you, as you, for you, with you. Allow it, and watch the miracles manifest before your very eyes!

Until Tomorrow...Shine Sweetly!

Shellie White Light

Day 5: Release

Tiny meltdown on the morning of Day 5. I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and my moon cycle. I felt tired. I called my man and he was feeling sad we couldn’t talk more often while I am away, as we are apart right now for two whole months. I felt guilty that he wasn’t here with me, while also feeling like I had taken on too much between writing and healing work and all the workshops and such. Overwhelm! I cried. This did not help my stuffy nose...

I realized that today was a day of releasing. Pardon the details here, but I gotta be real.

A day of releasing; releasing feeling good in my body as my nose released snot and my womb released it’s monthly moon, releasing my beloved and our constant communication and releasing the need to feel energetic as I am still slightly jet-lagged. Release. Releasing tears and releasing fears. Even though I am a seasoned traveler, there are moments when I really wish I could just take quantum pause through space and time and just ‘go home’. Home? Another aspect of my life I have had to release. My home is my heart. No address, not yet anyway. 

Sigh. Tiana’s workshop helped tremendously as it was all focused on...guess what? RELEASES! The name of the workshop was literally called ‘Releases’, and focused on taking the hoop off the runways we had identified the day before and allowing it to take flight. We spent the first part of the morning tossing our hoops out of our hands and allowing them land gracefully, and glide down the runway with ease and grace. We also learned the “Infinity Toss” which required much trust and aim in the moment of release. Tossing the hoop from the back to the front, trusting our aim enough to be able to catch it in front, creating a circuit of this momentum was a process that helped me in my internal ‘letting go’. I also let go of the need to ‘get it’ right away. Releasing takes time, in more ways than one. I love how my hoop life always relates to my emotional experience. Thanks to Tiana for delivering your final workshop in a way that related to my soul and my hoop space. 

Babz took the trickery up a notch by helping us take it down a notch, all the way to our knees. Finding Your Inner ‘Kneenja’ was all about becoming badasses while leg hooping. I love to leg hoop! I found lots of satisfaction in helping some newer hoopers around me to achieve leg hooping for the first time. I was also very challenged by many postures Babz had us practice such as hooping with crossed knees, and also leg hooping in my opposite direction. Leg hooping takes hoop dance to a whole new level. It frees the arms and liberates the torso to dance dance dance in some really fun and unique ways. Also, one leg hoop balancing can lead to some striking poses and also some funky one legged expression. Babz always brings the dance element into the concepts of the tricks, and I really appreciate this. It is called Hoop DANCE after all! 

The day was already unfolding much better than the way it started. I felt like my releasing throughout the day had been a relatively graceful process. I was able to sneak in an extra phone call before lunch with my babe, and that really helped us both. He is being so supportive while I am away from him for 8 whole weeks! It’s not easy, but we feel we are growing stronger each day during this time. As we release being in each others presence each day, we are opening individually to receiving amazing gifts from Great Spirit. 

The last workshop of the day was Theta Healing with Jocelyn. A lovely mindfulness meditation helped me to finally free myself from my thoughts, and a sweet conversation about Grace reminded me to open to receive. I realized that the process of releasing can be graceful, or not. Thank God for Amazing Grace! How sweet, sweet SWEET the sound that saves a soul like me on a daily basis. There are so many tiny and not so tiny problems that come up for us, and the way we choose to view them and go through them can be graceful if we allow it. I chose to allow grace today, and the Theta meditation Jocelyn led us through was the perfect piece to complete it. I accepted the downloads from Spirit and let my body rest in it’s Theta Brainwave State. Thank you Jocelyn for taking us into still moment. This stillness allows for wonderful integration of all the joyful noise of this lifestyle we live.

After the workshops were all done I enjoyed an incredible dinner at Alchemy; a salad with all kinds of raw noodles and dressings and kimchee and spicy cashews, with raw onion bread and cashew cheese. YUM! The owner of the place thought we were a bunch of beautiful women and for that reason alone brought us a delicious plate of tapas. Wow, what a treat! Amazing food with amazing women. I love the food here, and of course all of the people too. Deliciousness on every level.

