The Courage to Ask for Help, Counting Your Blessings & Diving Into the Unknown

The Courage to Ask for Help

As I sit on the brink of my biggest dreams and projects getting ready to unfold, I reflect. 2013 is almost half way over! Wow, that went fast. Pretty much all of my 2013 has been spent in anticipation of this moment. Or the moment I'm about to experience actually, The Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas and my US Tour with Bags. I have been planning, organizing, promoting, creating, communicating, working and dreaming about this tour since December of last year. 6 months in the oven! This project has been baking real good :) And it's about to be ready for consumption! It's the oddest feeling to about to be doing something you've spent the last 6 months thinking about. I just want the next few weeks to happen already!

They are going to zip by! I know it! In about a week I will be driving out to Vegas with 3 amazing women to compete in the Best Group Category at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. We are SO excited! We have been working extremely hard to get ready for this. I launched a crowd-funding campaign to help us afford this expensive endeavor, and we made our goal! Thank you to everyone who contributed or helped spread the word about our campaign! It was the first time I have launched such a project and I have to say it was an amazing experience. It made me think about the concept of asking for help. It's hard to ask for help. I know I struggle with it. Something inside me tells me I'm supposed to seem as if I can do everything, all of it, on my own. That's just craziness! That mixed with my own notion of...if it's going to be done right, I have to do it myself. Silly! I watched Amanda Palmer's Ted talk "The Art of Asking" and was so inspired by her courage to ask for help. That video is definitely worth a watch! 

Not only did I put myself out there in a new way to ask for help financially with BHoF, I have also asked dozens of hoopers to help us with our tour. We will be hosted in about 20 different cities this summer! That is a lot of hosts! I have hosted countless hoopers over the years in San Diego and I have also been hosted in Canada and the UK. I know what it takes to host a touring workshop instructor, it's no small feet! Organizing the space rental, spreading the word to your local hoop community and managing sign-ups. Hard work but totally worth it! I wrote a blog post on The Hoop Hub about the benefits of hosting and taking workshops from out of town hoop instructors. It brings in outside inspiration, grows your community, creates a bond within your community, generates revenue and allows the host to network and pay it forward. 

I hope that my Indiegogo Campaign as well as my tour has inspired you to have the courage to ask for help! Sometimes dreams are so big that they take the greater community to manifest. I know that both of these impending projects are bigger than any other dream I have attempted to bring to fruition. That's why they required collaboration on a larger scale. Dream big! Ask for help! One of the most satisfying things I do in my life is help people's dreams of performance come true. I alter people's life-paths by providing empowering performance opportunities, and it feels great!

Counting Your Blessings

On the news with The Hoop Unit as 1950s hula hoopers

April might have been one of my most exciting months to date! I got to do a few gigs with Anahata at the Figueroa Hotel in downtown LA, taught some awesome hoopers private lessons (including Kana from Japan!), The Hoop Unit performed at Lucidity Festival, I was flown to the Bay Area to perform at the Vaudeville Festival in Tracy, CA, I performed on a yacht for The High Seas Tease, Ninja Hoops from Oakland came to town for workshops AND we were featured on San Diego Living's morning news show to talk about Hooping as a tool for health. Whew! 

The Hoop Unit at Lucidity!

Lucidity was amazing! Our performances were different than any I have ever experienced. We were slated to do a renegade performance of our new Space routine at the main stage in the middle of the crowd at midnight on Friday night. Earlier that evening we looked at the main stage and wondered how we were going to work our way into that massive crowd! We were certain people would give us room when they saw a dozen girls all in the same spacey outfit coming through with glow hoops. We got ready and rehearsed a few times at our camp. Even that caused a scene! This routine is different because it isn't set strictly to music with counts like all of the other numbers I've choreographed in the past. It has a lot of partner work that's more loose. We set off from our camp as a caterpillar (each person's hoop looped on top of the person in front of her) and snaked our way over to the main stage. I was in the front and waved our train all over the place! The reactions we got from people were amazing! When we got to the main stage just after midnight, the music was off! Turns out the person who booked us forgot the music ended at midnight, duh! Well we didn't let that stop us! We set up and did our whole routine anyway and allowed a crowd to form around us. It was interactive and spontaneous. I loved it! We did the same thing a few more times in various places around the festival. Pretty much wherever we felt like...at a silent disco (people all wearing headphones listening to the same music), at the Spin Cycle camp, etc. I am usually performing on a stage and it is very planned out. This was the exact opposite! It is so nice to have opportunities to switch it up every so often!

Performing at the Vaudeville Festival in Tracy, CA

One of my favorite shows I have EVER done was at the Grand Theater in Tracy, CA for their Vaudeville Festival w/ the Fishnet Follies Burlesque Revue. It was in a huge, beautiful original theater from the 1920's! The stage was amazing, the cast was epic and the show was spectacular. I really enjoyed being surrounded by such beautiful Burlesque stars in a venue that was truly worthy and deserving of our talent! The night that I arrived in my hotel room, after driving from the airport in my rental car (all of which was provided by the festival who hired us) - I laid in bed and counted my blessings. I was feeling so grateful! I thanked everything that I could think of. I started with the things that were closest to me and the gig I was doing. Thanking Mynx, the festival organizers, etc. then I started moving outward and thanked everything in my head that I could think of, getting as far away as the moon, stars, mother earth, trees...everything! Naming them all off in my head. Thank you "fill in the blank." I can't stress enough how important it is to carry gratitude with you through your daily life! It is the only way to move forward.

