Spiral Goddess Collective events include Third Friday Rest, Restore, Renew: Yoga Mini-Retreat, Spiral Series Embodied Social Justice Workshops, Dance Fitness instructor Training Program, Annual Pumpkin Hill Retreat, and a variety of seasonal events (like New Moon Intention Setting) and other community events. We're always adding and innovating and we're happy to host your special event or to take requests!
MISSION INTUITION:
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The noise of everyday life... news, social media, TV, friends, family, work, internet rabbit holes...there are so many ways we are being influenced daily. We question what we know, what we think we know, and what we used to know!
Are you ready to join a group of open-minded, sensitive, knowing individuals who also want to focus on getting in touch with their intuition? We'll use exercises and games to access what we already have but may only trust a little now. There is no pressure, no judgment, just a community of people who want a safe and fun way to build, test, and practice their intuitive skills. Participants will learn the differences between mediumship and psychic ability, how to tune in more with the spirit world, how to receive messages clearly, and how to know who you are working with in the spirit world. Skill drills are done individually and with a partner. All levels are welcome. |
Rest, Restore, Renew:
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December 15, January 19Overwhelmed? Exhausted?
Giving too much of yourself to the care of others? 
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Sliding Scale $20 to $60The Spiral Series Workshops provide a unique approach to yoga and dance, healing modalities and embodied practices as well as an opportunity to go deeper into a specific topic and related practices. These workshops build upon Sarah Hentges's scholarly work as a PhD in American studies and a cultural critic and theorist—her research, writing, activism, and teaching. More about this work can be found on her Culture & Movement website.
Radical Careworkers, Jan 6 Embodied Social Justice, March 30 |
FUTURE OFFERINGSDates and More Information Coming Soon!
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Past Spiral Series Workshops Include:
November 5, 2022: Rest, Relax, Renew: Practice Restorative Yoga, Myofascial Release, and Meditation and learn how to let yourself be supported, and how to support yourself, literally and figuratively.
December 3, 2022: Embodied Resilience: Learn embodied techniques that help to calm and regulate the nervous system, navigate the challenges of life and work, and enable you to work toward the causes that are important to you without burning out.
March 18, 2023: Woman Warriors: In recognition of Women’s History Month, a yoga workshop focused on learning more about warrior poses with inspiration from history and pop culture. We tap into cultural narratives, archetypes, and icons to find our own inner strength and resilience.
April 15, 2023: Tarot for Transformation & Liberation: Learn about the social justice history and contemporary practices of Tarot and Oracle cards. Workshop includes embodied practices.
June 18 and July 15, 2023: Queer Yoga/Yoga Outside the Box: a trauma-informed yoga and movement workshop that celebrates queer artists, identities, and community and radical acceptance of self and others. We queer yoga, challenge binaries, and reclaim the whole self through embodied movement.
Future Workshops Include:
Radical Self & Community Care: Learn about the radical QTBIPOC roots of self-care and healing justice as well as a variety of techniques to enhance (or establish) your self-care routine. This workshop is not about mimosas and pedicures, it is about shedding cultural narratives about productivity and the importance of taking care of ourselves so that we can better take care of our community.
Belly Dance for Empowerment & Transformation
“To perform belly dancing, it does not matter whether a woman is young or old, fat or thin, socially integrated or marginal. Belly dancing is not a competition—competing is not part of its nature. This dance form is more than just a dance. Only a woman’s life experience and sensuality can lend it both meaning and true depth."
“Amid the jungle of confusing women’s images, belly dancing can help women in the search for their own identity, as women and as human beings.”
“Through the movements of belly dancing, a woman expresses her courage to love and to live. Knowing that the very same movements she is making have been performed by women since time began gives her faith and self-confidence.”
–Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
This workshop provides an opportunity to learn basic movements from belly dancing toward empowerment, healing, and transformation. Belly dance offers a way of connecting to ourselves and to each other, and in this spirit, this workshop is open to children as a way of connecting across generations.* In addition to instruction in belly dance movements, participants will learn about the deeper meaning and purpose of belly dancing and the ways that it can be used toward empowerment.
Belly dance is an ancient form of movement with roots in a variety of cultures; it is a “dance of integration” that “embraces diversity.” Traditionally belly dancing was not about performing; it was used as a shared form of personal, collective, and cultural expression. It was something practiced among groups of women and passed down from generation to generation. This is the spirit that we embrace as we shake, shimmy, and spiral in the sacred space of The Spiral Goddess Collective.
