Greetings from the LA HoopGirl Teacher training seminar! It's so interesting that EVERY single time I teach this, I feel this is the *best* class ever! The bar just keeps getting raised each time and i am so grateful for this experience. We had the biggest class ever this time, 17 women from Los Angeles, Ventura, Hollywood, San Diego, Orange County, San Jose, Venice, Maui, and also 2 women from Buffalo, NY, 1 from Miami Beach, and one woman from Kansas. They come from all kinds of backgrounds -- a personal trainer, a pole dancing studio owner, yoginis, actors, performers, producers, entrepreneurs .. what unites them all is that they have a fiery passion for hoopdance and an amazing drive and focus to spread the joy to others while creating abundance for themselves.

As usual, Abundant Sugar has been our furry home for this training. I say furry because our learning space is a residential artist warehouse with a huge dancefloor, and a massive cluster of funfur covered sofas on the side where we get cozy for the seated portion of class. Unlike the super slick, super clean dance studio in Portland, this space is all about art, Burning Man culture and artistic creation in the raw, with heaps of fabric by sewing machines, a massive tree sculpture literally "growing" out of the floor and much much more. We are so grateful to be here!

I had my concerns about this class a few weeks ago when only 4 people had registered... really, this is the first time something like this has ever happened since we usually sell out so fast. The last minute 1/2 off promotion really worked a miracle for us at HoopGirl, so we had the funds to hold it in the fashion we like, with professional photographer, lots of snacks, Candice from Portland co-teaching and a master trainer-in training, Miss Taj from Chicago, here learning the ropes. Meanwhile the abundance will really help free HoopGirl, Inc of some debt we have taken on. Yea for liberation!!! Thank you so much to everyone involved who has been so open minded and accomodating to help make this training work!

Day 3 was the most transformative, jam packed with lots of practicums where we took mini classes taught by each new teacher and provided detailed feedback in the forum. Even though I give lots of feedback myself, I still learn so much from these sessions. Each student demonstrates new and fun ways of interpreting the class and I love that everyone was so open and observant about even the smallest nuances in eachother's spoken words, body language and flow. I LOVE that these women are so determined to learn how to improve their skills and succeed!

Props call... as usual there is one student who has specifically caught my attention.. this time it is an African American woman, aged 44, named Melanie Pleasure. Melanie actually won our IDEA fitness drawing for a free teacher training seminar. She just had an intense surgery less than a month ago! But she showed up none the less, full of enthusiasm, joy and determination to learn. When she talked about hooping during forums and discussions, her eyes literally welled up with tears of joy. Though she doesn't know all the *moves* with precision yet, she has a drive to absorb everything she can. Her teaching style is incredibly warm, nurturing and energizing.

Chika captured our hearts as well! Living in LA for three years since coming from her native Japan, we all decided she won the "cutest hooper" award. Her eyes would light up and twinkle whenever she said the word "happy", which she did quite often. What I loved about Chika was how much she smiled and how precise her word choices were, quite amazing for teaching in a language which is not native... she really demonstrated the power of choosing few, but profound words, and as the training progressed, her attention to detail and precision deepened. Wow! A beacon of light.

There is something so magical about teacher training events. Quite simply, it is THE most important thing I am doing in my life right now. Unquestionably. I am completely moved and honored to be holding space for these leaders who are a part of the solution in today's world. Creating more joy! Wellbeing! Community! Love! Sensuality! Yes!

Today, Tuesday November 6, 2008, is a clean slate for me to enjoy. As long as I can CHOOSE my thoughts, I can CHOOSE what I attract and create in my life. Starting today, my ongoing intention is to find genuine and magical ways to increase the vibratory frequency of my physical, emotional and spiritual body so I am more magnetic to health, fitness, joy, love, angels, money and miracles!