The High Seas Tease

The High Seas Tease was definitely one for the books! I danced with my snake, Manasa as well as performed my 4 hoop routine. It is the first time I have done a summersault on a moving yacht while hooping on my foot :) I am always up for a challenge and I love firsts! The Bourbon Dames Burlesque will be producing another amazing event on June 7th at Sunset Temple: Rack of Ages. I am really looking forward to performing to one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. It's one that I have wanted to dance to for years! Don't miss it!

Ninja Hoops came to San Diego to teach 2 days of amazing hoop workshops! Wow! My brain was all full and melty. I loved it! Thanks to Zach and Marria from Oakland for making the trek down to teach us your amazingness!

Ninja Hoops Workshop in San Diego

The weekend after Ninja Hoops were in town, I went to Colorado to participate in the Spin Summit. This was my second year teaching and performing. It was a really good time for reflection because that event last year was the start of my huge self-initiated life change. I got to sleep in the same exact bed I slept in last year and think about  all that I have experienced since then. I got to compare my current self with my past self. Something I noticed was how much more comfortable I feel inside myself. I am so much more ready to be me. And nothing else. No one else. Just me. I also feel much more empowered within my potential as a hooper and circus artist. I have grown a lot as a hooper in the last year. I can feel how much I have pushed myself to grow. 

Diving Into the Unknown
I like details. I thrive on organizing and planning them out. Something about my tour that is both scary and exhilarating is how unfathomable it is. I can't fathom all of the details. It will be for 3 months and it will mostly be in places I have never been. There is A LOT of unknown factors. No matter what I do now to prepare as best as I can, there is no way I can know everything. I'm freaked out and excited at the same time. I think this must be the reason I'm doing this. I'm in a phase of my life where I am pushing myself into the unknown, the uncomfortable, the unfathomable. I think if you're not scaring yourself, you're not really living your life to the fullest. Scare yourself. Just a little bit. Get out of your comfort zone and grow! I am also pushing myself into a place of discovery about what I really "need" to survive. Putting everything back in storage, and packing up only enough for a 3 month adventure in a car is going to put the idea of "need" into perspective!

What's Coming Up!
Rack of Ages - June 7th at Sunset Temple

Bags is coming to teach!

More info: http://rackofages.eventbrite.com/

Show Variete - June 7th at Queen Bee's
More Info: http://queenbeessd.com/

Del Mar Fair Performance - June 9th at the Del Mar Fair
More info HERE

Double Hoop Workshop w/ Bags in San Diego! - June 13th at Dance Place San Diego, 7-9pm, $40
More info: http://unityhoops.com/events/bags-uk-hoop-workshop-san-diego

OB Spin Jam and Farewell Party! - June 14th at the Saratoga Greens in OB
More info HERE

UK Hoopers Invade LA - June 15th at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Pasadena w/ Bags, Kenna Hoops & Gail O'Brien
More info: http://unityhoops.com/events/uk-hoopers-invade-la

Hoop Dance as a Tool for Empowerment

Every mover imagines themselves moving in their minds' eye. Whether it be hooping,

Lyra Dreams

dancing, yoga poses, circus skills, etc. Sometimes I find myself imagining myself doing hoop tricks that I can't do yet. I went through this a lot when I started learning Lyra as well. My brain could see me doing movements but my body hadn't caught up yet. I saw myself twirling, contorting, lifting. I would lay in bed and imagine epicness! I would dream about myself doing such epicness. Then I would wake up and actually try said epicness but it wouldn't happen the way I had imagined it in my head.  

In the beginning of almost every hoop class I teach, I ask my students what they want to learn that day. Lots of times, no one says anything. Sometimes people speak up and shout out "Chest hooping!" or "Knee hooping!" Those are two of the most requested. I always break them down and then try to encourage everyone to practice these moves at home. I remember when I first started learning how to knee hoop, keeping it at the knees was definitely a struggle. Once I got that down, I really wanted to figure out how to move it up from my knees to my waist. I practiced A LOT! It took me nearly one whole year of intense practice before I could move the hoop up from my knees. It was something I had imagined myself doing but my body hadn't caught up yet. Then one day, it did! My mind's eye and the reality of my body's ability had become one. Doing something you never thought you could actually pull off is satisfying beyond words.

That moment when your mind's eye
and your body becomes one

So as I teach these challenging moves to my students, and I see them seeing themselves doing it even though their bodies haven't grasped it yet, I realize the empowering nature of hoop dance. Hoop dance shows you that you can do anything! It might take weeks, months or even years but if you want it enough, it will happen! This can be transfered to anything in your life. That is what's so cool about hooping. Hooping makes you feel like you have super powers and once you realize that you have super powers, what's the point in stopping at hooping? Might as well transfer those powers to other aspects of your life. Rock out your job, your relationships, your hobbies, your life. Embrace your super humanness and make anything you want to happen, happen!