*Teens and young adults are more than welcome! Children are welcome to participate as long as they are accompanied by an adult and able to give their full attention to the activities.
Aging Well—Movement for Freedom and Longevity: As we age, we find ourselves struggling to do the things that we used to be able to do. We become physically and mentally disabled. This is nothing to be ashamed of! It is also something that we cannot prevent, but we can take measures to retain quality of life and independence as long as possible. This workshop is aimed at connecting across generations in order to destigmatize aging while learning simple tools that can help us to navigate the effects of aging at every stage of our lives. This is an in-person event, so we have to climb the stairs… as slowly as we need to! Upon request, we will also offer a Zoom version of this event.
November 5, 2022: Rest, Relax, Renew: Practice Restorative Yoga, Myofascial Release, and Meditation and learn how to let yourself be supported, and how to support yourself, literally and figuratively.
December 3, 2022: Embodied Resilience: Learn embodied techniques that help to calm and regulate the nervous system, navigate the challenges of life and work, and enable you to work toward the causes that are important to you without burning out.
March 18, 2023: Woman Warriors: In recognition of Women’s History Month, a yoga workshop focused on learning more about warrior poses with inspiration from history and pop culture. We tap into cultural narratives, archetypes, and icons to find our own inner strength and resilience.
April 15, 2023: Tarot for Transformation & Liberation: Learn about the social justice history and contemporary practices of Tarot and Oracle cards. Workshop includes embodied practices.
June 18 and July 15, 2023: Queer Yoga/Yoga Outside the Box: a trauma-informed yoga and movement workshop that celebrates queer artists, identities, and community and radical acceptance of self and others. We queer yoga, challenge binaries, and reclaim the whole self through embodied movement.
Future Workshops Include:
Radical Self & Community Care: Learn about the radical QTBIPOC roots of self-care and healing justice as well as a variety of techniques to enhance (or establish) your self-care routine. This workshop is not about mimosas and pedicures, it is about shedding cultural narratives about productivity and the importance of taking care of ourselves so that we can better take care of our community.
Belly Dance for Empowerment & Transformation
“To perform belly dancing, it does not matter whether a woman is young or old, fat or thin, socially integrated or marginal. Belly dancing is not a competition—competing is not part of its nature. This dance form is more than just a dance. Only a woman’s life experience and sensuality can lend it both meaning and true depth."
“Amid the jungle of confusing women’s images, belly dancing can help women in the search for their own identity, as women and as human beings.”
“Through the movements of belly dancing, a woman expresses her courage to love and to live. Knowing that the very same movements she is making have been performed by women since time began gives her faith and self-confidence.”
–Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
This workshop provides an opportunity to learn basic movements from belly dancing toward empowerment, healing, and transformation. Belly dance offers a way of connecting to ourselves and to each other, and in this spirit, this workshop is open to children as a way of connecting across generations.* In addition to instruction in belly dance movements, participants will learn about the deeper meaning and purpose of belly dancing and the ways that it can be used toward empowerment.
Belly dance is an ancient form of movement with roots in a variety of cultures; it is a “dance of integration” that “embraces diversity.” Traditionally belly dancing was not about performing; it was used as a shared form of personal, collective, and cultural expression. It was something practiced among groups of women and passed down from generation to generation. This is the spirit that we embrace as we shake, shimmy, and spiral in the sacred space of The Spiral Goddess Collective.
*Teens and young adults are more than welcome! Children are welcome to participate as long as they are accompanied by an adult and able to give their full attention to the activities.
Aging Well—Movement for Freedom and Longevity: As we age, we find ourselves struggling to do the things that we used to be able to do. We become physically and mentally disabled. This is nothing to be ashamed of! It is also something that we cannot prevent, but we can take measures to retain quality of life and independence as long as possible. This workshop is aimed at connecting across generations in order to destigmatize aging while learning simple tools that can help us to navigate the effects of aging at every stage of our lives. This is an in-person event, so we have to climb the stairs… as slowly as we need to! Upon request, we will also offer a Zoom version of this event.
