The Power Of Dance

There are times when words can not adequately express all that is happening in my personal world and the world at large.  This is one of those times.  I chose instead to "hoop it out", dancing to reclaim my personal power and freeing myself from some powerful emotions that were dominating my current situation.  I hooped continuously for over an hour to this song, "Minds Without Fear"by Imogen Heap, recording as I did because I found it so powerful and connected to it deeply.  I know very little about editing videos, but took about three or four pieces of the hoop session and put them together to create this one video.  It is a sample of my overall experience, clearing my mind, expressing myself, and empowering myself again.

Thank you for watching.

If you can not view the video, please go to www.havenhoopdance.com to see the entire post.

A Portrait of Cally Chavez

Meet Cally Chavez. A single mother, hooper and healer from Cheyenne, Wyoming, who took a leap with full force in November 2010 and turned her many passions into her full time career. It was at this point, almost a year ago, that Cally says she found herself, “stepping out of a place of fear to follow my heart and dreams”. She opened Creative Healing Studios which encompasses a store front to sell Cally’s art, knitting, massage oils and sugar scrubs. There’s a middle office where she offers massage and sound therapy (using tibetan singing bowls), as well as a back studio where she creates her artwork. knitting, and makes her hoops. Cally has been hooping for three years and teaching hoop dance for two, but admits that she became very serious about her teaching in the past six months. All of these arts coalesce to fulfill Cally’s dream at Creative Healing, and this year she was even able to take her massage therapy to the Return to Roots Hoop Gathering. Cally says, “Merging massage with hooping at Return to Roots Festival was awesome, but it has really come full circle with merging hooping with my art.”

Vedauwoo is an area of rocky outcrops located in south-eastern Wyoming, between Cheyenne and Laramie. Its name is an anglicized version of the Arapaho Native American word “bito’o'wu” meaning “earth-born”. Known for it’s distinctive natural beauty and sacred mystery, with history literally stretching back thousands of years, Cally often used this landscape, brimming with natural divinity, as she worked with great intention on her first collection of artwork; a dozen paintings of hoopers. While Vedauwoo provided huge boulders, caves, and in the evenings the voices of Native Americans singing for added inspiration while she stenciled and painted, she would listen to her own music, hoop and become in tune with her surroundings as part of her creative process. Cally’s time painting at Vedauwoo as part of her creation of 12 paintings, resulted in these artistic expressions of her connection to the hooping community. “Hooping has inspired me and made me so much better. The connection to spirit and the therapy that happens through hooping… This is my way to put it down and let people know how much it means to me.”

"Hoopers Heaven" - a painting by Cally Chavez

While Cally has been creating art for as long as she can remember, her dozen hooper pantings are the first collection she has ever done in her portfolio. These stencil and graffiti style pieces have been surfacing and circulating throughout Facebook and are receiving high acclaim. In fact, to this date, Cally has already sold half her collection. “It’s really just a testament to how embracing and supportive the hoop community is,” she said in her continually gracious manner. Cally originally had been doing similar style painting for the local roller derby team, The Cheyenne Capibulls, when she thought, “Why am I not painting hoopers?” So she gathered some photographs and obtained permission from the hoopers in the images and went to work. You can view her full collection here.

Cally created a video before putting the finishing touches on these 12 paintings. In similar fashion to her approach on so much of life, Cally entitled the video “Gratitude”. She commented, “I put everything that I have gotten back from this community into these paintings.” And the lyrics of the song [Chico Gospel by MaMuse (on iTunes)] speak so strongly to Cally and her work when MaMuse sings, “I am walking on this earth stronger than ever.”

What is next for Cally of WYO Hoops For Life? She is clearly ready to start more paintings and continue on this path, always celebrating the hooping community along her way. “Hooping has enriched my life and made it possible to connect to people on such a large scale. I had no idea that going into this lifestyle that I would be so ‘rich’ as a result.”

Turning the Music Off

There is a line in the Dar Williams song “As Cool As I Am”, where Dar is speaking to the man she is with, who is in turn ogling a drunk woman dancing in the bar: Dar sings, “And as long as she’s got noise, she’s fine. But I could teach her how to dance when the musics ended.” I’ve always loved that line and felt a deep connection with it. In reality though, I didn’t try the practice of hooping without music for a very long time. Sure I would drill and mess around with my hoop without tunes, but a real practice session, with full body in movement, arms in flight, legs dancing, full expression, without my ipod? No Way!

This past spring, as I began to settle into my new home in Michigan, my hoop practice began to transition, as I was also transitioning from Carrboro, North Carolina, to the Detroit Metro area. Picture this: out in front of our house a relatively, loud, busy road, but in the back a serene stream running into a small, quiet lake, with just a handful of other houses on it, and large trees surrounding it all. Gorgeous right? I couldn’t help but just hoop and soak in my surroundings the first time I picked up my hoop here, music seemed almost an offense.