I have to say that I have tried to embrace empowerment through hoop dance to it's fullest potential. I have allowed my hoop to take me places I had no idea I would go. Both around the world and deep inside of myself. I have learned, laughed, traveled, loved, cried, overcome and grown tremendously with my dear friend, that plastic circle. I can't wait to see where my hoop will take me next!

Saturn Return

There is definitely a fine balance between manifestation or making something happen and letting things happen on their own. I was having a conversation with Bags and I said something about how I make my life. I create it. Design it how I want it to be. He said that there is something to be said for letting things happen on their own as well. I was taken aback by this concept. It never occurred to me that allowing things to unravel on their own was just as important as manifesting them. Then I started to worry. Am I an over-manifester? Am I forcing things? Ah! In the end I do think he's right, it's healthy and natural to allow things to unfold on their own. I think a nice balance between that and conscious life-design is probably the best route. Realizing that we have the power to make our lives look how we want them to is definitely important and unfortunately quite rare. Most people go about their daily lives doing what they think they're supposed to do but not necessarily what they want to do. I think there is something to be said for going against the grain, sticking it to the man and doing what makes you happy, not what society says is right. Thank you Burning Man.

Ninja Hoops Badassery

Since my last post I have experienced some serious up's and down's, as per usual. It's been the theme of the past year. Consistency in mood is a thing of the past. Instead I am feeling intense highs - super elation, true gratifying experiences, exciting opportunities - and equally intense lows - confusion, betrayal, disappointment, emotional mood swings, harsh realizations about myself. It feels like this Saturn Return is still holding strong. As I make my way into my late 20's and see the dawn of my 30's closing in, I experience super-charged downloads about who I am and what is important to me. I feel a serious break with my past-self and an opportunity to create my new present/future self. That opportunity is always there but for some reason, at this time of my life, it's very apparent. Change is good, right? Bags said that when you initiate change on your own, it makes you more flexible and ready to deal with change when it happens without your consent. I like that outlook. 

Check out the Spin Summit!

The future is truly shining bright! I am ecstatic to have some tremendous opportunities ahead. I will be performing all over California in April, including at the Lucidity Festival in Santa Barbara, an exciting burlesque show in San Francisco with Mynx D'Meanor and onboard a yacht (!!!) for the High Seas Tease. Just to name a few! Ninja Hoops from Oakland will be gracing us with their presence teaching workshops in San Diego the weekend of April 27th & 28th. You do not want to miss that!

Then I am off to Colorado to participate in the Spin Summit! I am so excited to be going back there this year! I will get to teach, perform, play, share and connect with amazing flow artists in the beautiful rocky mountains. If you are interested, check out their amazing instructor line-up. The tickets are incredibly affordable for all of the epicness you get to be apart of. 

Hello Vegas! Are you ready?

Shortly after that I will be heading to Las Vegas to compete in the Best Group Category with my troupe, The Hoop Unit at the Burlesque Hall of Fame! This is a dream of mine that I have had for 3+ years! And it's finally happening! Woohoo! (<--- insert that "Manifestation...Hoop Dance as a Tool for Empowerment HOORAY" here!) I have applied to be apart of this event since 2010 and am honored to have been accepted in the running. Needless to say, my life will be consumed with preparation for such a HUGE opportunity. I better start rhinestoning NOW! My life can't be completely

Travel through Time and Space on June 14th!

consumed by it though because not only will I be preparing for that, I will also be producing a show June 14th in San Diego! The Time Machine Show will take the audience on a journey through time and space with Tribal, Circus and Burlesque fusion performance art! We even have a Tardis! And Bags, the male hooper of the Year on Hooping.org from the UK, will be performing an epic Dr. Whoop act! This is the second time in 2013 I will have an international headliner. I think I am seeing a pattern :) There is also an out-of-state performance happening from Caterina Suttin (If you don't know who she is yet, you're about to! This woman is taking the hooping scene by storm!) and my number-one Burlesque inspiration, Kristina Nekyia, will once again be gracing my stage! I am beyond stoked to be having her back!

Epic Road Trip!

If that wasn't enough. And if that didn't get your head spinning into a frenzy of excitement, I am ALSO planning a 3 month cross country road trip/workshop tour "Dreaming Circles" with Bags starting in mid June and ending after Burning Man and the Lake Tahoe Flow Arts Festival. I get to live in my car, camp and stay with amazing hoopers all over this beautiful country with the Male Hooper of the Year who also happens to be my lover and has a British accent :) Not only does he speak British to me and make me feel like I am imbued with Super Hooper Powers (juggling has become an obsession and I blame it on him) he is also vegan and pretty much holds every quality in a human that I want from a lover at the moment. How did I get so lucky? LIFE IS SWEET! If you live in any of these 20 cities, or know people who do, please spread the word! I am excited that I get to visit cities like New York and New Orleans that I have never been to (I will be in New York on my 28th birthday!) and I am excited to be spinning fire with the UK Fireworks Collective at Burning Man this year. Yes, I am an honorary Brit. Yes, I am obsessed with British culture and pretty much wish that I am British. I'll admit it. 