PAST SPECIAL EVENTS
Fitness Instructor Training Program
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This dance fitness instructor training strives to empower you with the tools to create and teach “free-style” dance fitness classes, drawing from any dance form (hip-hop, belly dance, burlesque, modern, jazz, etc.). In this teacher training you will learn the basics of working with music, creating and cueing choreography, structuring classes, and delivering a safe, effective, empowering workout. While the focus is on dance, these skills are adaptable to other styles of choreographed fitness teaching like kickboxing.
“… no freedom without dancing.”
~Janelle Monáe, The 10 Droid Commandments
“If I can't dance - I don't want to be part of your revolution.”
~Emma Goldman (1869-1914)
“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance.”
~Hans Bos quoted in The Crescent Moon, 1995
“To perform belly dancing, it does not matter whether a woman is young or old, fat or thin, socially integrated or marginal. Belly dancing is not a competition—competing is not part of its nature. This dance form is more than just a dance. Only a woman’s life experience and sensuality can lend it both meaning and true depth.”
~Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
“Now I walk in rhythmic patterns
Count beats to beat match the measures of
Old school pop with urban street hip-hop
And adjust my pulse accordingly”
~ "This DJ," By Shaden Tavakoli (Lady Sha)
“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance.”
~Gabrielle Roth, creator of 5 Rhythms
“The formula is simple: submission to the music, allowing it to guide and direct, equals dancing.”
~Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS TRAINING:
In this workshop, we will learn all of the elements, skills, and tools that go into creating a dance fitness experience in a variety of settings. Specifically, we will learn how to:
In addition to learning these skills, this training is a great opportunity to connect with other people who love to dance and to have fun!
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While no dance experience is necessary, some experience with at least one form of dance or dance fitness is helpful. This training is open to everyone (including high school students) and can lead to a potentially lucrative side hustle or resume-builder.
Between sessions, instructors-in-training will have homework as they build their skills. At the end of the trainings, participants will have the opportunity to audition to enter a mentorship program at The Spiral Goddess Collective to complete their training and teach classes at The SGC.
All participants will receive a certificate of completion and can also choose to pursue teaching opportunities at a variety of locations.
“… no freedom without dancing.”
~Janelle Monáe, The 10 Droid Commandments
“If I can't dance - I don't want to be part of your revolution.”
~Emma Goldman (1869-1914)
“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance.”
~Hans Bos quoted in The Crescent Moon, 1995
“To perform belly dancing, it does not matter whether a woman is young or old, fat or thin, socially integrated or marginal. Belly dancing is not a competition—competing is not part of its nature. This dance form is more than just a dance. Only a woman’s life experience and sensuality can lend it both meaning and true depth.”
~Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
“Now I walk in rhythmic patterns
Count beats to beat match the measures of
Old school pop with urban street hip-hop
And adjust my pulse accordingly”
~ "This DJ," By Shaden Tavakoli (Lady Sha)
“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that, energy, waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance.”
~Gabrielle Roth, creator of 5 Rhythms
“The formula is simple: submission to the music, allowing it to guide and direct, equals dancing.”
~Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS TRAINING:
In this workshop, we will learn all of the elements, skills, and tools that go into creating a dance fitness experience in a variety of settings. Specifically, we will learn how to:
- Select music that provides inspiration for purposeful movement
- Count beats and phrases of music and recognize song structure
- Create both basic combinations and song-specific choreography using different kinds of movement
- Structure a class by combining songs and setting goals
- Deliver choreography through a variety of cueing techniques
- Provide a safe, effective, and inclusive fitness dance class/movement experience for a variety of populations (with further training, you might focus on a particular population like children, adults with disabilities, older adults, teens, etc.)
- Be an inspiring, confident, knowledgeable leader.
- Build a toolbox—the trade, tricks, and tools as well as the means for continuing education
In addition to learning these skills, this training is a great opportunity to connect with other people who love to dance and to have fun!
*
While no dance experience is necessary, some experience with at least one form of dance or dance fitness is helpful. This training is open to everyone (including high school students) and can lead to a potentially lucrative side hustle or resume-builder.
Between sessions, instructors-in-training will have homework as they build their skills. At the end of the trainings, participants will have the opportunity to audition to enter a mentorship program at The Spiral Goddess Collective to complete their training and teach classes at The SGC.
All participants will receive a certificate of completion and can also choose to pursue teaching opportunities at a variety of locations.
