Osiyo!* and Happy Equinox!

Spring is here and I've just returned from Death Valley having witnessed the splendor of the wildflowers blooming in the desert. That trip will likely be last in my VW bus, which I'm reluctantly selling. This vehicle has been my camping companion and my daily driver for the past three years. Since I've owned it, I've come to experience "fahrvernuegen" over and over again having driven to Big Sur, the Black Rock Desert, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, and other beautiful outdoor destinations along the Pacific Coast Highway and I-395. Have a look if you're interested: http://www.tanjabarnes.com/Vanagon/Vanagon.html If you wish to know more about the features, maintenance record and price of my vehicle, please drop me an e-mail or give me a call.

UPDATE (March 2005): This vehicle was sold to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu champion Gye Nitta from Honolulu, HI. Though the transaction seemed a daunting proposition at first (we did it over the internet having never met each other before) Gye was extremely professional (yet very personable) and a total sweetie. I believe both he and my former bus are a perfect match, just made for each other. I wish him lots of aloha and hope he enjoys fahrvernuegen island style. Mahalo nui loa, Gye! Please send me lots of pictures! :-)

This edition of my newsletter features Rayna McInturf (aka "Hoopnotica") who teaches hoop dancing here in Los Angeles. My friend Alanna absolutely raved about Rayna, so decided to check her out for myself. A few year's ago I had taken a hoop class so I felt I knew what to expect. However, Rayna's hoop dancing and teaching style is remarkably different. Rayna breaks down technique in such a way that even a klutz like me came away from my first workshop with her with an exuberant feeling of competence, and most of all, a feeling of fun! I had such a wonderful experience that I signed up for her next series of workshops which begins March 29, 2005. I'd love it if you'd join us!

Within the culture of Native American Indians, the term "sacred hoop" refers to the medicine wheel and to everything around us particularly to our interconnectedness to each other and to our planet. Black Elk, once a great elder and spiritual leader of the of the Oglala Sioux, had this to say about the great circle of life:

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children."

As we move forward into spring, I wish you a deep and profound experience of the connection to the circle of life of which Black Elk describes and the joyful sense of wellbeing that Rayna shares through her wonderful teachings. May you be healed by it.

Best,
Tanja Barnes, LMT

* ("Osiyo" is a Cherokee greeting. It means "hello," a good hello. The kind of hello that says things are going well with me, with you, and with others).

From my own personal life journey, and from my experience as a hoop dance teacher and body worker, I have learned to look at wellbeing from a holistic perspective; that is, to see wellbeing as encompassing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. These aspects of wellbeing are not separate, but are completely interrelated. Affecting a change in one of these areas has an impact on all of them. One of the most powerful ways I have witnessed this interrelatedness is in the realm of hoop dance.

Hoop dancing is dancing while spinning a large hoop around the body. It is a fairly new dance form, having only existed to my knowledge for about the past ten years. I have been a student and teacher of hoop dance for four years. Through this experience I have learned about wellbeing both by witnessing myself as a hoop dancer and by watching and teaching others. Hoop dance has the power to transform an individual in so many ways, increasing overall wellbeing.

You may be wondering how dancing with a hoop accomplishes these transformations! Although transformation can occur in any of the four areas mentioned above, impacting all of them, I will start my example with the physical and go from there. Hoop dancing transforms the body most notably by strengthening the core, but also by strengthening the arms, hands, legs, upper back, chest and the cardiovascular system. Breathing, dexterity, posture and body awareness are improved. Internal organs are massaged, energy is increased and endorphin levels are raised. Chi is generated, which brings about healing in the body. The body's muscle to fat ratio usually shifts as well. Hoop dancers report that their bodies feel stronger and more open, and that their overall energy has increased.

Mental shifts occur in hoop dance as people begin to experience themselves in a new way. Taking on the challenge of teaching their bodies something new and succeeding at it has a powerful effect on people, especially when it is something as beautiful as hoop dance. I experienced a huge increase in my creative self-expression as I saw through hoop dance that I was capable of doing something creative. I began to believe that I was a creative being! My entire mental attitude shifted. I also felt more powerful and self-confident. The physical strengthening of the body's core, which is the personal power center of the energetic body, has a positive effect on our mental attitude, as we begin to see ourselves as powerful, creative beings. Increased chi can be used to blow through mental and creative blocks.

Hoop dance has an amazing effect on the emotions. It's very challenging to be upset when you are hoop dancing! Hoop dance allows you to get present, to get into your body and enjoy being there, and often difficult emotions can be moved through and cleared more easily, allowing for a new perspective on the situation that brought up the difficult emotions in the first place! Lower emotional states, like depression, are positively impacted by the increase in physical activity from hoop dance. The mental shifts brought about through hoop dance also positively effect the emotions, because when our mental attitude shifts, our emotions follow.

Hoop dance can be used in any spiritual practice as a meditation and self-reflection tool. Dancing with a hoop can take the dancer into a trance-like state, creating a moving meditation. Hoop dance can become an ecstatic dance! Feelings of bliss and joy wash over the dancer and a sense of connectedness occurs. Working with a hoop as a self-reflection tool can show us how we are being in the world, because how we are with learning hoop dance is often how we are in the rest of our lives. The hoop can be a teacher, showing us our blocks, our gifts, our divinity! Our interactions when playing with other hoop dancers and performers will also teach us about ourselves and our fellow human beings -- about communication, trust, honoring the self and others, fear, generosity, compassion and love.

I have learned so much in my journey with the hoop -- more than I ever imagined I would from something that at first simply seemed to be fun! It is this aspect of hoop dance that makes it such a powerful influence on wellbeing -- it draws you in with fun, with joy, laughter and child-like innocence -- and then takes you on a journey to greater wellbeing!

--
Rayna, a.k.a. Hoopnotica, has been hoopnotizing crowds with her sensual hoop dancing for 4 years. Hoop dancing has opened up a whole new world of creativity and self-expression for Rayna, inspiring her to share the joy and magic of hooping. Rayna's mesmerizing, delicious, sensual style has dropped jaws at events such as the Cirque du Soleil KA premiere party in Las Vegas, NYE '04 at the D.A.S.K. Grand Re-Opening of the Historic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, Cirque du Soleil's 20th Anniversary party in Montreal, Cirque du Soleil Varekai premiere parties (San Francisco and New York), the Winter Music Conference in Miami, NYE at the House of Blues, Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Exotic Erotic Ball, and many others. Rayna teaches hoop dance in Hollywood, CA. She also creates beautiful Hoopnotic Hoops - custom hand made adult size hoops for dance. For more information, go to: http://www.hoopnotichoopdance.com