Dreaming Circles in Nicaragua

Watch our Nicaragua Hooping Video HERE.

The combination of traveling somewhere new, an obsession with hooping and hanging out with someone whom I respect, admire and inspires me has done amazing things to my brain. I am absolutely buzzing! The thoughts, the words, the ideas, the poetry - it's all racing through me. Gotta get it all out. That's what this blog is good for...

I just got back from an exciting adventure in Central America with Bags! He is currently living in Nicaragua for three months and working with Performers Without Borders. PWB's main goal is to "teach performing arts to vulnerable children in countries of high child poverty." I got to see firsthand how amazing this project is! It seems to be truly effective and I hope to work on a project like it one day.

Cutie at the Barrileta School

During the first two days of my trip, I went to the Barrileta School where they've been teaching hoop, poi, juggling, music, stilt walking, diablo, staff spinning, acro, etc. for about a month and a half. The students performed 2 shows for an audience including other students, the PWB team, teachers and parents of the community. The first show included some traditional Nicaraguan dances as well as clowning acts and circus arts they've learned from PWB. What a fun, funny and vibrant culture they have! 

The next day they performed only the various circus skills they've learned while working with PWB. I was completely impressed! Stilt walking and juggling/hooping at the same time?! Full-on 6 person balanced pyramids with someone standing on top juggling?! Epicness. They seemed really happy, confident and stoked to be building these skills. One of the teenagers read aloud a letter she had written (in English) to the team, expressing their gratitude for the time spent teaching them such amazingly empowering hobbies. It was extremely touching and meaningful! 

Bags hoopin' at the cool park we found in Matagalpa 

I had fun on the second day during the free-time just hooping, dancing and playing with the kids. They were so excited to see the team everyday, running up, hugging and jumping on the team members. The kids had so much love to give. Even though I couldn't communicate with them very much because my Spanish is basically non-existent, I could still interact with them through body language, facial expression and play. This type of interaction helped me realize the universality of human nature. We are just people. We're all humans. We all want the same things in life. We all just want to love and be loved. Somehow my brief interactions with these kids exposed me to this realization in a whole new way.

After that project was complete, we headed to Matagalpa, a mountain town in central Nicaragua. We wandered through the town, soaking it all in...exploring the parks, the cathedral and the shops. We drank cold Tonas everyday, the Nicaraguan beer. Ate the standard meal of beans and rice with plantains at the "comedors" (dining room) - which literally felt like you were eating in someone's living room. There was usually a mom-like character cooking your food for you (delicious!), possibly some bookshelves with family pictures on them, a TV on in the corner and a few tables with modest table clothes covering them. We drank coffee locally grown in that region and ate frozen bananas covered in chocolate. YUM!  

One of my favorites days was when we hiked to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. I felt like we were super resourceful travelers! Bags had done some research in an outdated guidebook which mentioned a Centre that provided hike outlines. We could have hired a guide to take us but what's the fun in that? Through asking various people and looking at a map, we happened to find the Centre with the brochures and picked out a few hikes we wanted to do. The brochures were in broken English with instructions like: "When you get to the water pump, go under the roof covering the pump, find the side of the pump the handle is on and then go through an opening in the fence on that side." Huh? We were sure to get lost but we were up to the challenge and getting lost is half the fun anyway! 

On our hike

And we did. We got lost, had to backtrack, had to ask locals in broken Spanish which way to go, accidentally walked through people's property with angry dogs barking at us, laughed at the blank stares coming from village children as we walked by in crazy circus clothes and hoops strapped to our backpack....the usual :) But what an adventure! We romped through mountains, forests and villages. I saw a snake! We saw huge beautiful multicolored butterflies and all kinds of lovely trees. There were farm animals in the villages - chickens, cows, donkeys, horses, dogs and cats everywhere. When we made it to the top, it was so worth it! We went straight up to the viewing tower, cracked open a bottle of wine I brought from home and ate some much needed snacks. The view was spectacular! 

We made it to the top!

We had super intense and wildly satisfying hoop sessions as well. Before coming to visit, Bags told me he had 12 pages of new hoop material he had thought up! 12 pages! Swoon :) We only touched on a fraction of the material but still covered many epic partner moves that came from that brilliant brain of his. When we juggle-partner poi-hoop together, it makes me feel like I can do anything! Like I am an invincible super hero....a hooper hero! It is a feeling like none I have ever experienced and I actually remember feeling it the first time I met him in San Diego years ago. We went to the grass in OB to have a play b/c he was in town to teach workshops. Without actually explaining his partner Z-Spin sequence to me, he just started doing it with me and it was like I already knew the moves and their order even though I had never done them before. I remember being stupefied by this. You can imagine how this synergy has been intensified by the month we spent playing together in England and the countless hours I have spent practicing while away from him. I have to say I am proud of my progression. When we came back to play in Nicaragua, it was like we never left each other. I have never met someone who makes me want to practice so much! He really makes me want to get better and I feel like I am instantly better just from sharing the same airspace as him :)

