Spin the Bottle Circling: an authentic relating workshop exploring desire in connection

Name: Spin the Bottle Circling: an authentic relating workshop exploring desire in connection
Start: 2026-02-14T12:00:00-08:00
End: 2026-02-14T16:00:00-08:00
Location: Awakenings Wellness Center

Schedule

Sat Feb 14 2026 at 12:00 pm to 04:00 pm

UTC-08:00

Location

Awakenings Wellness Center | Portland, OR

Join the Deep Play Institute on Valentine's Day to explore eros, desire, love – in connection.
Eros can be thought of as animating life force, pulling us towards someone or thing. The desire of eros is sometimes sexual, but almost always also implicates constellations of moods, roles, archetypes. For example, I can desire: care, creativity, firmness, safety, sensuality, affirmation, truth, connection, etc. This workshop will involve us opening ourselves up to feel these desires. Specifically our desires related to other individuals attending this workshop. The intention is to let ourselves feel what we desire from/with another, and to look at those desires and explore them intentionally as we feel them. We may consensually "act" on some of these desires, which will most likely look like: speaking words of affection, giving a hug, perhaps a tender embrace, or things of this sort. Why do all of this? Because desire is so incredibly interesting, and multifaceted, and beautiful and if we give it room to breathe we get to explore its endless sacred mysteries. And because it's Valentine's Day!
The workshop will begin with an opening circle and safety agreements. Then we'll play a handful of authentic relating and sociometric games that will warm us up for the main game "Spin the Bottle Circling", a Circling "offshoot" invented at the Philly Deep Play Institute's Circling Intensive in May of 2025. And then close the workshop with some integration and reflection. For those new to Circling, you can read more about it here, but essentially Circling is a here and now practice where you talk about what is happening while it is happening. Some people aptly describe it as a relational meditation which involves deepening into authenticity, presence and connection.
The basics of Spin the Bottle Circling are as follows. A large outer circle of participants is formed. And a slightly modified form of circling begins within this main outer circle - but essentially we start by just talking about what is happening as its happening. Then, at any point, an individual can either move to the center of the circle, or express an interest for another participant to come to the center. Eventually (most likely within less than a minute) two participants will be seated in the center of the circle. At this point a 5 minute timer is set. The core task for these two participants is to speak about their desire in relation to the other. It's possible they may consensually act upon that desire (however, typically talking is the mainstay). After the 5 minute timer goes off, the outer circle may elect to extend the time for another 5 minutes if desired. Once the inner dyad have concluded their desire exploration, then the outer circle shares various feelings they felt in relation to the participants: projections, desires, distastes, hopes, loves, etc. And then the outer circling continues circling until another two people step into the center, and the game continues...
Please note: people of all relationship status are welcome and encouraged to come. Yes, the game is called Spin the Bottle but I really don't think any kissing is going to happen (I suppose it's possible though, but unlikely). All degrees of physical intimacy are encouraged (from "please don't even hold my hand" to "I love lap dances.") and the standard set for the workshop is consent regarding all acts of touch, intimacy and connection.
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Price: Tickets are sliding scale from $30-50.
https://www.deepplayinstitute.com/bottle.html
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedeepplayinstitute/2035171
About the Deep Play Institute The Deep Play Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to exploring life’s deepest questions through transformative play. DPI’s facilitators – therapists, artists, coaches, and philosophers – aim to use play to bring people into an experiential questioning of what it means to exist. Each program that DPI runs is a unique container, creatively constructed and inspired by practices that include: Gestalt therapy, Process Work, Psychodrama, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Tavistock Group Relations, Relational Psychoanalysis, Authentic Relating, Nonviolent Communication, Circling, coaching, performance art, contact improvisation, experimental theater, LARPs, surrealism, existential games, and various schools of meditation.
About the Facilitator: Aaron Finbloom is a philosopher, artist, therapist, and educator whose work aims to expand transformative inquiry through relational games, role play, performance art, and conversation scores. He co-founded The School of Making Thinking (SMT) and is the founder and director of The Deep Play Institute (DPI). His projects have been featured internationally at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Gallery 151 in New York, Maschinenhaus Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, UNAM in Mexico City, Performance Works Northwest in Portland, and MainLine Theatre in Montreal. Trained in Circling, Psychodrama, Buddhist Meditation, and Processwork, Aaron holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Concordia University in Montreal and teaches philosophy at the City College of New York. Learn more at www.finblooming.com.