Last but not least of the day was the Drum Circle Jam with Malaika and friends. I love dancing to drum music more than anything. Dancing was the icing on the cake. Full release. Tribal rhythms and foot stomping was all I needed. Watching my sisters spin and flip and drop and glide brought so much joy to my heart. This day ended up being one of the most beautiful yet, and started off with such emotional intensity. There is a lotus in full bloom by the restaurant. At night it closes, in the morning it opens. As times are dark, our hearts close like the petals of the lotus, and as the light shines upon us, the petals open, they release, with ease and grace. Releasing is simply an opening. I am grateful for this time of opening, releasing, and really seeing. 

Shine On,

Shellie White Light 

Day 4: Details

As I walked to the dining hall this morning, I watched in awe as one of the gentlemen that works here at Ananda was going around collecting flowers. The way he did this with a long picker that reached up very high, and he would just pop the highest blooming hibiscus right off the vine and it would fall onto a plate he held in his hand. Later at breakfast, he went around and replaced all of the old flowers with the new, freshly picked ones. Every day there is a fresh flower on each table and each statue. This is the element of detail that makes Bali so beautiful. They even use little pieces of eggplant to hold the descriptions of the food at mealtimes. They carve little faces into the leaves of the flower bouquets. There are offerings all around. It’s amazing, all of this detail. 

Our practice in the hoop and outside of the hoop is also about details. I am remembering to focus on the details in many aspects of my life  here. Floss daily, step lightly, edit my writing, shift my weight in my feet properly for balance and success in certain hoop postures, etc. 

Today’s workshops focused on detail. 

Jocelyn Gordon is an entrepreneurial goddess and creator of the Hoop Yogini Spinal Awakening Series. She blessed us with the first morning class. The details of her workshop focused on the important detail of spinal alignment, proper posture and strengthening the muscles that hold us upright. One participant, Karla, said “My mind was so busy when I went in this morning, and now my mind feels totally quiet. I also had some lower back pain, and now it’s gone. I am so glad I got up early and went.” Jocelyn has put so much commitment and dedication into creating a Doctor Recommended Hoop Fitness program; a course that you can take in person or online! The hoop is a wonderful tool to awaken the dormant or blocked energies of our spine. The nuance of bending, twisting and turning can activate this energy fully! Thank you Jocelyn for bringing this important detail to our attention.

Tiana’s workshops focused on the details of creating the runway across the arms and back for rolling the hoop from point A to point B. From finger tip to finger tip, addressing the details of subtle placement of hands, timing, finger positioning and posture, we created clean runways for our hoop to roll effortlessly across our bodies. Tiana has been traveling the world sharing her metaphorical and ‘flowetic’ teachings, helping hoop dancers all over to clear the way for an effortless expression. In her workshop we discovered that if we naturally open to our full expression, full posture, and full power...the pathway is available, and has always been there...a major detail that makes a world of difference. Thank you, Tiana.

Babz rocked our worlds with all kinds of epic tricks such as The Polish Flip, Chest Duck In’s, Hit Pop, and so much more. Together Babz and I created the GreenLight Spin Pop Special. Ha! This class was so much fun as we learned all kinds of flashy looking tricks that with practice are actually simple, but look like we are on rock star status (because we are). It was so awesome to witness everyone taking the tricks they learned and creating their own combinations and dance additions. Thanks to Babz for opening up our creative world of trickery and fun.

After lunch, Jaguar Mary delivered a sweet experience called Plastic Circle Meditation MixTape. I love the name! JM is from a family that practiced Buddhism and other types of deep meditation. She incorporated the essence of these practices into some really fun exercises for hoopers including eye gazing and witnessing. Witnessing simply means watching another dancer dance for a matter of minutes, as the dancer hoops for you while you simply witness the dance, then switch roles. It was very powerful to observe another hooper dancing in an authentic moment, and to report back on feelings you observed, not technical skill. It is a beautiful practice! It allows us to feel completely seen, and also allows us the opportunity to really watch. To listen with our eyes.

The eye gazing was so sweet. As we eye gazed with another hooper through the frames of our hoops, a powerful connection was made. Eye gazing is a simple yet profound practice that feels very vulnerable and intimate. To gaze into another persons eyes, a detail of deep connection often avoided, opens up our humanity into our True Nature of Eternal Presence. Thank you, Jaguar Mary for helping us step into the Circle in a meditative, playful and transforming way.