View of Matagalpa

We shot some video in another beautiful scenic location overlooking Matagalpa - HERE it is. We are trying to create awareness and interest in our cross country US Workshop tour from June - September this summer! Woohoo! I will be focusing on that project now that the Burlesque Circus show is over. Oh and how could I forget to mention...The Burlesque Circus was an EPIC display of beautifully crafted performance art expressing endless passion for the fusion of sideshow and strip tease! We sold out both nights, rocked the house with inspiring performance, raised money for the US tour and created rippling feelings of empowerment for everyone involved. Thank you for coming if you were able to make it! Some of my favorite feedback includes:

The Burlesque Circus

"...this show was so amazing!!!! By far the best $20 I've probably ever spent. All of the performances were so detailed, emotional, sexy, powerful! I was especially inspired by seeing all the beautiful body types being so clearly valued in burlesque. I'm a bit closer to getting on stage myself because of what I saw at your show! Thank you!" - Keli Lalita

"Thank you for putting on such an amazing, sold out show last night! All of the performers gave me a new definition of what is possible in the arena of dance, movement, and expression. I was frequently at a loss for words. Can't wait for the next show!" - Daniel Walsh

Needless to say it was a success and I can't wait for the next one! Mark your calendars for the weekend of June 14th-15th!

What's coming up this month? Anah Hoopalicious is coming down to SD THIS weekend to teach 2 days of workshops! 

THIS Saturday night is Breaking The Chains: A burlesque Benefit for Autism at Sunset Temple. 

Saturday, March 16th is Bobby Burlesque's Fantasy: Masquerade Show in LA! BUY your tickets asap!

April has all kinds of goodies as well! Stayed connected to know about all of it. 

The Power of Play

I love these Juggling jesters :)

As I think about my England trip, (yes I am STILL thinking about it...it had that much of a profound effect on me) I think about what else I want to write about. I already talked about some of my favorite experiences from the first couples weeks in my last post, but haven't really touched on the rest of the trip. There is so much more to share!

One of the main things I think I gained from the experience is a new outlook on how I want to structure my life...and my time. What's important to me? I think that my value system has shifted slightly. That's why we travel, right? New perspectives on life...stuff like that :) 

I am a Type-A personality, I have a slight case of the overachiever syndrom. This can be both a good and a bad thing! I have been taught from a young age how important it is to work hard. Do good in school, and do so by working hard. Study, spend time, read. Reap the benefits of that hard work! It can be rewarding! I have transfered this approach into my daily life and into my business. Self-employment means that you do have to work hard, very hard. Especially in the industry that I am in. A self-proclaimed performer and teacher in the circus/dance arts seems like a fun route, but it is not always the easiest. As a self-employed entrepreneur, you can ALWAYS be working. There is always something you can be doing for your business. I think I have allowed myself to get sucked into that and have put too much importance on spending time being productive. Sounds silly but it's true. I can be my own worst critic and I can really push myself, sometimes too much. 

Playful Bags at the beach!

Being in England and having free time to JUST PLAY showed me how important playtime is. Playtime is just as important as productive time! Lots of my days in Bristol consisted of spending hours in the practice space at Bags, Nick and Gail's house. I did have some obligations like workshops on the weekends and a couple shows, but for the most part I had more free time than I usually allow myself to have in San Diego. I felt myself grow tremendously. Not only did my hooping skills grow, my psyche was bursting with freedom. No constraints! Having such an amazing play partner around like Bags didn't hurt either. The balance between play and work is super important! It has been so easy for me to get wrapped up in the work side of things, I think I forgot how important it is to play!

When I was learning to juggle, I experienced a meditative state that I had never felt before. I was able to have an out-of-body experience where I could look into my own brain and see my thought process pathways. Whoa! Nothing like that had happened before! I think I haven't given myself proper meditation time up until now. A similar thing happened when I went to my friend Monica Grave's meditation class last week. It was my first structured meditation experience. I was able to see what I think about! Having a mantra to continue to repeat in your head allows you to see what your thinking about that's NOT the mantra. So funny. I actually kind of laughed at myself when I thought about what it is my mind wanders when left to it's own devices. A lot of it was about hooping, some of it was about guilty pleasures like fashion, clothes and costuming. I'm such a girl! Definitely some worries, insecurities and anxieties came to the surface too. I think meditation, weither it be through movement or not, is a good way to see what your voices are telling you in your head. Awareness is the first way to stop some of the negative ones.  

Playfulness with 2 of my besties :)
WHD, Nov 2011

Well the reason I finally did start writing this blog post today (I have been putting it off until it felt like the right moment) is because I am so blissed out from my day. I spent about 4 hours hooping and juggling on the grass at the end of Saratoga in OB. I nailed some super tricky tricks I've been working on. Finally stuck the foot hooping headstand! YEAH!!! I do also feel like I am officially a hoop juggler. Got it on lock down! Also feeling solid on a couple 4 hoop tricks. Today in between my little mini training/flowing sessions, I found myself just dancing and jumping up and down. Literally I was just jumping around. For no reason at all. Well I guess there was a reason...purely for the sake of joy. PURE JOY! WOW endorphins are the best drug in the world! Thank the goddess who invented endorphins. They rock!

