Poi is a gentle, rhythmic movement practice that supports emotional wellbeing. As an extension of your body, poi doesn’t doesn’t push, force, or demand. Instead, it invites you to tune in and move with intention. As a movement based mental health tool, poi fosters regulation, body awareness, and a felt sense of safety through gentle, predictable motion.
Try the Poi Meditation Challenge
Experience the benefits of poi with our Free Poi Meditation Challenge – five days of gentle movement delivered to your inbox. Each day includes a short poi meditation set to original music, a video from SpinPoi Founder Dr. Kate guiding you through the poi movement, and insights into the science and health benefits behind the practice. Click below to begin your journey.
Orbital Flow
Poi follows natural, circular patterns that encourage flow state—a deep focus that enhances creativity, happiness, and resilience. Entering flow helps protect against burnout, depression, and emotional fatigue.
Rhythmic
Poi’s is intrinsically rhythmic, and we know that rhythmic, repetitive movement can soothe the nervous system, support emotional regulation, and create a sense of calm.
Meditative
Poi acts as meditation in motion and is ideal for those who struggle with sitting still. Research shows meditative movement can lower anxiety, stress, and blood pressure, while improving mood and alleviating depression.
Sensory Integration
Poi naturally engages tactile, visual, auditory, and vestibular input. Being able to interpret and respond to sensory information is crucial for emotional regulation and understanding and interacting with the world around us.
Interoception
Interoception is the skill of sensing and interacting with signals from your body, and is often compromised in trauma survivors. Poi can strengthen this connection by rebuilding the understanding and recognition of physical sensations and body awareness.
Connection
Whether you’re spinning with a group, a friend, or joining the SpinPoi community online, poi supports social connection, shared joy, and a sense of belonging. These are protective factors against isolation, loneliness, and poor mental health.
Bottom-Up Approach
Poi helps support emotional regulation through a “bottom-up” approach: first understanding and recognizing physical sensations through the poi movement patterns, then utilizing that understanding to integrate and regulate emotions. This approach is particularly helpful when you’re in a highly anxious or dysregulated state, as your pre-frontal cortex (which plays a crucial role in regulating emotions) often goes offline. By tapping into what you feel in your body through poi movement, you can begin to calm your nervous system and reassure your body that it’s safe, thus creating space for your prefrontal cortex to come back into action.
Shortly after I started spinning I began to notice changes in my mood. I would find myself feeling positive about life. I no longer suffer from depression and my anxiety problems have greatly improved.
– Bryan Kroh
Poi has always been something I can lose myself in, and find myself in. It’s one of the most valuable tools I have to ground my emotions, distract from anxiety, and refocus myself – it’s a mental sanctuary.
– Neebha Budhoo
When I started spinning poi I noticed my thinking change to a more positive tone, and I felt my depression, stress and anxiety disappear. Poi helped build self confidence, not to mention all the exercise I’m getting on a regular basis.
– Erika Anderson
Try our short grounding routine to experience the calming effects of poi.
Ready to continue your practice?
Our Beginner Pack is the perfect place to grow your personal poi practice. Learn the building blocks of poi from the ground up and how to put them together into two flowing routines to music.
Inspired to share poi with others?
Join hundreds of SpinPoi Instructors across the globe who are turning movement into medicine. Our 6 week
Certified Instructor Training empowers you to empower your community. No previous experience with poi needed.
The PATH Program
The PATH (Poi Assisted Therapy) Program is an innovative, ACC-funded therapy service designed to support your journey toward healing from trauma. PATH is the first program in the world to utilize poi as a form of bilateral stimulation within EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
EMDR is a highly effective, internationally recognized trauma treatment that helps your brain and body gently reprocess distressing experiences so they can be stored in a more adaptive, healthy way. EMDR is powerful because healing happens through your brain’s natural processing, supported by bilateral stimulation (activating both sides of the brain in a rhythmic way). We are excited to offer this unique program in collaboration with Trauma Aid Aotearoa.