Post Performance Bliss

On Sunday, October 26th, I had my first paid performance. It was at Journeys, a spiritual community at which my partner Tim plays music each Sunday. I was quite nervous going into the service and was not performing until the end. The community at Journeys is a group of wonderful, open-minded individuals who embraced our family from the first time Tim played there. I knew they would be receptive to my dance, so my anxiety was not so much about that, but more about not wanting to "let them down", or let myself down.

When I hoop, sometimes I'm just practicing, putting the pieces together...trying to learn new things. This type of hooping happens most often when I am able to attend Baxter's classes and in short spurts in the living room or at hoop jams. Mostly though, when I have the opportunity to hoop, I use it to express my inner most self. I tend to "loose" myself in the hoop. It feels almost like there is no separation between my hoop and myself. We are dancing as partners, but at times, perhaps for long periods of time, we become one dancer. It is at these moments that I feel what many hoopers call "Hoop Bliss". I feel like my true self at that moment and this was what I wanted to convey to my audience on Sunday.

I was not performing until the last song. Bill, the minister at Journeys, wanted to wait until the end so that the children could come in at that time and see me hoop as well. It made sense, but left me with a pit of nervousness in my stomach throughout the service. It felt reminiscent to my days in high school and college before a race at a swim meet. Finally, it was my time to perform. I said a few words about the hoop being a sacred circle to me and my gratitude to the Journeys community for all their love and support of our family. And I offered my dance in gratitude for this community of beautiful souls. As I got on stage, Tim and the band began playing "Into the Mystic" and my hoop and I began our dance. My nerves faded immediately and I only thought about the gratitude and love I felt for this community. I tried to express this in my dance. I wanted them to feel it through me. As the song ended and I finished, I was not quite sure what to do. Bill came up immediately and the members of Journeys applauded and then began to stand. I was overcome with humility. It was hard to lift my head, but when I did I could see that a number of people were crying. I felt even more gratitude and humbled that they would offer such thanks to me.

I am so honored that my first performance went so well. Talking with people after the service and hearing their reactions to my dance, and the band's song really was special. Knowing that they "got it", understood my message and appreciated it. I hooped from my heart and my message was heard. There is nothing more blissful than that.

How Fit Can You Get?

Although I generally talk about hooping as a release and meditative exercise, one definitely cannot dismiss the physical benefits of hooping. It is great for the body, mind and soul!! The following article was in TIME magazine on Feb. 07, 2008. I've copied it here and posted a link to the entire article which talks about other forms of "alternative" fitness. The woman in the photo is Rayna McInturf of Hoopnotica, a hooping company in California.

Photo: Hoopnotica Marina Del Rey, California

Robert Gallagher for TIME magazine

Pumping Up The Workout
By Elisabeth Salemme Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008
Exercise classes have come a long way since the days of step aerobics and Jazzercise. And in an effort to counter the crammed schedules and low motivation that millions of people use as excuses for not going to the gym, fitness gurus keep coming up with inventive ways to work out that promise to be enjoyable and effective for both tenderfeet and old hands. Here are three new techniques that have recently begun to catch on in health clubs around the country.

Hooping
The hula hoop, a backyard mainstay since the 1950s, has been drafted for gym duty--only now it's larger and heavier and requires more dexterity to maneuver. In classes set to music, exercisers learn a series of moves that, when combined, work a variety of muscles. "You get the whole body involved," says Rayna McInturf, founder of Los Angeles-based Hoopnotica, the largest adult-size-hoop retailer.
BENEFITS: Hooping adds fun to exercise, which means people are more likely to actually do it. "It takes you back to your childhood," says Dr. Cedric Bryant of the American Council on Exercise. "And for many people, their last positive experience with being physically active was in their childhood." Another plus: it works the body's core and can help participants burn more than 400 calories an hour.
RISKS: Like any exercise, hooping can be harmful if participants don't stretch properly.
AVAILABILITY: Though hooping studios are sprinkled throughout the country, it can be done anywhere...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1711118,00.html

A Mother's Freedom

I wrote this Blog on tribe.net on Mother's Day 2008. I decided to re-post it here because I know that so many of us who are mothers can understand the those moments when we long for "freedom" before we had children. I also know that I would not trade a day with my children for anything, even the rough days. My dear friend, another hooping mama, and one of the most bad ass hoopers around, Beth Lavinder, often uses the analogy of the oxygen masks on the airplane. You always secure yours first. The point being you must take care of yourself as a mom, as a woman, as a human being, before you can take care of others. Hooping though has provided me with a healthy way for my body and mind to have space and release from the stress of everyday life. It is my sacred space and I hold it as such.