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At last year’s Pumpkin Hill Retreat Sarah was just about to open The Spiral Goddess Collective, a Center for Mind/Body Movement. We discussed this business venture and vision for a community center focused on joy in movement and accessible healing arts. This year we’ll celebrate the one year anniversary and participate in a variety of rejuvenating activities including slow flow yoga, guided meditation with Robin Aston, oracle card explorations, and our usual potluck feast.
This is a pay-what-you-can event. Proceeds go to The Spiral Goddess Collective Care Fund scholarship program. |
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Each person deserves to move through the world with a sense of safety, love, and connection. However, many of us have lost that experience because of trauma and the cumulative stress of adult responsibilities. Through the study and practice of yoga nidra, we discover the ability to create somatic, embodied experiences of safety and other positive feeling tones. This is called asraya, translated from Sanskrit as sanctuary or refuge.
This Mini Retreat is open to everyone. You don’t need to be a meditation expert or experienced yogi to join. If you have fallen asleep, you have all the skills needed for yoga nidra! The Inner Refuge Mini Retreat is organized into a learning session, followed by a group practice. First, participants will learn about the mind/body connection that makes this traditional practice possible. The guide will share examples of an Inner Refuge and the essential components of building your own Inner Refuge. Then, participants will tap into their own creativity and wisdom to create a unique Inner Refuge. After a short break, participants will be guided through gentle stretching and into a yoga nidra meditation practice. The yoga nidra practice moves through a body scan, pranayama (breath work), and guided visualization where participants become fully immersed in their Inner Refuge to experience the benefits of deep rest and relaxation. To close the mini retreat, participants are invited to share and ask questions. Yoga nidra is practiced laying down or in a supported reclining position. Mats and props are available in the studio. Participants are invited to bring their own blanket, pillow, and/or eye mask for extra comfort. Please wear comfortable clothing and you might like to layer cozy socks or a sweater during the practice. (Many people feel colder as they rest in stillness and the nervous system slows down.) |
Inner Refuge Mini Yoga Nidra Retreat:
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After Spiral Flow Yoga, we have a special event with Sadichchha Dallakoti who will be sharing her cultural heritage with us through the art of henna (yoga 10 to 11:30; Henna 11:30-1:00).
Sadi is from Nepal and came to the U.S. in 2017 to study. She now works in Bangor as a registered nurse in Bangor. Henna is “used for beauty, good luck, preserving traditional customs and social bonding.” We are so grateful to Sadi for sharing this practice with the Spiral Goddess Collective! |
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Transformational Healing with Summer Sunderland: Journey Toward Inner Wholeness, Freedom, and Aliveness!
Tuesday, from 7 to 9 pm
May 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
4 week series $123
Full and Partial Scholarships available
Are you on an inner healing journey? Are you looking for help to take your journey to the next level? To safely dive deeper into your shadows and tender places? To be supported as you walk through inner fires you know you need to cross through to get to greater freedom and aliveness? Are you looking for a community to share the journey with others committed to their inner healing and transformation too? Are you looking for guidance on your path without one-size-fits-all cookie cutter approaches? Guidance that honors your inner wisdom for your unique path and honors that we all need support in order to heal, grow, and thrive?
When we reach new levels in our healing journeys, we need new skills for the next level. Join Summer Sunderland for this 4-week workshop as we explore inner healing, self-discovery, and transformation.
This 4-weekTransformational Healing workshop will incorporate practices of embodiment, spirituality, mindfulness, and shadow work—techniques that help us to connect with our intuition and wisdom. We will play with core elements that help us go beyond coping to access genuine inner transformation. We will move beyond mental health into holistic healing. This kind of work is an ongoing journey, so we won’t wrap it all up in 4 weeks, but you will find guidance and support and you will move forward in your journey.
Through this workshop you will:
Pdf flier for Transformational Healing
Tuesday, from 7 to 9 pm
May 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
4 week series $123
Full and Partial Scholarships available
Are you on an inner healing journey? Are you looking for help to take your journey to the next level? To safely dive deeper into your shadows and tender places? To be supported as you walk through inner fires you know you need to cross through to get to greater freedom and aliveness? Are you looking for a community to share the journey with others committed to their inner healing and transformation too? Are you looking for guidance on your path without one-size-fits-all cookie cutter approaches? Guidance that honors your inner wisdom for your unique path and honors that we all need support in order to heal, grow, and thrive?