Thus began my practice of hooping to the natural rhythms of my environment and I have to tell you, it is an enriching experience both within the hoop and looking within myself. So how do you start this type of practice? Well, truly everyone is different and what worked for me, may not resonate with you, but I do want to share my experience to help get you started and stir up your own creative process for this exercise.

First as I start my practice, I follow my breath while doing a light exercise, like rolling the hoop on my arms/hands or gentle core hooping. Then I begin gently swaying with the hoop until I can start to let go of what I brought into the session, becoming more mindful of the here and now. Give yourself plenty of time to relax into the exercise and fully release what does not serve you. If you have done mindfulness exercises before, utilize what you have learned and incorporate them into your hooping.

Next focus on one sense, for me at this point it is sound. I will listen to the sounds around me and find the natural rhythms and music that are occurring in my environment. These organic noises provide a basis to begin your hoop practice. Often you discover things you would have never heard had you not intently listened, perhaps crickets, frogs or birds, wind chimes from several houses away, a dog barking, traffic, sirens, the sounds the trees make as they blow in the wind, the possibilities are limitless. The rhythms and music created by nature and our environment allow new movements within your hoop that are unique to your own life and experience.


Then I will move into another sense, usually touch.  How does the hoop feel as I moved it around my body? What is the sensation of the tubing/tape on my skin? How do the earth/floor and my feet work together? Am I grounded or feeling like I am tripping myself up? Can I be more balanced? What does the breeze, sun, rain, (if indoors) lights, air conditioning, feel like on my skin?  How is the temperature of my skin changing how the hoop is moving across my body?  Be aware of all of these things and how they influence your body and the hoop.  Notice what works in your hoopdance as you move throughout the practice.  These are helpful clues to take with you into a practice filled with music of a different kind.

In this way you can move from sense to sense.  Examining your body’s reaction to the sense and how it may (or may not) cause the hoop to react as well.  Does what you see, taste, or smell have any influence over you as you move with the hoop?  Does an unpleasant smell cause your body to tighten and therefore the hoop to respond in kind?  What about getting lost in the sight of something beautiful?  Again note how your response with the hoop varies as you play with your senses.  Find things that will enhance your overall experience with your hoop.

The information we receive from our senses is undeniably valuable. We rely on this knowledge to navigate our daily lives.  What valuable tool our 5 senses can be also when we tune into them for our hoop practice!  Ann Humphreys, of the Hoop Path, had this recent experience with hooping music-free, “For the 3rd time in my life, circumstance (iPod had failed to load somehow) I was forced to hoop without music…and something wonderful happened: I started listening to my hoop in an altogether new way– the rough sound as the tattered tape slid across my palms, the light slap of the hoop as it moved on my core– and I found this music quite beautiful.”

So, my friends, shall we all hoop as if the music has ended and see what happens? Will it open a new doorway for your hooping journey or just be deafeningly quiet?  I can’t wait to hear what happens!

Break Free from Your Hooping Rut

Last week I performed at a retirement home for a group of delightful men and women, who were more than generous with compliments at the end of the hour long set.  One beautiful woman even approached me to say, “Honey, I am an artist and that was wonderful.  Now I am going to go to my room and paint you.” I was humbled. Their praise left me feeling comfortable and satisfied that I had done my job of providing them with an afternoon of entertainment, but on a deeper, personal level I was disappointed.

Throughout the set I felt like I performed the same moves repeatedly and was unable to get out of this pattern. I found myself thinking too much while hooping and not enjoying what I was doing. The smile plastered on my face was purely for the audience, but inside I was struggling to find different ways to move with my hoop, my dance partner. Ugh, I was in a hooping rut, but what was I going to do about it?

When I came home my hoop sister, Lauren Currier, and I began brainstorming ways to move forward and I’m here to tell you that they really work. Here are our top ten ways to turn a hooping rut into a hooping channel for further growth and movement.

1. Hoop! Don’t give up. One of the first things many of us are inclined to do when in a rut is to put the hoop down and walk away. Don’t do it! Pick your hoop up, embrace it, and have confidence that this is just temporary and you will move through it. Then follow some (or all) of these other tips.

2. Remember you are not alone.  In my 9+ years of hooping I never met a hooper who did not at some point find themselves stuck in a hooping rut. You are not alone! You will get through this!

3. Change your music. Often something as simple as changing your music to a slightly different, or perhaps dramatically different, genre will effect the way you dance with your hoop and produce openings in your hooping you did not know were possible.