I am so grateful for the recent financial abundance which has come to HoopGirl, Inc, because it allows me to focus on creative work from a place of calm saftey. I appreciate how much time Kramer took to clean up the entire house before I came home from my trip because it feels serene and orderly, which makes it easier for me to relax. I am so thankful that I have so many wonderful sources of inspiration flowing into my life -- books, art, events -- because they allow me to feel a sense of inner expansion and excitement. I am appreciative of Lisa coming into my life because her radiance and commitment to light enhances my own. I am so thankful for Divine Inspiration whch has been downloading specific information to me about how to quicky create solutions in every aspect of my life. I am so happy that I have been recieving clear information from my angels because they remind me that love is the answer! I am so appreciative of the powerful Portland women, Candice and Jasmine, in my lives because their deep honesty, commitment to truth and wise advice brings out the best in me. Thank you!

I love it when I feel surrounded by angels. When I feel this way, I experience being in the perfect place at the perfect time, which allows me to trust life as a fun spiritual journey for my soul.

I now have enough financial resources to buy the house of my dreams on a gorgeous, high-frequency tropical island.
I can easily walk from my house to edenic natural wonders, like gorgeous blue tropical waters, waterfalls and tree-lined mountain paths.
I swim with dolphins and experience clear communication of cosmic truths and a full awakening of my heart!
I journey to places which greatly accelerate my spiritual awakening, such as Haena, Sedona, Mt. Shasta, Egypt and India.
It is easy for me to find a way of eating which is easy to maintain and supports my body's health and radiance.
I always breathe lots of fresh air and drink lots of water.
I maintain a daily hoop practice which gives me a feeling of flow, connection and joy.
I love the perfectly warm sunny weather where I live! Thank you!
I nurture my Goddess self with lots of mineral baths, body treatments, skin care, manipedis, beauty, and self-love!
I can identify and communicate my feelings with ease.
I can easily upgrade my emotional resonance by visualizing light, color, and shapes.
I am surrounded by an uplifting community of friends who continually encourage me to grow and expand my sense abilities.
I regularly receive clear communication from beings of light who accelerate my awareness with joy.
I can see the colors which surround people with ease.
I am magnetically attracted to the perfect people, places and events which encourage me to live every moment as my higher self!!!
Thank you!

I feel deliciously in flow with the universe!

I now invite assistance from the Loving Power which dwells within me and All Life Everywhere. Dear Creator, and all who walk with me in Light and Love, Thank you for your perfect guidance, uconditional love and ongoing support. If it is in the highest good for me and All Life Everywhere, please deively orchestrate the following in just the perfect time.

Help me to make the choices which bring more light and love into my life.

Help me to trust my intuition and speak my truth with loving ease.

Help me to focus on what I love and admire in all who surround me.

Give me the strength to continue on my path of awakening.

Inspire me with the perfect ideas and messages which will help me step into my divine life mission at a greater level.

I completely release all worries, doubts and fears to You! As I trust You to take care of the details, everything naturally falls into place for me with amazing ease. I am now ready to surrender and let go of anything which distracts me from ascension, plus all issues (known and unknown) that prevent me from living my best life now. This act of releasing enables me to feel more joy than ever!

With enormous gratitude, I now agree to recieve these and even greater gifts in just the perfect time in delightful lways that bless and benefit All Life Everywhere.

I am an irresistable Magnet for Love, Money, Miracles and More! It's just the story of my life!

Signed,
The Magnificent Christabel!

www.15minutemiracle.com

Last night I met my friend Vera over tea. She is a sparkling and insightful lightworker who is a writer, software development and drives an eco-friendly taxi cab (often in full costume!). Of the many things we spoke of, one that partiularly fascinated me was color and clothing. It really got me thinking about why I dress the way I do.

I don't remember when it started exactly. I think it was when I was in LA and accelerating my hooping practice. But a couple years back I found that all I wanted to wear was brightly colored clothes. Oh! I remember! I remember I was living in LA and my roomate Dawn and I started organizing our closets by color. Each of us had a spectacular rainbow of garb in our closets and it was so great. It was actually really neat as well because the hundreds of hoops I made were also quite rainbow in design and hue, each with exciting and different combinations of color. You know, really it was probably playing with colors making hoops which brought this on...

Anyways, I really started to notice how different colors carried a different vibration, a different feeling. I simply remember feeling *really* good while wearing certain colors, and of course these would change over the weeks and months to include new tones as well. I found that I could purposefully choose to wear a certain color that would actually help lift me up and out of resistance and emotional blocks.