So my current outlook, mantra, mission, power-word, whatever you want to call it...is PLAY. Another concept I am really feeling right now is collaboration. Collaborating with a partner or with groups of people, many people...to make something bigger than what you can do on your own. The power of collaboration is most evident to me right now because of all of the partner circus fun I've been having lately. Partner poi, partner juggling/passing, partner hooping - GROUP hooping! Yes it's possible and I have been playing with some super rad group hoop awesomeness (a la Bags) with my troupe. I really love the feeling of partner work in circus, it's addicting. To have that connection with someone else, get on the same wavelength, the same rhythm as someone else. It's magic. Especially with hoops!   

Hooping Headstand!

I dedicated today to me! I carved out the whole day to do things that are fun and that, in itself, is productive. I am building the skill of play. I am building skills in hooping, in bonding with others and in nourishing myself. Nourishing myself with things that I enjoy and that feel good. It's important! It makes me happy and makes my work better if I'm happy while I'm doing it.  

HERE's a video my friend Ringo made about Flow.

Halfway Through my UK Tour: The Gift of Breakthroughs

Giant's Causeway Hooping

I am not even halfway through my UK workshop tour adventure and I am already reeling! Soaking it all in. Feeling the inspiration and new environment do it's thing in my brain. My body is constantly sore, I am sleep deprived (insomnia is a bitch when life's exciting), I have been living out of a suitcase for months and spending LOTS of time in airports, buses, trains and taxis. But it's worth it. Sooo worth it.

This trip has allowed me to surrounded myself with people that truly inspire me. People that are artistically and creatively pushing the envelope. I look around and see absolute rockstars and marvel in any possibility that I could complain about my life. Ever. Again. 

This realization of sublime gratitude came when taking pictures and shooting a hooping video at the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland with such badasses as Gail O'Brien, Revolva, Tiana Zoumer and Catherine Simpson. 

Giant's Causeway Rocks

The Giant's Causeway is a beautiful and unique natural land formation on the Northern Irish coast. There is a story that is was created by an Irish giant who wanted to battle a Scottish giant so he started building a "causeway" or road to Scotland. It is actually created by a specific dance between the ocean, rock and moving tectonic plates. 

We hooped on the hexagon shaped rocks and I vowed to remember the moment with fondness forever. There really never should be a reason to feel disappointed with life after you've hooped with epic legends in such a beautiful, naturally dramatic place. Check out the video HERE! And HERE are all of the pictures from my whole 6 week trip.

Even the people working there were keen on the whole thing! We walked up with our hoops and they were instantly interested, asking us if we would perform on the Visitor Center stage for a tour group. For a modest fee of a free entrance into see the Causeway (only £8.50!) we rocked out for the tourists and the staff. They loved it. That kind of thing would never happen at home! America is too afraid of law suits.

My Hoop Burlesque Workshop at SWHoop!

Before venturing to Ireland, I was fortunate enough to teach and perform at SWHoop in Bristol. That event and it's organizer, Kenna Hoops of Hooping Mad, is one of the main reasons I came out to tour the UK! SWHoop was pivotal for me on many different levels. I learned SO much! Friday's highlights include nailing an epic new double foot hooping move thanks to Karin de Wit who was featured on "Holland's Got Talent." I also taught a Hoop Burlesque workshop and some of the ladies (including Tiana Zoumer!) from the class joined me on stage later that night for the informal open stage show. It was the first time some of them had ever performed! Saturday night was the teacher showcase and might have been the best Hoop-based show I have ever been in. The variety and level of talent was mind blowing! HERE is the video of my Belly Hoop Fusion piece. After the show, the Bristol Samba Band brought dozens of drummers and intense, amazing beats for LED hoopers and dancers to get down to! It was the best after-show party I have ever experienced. There was so much energy realized from the show and sometimes it can be hard to channel that after-show energy. The samba band harnessed it wonderfully and everyone at SWHoop danced and hooped like crazy! I danced my ass off!

This is not my first group wedding! 

That night it became clear that I need to create my own Southern California Hoop Gathering. It's something I've wanted to do for a while now. It's on my "Long Term Goals List" and I think it's now going to shift onto the "Short Term Goals List". I'm going to make it happen with the next year or so! The community that Emma created is inspiring and the way she leads it is selfless and admirable. I can't wait to bring that project into fruition. There are surely important challenges and satisfaction the experience will bring.

Sunday morning at SWHoop, I taught a Belly Dance workshop and then landed myself in a 6 way all-woman marriage including Gail, Revolva, Zoe, Beth, Catherine and myself :) Emma married us and Bags gave us away. If that doesn't scream dysfunctional family, I don't know what does! Something I really cherish about the UK Hoopers is their lack of seriousness. They are not afraid to try new things or be absolutely silly. Sometimes it seems like they have less holding them back than we do at home... 

I am not sure I have ever laughed so hard! So much laughter-medicine on this trip :) 

4 Hoop Split after Revolva's workshop in Dublin

I have also had some truly amazing hooping breakthroughs on this trip. I have unlocked moves that I have wanted to get for years and some I didn't even know were possible! For weeks, every time I picked up a hoop I nailed something new and absolutely epic...hooping headstand, the 4 hoop split, the fountain, juggling...the list goes on! 