4. Drill, drill and then drill some more.  Work on things you are already do well and refine the movement.  Spend part of you hoop practice drilling a specific technique over and over and over again, bringing your attention to each part of the process. What are my feet doing, my breath, my hands, shoulders, my head, etc.? Be very aware. There is no such thing as perfection, so you can always improve and develop new skills. Drilling is often the time when breakthroughs arrive.

5. Hoop in your non-dominant direction (second current).  It is important to stay balanced on both sides of your body, but often hoopers forget to hoop in their second current.  Spend a song, or entire hoop session working in your second current.  Hoop on your waist, shoulders, legs, or anywhere on your core in second current and see what opens up.  Likewise with off body hooping, switch hands so that you are hooping with your dominant and non-dominant hand. This type of focus balances your body and range of skills.

6. Hoop blindfolded. Baxter of the HoopPath introduced this method of hooping “blind” years ago and it has caught on for a reason.  When you are blindfolded there are no distractions from the outside world, allowing the hooper to go deeper into his/her own practice and work on the intricacies of their movements with the hoop, as well as have a more meditative practice. When one sense of the body of the body is removed other senses become heightened, allowing you to connect with your hoop in new ways.

7. Hoop with other people.  The energy that is created when people get together to hoop is bound to put a smile on your face.  Hooping with others creates an opportunity to learn to skills, build community, and share your hoop knowledge.

8. Find a class.  If you live in an area with local classes, sign up for one!  This is great way to learn new ways of moving within the hoop that can help you climb out of your rut.  If classes aren’t possible, look at the 281 free online tutorials here on Hooping.org that can also teach you and add to your library of moves.

9. Teach someone else! Whether you are teaching someone else how to waist hoop or a more advanced skill, teaching others is a valuable way to realize how far you have come. Giving back to the community can help you break moves down in simple steps that may improve your own hooping.  Teaching others often will open up your own hooping to new movements and improve your current repertoire and skill set.

10. Do something creative outside the hoop.  Write, bake, paint, draw, sing, play an instrument, dance without your hoop, and the list goes on! Opening your creative channels in other areas can foster a positive influence on your hooping when you step back into the circle. So whether you hoop then take a break to do another creative exercise, then hoop again, or set the hoop down for a day and create in a whole new way, just remember to keep creating, holding a space for your unique potential. Creativity breeds creativity.

The Dog Park

I chose this video because it is a dance all about simplicity, one of the four tenants of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and because I made it for my Dad, without whom I would have never gone to the dog park and had this experience to write about.  Thank you Dad.  (If you can't not view the video please go to www.havenhoopdance.com to see the blog in full)

In the Fall of 1993 I began a journey that lasted three years and changed my life in profound, indescribable ways.  I had joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC).  The first year was spent volunteering as a counselor in a battered women's shelter, living simply in community with 6 other volunteers on a small stipend in a poor, precarious neighborhood in Kansas City, MO, all while sharing our various ideas about spirituality.  Needless to say, my mind was BLOWN!  I spent the next two years on the staff of the JVC in Houston, TX trying to help others obtain a similar experience by working as a volunteer coordinator and development director.  These years were formidable to so many of my ideas regarding social justice and spirituality, but what persisted the most was a longing for community to share these values and ideas.  My search began.

As I moved from Houston to Chapel Hill, NC I searched for this feeling of community for which my spirit longed, but found that in a transitional, college town great friends would come into my life, leave their lasting impression and often friendship, but their corporeal bodies would move on to the next stage of their lives.  I was not looking to live in intentional community again and had not found a spiritual community that resonated with my own spiritual searching.  I just needed a place to call "home" every once in awhile.

Then in the summer of 2002, I saw Vivian "Spiral" dancing with her hoop on the Weaver Street Market lawn.  I was entranced by every movement and the look of pure joy on her face.  As I watched, with every ounce of my being, I knew I must gather the courage to talk to her, because I had to learn this skill.  Within a month or so, I took a class on the Weaver St. Market lawn taught by Spiral and Julia Hartsell, and bought my first hoop that day.  In the beginning, I was a solo hooper, drilling endlessly to gain strength in the front yard of my house.  I would come out to Weaver St. for live music and hoop with the few others who were regulars back then, Beth Lavinder and her daughter Erica, Jonathan Baxter, Vivian, and Julia, but with age and having said so many goodbyes I had become more introverted.

Then with much prodding from Beth, about six months after having my first child I came to my first HoopPath class, taught by Jonathan Livingston Baxter (aka Bax/Baxter).  Beth had been telling me about them for about a year, but I had been pregnant (and hooping, but not quite up for a class), then on bed rest, and finally an all-consumed first time mom.  Of all the memories from that first class, my clearest and most defining, came as Baxter played the cool down song.  My dance slowed down to match my heart rate and my thoughts, and then came the flood of tears.  I was remembering who I was before I became a mom.  The dance elicited the feelings and ideas that I could be, I WAS, more than just a mom.  I was a WHOLE person.  Of course I was mortified to be crying in front of a group of "strangers", but most of them being mothers, or women, or seekers understood without words having to be spoken.  I left that Monday and rarely missed a class for the next several years.