This is why I choose to wear the colors I do now. In a really indescribable, visceral way, it feels *good*! I feel as if bright colors uplift my spirits and keep me anchored to a certain resonance which helps me stay positive and inspired. I purposefully avoid blacks and browns and dark colors, simply because I feel they don't have the medicine I need at the moment to step it up to the next level within.

I've studied Chakras for years and I sort of take for granted the medicinal aspects of each hue, and I suppose that also plays a part in what I choose to wear for the day as well. I actually realize as I am writing this that I use color in my daily visualizations quite a bit, and it is soothing for me.

I remember when I also went through "white" streaks as well. Even out to nightclubs here in the city and everywhere.... honestly, in all white or rainbow colors in a cool and foggy city, I generally stand out. I wish that I didn't stand out all the time, actually. It would be quite wonderful to be constantly surrounded by people wearing wonderful jewel tones which I coud bathe my eyes in as well... but this is where I am now! I simply appreciate those richly adorned with colors when I see them. I know that when I move to the islands, this visual tonic of colors will surround me everywhere. I'm patient with the process.

It is interesting because my friend Vera is going through a "black", edgier phase right now and she wondered what I may think of it. I didn't really think anything of it as I know that I too have delved into black at times. I really think it is all about the medicine. For whatever reason, black is POWER. It is so vast and can feel very nurturing, to be wrapped in the void galactic space in that fashion. Something you can fill with anything.... I dont have any judgement of what other people choose to wear, but really an equisite awareness of what I want to wrap myself up into. Perhaps it is because I have a very deep ongoing healing process going on and the vibrations of color are part of my own process of unfolding...

So, as I was taking my morning walk by Stow Lake today I contemplated this and suddenly an image of "Rainbow Brite" came into my mind... the 80's cartoon figure. It is interesting because honestly I never watched the cartoon when I was a child, nor do I know anything about her character or storyline. None the less, this image of fairy-like sprite dressed in the colors of the rainbow, surrounded by sparkling lights and a pixie-like smile came into my mind. When I thought of her, it was a really light, bright, joyous vibration and I could almost imagine tinkling laughter. I realized that this sweet angelic medicine of color is an energetic which feels very soothing and nurturing to my body, very pure and uplifting to my cells. So I'll play with this image over the coming days and see what emerges...

I found today's image online and the words really seem to capture something I feel in all of this...

Here's to Rainbow Angel Medicine!

Today, Thursday November 8, 2007, is a clean slate for me to enjoy. As long as I can CHOOSE my thoughts, I can CHOOSE what I attract and create in my life. Starting today, my ongoing intention is to find efficient and playful ways to attract massive financial wealth into my life so I can focus all my energies on my Divine life mission...

Okay.. I've got 5 minutes for my 15 minute miracle, so here goes!

Today, Friday November 9, 2007, is clean slate for me to enjoy. As long as I can CHOOSE my thoughts, I can CHOOSE what I attract and create in my life. Starting today, it is my ongoing intention to make more time for hiking, hooping, dancing and all activties which will bring more resilance, strength and fitness to my body!

I truely appreciate my husband's hot body because his sexy muscles and hard body feel amazing. I am so grateful for the sun being out today because it will be warmer and more cheerful. I am so glad that I feel happier today than yesterday because I know that the day will flow more smoothly. I am psyched that I got some business opportunities which will bring some more abundance to HoopGirl, Inc, because that will allow me to focus on creative projects. Thank you!

I love it when I feel optimistic. When I feel this way, I smile and look on the bright side of things, which makes it easier for me to relax and take it easy.

I now own a spacious, sunny house in Fairfax, California on a tree-lined street with a big yard, a redwood tree and delightful hiking trails in walking distance.

I now also own a spacious, sunny and comfortable condo with a large porch in Maui on the beach which nurtures me at a deep soul level.

I am in the best physical shape of my life!

I take pleasure trips all over the world to exotic spiritual desitinations which inspire me deeply!

I enjoy lots of free time in my life to do anything I want.