After a full day I felt tired but knew I needed to move my body in a freestyle and flowing way. The LED hoop jam and skill share was just what I needed! Babz had some seriously epic tunes bumpin’ and I had to know who it was. Turns out it was SOOHAN out of Baltimore, MA, so stay posted for videos and tutorials featuring this epic new favorite of mine. I swirled around to the beats and bass in the therapy of my lighted hoops, watched my friends do acts of wonder inside of their own circles, and just straight up had a good time. I love this life!

I really do. This life; my life, your life, the life that we create together is AMAZING! All of the little details make it so special. To have the honor and privilege to see our friends spinning in bliss, to be able to join them, to smell and see the fragrant flowers, to witness the creativity of Great Spirit, to be able to craft our own experience as we walk along this perfect path with all of its divine spirals is nothing short of a tremendous blessing. I hope you have the time today and everyday to witness the tiniest and most magnificent details of all around you, for that is where the greatest beauty tends to reside.

Blessings from Bali,

Shellie White Light

Day 3: Balance, Breath & Breaking Open

Day 3: Balance, Breath, and Breaking Open

Morning time is special here in Bali. It brings promise. As the rooster crows and we begin to rustle and rouse, the potential for exponential growth is real. The sun was streaming in the window as I opened my eyes. The light reminds me of who I am, who we are, and why we are here. We are here to remember. We are here to dance. We are here to realize ourselves and each other. Today is the first day of instruction. We begin.

After a super yummy breakfast and orientation, the Instructors for the week took the mic to speak on their curriculum and demonstrate the teachings. The healers (including myself) also took a moment to give insight to each ones unique offering, delivered with love to help attendees who choose to receive sessions a chance to expand greater and integrate deeper. Once we covered all the bases of hoop etiquette (don’t leave your hoops on the floor or steal another hoopers hoop) we were ready to receive our first teaching of Week One of Sacred Circularities Bali 2015. Yay!

Tiana Zoumer was the first to teach and presented an amazing workshop on Balance.  Through poetic metaphor and somatic wisdom she took us on an inner journey of core stability and micro-movement, as we practiced balancing the hoop on our palms, finger tips and faces. Yes, faces. It is amazing to see just how well practiced Tiana is at balancing the hoop on her forehead. It’s a wonderful meditation, and truly a practice that will take a lifetime to master. Balancing the hoop is like balancing life. It takes practice, dedication, learned skill and repetition. Micro-movements. Core stability. Making adjustments that become more and more refined. Thank you, Tiana for taking us deep into the worlds of inner and outer balance.

Next up was Babz’s workshop on combos. I learned so much with just the first move! It was really fun to play and watch everyone get inspired to put their own flare on the given combo. It was also very inspiring to witness the way that everyone helps each other out. This is not a competition sport. Hoop dance is all about sharing and sweetly encouraging each other. I love seeing my sisters in this way! I wish all of the women of the world could see it just even for one day. Babz filled our hearts with inspired movement and helped us push the boundaries of movement and motion. By the end, we were all excited to put our spin on this new and fun series of movement, and thankful to Babz for delivering such a fun challenge.

The final workshop of the day was a beautiful delivery of Caterina’s Breathing Breaks. I have taken this workshop in a more original form in Sedona. I loved it then and today, wow, next level! We worked on the technical elements of breaks and paddles (hoop vernacular, there will be much hoop speak in these blogs, comment if you do not know what something means and would like to!) And also worked deeply on the breathing techniques that Caterina has been using to meditate with these movements, also helping to strengthen her practice. This workshop became so much more as Caterina took us further into the practice of gratitude, and had us use our focus to create intention and also to share this cultivated love with special people who need it in our lives. It was very touching to hear each participant speak into the circle the loved ones they wished to dedicate this practice to. A bittersweet moment, and a highlight of my day. We completed our breathing and breaking practice and you could feel the energy in the room. Everyone was feeling their hearts open and blessings received. If it couldn’t get any more amazing, there was an epic thunder and rain storm that poured down during all of this, and a few brave hoopers took their hoops into the rain to feel mama Bali blessings of water from the sky. Thanks to Caterina for giving us a beautiful practice that incorporates the most important element of any meditative movement....gratitude!

As I type this there is yet another epic experience happening in the Wantilan. Malaika is leading her infamous 5 Elements Ecstatic Dance Activation! What a wonderful way to integrate the epic string of awesome moments that created today! The 5 Elements Dance is always life changing for many participants. The work is deep and profound when you combine movement, breath and beat. 