When we reach new levels in our healing journeys, we need new skills for the next level. Join Summer Sunderland for this 4-week workshop as we explore inner healing, self-discovery, and transformation.
This 4-weekTransformational Healing workshop will incorporate practices of embodiment, spirituality, mindfulness, and shadow work—techniques that help us to connect with our intuition and wisdom. We will play with core elements that help us go beyond coping to access genuine inner transformation. We will move beyond mental health into holistic healing. This kind of work is an ongoing journey, so we won’t wrap it all up in 4 weeks, but you will find guidance and support and you will move forward in your journey.
Through this workshop you will:
- Explore more layers of yourself, your power, and your true essence.
- Discover more self-awareness, greater empowerment, and increased confidence.
- Learn skills for our deeper layers through shadow work—facing those aspects of ourselves that we suppress, reject, or deny because we deem these things bad, ugly, dark, or inadequate.
- Move toward greater wholeness and aliveness, experiencing some genuine inner shifts.
- Release what isn’t really you: conditioning, old pain energy, whatever no longer serves you, enabling you to move forward.
- Embrace more of what is really you: aspects of yourself that have gotten pushed down/repressed/hidden.
Pdf flier for Transformational Healing
Yoga Mini-Retreat for Therapists and Mental Health Practitioners (May 2023) & Teachers and Educators (June 2023)
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Guided by: Rori Knott, LCPC, RYT
w/ assistance from Sarah Hentges, Ph.D., RYT-200 Our community of teachers and educators has given so much over the past several years; the ripple effects of the pandemic linger in our bodies, minds, and memories. We have been present for our students, but have we been taking care of ourselves? We invite you to step aside from stress and overwhelm and to consider beginning a regular practice that allows movement towards thriving. We aim to honor teachers and educators through an experience of calming, comforting, soothing yoga movements and restorative postures that will enhance resilience, open the heart, and bring ease to the mind, body, and spirit. Can you be present for yourself for these few moments? Can you offer yourself an opportunity for relief? pdf flier for Restorative Yoga Mini-Retreat for Teachers and Educators |
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Special Saturday Annual Pumpkin Hill Yoga Retreat
Get Embodied: Rest, Restore, Renew
Pay What You Can Fundraiser ~ Raised $240 for The Spiral Goddess Collective Care Fund
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Breathing Space Yoga Retreat
Saturday, September 24, 2022 10 am to 3 pm We all spend a lot of time in our heads and it can be easy to not be in our bodies, especially in a culture that encourages disembodiment and values the mind over the body. Further, our culture devalues rest and encourages us to work in overdrive. At this year’s yoga retreat we will explore embodiment, connecting the mind/body/spirit and emphasizing the importance of rest for overall renewal and restoration of our nervous systems and our whole being. The yoga practice will be gentle and suitable for all levels and no experience with yoga is required. |
Grand Opening Special Event
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This special JourneyDance Grand Opening Event is offered as a fundraiser for The Spiral Goddess Collective Care Fund. It is a tribute to The Spiral Goddess--the archetype, the woman warrior, the world-builder, the care-giver, the namesake of our Collective and Center for Mind/Body Movement--to all of the women who work all day and try to find time to play. To all of the women who give so much of themselves that they sometimes forget to take care of themselves.
The playlist for this class features music from Beyonce, Lizzo, Patti Smith, Ibeyi, Janelle Monae, be steadwell, Ani DiFranco, Lizzy Jeff, and Valerie June--all diverse embodiments of The Spiral Goddess. This class is offered first and foremost for my friend, Tessa P, who has supported me and danced with me when I needed her most and who lives too far away to dance with me regularly. She is in town for just a few days and I must share JourneyDance with her ... and what better way to celebrate a grand opening?! Tessa's art has graced my campus office for years and now it will find its permanent home at The Spiral Goddess Collective, a Center for Mind/Body Movement, as a part of the curated collection of fierce feminist art. |
Featured October Event:
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ARTober: Collective Halloween Celebration
Saturday, October 29 7:00 to 9:00 pm Join us from 7:00 to 8:00 for Tarot Card Readings with Evangeline White, Mediumship Gallery Readings with Alex Gilgan, and guided Oracle Card Self-Exploration with Sarah Hentges. From 8:00 to 9:00 pm Dance Dance Party Party with a Halloween-themed playlist. Costumes are optional. Let your freak flag fly! |