The HoopPath became a community for me in unexpected, often boundless ways.  And the greater hooping community across the country and the world has surprised me countless times in their support for one another, the ability for the Internet to connect people and foster often deep friendships across seemingly finite borders and lines.  All because of the joy that a circle of variable weight, color and size, spun in a variety of fashions, brings to each of us.  I knew I had found it... "The Golden Ticket"... if you will. How many times had I really thought, "If everyone picked up a hoop, the world would be happier."  Oh my arrogance.  Thankfully, this life is full of bright, meaningful lessons tied in beautiful packages... not just hard lessons.

Last week my parents went out of town and left there pride and joy in my care, a beautiful, kooky yellow lab named "Rocky".  Rocky is still quite the pup and needs a good deal of exercise every day.  Each morning he jumps happily in the minivan for his daily jaunt to the dog park.  Rocky has many dog friends at the park, some he plays rough with, others he runs and tugs on sticks or ropes with, and some he just walks with as the owners take a "loop" around the extremely gorgeous, fenced in area.  My dad assured me that he would introduce me to the regulars before leaving, and that they would "take care of me", as Rocky can on occasion cause some mischief.

As the week progress and I quickly became absorbed with the routine at the dog park, I found myself in awe of these 5-7 regulars that joined up each morning at the same time to walk the perimeter of the dog park several times, lavish attention on each others dogs, listen attentively to one another, make gently sarcastic jokes with each other, and genuinely care about each person and their animal.  If someone was missing, it was noticed and concern was shown.  They all knew about each others lives and formed their own community around something they cared about deeply.  Now perhaps that is not what they would call it, but my time there brought to mind so clearly how I have felt when spending time with hooping friends.

Then yesterday, I took Rocky again to the dog park.  I was so excited to go, after missing a few days since my parents return.  One of my favorite regulars, Sue, a retired school teacher with the brightest disposition and two amazing dogs to match, was there, but her car was clearly damaged as she pulled into the park.  "Well," she said, nonchalant as ever, "I had a stroke over the weekend."  We were all stunned and immediately concerned.  "Its just my lesson to slow down and only do the important, non-stressful things.  Hey, that's why I'm here.  I mean what could be better than this place right? Isn't it a beautiful day?  What a great place to be."  And she started calling the dogs over one by one as she told us the story of her long weekend.  Then we walked the perimeter of the dog park.

Anyone who knows me, understands my deep love for hooping and the hoop community, but WOW have my blinders been BLOWN off.  I of course recognized that there were other communities out there: spiritual communities, intentional communities, sporting communities, gaming communities etc etc etc.  I  have to ask myself, "Did  I think there was only one community for me?  Am I that limited that I can not share myself amongst several groups."... of course not. But then what has held me back, ignorance, fear, introversion?  Pondering for another blog I suppose, but for now, I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned at the dog park.

Sanctuary

During the past month, as I have moved through, within, around and often stood stagnantly in this transition from my home in the hooping “mecca” of Carrboro, NC to the Detroit Metro Area of Michigan,  I have been spent the least amount of time in my hoop in years. My once 5-6 day a week practice has dwindled, at best to once a week, primarily because of logistics.  The three times I have hooped I’ve found my heart lighter, my mood lifted significantly, and a connection back to something deeper and greater than myself.

For many, I’d even venture to say, for most, what is created inside the hoop is healing, powerful, personal and many times communal.  Over my almost 9 years of hooping I have heard story after story of transformation and continual growth that began the day someone picked up a hoop or saw someone hooping.  I know this is true for me.  It is difficult to try to explain this to those unfamiliar with flow arts, or who have not found that connection with something powerful in life.  So I wanted to share two stories, neither mine, but both far more powerful than what I could write.  

The first “story” is actually a comment written about a video I made over 3 1/2 years ago when I was pregnant with my second child.  This comment still deeply affects me and lives close to my heart.  It reminds me that power lies in each movement, act, word spoken and everyday we each influence one another, often in small ways, sometimes without ever knowing it, and other times irrevocably .

“When my sister became pregnant against her will at 16 she struggled to find a way to heal her spirit and accept the beauty of life. She watched this video over and over again. She picked up a hoop and created a circle of love and acceptance around herself and the blessed life with which she had been gifted. You were able to show her the way. We all thank you for sharing your Love with us.”

The second story is from a dear friend,  whom I have been talking to regularly as she is finding her way back into the hoop during a period of healing.  She wrote to me recently  sharing with me that this was not the first time she has sought hooping for the purposes of healing.  Her prose, her story, her courage are so powerful I requested to use it verbatim in this blog, changing her name to protect her privacy. 