I now invite assistance from the Loving Power that dwells within me and in All Life Everywhere. Dear Luminous Energy Matrix of Life, and ALL who walk with me in Love and Light, Thank you for your perfect guidance, unconditional love, and ongoing support. If it is in the highest good for me and All Life Everywhere, please divinely orchestrate the following in just the perfect time.

Shower me with unexpected miracles!

Bring more unconditional love into my heart!

Flood my entire body with a sense of cosmic connectiont to the All at all times!

I completely let go of all worries, doubts and fears to You, Source of All, As I truest You to take care of the details, everything naturally falls into place for me with amazing ease.

With enormous gratitude I now agree to receive these and even greater gifts in just the perfect time in delightful ways which bless and benefit All Life Everywhere.

Signed,
The Magnificent Christabel

Thank you!

Today's art image : Source unknown. Let me know if you know who made this!

I've been visualizing a bright white light saturating the water of our dear San Francisco Bay, which was doused with 58,000 gallons of toxic used motor oil from the ship which hit the bridge last week. It is all rather surreal, actually. I think about it daily, and honestly I wonder why people aren't crying about it or even talking about it much. I mean, I would think there would be a huge emergency call for beach volunteers, emergency fundraisers, prayer circles, and more... but all I see are alarmist newpaper headlines and in conversations amongst people, business as usual... not one word...

For whatever reason, I have never been able to get into the series of books channelled by Lee Carroll about Kryon... until this past week! It was my meeting with Vera last week, when she mentioned she read and enjoyed, "The Journey Home", which opened me up to trying again. This book is not written as all the others are (Each of the eleven other volumes are a collection of essays - each a channeled sessions held in various cities around the world). This book reads like an actual fictional story .. a parable. So I went back to the Open Secret Bookstore in San Rafael this past weekend and got it, along with two other volumes of the direct channels which *finally* spoke to me, and I have been absorbing it all, like a thirsty person who has stumbled upon water after a long time of wanting it...

Yesterday's hoop practice to some pumpin house music gave so many gems... warrior into isolations on each side, launching up on one foot with other toes pointed during reversals..top down and up style reversals, and more play with arm breaks using the space between arm and torso...these are still wobbly but feel like a sweet push. It felt so good to get back to it!

This morning I decided to combine my craving for metaphysical inspiration with an hour long hoop practice and I listened to a Kryon channeling from Mt. Shasta (www.kryon.com/cartprodima...asta06.html) while hooping. Interesting.. this was my first time actually listening to a channeling. I feel so clearly where my ego's edge's of rationality are pushed (like when he spoke of Pleaidians or Lemurians), but at the same time, something transmitting to me that feels profoundly opening. He lost me towards the end, but it didn't matter. Like any bit of information, I absorbed what nourished and let the rest go.

So I just kept breathing and focusing on the hoop. For the hour long hoop session, I learned about the 12 strands of human DNA and their interdimensional aspects. I've never really thought too deeply about the metaphysical aspects of DNA, at least not for a whole hour straight, so it was fantastic! It was actually a really fascinating combination to hoop in gyrokinetic spirals and listen to this information... I spent most of the session hooping in my outflow/second current on my legs or doing barrell rolls in my outflow. It felt really great. A fun experiment...

Yesterday I attended a fabulous all day workshop with psychic Sonia Choquette... synchronicity started when my mom and I couldn't manage to buy out $150 tickets at a discount online and were told to just go there in person. We arrived at the fabulous Westin St. Francis in Union square, with golden angels hovering above us all across the ceiling in gorgeous art... as I started to tell them about diffficulty buying tickets, Melinda (the woman at will call) interrupted me, saying, "Christabel! I took your hula hoop classes a long time ago... take these! I happen to have two free passes for you here." Mom and I looked at eachother and smiled. We felt so blessed! Magic! We went in giddy...

O my gosh! Something clicked for me this morning while I was playing with Snake breaks. I decided to work my Heart chakra by doing consistant upper body breaks in Snake position for abut 30 minutes straight and I started to find amazingly juicey nooks and crannies in these moves. I've never been a huge fan of paddling, so it seemed like a good exercise.

