Hooping Through Life

 If you’re anything like me your mind is a virtual hooping vortex sometimes, constantly spinning all things into a hooping metaphor, example, or way of being. I can be in the most mundane setting and find a way to turn my thoughts about the situation into a hooping scenario. Do you find driving boring or a space full of endless frustration? My alone time in the car is inevitably spent becoming fully immersed in the music playing through my iPod and imagining myself hooping to the rhythms. I literally feel my adrenal rush as the music changes, knowing how I would fly my arms and hands during that moment in the song, feeling my legs want to bend and groove with each beat, all the while fully engaged with my ever spinning dance partner. And then whoosh, the song ends. Where there once was just a deep love of music, now is an enhanced, deeper fuller appreciation of movement, of dance, even if it is sometimes just in my mind. Are you hooping your way through life as well? One friend says she does the same thing. Another thinks I've fallen off the proverbial "hoop" rocker. Just wait until I tell you more.

Now my hoop roots are grounded deeply in the HoopPath, a teaching model created by Jonathan Baxter using mythological methodology to teach skills such as Touch or Samurai style hooping. While Baxter's myths stay close to my heart, the method of hooping comes out in, well, odd ways at times. For example, I’m out shopping - a task I abhor. Sometimes I imagine myself as a Warrior Hooper in the store, fiercely battling my way through the isles, dodging carts, hopping with magnificence across cans or clothes that have fallen in my path, my hoop always my partner in an epic war to get out quickly, with thrift, all the while maintaining quality. Despite the looks from other customers, it gets me through and I really think I am a better hooper for it.

Still don't believe me? Last summer while I trained for my second triathlon, hooping was still on my brain even as I moved through each sequence of events. While running I often found my arms inadvertently practicing breaks, paddles and reverses with an imaginary hoop. I'm sure I looked more like a dancer than a biker during my rides, and as a life long swimmer, the refuge in the water also became a place to find circles in each movement that I made.

In my every day life (aka, the most important part) I am a single mother of two energetic, astounding boys. Their creativity and thirst for life inspires me. At our last dwelling we had regular "dance parties" in the evenings, usually including hoops. The dancing was always a source of never ending laughter as we would attempt to see which of us could be the absolute silliest, causing belly flops and chortling from the others. Hooping was a lesson in patience, humor, fine and gross motor skills, and ultimately fun.

While we are now in a new setting, the antics continue, the form has just varied. My love for hooping and dance influences how I move around the house and interact with it and with them. Yesterday my youngest son, still in preschool, began telling a story in a whacky voice and my body moved wildly to his intonation. In my mind, I was flying my hands and dipping my legs as if in my hoop. To them I just was being their crazy mom. To all of us, it was hysterical fun. Whether we all know it or not my hooping bonds us in so many ways.

Yet it is even more deep-seated than simple musings in the car, wild dashings through a store or the beloved time with my children. What hooping has taught me, and what I still have to learn in its spinning lull, relate to most of my core beliefs about life. The hoop itself provides a natural physical boundary. It represents safety in the world. When I hoop, my thoughts, my dance, create a sacred space for me within that boundary. Represented in the hoop is wholeness, unity, a place to step in and begin to look for peace, internal and external. In my conversations with those not in the flow know I find myself holding back sometimes in conversation, from commenting in ways like, "Yes, the presidential election is just like hooping..." I know they will not always understand while my clothing choices alone usually let people know that I am a bit different from the mainstream. They know this without my going off on a philosophical tangent on the sacredness of circles.

For me hooping is engrained in almost every aspect of my life. Even when I am not in an active practice, hooping is actively in my life. Since my journey in the spin my hooping passion has helped me think outside the box, making every day life more interesting, making learning easier and making my teaching more efficient. It may not be normal for the rest of the world, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

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.