An epic "Yea! It feels good..." This is the way my journey unfolded. Days alternated between solo sunset hoop jacks, meditation, lazy conversations with Ann and Baxter, wanderings to center camp to hoop, daily hoop jams with Rich and Lauren and Grant and Jasmine at Hoop Heaven Camp and sunset hoopdowns at the Deep End with cats like Kit, Goeff, Khan, Molly, Kay, Heather, Kyle, Lilly, Shakti, Hoopnoxious, Kelly, and many, many more. An occassional glimpse of Kramer, but also a surrendering to our different tribal affiliations...

The DVDs are arriving to HoopGirl Headquarters this coming Monday! Order your copy pronto to get out pre-order $19.99 special deal at www.HoopGirl.com in the online store. Check out some great screen shots here.

;)
Christabel

Today was day two of the HoopGirl Dance Teacher Training for Level 1 here in San Francisco. Amazing! What a phenomenal group of women from so many backgrounds and interests! Annie and I held space for the teachings and all unfolded in beauty.

There was time for seated learning, lecture presentation, shopping at the hoopbooth, professional photography of all our participants, and hours of hooping on the dancefloor working through the material, moves and class structure. Sweaty bodies, breathless smiles and lots of laughter! What an honor it is to be able to hold space for this event. Lots of networking and community building... I have a feeling this group will be staying in touch for a long time to come!

What I loved sharing most today was...

For the past two weeks I've been back on the smoothie-train. A green smoothie to start the day -- some have been spinach and fruit based... some have been completely savoury with celery, parsley and even garlic! Today's mid-day smoothie was actually a surprise for me because a) I haven't had two in one day in a long time and b) because I randomly just threw in the fruit which had not yet gone bad... along with a sample of a shake powder.. and it was great!

Here's what I had...

Surprise Smoothie
1 asian pear
1/2 avocado
1/4 lime
1/2 bannana
1 plum
1 packet of Nutiva Organic Hemp Shake, Acai flavor
1-2 cups water

What came out what a thick, almost pudding-like smoothie which has been satisfying my appetite quite nicely! Sweet! Life is good.

I am so inspired by Jennifer, a local hooper who recently attended our Level 1 HoopGirl teacher certification course. I mean, she wears HIGH HEELS all the time! Every class she has ever taken, every time I have seen her dance, every moment of the teacher training. And these are not little heels. We're talking HIGH. The best part is that she bounces around while hooping with the sweetest smile, as if she is dancing on a fluffy cloud of marshmallows. The smile is *real*. She is really experiencing delight. As I mentioned in a previous blog, she is the child of Brazilian parents who proclaimed she was born with heels on...

This weekend I had one of the biggest dreams of mine come true -- I attended a hoop training camp which united amazing hoopers and teachers from all over the United States, Japan, Australia and England. It took place in Santa Cruz at a lovely retreat center in the redwoods, supported by sweet lodging and tasty nourishing food.

What was most remarkable to me was the feeling that we were literally "all one"...