What I discovered was that I can make it much more stimulating by bringing equisite awareness to my fingers -- paddling hand always has straight fingers pointing directly up and centered at my heart. Also, by bringing more awareness to my hands and arms and where they go between paddles and breaks, it becomes much more exciting to me... I created a routine where everytime my hand is not activly paddling and breaking, it must extend all the way down the side of my body and my hand must touch my thigh and my arm is fully extended. It was neat... like the entire exercise was about seeking sensation and precision in my hands. Then it became about making the moves less choppy and making the touch which was more of a hit at first, more of a sensual slide. Then I added the layer of foot steps at the moment of paddle, extending my leg and foot our to the side and bringing my head up. Finally, I really worked on opening my heart -- typically during these moves I am slightly leanging forward with my hoop, so I really arched my back so my chest pushed the hoop forward and on a level plane in front of me instead of droopy. There is just so much to play with in all of this... an infinite universe of what can emerge with the hands in all of this! I love my hands and arms!

Spent the rest of my hour with upper and below handed reversals and one-handed reversals on each side, lots of outflow dancing after the sensation of joy, itself.. which brough lots of smiling, giggles and release. By the end my arms were red, tingley and flushed, but it felt good. I'll take my vitamins and joint supplements .. all of this work wakes up sensation in my wrists. So grateful for this play!

Today's image from: www.astrophoto.com

Last night I had an amazing dream. I was in Hawaii and I was in SO happy!! I felt as if I was in the most absoluetly perfect place at the absoluetly most perfect time. It was lush and sunny and beautiful. I was standing by a massive lagoon and suddenly I heard this deep rumbling which was growing louder and lounder, like a groaning vibration. I heard a noise and turned to my right and saw a massive whale sliding across the greenery and mud and into the lagoon. It was HUGE, the size of a sperm whale, like a tractor trailer. It was vibrating and my whole body started resonating to the deep sound, just like in a nightclub when all my organs resonate to the deep bass. Suddeny they were everywhere, sliding all around me into the water, and they absoluetly FILLED the entire bay with their massive shapes and sounds, The deep whale talk felt so wise and otherwordly, and I *knew* they held ancient knowledge. I just stood there, overwhelmed, watching them swim and surface and feeling their sounds resonate my whole body, wanting so deeply to understand. Kramer was nearby in some kind of beachhouse and I called him but he somehow didn't see or hear any of this. I quickly released the need to go get him and just let myself soak in the holiness. I felt so blessed!

My first thought when I woke was, how quickly I have forgotten that I belong in Hawaii. What at moments feels like a crystal clarity gets softened over the weeks in the city, with this lifestyle. It was a mini revelation, again. A sweet reminder. And the whales! I have had dreams of whales before and I am glad they are visiting me again. Thank you whales! This message felt SO big I just had to write it down.

I did it. Today, I went back to the gym for the first day since July. I was a bit stunned when the guy at the front desk said, "how was your summer?" when I checked in. I actually didn't realize it had been that long since I had been in. But there it was. The reality. Where had I been? What had I been doing? Hoop practices. Meditations. Work. So it was a nice day to be back. Of course they had lots of wicked new machines that looked crazy space age. I hopped on one at casually selected level 14 for 35 minutes. By the end I was a sweating, heaving wreck. Crunches, arm weights ,stretching then left. Especially after teaching two classes tonight, I can literally feel the connective tissue in my knees and legs humming. Winding down from a day at work... anticipating tomprrow's holiday...

It was a good hour! I put on some strong music and immediately started dancing. I spent a lot of time in Snake, alternating drawing up one knee and then the other while letting my torso pulse to the music, reversing the direction of the hoop every now and then and trying to get the same fluid rhythm in my Outflow as in my Inflow. It was a sweet sort of hopping meditation while dancing around my little livingroom space. Did some one handed reversals as well, which I adore, while alternating the height of my body high then low. Also practiced alternate shoulder duck outs on each side, rotating the hoop around my shoulder blade. Also basically danced around, just feeling the beat and the music move me! I love that I am moving back towards daily practice again. Yum! So grateful.