 I’ve given her the name “Willow”, always bending gracefully with the wind, even when it harshly blows, but never breaking.

Willow’s Story:

"i remember the first time i saw them. they were outside and mostly barefoot, women moving within their sacred symbols. i felt so drawn to them, to their energy, to their sacred circles, but i also remember thinking, i could never be like them, i could never do that...i could never move my body in that way, so free, so archetypal, even provocative...

All my scars would be showing, and besides, i would be "asking for it", i guess in the same way a five year old little girl "asks for it”...

but that was all before i know what i know now. that was back when i had no safe place, and nightmares ran my life, awake and asleep. memories of my dad and my uncles, their hands on me, their bodies on me in ways they shouldn't be...

images of them beating my mom, holding her down, having their way with her. beating the dogs until they stopped crying out. pounding them in the face. my face. i was a haunted woman, a lost little ghost.

Then i saw a poster at my gym, about hoop classes. for many weeks i would pass by the poster on purpose, but i never went to the class. finally, for mystical reasons i still am thankful for but still don't understand, i went to the class, and there began a journey that changed the way i move, the way i think, the way i relate to others...

i fell in love with my hoop. it surrounded me. it surrounded me. it surrounded me. it defined the space around me, drawing a line around and around and around me until i understood that there was a space i could claim, into which others could not come uninvited. it protected me. it danced with me, a gentle partner, understanding when i had had enough, waiting nearby and patient when i cried. rocking me when i cried within its arms. soothing me when i was still and quiet within her encircling arms.

At the same time, the hooped worked a strange and seemingly opposite magic. it connected me to a community of other holy dancers, other seekers. i wasn't such a lonely little ghost anymore. i always felt different because of my history, never felt like i fit in. i could never figure out where to put myself, where to be. but somehow in the hoop, we are all one. it joins us to a place in time before we all subdivided into races and genders and people with problems and people with and without money and all the other ways we categorize ourselves and each other. If you ever see many people hooping together, you will be mesmerized by the unique expression of each person's energy. and you will also be mesmerized by the collective energy, the affirmation of community. So finally, i belonged somewhere -- inside of my hoop, and i belonged to something, the hooping community. "

Moving Forward

Two weeks ago on Sunday afternoon, while trying to begin packing my “life” into boxes  I found myself curled in a ball on my bathroom floor, heart pounding, gasping for air, as rivers of tears poured from my eyes.  I literally felt like my eyeballs might fall out. I know gross, right?  But that was the intense, fierce nature of these tears, mixed with the gut wrenching fear and my incapacity for breath.  My rational mind told me to calm down and that this was all just some kind of panic attack, something I had never really experienced in this way before.  Knowing I was having some severe anxiety induced reaction, was only mildly helpful.  The rest led to severe negative self talk, “You are a fucking mess!  Who does this? If you can’t even handle this, how will you make it through this move?”.  “Look at what is happening in Japan, Bonnie and you are upset about this? Think about (insert name) and all he/she is going through”  This talk went on for quite some time, before I began to use all I had learned in my Buddhist practice on mindful breathing, and chanted a mantra which I am particularly fond.


Eventually, my rational mind won out and I was able to control my breathing and regain some composure. Through the help of my friend, Melissa’s, open ear and soothing voice I was able to let go of the delusions of enormity, I had created in my head about myself, this move, and just packing itself.  I pulled myself together enough to get out of the house and go for a short run, just before needing to go teach class.  While running, I contemplated deeply, how I could possibly teach in this emotional state.  I kept repeating the mantra while running and tried to keep my mind clear.  After all I had taught on many Tuesday nights and Sunday afternoons/evenings in the face of adversity and it ALWAYS (a word I hardly ever use) turned out well.  


I pulled up to Chestnut Ridge Camp, 10 minutes late, and frustrated with myself for not being early to class.  My students, though, greeted me with hugs and smiles and the eight of them had already started hooping outside in the warm sunshine without me.  We moved class under one of the pavilions, the music began to play and my hoop encircled me and a whole body stillness washed over me.  Peace, community, love, oneness, openness, life, breathe, truth.... each for moments at a time, overlapping, all at once.  As it does each and every time, class filled me to the brim, and when it was done I thought, “There is no way my students get as much out of this as I do.  I am the luckiest person in the world.”  The current had changed. The day completely shifted because of a hooper and dear friend, because of my mindfulness practice, because of the hoop, because of my students.  