I owe it all to the change of scenery, the amazingly inspiring and talented company I have been keeping and the ability to spend time honing my craft. At home it is easy to focus on other aspects of my career - the business end. Organizing, promoting, producing events, teaching, making hoops. It has been awhile since I have given myself time to just practice. Practice for the sake of practicing. I am going to give myself time to continue training at home. I want to re-focus and allow myself to really level up :) If you ever find a plateau in your hooping practice, I suggest traveling. Just putting yourself in a completely new environment is enough to open new passageways in your brain and your body. 

There is so much more to share about this trip that another blog post is on the way!

The Light Emerging from the Dark

The light that I find within the dark.
The reason I face myself and my demons.
My imperfections that I accept and embrace.
The fresh scars on my body representing my flaws.
Forgiving myself and moving on.

I am not Wonder Woman. I can't do it all.
I need to understand my limits and true abilities.
Don't take on too much.

Humility is key.
Selflessness and surrender.
I am a shooting Star but I vow to be a humble one. 

Think before you speak.
Speak your mind with compassion.
Choose words carefully
And deliver them with kindness.

Emerging from the darkness into light.
As a new and improved soul.
Within duality I find myself.
Shadow and light.

(Pics from Eve Olution's FB)

The Teachings of Thailand

The BLISS of Tonsai on my face 

I am processing a whirlwind of adventure. An opening of the heart and the mind. A reintroduction to myself and the world. A reintroduction to life. A new outlook and fresh mindset. A renewed sense of faith in myself, humanity and mother nature.

Sounds like Burning Man, right? Well, this year my Burning Man was Thailand. All of Thailand was unforgettable but Tonsai (a unique place in the South where dramatic limestone cliffs meet the calm, flat, light blue ocean water) especially struck a cord in my heart and will forever leave an imprint on my soul. I will always be a burner. The playa goes with me everywhere I go. I mean, I'm a hula hooper for a living! If that doesn't scream Burning Man I don't know what does! I am glad, however, that I have opened myself up to other types of adventures. I have made San Diego my home, the playa is definitely my home and now so is Tonsai. I plan to actually make it my home at some point. I am already devising plans to live there :)

Sunset in Pai

I learned a lot in Thailand. Some lessons I learned were not new. But they obviously deserved rediscovery. About a week into the trip I fell while driving a motorbike in the rain. The roads were wet, the bike was in poor condition and I was having too much fun, clearly! A very nice Thai man drove me to the hospital where I was cleaned up and bandaged, given antibiotics and pain meds for about $11. Wow! That was part impressive. The rest was traumatic, painful and scary. I'm almost healed now! Just more battle-wounds for this temporary vessel we call our bodies. It occurred to me how everything can change in an instant. One second you're riding through life having a blast and the next you're a bloody, crying mess. Then you have to slow down. Slow way down. That's what I did. I was forced into a vacation from my vacation. I rested a lot. I slept. Read. Made friends. Hung out in hammocks and enjoyed staring at the Pai landscape.

Coconuts everyday!

I am humbled. 

I had an interesting epiphany about my life in San Diego. Traveling so far from home gave me a different perspective and new appreciation for my daily life. In San Diego, I am surrounded by support, love and admiration. It was hard at times (especially while I was healing from my motorbike accident) to be constantly meeting new people. I really missed my tribe! Luckily I had Leeloo with me :) When you're traveling (just like at Burning Man), no one knows who you are at home. You can be anyone you want to be! You can make up a new name for yourself, a whole new identity even! This anonymity made me appreciate everything that I have in San Diego in a whole new way. All of the friends, family, love, supportive community and inspiration that I have in my everyday life. Wow! I am truly blessed! It's funny how leaving home makes you realize what you love about home so much.  

I also realized that it is possible for me to have more than one home on this beautiful planet. It's ok to feel like you belong or you came from more than one place on Earth. Oh Tonsai!  Tonsai gave me some of the most potent natural highs I have ever felt. They came from the intense natural beauty, the rock climbing endorphines and the people. All of it made me write my version of poetry...

Hello Paradise!

I am a mermaid
I am a lion
I am One
I am one with the universe
Every one of my cells is connected to every cell in the entire universe
Every plant, animal, water, rock, grain of sand, insect
Intoxicated with Love
High on Nature
Blissfully Happy

The first day I discovered Pra Nang beach (next to Tonsai) I had what felt like a psychedelic experience while I was completely sober. I was high on nature! I kayaked to the beach with some new traveler friends. We climbed to the top of an epic cave that looked back onto the almost deserted beach. It was low tide so I was able to walk around a rock that jutted into the ocean and find a tiny little private patch of sand. Completely untouched and hidden. The little beach was at a perfect natural slant for reclining. I laid down in the sand and looked up at the limestone stalactites hanging down over my head. I rolled around in the sand as the waves lapped over my body. I couldn't stop saying, "I am One. I am One with the Universe" over and over in my head. I swam out into the extremely salty, warm, clear blue turquoise water and floated on my back looking up. The large, colorful stalactites hung over me as I lay in the ocean and let the water drops falling from the stalactites land on my face. This was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I will never forget it!

