Monthly events include First Friday Free Dance, Third Saturday Spiral Series Workshops, and Fourth Friday Healing Circle as well as 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!
Transformational Healing &
Yoga Mini-Retreat for Therapists and Mental Health Practitioners
Restorative Yoga Mini-Retreat
for Teachers and Educators Guided by: Rori Knott, LCPC, RYT w/ assistance from Sarah Hentges, Ph.D., RYT-200 Friday, June 23 from 4:30 to 6:30 Please pay what you can $15-$45 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 |
Downtown Bangor
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Fourth Friday
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Third Saturday
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The Third Saturday 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.
2023 Spiral Series Workshops: Embodied Social Justice
June 17: Queer Yoga/Yoga Outside the Box: In recognition of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, 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.
July 15: 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 in the fall.
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.
2023 Spiral Series Workshops: Embodied Social Justice
June 17: Queer Yoga/Yoga Outside the Box: In recognition of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, 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.
July 15: 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 in the fall.
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.
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.
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.
PAST SPECIAL EVENTS

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
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! |