After class that night I made a video for all of my NC community, many of whom hoop, almost all of whom know me as a hooper.  I chose the song “Landslide”, by Fleetwood Mac because the lyrics so clearly spoke to my time in the hoop in NC and with the HoopPath community in particular.  But it also, spoke to all those who have supported me so graciously throughout many hardships over the last 3 years in particular.  These lyrics in particular pull at my heart strings each time I hear them:

       “I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down


Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?


Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm getting older too”


Leaving North Carolina feels impossibly hard, but I know it is just the next step in growth.  As India.Arie so wisely states, “Look what I have found. I’ve found Strength, Courage and Wisdom, its been inside of me all along.”  


Until we meet again (very soon), Namaste’.




If you can not view the video below please view the entire post at www.havenhoopdance.com.

The Invisible String

"When One tugs at a single thing in Nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."


John Muir (1838 - 1914)






Yesterday was a beautiful North Carolina day, filled with sun,  perfectly broken up with intermittent peaceful clouds and a warm breeze to end February superbly.  My five year old, Wynter, and I spent the afternoon outside playing while his younger brother napped.     Wynter rode his bike, played in the dirt, found interesting rocks, and we both (with our respective cameras) took pictures of the miraculous blooms and flowers surrounding our quaint house.  A great afternoon for any five year old boy and his mom, but this one had an extra twist that made it even more remarkable.


Wynter began a conversation with me somewhere in the middle of the fun that went something like this, “Mama, what is God?”.  This is not the first time we have had a conversation about God, but I answered differently this time.


“Well, what do you think God is Wyn?”, I replied.


“I don’t know.”, he said, “Tell me Mama.”  “It’s a hard question buddy, but I think God is in all living things.”, I answered.  He was quiet for a bit looking at our dog Jordan, the plants around us, many in bloom on this last day of February.  


“What does God look like Mom?” was the next question and I just thought... 
'wow, he’s not letting up with the tough questions is he.. I love this boy.'  Again I turned the question back to him, “Tell me what you think about when you think of God.  What do you think God might look like?”  Wynter swayed from side to side, pondering the question and then said definitively, “ God is an invisible string that connects us all to one another.”

My heart swelled with a mother’s love for my beautiful boy.  He went on to describe God as the invisible string, “God then could connect all the plants and animals and people... the whole earth.  And even when we were far away from each other it would be ok because we would still be connected.” I looked at Wynter, his dark hair with gentle curls, soft face, and deep soulful eyes and said, “ I like that,” then I half teased, “do you suppose God is like fishing line string?”  He smiled, “ I do like to fishing.  Yeah, maybe God is just like that!”


We continued to talk about God, the many names of God, our connection to all living things, if you could get tangled up in the invisible string, and a plethora of other topics of a spiritual nature for quite a while during River’s nap.  Then we each took our cameras, exploring the possibilities that nature had offered through new blossoms bursting through, all connected to us by The Invisible String.  It was a miraculously peaceful afternoon.

The idea of The Invisible String has stuck with me HARD since our conversation.  It is so poignant to what is happening in the boys and my life right now.  As we prepare for a big transition out of a community we know and love dearly, leaving every day routine and familiarity, friends, and local haunts, there is great comfort in the knowledge that we will be surrounded not only by family, but also The Invisible String.  There is solace in this awareness that The Invisible String connects me with all living things.  This connection can not be severed because it is forged in the ultimate love.  I can move forward knowing that, while I say goodbye with a heavy heart, I am hopeful because of the existence of The Invisible String. 

Remembering Carl

Carl Anthony Williams
2/25/61-12/22/03

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
~~Edward Everett Hale


 My dear friend Sean volunteered in Africa and connected deeply with a young child there.  He has shared many stories, pictures, and videos of his time with Ibu.  His recollections and feelings about this time with Ibu have stirred some of my own memories of various life event including my year volunteering in a battered women's shelter in KC,MO and 3 year old "L" with whom I shared a great bond, and today Sean's story of Ibu brought back a memories from my own childhood, of Carl Williams, one of the most influential people in my life.

 I met Carl when I was about 4 or 5. These are my memories as I recall them... the memories of a child at that age. I am sure my time lines are off some, but they don't really matter, what matters is the story, the feelings,  and most importantly the impact one person can have on the life of another.

It was my first year at football camp.  My mom was cooking all the meals for the team and we (the three daughters) went up to camp that year and subsequent years to "help".  I remember being terrified of these HUGE men (really just teenage boys), but to a young child, GIGANTIC football players who could crush me if they chose to.  Each year there were a select few (generally about three) trainers who came along as well.  They were usually female and were skilled in treating injuries etc.  Myself and the other coaches daughters often clung to them, when we weren't off paddle boating, catching frogs, playing with my beloved dog Cheer, or helping in the kitchen.  In between these time, during open swim, and at night the players were around and I was fearful.