Mother's Day 2008

All I wanted to do today on Mother's Day was to hoop. I had it all planned. Tim was taking Wynter to Journeys with him, so it was just River and me. River and I would head up to WSM, hoop it up and then go over to the community jam at the Town Commons. Looking at the weather last night, I realized Mother Nature had other plans in store for her family. It didn't matter much though, because I just knew that I was hooping today, no matter what. I just wanted/needed to feel that freedom of spinning endlessly with a familiar partner, friend, who is my faery protector, my lioness, circle of golden light. During the last few months in particular my hoop and hooping have been my saving graces. My hoop is a safe, sacred place and has an energy and "life" of its own. I have my own relationship with each hoop. The relationships are formed based on past hooping experiences. Each little dance creates a new memory and adds to the relationship. Hooping is often and expression of who I am and other times helps me find the way to expressing myself. Sometimes it is just an escape from the difficulties of daily life; gaining a little perspective or freedom.. Today it was all three.

Some of us met up at the Do Jhang in late afternoon for and impromptu jam, since everything else had been cancelled by the weather. I had thrown together a playlist (called of course Mother's Day playlist) thinking I was going to Beth's studio to hoop. Unfortunately, I didn't really go back through the list and check for transitions and make sure each song fit....so I found some weirdness and a few songs where I was like, "why did I put this on there". But mostly I felt this immense freedom having made the list and hooping to a lot of songs I really love. I hooped through the entire version of Nina Simone's "Sinner Man". One of my favorites, but over 10 minutes long. I did exercises to strengthen my legs, but that were repetitive so little thought was required and I could keep my head clear. And when Richie Havens' "Freedom" played, it felt as though he was singing for me, and I went off....remembering Shakori...and just feeling his words....and searching for and feeling some Freedom.

On my way back from the jam, I though a lot about freedom. My own personal freedom. How it has changed so much since having children. How I'm lucky that I have such a supportive partner, who takes care of the kids several times a week so I can go to class or jams, but what would it be like to be Ann or Baxter (whom I had just left), who didn't have to go home to children. I decided to stop at Open Eye Cafe for a Latte. A true treat. First of all, because I rarely go there anymore, and secondly because I could...I had no children with me. I walked in, ordered my drink and a muffin and began to look around. I watched the people there. Friends meeting, people working on computers, others reading books....I tried to remember the last time I was able to go and sit at a coffee shop...what a luxury.

It made me think back to Kansas City and my days as Jesuit Volunteer. I lived in coffee shops. Or when I use to go to Hell (a local CH bar) every afternoon from 5-7 for free pool and cheap beer. The last time I was there was when I was pregnant with Wynter. The coffee tasted awesome and driving on the country roads seemed freeing. Like when I was younger and we would just pick up and go on a road trip. Driving from state to state...from TX to AZ through Colorado and Kansas up through the Midwest....friggin everywhere...all jammed in van with camping gear....just doing anything and everything....hiking the Grand Canyon, white water rafting, camping god knows where... picnics in fields of blue bonnets with Joe The Dog frolicking endlessly. Good times. I wonder if I felt the freedom then. I know I did sometimes...mostly on road trips...and those were many.

All these thoughts today. Then as I got closer to home I thought about River and Wynter. It feels like they've always been here. I have these great memories (as well as some really bad ones) from my past. All these moments of "freedom" that I thought of and felt today.....the present feeling of freedom in the hoop and the feelings of freedom that I miss sometimes because I can't just drop everything and spontaneously drive across the country. But now I don't understand life without Wynter or River. It just doesn't make sense. While I understand that they were not physically present during my younger years, I've ALWAYS known them, they have always been with me somehow. So now although it gets overwhelming quite often and I feel this need to escape, I don't know freedom without them. I guess I never really have

Performance Anxiety

This coming Sunday will be my first paid performance and I am nervous as hell. I've performed before at a talent show and of course hooped in public more times than I can count, but this is different. I mean someone is paying me, ME, to hoop at a gathering for them! I'm excited, nervous, ready, and doubting myself all at the same time. I'll be hooping at Journeys, a spiritual community, which is incredibly warm and welcoming and understands that hooping is a spiritual art for me. This makes the setting much more comfortable. However, there is the feeling of not wanting to let Bill (the minister) down, not wanting to let the community down, and of course not wanting to mistakenly throw a hoop into the audience (that would be a bit embarrassing and potentially dangerous). So I'm spending the week practicing and gathering my confidence. Of course I can do this, and seriously there is not a better crowd in which to perform. This community has been so helpful to our family in many, many ways and are like family. So I practice, go inward and visualize success, look for guidance in my meditation and hoop practice and have faith that I will be all I know I can be. Wish me luck!!

Hooping and Community

When I first started going to Baxter’s class I was in search of a sense of community that I felt was lacking in my life. Beth had been encouraging me to come to class since its inception…but I was pregnant at the time and then spent the first seven months post partum trying to figure out my new role in life. Finally in the summer of 2006 I was able to start going. All of Beth’s comments about the amazing group of people in class were more than true.For me, first and foremost, when I think of a “hoop pather” I think of community…those who are looking to build a peaceful, harmonious community with the aid of the hoop. For me, Baxter’s stories have helped me build this community. Source>>>>