Stalactites over the ocean

Not only did Tonsai show me a whole new understanding of the concept Unity (universal connectedness), a concept that I obviously feel strongly about, it also showed me how many other amazing skills there are to master in this life! I love to challenge myself. Especially physically. I have attempted pretty much every circus and dance skill that is somewhat accessible to me. Never have I tried rock climbing and I had no idea I was going to love it so much. Man, is it a rush! A huge challenge too. On so many levels...physically and mentally. I was lucky enough to meet some pretty fabulous people in Tonsai who introduced me to this new hobby. All I want to do it get better at it! Part of me is overwhelmed by all of the "things" I have already set out to master but part of me is telling myself there is time. There is time for everything that I make important. So this is a new important obsession. Yay! The other one is slack lining. The locals in Tonsai are some of the most epic slack liners and rock climbers I have ever witnessed. These people grew up walking on tightropes and rocks, like it ain't no thang. It's so cool. They spin fire poi, staff and juggle fire on the slack line! I was beyond impressed! I didn't see anyone fire hoop on the slack line so that's another new challenge I have set for myself. Create a slack line-burlesque routine as well as master slack line-fire hooping! Woot! I can do it! I can do anything I set my sights on! And so you can YOU!

Rock climbing w/ Laura's help!

There was a crazy rainstorm for a couple days while we were in Tonsai. It reminded me of the dust storms at Burning Man because it made you run for shelter no matter where you were or who you were with. It forced you to make new friends and get drunk in the middle of the afternoon, for lack of anything else to do :) More poetry...

Everything is wet
Breathing in the beauty
Absorbing and reflecting it
Breathing in the green
Lush and drippy
Giant leaves
Jungle love

I am in love with all of the new friends I made in Thailand. Interesting, open-minded people who I hope to see again someday. I had intellectually stimulating conversations about modern gender roles with a mixed group of people from Iran, Austria, Germany and America. I got to know some of the nicest Canadians ever (of course!) and lots of Australians who were way too much fun :) Connecting, laughing, playing, learning, admiring and sharing with each other. Leela and I hooped everywhere we went! We hooped in the hostels, the bars, the beaches and even at the temples. We taught locals and travelers alike how to hoop :) There will be a Thailand Hooping Video coming your way soon! Singapore performance pictures can be found HERE and our travel pictures are HERE.

Amazing new friends!

More highlights from Thaiand include: street food (all of the food!), tropical fruit shakes, Oh wait...just the tropical fruit in general! fresh coconuts to drink everyday, Thai massages that cost $7, tuk-tuks, the Sunday market in Chiang Mai, Thai cooking school, riding motorbikes (on the left side of the road) up to the Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, thunder and lightning storms, rainbows everyday, ocean sunsets, waterfalls, the Pai canyon, fireflies, monkeys, SpicyPai and Kit, Julie's Guesthouse, Mama's Chicken, painting each other with neon paint because it was the full moon, Chang beer, lots of spliffs, beautiful seashells, Toffee & his band, Maxi...all the Tonsai locals actually...Bao and Lai and Zero and Yoni and Dee...the Sunset Pirate Bar, the Sawadee Bar, the owners and family at Pasook, holding Leela's hand hanging in hammocks in Pai and getting closer with her than ever before, laughing with her and going through a lot together, OMB (Oh My Buddha!), Boom!, "Shake, Shake...Shake Everyday", "Why not?", Same Same but Different, kayaking, hooping with the ocean as my partner, Ben and his infectious enthusiasm :) Thai reggae, and the kitties everywhere!  

LED Hooping at the Singapore Grand Prix

We left our bungalow made out of palm trees on the beach and went to Singapore to perform at the Grand Prix. We were put up in a fancy 5 star hotel and the woman at the front desk actually asked me if I wanted someone to carry our backpacks to the room! I had to laugh. Coming from hippie-land and ending up there was quite the change. What a gig! The most amazing one I have ever done. There is no question about that! People carrying all of my props for me and my own private dressing room?! Yes please! So spoiled! The event was HUGE! Thousands of people, bands, DJs, art, other entertainers, stages and of course the races zipping through the streets of Singapore constantly. I performed 3-5 sets a day so pretty much one Fire/LED set per hour for 5 hours. It was hard work because it was super humid and extremely hot! Lots of fun though! People loved it, I loved it :) It was win-win. Jovi was our assistant/helper the whole time and we loved him! So sweet and really on it. On the last day we had a longer break and walked around the event for an hour or so. What a bizzare experience! The races were so loud we had to wear ear plugs just to walk around. Then we couldn't really communicate with each other so we just gave each other weird faces and laughed a lot. Damn it was sweaty there!

Fire Hooping at the Singapore Grand Prix

Now I am looking forward to producing a Day of the Dead themed show on Nov 3rd, teaching and performing in San Francisco Oct 19th weekend and then touring England & Ireland in Nov-Dec. More soon. Thank you. Thank you for reading this, being in my life and inspiring me to continue to do what I do. Thank you universe. Gratitude!