 I am currently having to practice something we have deemed ‘JOMO’: Joy Of Missing Out. As a certified 5 Elements Dance Facilitator and student of Malaika’s, I so want to be dancing my face off right now! But my writing called, and my body is still feeling the effects of a 36 hour travel stint. Lucky for me, there is another one on the first day of instruction next week. I will certainly be rested by then and be extra ready for the juicy goodness that Malaika always brings. I love this dance and I love that woman! Thank you Malaika for always giving us the best of yourself, the essence of the elements, and the adventure of the journey inward. 

Other highlights of my day include walking through misty rice patties after a fresh rain, the tears in a sisters eyes that I know came from the depths of her soul, swimming in the pool and sunning with some of my best friends in this family, and writing this blog so that you can live these moments with me. Until tomorrow, shine on! 

Day 2: Sacred Circularities Begins

Today is the day! The reason I am able to be here. Sacred Circularities Hoop Dance & Meditation Retreat begins tonight. I love this family so much. I am feeling grateful, blessed, blissed and surrounded by beauty! To be able to travel the world to do my ‘job’; to help others heal themselves and create a life that serves them higher, is literally my dreams come to life. I want to tell everyone reading this that your dreams, if you dare to really dream them, can truly come to be the reality that you wake up to each day. 

For real. I’m not just talking some foo foo new age nonsense on law of attraction or visualization, I’m being real with you when I say to you if you want something enough and take the action steps in the direction calling you, it will come to you. The timing is the Universes call, but the dream is yours. Live your dreams AWAKE. 

Bali is an amazing waking dream. At night when I walk along the path I smell jasmine flowers in bloom. I feel the earth alive and vibrant, lush and vivid, celebrating her existence with brilliant bursts of color. It has been surreal waking up to this reality. I breathe deep into the floral scented air all around me and just continue to give thanks!

As dinner began and everyone started to arrive in the dining hall, I could feel the energy building for the week. We all ate a delicious meal as we chatted with excitement, introducing ourselves to new friends and tightly embracing familiar ones. After dinner we gathered in the Wantilan for the Opening Ceremony. 

When I walked in, I noticed a native man sitting in front of the alter, deep in prayerful meditation. I knew Jaguar Mary had planned something special.

As the 40 of us sat around a circle of a perfectly placed flower mandala, the stage was set. The man was the master of traditional ceremony for our Opening Circle and gave each of us the most beautiful water blessing. We cleansed our crowns, drank of the sacred water he placed in our hands, and sat humbled as he placed the mana of this land, rice, onto our third eye centers. What a sweet site to see all of my sisters (and a couple of brothers) gazing at each other anointed with the staple seeds of this rich land right between the eyes. This moment coincided with us taking our special objects up to the alter as offerings. The offerings of this culture are amazing, actually. Everywhere I go I see leaves fashioned into little baskets with flowers, petals, rice and incense. There are altars everywhere, as well as deities, statues, chairs and all kinds of little spaces hidden away to place offerings. So, to make our own unique offering to the altar felt complete. After the water blessing we all stated our names and where we hail from and received a blessing of a flower shower! I love having fresh flower petals falling all around me, as I am honored by the community I love. What a Gift! 

We gathered close and stomped in celebration of this time together, the people and ways of this land, the spirits, the sisterhood, the surrender and the profound purpose of our theme for this year: Realization.

As we lovingly smashed the perfect petals underneath our dancing feet, and I felt the nectar of these flowers cool and damp beneath my soles, my ethereal soul was deeply nurtured. Looking into the eyes of my flow family, seeing how far we’ve all come and knowing how far we are about to go, is an inspiring image that will stay with me all of my days.

This is the stuff people often envy. Some will never dare to dream these dreams. For some, it will stay a fantasy in a far away land. But tonight, for us, for the family who made here to Sacred Circularities Week One 2015 in BALI, we know for ourselves that this paradise can be real life. It’s not like we don’t have problems and heartache still, because we do. All that stuff still exists, but we still made the choice to dream big and then show up to receive it. Tonight at Opening Ceremony, I saw the spark in everyones eyes. We are here for a reason. We are here to become more of ourselves. We are here to change the world! Thank you for bearing witness. Stay tuned to see how this ever flowing adventure unfolds....

Keep Shining,

Shellie White Light

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!