Then I met Carl.  He was by my standards, a mammoth sized man, his beautiful dark skin and large muscles towering over me, with a nice sized afro,  all larger than life.  I was playing with little plastic race cars that came from the Captain Crunch box.  You would blow up the balloon attached and the cars would go swiftly across the picnic table.  I felt like a nobody amongst these "adults", and Carl sat down with me and asked if he could race cars with me.  The simplest, kindest gesture and suddenly I mattered.  We became instant friends, for a lifetime.

After camp I missed Carl tremendously.  I could not wait until I would see him again.  I can't remember which one of us wrote the other first, but I do remember the glorious day when my mom came home from school with the most magnificent handmade card I had ever seen and it was for me.  Carl had thought that I was special enough to make such a lovely card, and it even said so on the the front " For My Special Friend Bonnie".  The flower on the cover was made of brilliant colors of yard and he even put a little, plastic man with moustache on the bottom because I had talked about how his moustache tickled when he hugged me.  I am flooded with the awareness I had at that moment that I was loved, acknowledged and important as a human being.  Sitting on my parents large bed, staring in my mother's mirror that spanned the length of her dresser, I saw myself and her and told her, " Mom, I wish that Carl was my big brother. "  "Well," she said matter-of-factly, "why don't you ask him to be?"  Really? It could be that easy? Would he say yes?  I got to work immediately on my letter back to him.

It was soon decided that we were indeed family and it did not take long before I started calling his mom, Mom Williams, and his dad, Dad Williams.  His sister Linda, was my sister as was his brother Mark and little sister Michele (Mickey).  Carl came to my swim meets, my first communion, he was my confirmation sponsor, but what I remember most is meeting him off the football field each week, win or lose, for my post-game hug.  He was always there with love in his heart, regardless of excitement of the win or disappointment of a loss, to give a little girl  the hug she waited for all week long.  My most memorable hug came during a game where Carl got injured and had to be assisted off the field.  At the same time, my mom was taking me to the ER for an ear infection.  Sobbing both from the pain in my ear and from the fear of what had potentially happened to Carl, we met near the bus in the parking lot.  Carl had the trainers let go of his arms and balanced heroically on his one good leg, bent over and picked me up to give me the best hug of my life, reassuring me that it was all going to be OK.  These are the moments that help shape our lives. 

Carl speaking at Football Camp my freshman or sophomore year in HS

While we kept in touch through most of our lives, there is no happy ending to this story, which is perhaps why I have not been able to talk about it much.  I don't have many regrets in my life, mostly because I don't believe they are helpful.  However it haunts me that I didn't make it to Carl's funeral after he was murdered.  My sister was there and sent my love to my "second family".  I listened to her with bated breath as she told me of all the former Shrine players who came back for the funeral, the words they spoke about Carl, the love that filled the room for him, and I grieved.  And each year around Christmas I promise myself that I will write a letter to Mom Williams and tell her all of this, but I never do.  I don't know what holds me back... my grief, the disbelief, fear, shame; probably all of these things.  Today, though after hearing my friend Sean talk about Ibu, I had to write about Carl.  I had to let him and others know, that these connections we make with children, with people who often need it the most.... these connections do make a difference, often the difference of a lifetime. 


So maybe today reach out to someone and share your hoop and hope that it gives them that moment of joy.  Look the homeless person in the eye when you pass them by in the street and say "Hello".  Smile at a child, your neighbor, your barista.  The simplest act can form a bond that changes lives, and at the very least it may change someones outlook for that moment.  We all have it within our power to change a life for the better and therefore change the world.  What's holding you back?


Thank you Carl.  I love you Brother.  This dance is for you.


If you can't view the video please go to www.havenhoopdance.com to see the entire blog.

American Council on Exercise Reveals Findings on Hula Hooping Workouts

 

 

Fitness Industry Leader, with University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Examines Efficacy of Hula Hooping Fitness Trend

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council on Exercise, America's leading authority on fitness and the largest nonprofit fitness certification, education and training organization in the world, today announced exclusive study findings that conclude hula hooping workouts offer substantial and positive results.  With no scientific literature to support the fitness benefits of hooping, the Council commissioned a team from the exercise and health program at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, led by Jordan Holthusen, M.S., and John Porcari, Ph.D., to test whether the modernized workout version of hula hooping provides effective calorie-burning and cardiovascular benefits. Hooping has become an increasingly popular fitness trend that is being integrated into Pilates, yoga and dance classes nationwide.

"With the evolution of hooping over recent years to become a nationwide exercise trend, we felt it was important to evaluate hooping's efficacy as a regular fitness regimen component," says ACE's Chief Science Officer, Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D.  "The findings from our commissioned study indicate that hooping delivers a total-body workout that can improve flexibility and balance while strengthening the back, abdominal, arm and leg muscles."