For this morning's hour, I started my hoop practice with the primal tribal music of Tumbara, moved into trance-like sounds of Eric Prydz's "Call on me" and then ascended into "Celestial Music for Sitar". A very sweet practice. I have been enjoying a very simple repetative dance movement of hooping in Snake position, then alternating lifting one knee and then the other, reversing every now and then. It is quite enjoyable and I love how my breath deepens. I think I did this alone for over 30 minutes, sinking my awareness deeply into the micromovements of how high I lifted my knee, how I could expand my torso movements while hooping in my Outflow so it looked as effortless and dance-like as in my Inflow.

Then I played with the same drill from last Sunday which I enjoyed, with paddling/breaks which alternated with a sort of thigh sweep by each of my hands.. I had to take it easy on this one though. The reversals and paddling has been aching my arms, so I am trying to do it super gentle, as if the hoop was a delicate breakable object which has to be handled with extreme care. This will take time. My enthusiasm is ready to keep doing this move for hours.. my body asks for only 10 minutes or less per day, though.

Played for a moment with shoulder duck outs. I have been loving linking both shoulder duck outs together and alternating in each direction as well, but my sweet delicate house plants which were surrounding me asked me to hold off on this after the hoop fell on them the second time.

Then I just found myself transfixed in Snake in my Outflow direction. Usually I have to keep turning to allow the hoop to orbit on this side, but I planted my feet and was able to maintain orbit for a full 9 minutes with my small light hoop, and it felt great. It increased my awareness of where I can expand movement even more on my left arm.

Lovin it. Loving coming home to my own sweet practice time. These hours are by far the most important transformative hoop work that I do.

Wow, for whatever reason after about 40 minutes today I simply couldn't keep going... feeling so restless to get out into the sunshine! So I yielded. An interesting practice. The first whole 20 minutes were simply hooping on my legs in my outflow, non-stop. I tried adding shoulder shimmies and standing in one place instead of continually turning and that was a lot to master! Awareness im how I have been holding my spine, shoulders and arms... I never really thought about it much before today. While the hoop orbited my legs, I thought of extending my head high, opening my chest fully while taking deep breaths. i experimented with letting my arms dangle, versus actually holding them with poise along the sides of my body, versus touching my body, versus hands on the back of my sitz bones in fists so there were neat triangular shapes made by my arms. After that shoulder ducks outs on alternating shoulder blades in both the inflow and outflow.... one handed breaks and reversals with awareness on lifting opposite knees... off to the day!

It was a good hour and a half of hoop practice today. I have been working on one handed breaks while alternating my body height high and then squatting down low, and even launching into the air. It was awesome to be able to practice at Cell Space today, so I could really play with lots of tosses and alternating shoulder ducks outs without having to worry about my tender houseplants near my feet. Had some fun working with framing the catching of tosses, letting my body bend and arc around the hoop in neat shapes...

Lots of fun with forward leaps and realized that to pull this off from a toss, I need to grasp the hoop on the *outside* below side in order to have the right wrist angle to leap through. Also fun leaping with my less dominant hand holding the hoop, and alternating jumping in from both the right and left side. Had some neat challenges consistently trying to reverse every move I tried for a while, which led to a mysterious back and forth dance with the hoop which must have looked quite odd. Foot carries onto the body. Lots of eagle and chest rolls into jumps and jiffy pops. As usual, I played with Snake in both directions, punctuated by reversals and the hop-skip move to the beat of the music. Lots of fun breaks and reversals with the hand slithers down the side of my body. It adds a whole new element to the practice for me... a rhythm of sensation which is more complex -- Awareness on the fingers of my paddling hand pointing straight up at my heart while my left hand rubs my thigh, then comes up and pushes the hoop the opposite way while my right forearm pushes the hoop and my right hand darts down and rubs my right thigh, with my left hands fingers pointing straight up at my heart, then the sensation as my left forearm pushes the hoop while my right hand pushes the hoop the opposite way. Meanwhile, adding super low crouches with high jumps makes this this an exciting and sweaty poly-rhythmic experience! Lovin it! So grateful for daily practice.