Hooping, which is thought to have originally been discovered in Ancient Egypt and Greece thousands of years ago when hoops were created from grapevines, is based on the hula hoops that gained popularity in the U.S. during the 1950s.  The primary differentiators with today's fitness hoops include a larger diameter, ranging from 37 to 45 inches, and weighted hoops, ranging from one to four pounds.  These modifications enable exercisers to rotate the hoops around the body more slowly, allowing for extended workouts that may result in a higher calorie burn.

For this study, the researchers recruited 16 healthy women between the ages of 16 and 59, all of whom were intermediate- to advanced-level hoopers.  Participants completed two practice sessions prior to a test that consisted of using a 35-minute hooping workout developed by Mary Pulak, founder of the Hooked on Hooping exercise studio in Green Bay, Wisc.  Once test subjects were comfortable with the choreography, which included seven different routines, each wore a portable oxygen analyzer and a Polar® heart rate monitor to measure oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and recorded heart rate (HR), respectively.  As the subjects hooped along to the exercise DVD at their own pace and using a weighted hoop, HR and VO2 were measured at one-minute intervals throughout the 30-minute workout while individual ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), based on the Borg Scale, were surveyed every five minutes.

At the conclusion of the test, researchers found hooping burns an average of 210 calories during a 30-minute hooping workout (approximately 420 calories per hour), which is comparable to the exertion of boot camp-style classes, step aerobics and cardio kickboxing.  The average HR was 151 beats per minute, which is equivalent to 84 percent of the age-predicted HRmax for the average subject.  Further, the RPE average was rated as "somewhat hard" on the Borg Scale.

"Not only can hooping workouts result in improved cardiovascular health, muscle conditioning, flexibility and balance, but hoopers may also enjoy a fun, relaxing and potentially meditative effect due to the activity's rhythmic nature," Bryant adds.

A complete study summary can be found on ACE's Get Fit™ website, located at www.acefitness.org/getfit/research.aspx.

About the American Council on Exercise

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), America's premier fitness education, certification and training organization, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting Americans against unsafe and ineffective fitness products and instruction. ACE sponsors university-based exercise science research and is the world's largest nonprofit fitness certifying organization. For more information on ACE and its programs, call (800) 825-3636 or log onto the ACE website at www.acefitness.org

SOURCE American Council on Exercise

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Moving through January

This being human is a guesthouse.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out
for some new delight . . .

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~~Rumi

January was one of the longest months that I can remember. I found myself continually saying, “Really? It’s still January.” The month in it’s opposition seems to linger, leaving a residual hollow sound echoing in my ear.  Each day brought new challenges to health, family life, and the basic “securities” that help move the days along smoothly.

I stopped hooping for most of January finding little time for such a “frivolous” activity. I was busy taking care of my boys, my health, errands, and hoping for rest in between. The ice storm that hit our area cancelled my hoop classes, providing even less time for me to hoop, even while teaching. I could feel my body calling to the hoop, but I literally could not find the time to pick it up.

As the month S L O W L Y progressed, my health took on a new unexplained twist, and my family, in their infinite generosity, stepped in to help. My sisters took time off of work to care for my children. My parents drove the long haul from MI to NC so my children could stay with them for almost two weeks of grandparent fun. I was blessed by the most amazing gift anyone can give... time. I slept for hours upon hours, I picked up my hoop, was able to go to two local hoop jams, and wrote my workshop for the SnowFlow Festival in Louisville.

The last weekend of January I found myself breathing deeply ,attending kirtan chanting, hooping with intense focus, forcing myself get out in the beautiful NC weather and run run run, writing my SnowFlow workshop, meditating, spending time at weaver street and people watching, and smiling BIG. I finally felt like I would make it through January and that February would be FABULOUS!

The first weekend in February brought the first annual SnowFlow Festival, held in Louisville, KY. SnowFlow offered 10 classes in various flow arts, my class titled “Expression of Hoopdance”. I was happily surprised that it sold out at 40 people, the biggest class I had taught so far in my hoop dance teaching experience. The time my family had provided allowed me to regain my momentum, prepare for the workshop, build my hoop practice back up, and to fully engage in the experience of the weekend.

I am continually amazed at the graciousness of the people I encounter. My family is the obvious example, but SnowFlow Fest reminded me of my love for the flow arts (and friends) community. All weekend I was greeted with kindness, taught with respect, and appreciated as a teacher. We were greeted Friday night by two side-splitting, soulful, beautiful women, kRi and hettie (www.mcbmusic.com) who graced us with their music. Their song “Guest House” touched me deeply, especially given my experience in January, and my need to move through things rather than hang tight to the unpleasantness. February is here, “let it in, love it, let it go”.

If you are unable to view the following video please go to www. havenhoopdance.com to view the blog and video in its entirety