I started off with Spunk in my outflow. Wearing shorts really is helping me learn to identify the exact point of contact in this other direction. My practice now consists of hooping as long as I can without turning... so theoretically I could be facing straight ahead indefinetely while hooping in either direction. When I first really started practicing this last July, I was consistently turning. Now I face in four directions for several beats of the hoop before turning and again standing still for a few more beats. Bringing lots of awareness to my posture. Head high, shoulders back and down, heart open. Arms consciously held in position with hands on my sitz bones or tight at my sides. I just keep adding extra rotations each time. When the hoop is about to fall, I catch it with my hands and just push it in the inflow direction. I get used the the sensation of effortlessness again, notice the economy of movement in my legs, then go back into my outflow. Did this for a while.

Then back to Snake for a long time with hopping between reversals and lifting the other leg, and just dancing around.

Played with Zest in my outflow direction and it was another adventure... I notice that the timing is slightly off to get into the pocket on the music. Barrel Roll with Snake with reversals and leg lifts is fun.

The interesting thing is that I can do drills in my outflow just fine, but then if I put on a bangin' piece of music and imagine I am performing entirely in my outflow, things have a wobble... a lack of predictableness and control which is challenging. It is a slight drag in response time which take more effort than my inflow. So I am determined to "perform" to at least one song in my outflow each practice time, to put all the elements of moves, expressiveness, precision and fun together.

I finally closed with vertical isolations, one and both handed in both directions. Then I remembered the UTube video about isolations and some moves Baxter did at our Burning Man camp, and found 4 primary ways I can "flip" the hoop during an isolation, before continuing to move it along it's track. With my hand gripped at the bottom, I can flip it so my hand is in the "up" position. I can do the opposite, and flip it from "up" to "down". I can also twist the hoop when my hand is at the top left or right. Finally, with my hand on the left or right side holding it very still, I can flip it in the other direction -- left or right. So much fun! There is a whole universe beckoning me in these hoop flipping isolations. It is very meditative for me.

Off to the day!

For the last 2 weeks I have been having my green smoothies again in the mornings. It feels SO good to be back. I can see such a difference in my energy levels and even my skin!

This morning I was out of bananas so I just used what we had around. It was AWESOME!

Morning Hoop Smoothie
5 pieces of large kale
1/2 container alfalfa sprouts
1 cucumber
3 dates
1 tablespoon omega oils
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 3/4 cups water

Yum!

All I can say is that I am in complete awe. Every HoopGirl teacher training raises the bar to another level. What emerges from Candice and I as facilitators becomes more seamless and fluid, and insights from students become more rich and insightful!

Who is our latest crew? San Francisco's HoopGirl studio is quite small, so we have squeezed in tight with our 10 students, Candice and I facilitating, and Natasha assisting and in training to become a master trainer.

Shawna is a San Francisco resident who has an interest in the tantric aspects of hoopdance and seeks to enrich her own personal coaching practice with the HoopGirl philosophy

Julie is from Utah and is here to build confidence and skills in hooping.

Shiela is from Santa Cruz and took a class with me several years ago and is here to bring more hoopdance to her home town.

Allison is from UC Davis and wants to bring hooping to Sacramento.

Susan is a Pilates instructor from Seattle who wants to bring the HoopGirl Workout to her city. She is also interested in using the class for corporate teambuilding and consulting.

Ashley is from Denver, and in her words, is here to "hoop her way to higher consciousness"!

Maria is from Belicam, Washington and here for skill building.

Sadie came all the way from Toronto, Canada. She has been holding freestyle jams for a year and half and is ready to push it to the next level and make hooping a part time career.

Anna is from Texas (although emphatically a Boulder native) and wants to integrate the HoopGirl Workout into her bootcamp classes.

Ashley (yes, we have two this time!) has been a resident of Costa Rica for the last three years and is here to learn hoop teaching skills to bring back and use at resorts and spas where she lives in Nosara.

The group was very vocal in sharing from their areas of expertise and it had a true forum atmosphere. They were very receptive and curious about many things and asked brilliant questions. The overall feeling I got was one of ripeness... women ready to push their lives to the next level of mastery, confidence and abundance.

I have to say that there is always a sense of being in the perfect place at the perfect time with these trainings. I feel in total flow and honored to be able to share tools of manifestation and the art of teaching with such inquisitive and enthusiastic women. I think this is really one of the most favorite things I get to do related to hooping! I look forward to what will unfold tomarrow.