Hooping as a Tool for Meditation

Why do you hoop? For fun, fitness or as a way to release your mind from everyday worries that hinder you from staying in the present moment? There is no right answer to this question. Over the years I have found that at different times I have hooped for all of these reasons. In fact, sometimes all of them simultaneously. What keeps me coming back into the hoop, though, is the peace I encounter with each spin.  For me it becomes a type of movement meditation unlike any I have experienced before. I become lost in cradle of the hoop’s touch as it rolls around my body. My mind sinks into a place where there are no thoughts but the present moment. I am in a state of mindfulness throughout the hoop session, and feel refreshed and calm when I am done. Sure I have frustrating times within the hoop, but when my goal is meditation, the hoop works wonders as a tool for this end. So how do you find this tranquility in your hoop practice? Here are some tips:

1. Find a quiet, serene place to hoop. Location can be everything when attempting use hooping as a form of meditation. Rather than hooping in crowded, loud venue, look for a softer place perhaps in a more natural setting. For many of us, nature allows us to begin to relax the moment we are fixed upon it. If this is not your inclination or possible then find the place that most calls to you as a comfortable environment.

2. Breathe. Allow yourself the opportunity to breathe deeply and with intention. Hear your breath and take note of it. Breathe from your belly rather than just from your chest. If needed, place your hand on your stomach to feel the inhalation and exhalation of each breath as it enters and leaves your body. Throughout your hoop session, take time to notice how you are breathing and if there is a mindfulness to it.

3.Begin your hoop practice with a slow, deliberate warm-up. Perhaps start with moving without your hoops, stretching, or slow movement within your hoop. Be aware of your body and how it is responding. Does it feel tight, sore or limited in any capacity? Use this time to scope out your environment. Are you able to move freely? Center yourself in your body and take as long as you need to find that place that feels comfortable to begin spinning in your hoop.

4. Use intention when making your playlist or hoop in silence. (Turning the Music Off) Whatever you choose, music or focusing on the sounds surrounding you, bring intention into it. If using music, I recommend finding a playlist that matches the mental space you hope to obtain in your hoop practice. During your warm-up start with something slow that matches the pace needed. Build upon that with songs that will motivate you to stay in the present moment, and leaving the daily worries behind. If a song doesn’t resonate with you at a particular moment don’t be afraid to skip over it and move on to the next one.

5. Don’t be afraid to drill. Often times we think that a hooping meditation session is not a good time to work on drilling a certain skill. On the contrary, this can be one of the best times to work on drills, as long as you practice patience with yourself and allow yourself to be present. Constant drilling on one skill can become a meditative movement in itself. Working on angles for example, sure you’re breaking a sweat and it’s hard, but your mind is present to what is happening and the repetition often creates a space for us to let go and stay mindful of the task at hand. The key is patience with yourself and not allowing frustration to enter into the picture and stay with you. Staying frustrated takes us out of the present and keeps us in a different state. Instead try acknowledging the feeling of frustration and letting it go.

6. Just dance. Sometimes all that is needed in a hoop practice is to dance, allowing the hoop to fully engage becoming our partner in the spin. Have you had those moments where you are so lost in the rhythm that you aren’t sure if you are controlling the hoop or the hoop is controlling you? You are one in the flow and it feels perfect. These are the moments when the “hoop bliss” we so often hear about arrives. It often surprises us when we are just dancing with our hoop. Not concerned what anyone else thinks, not concerned about learning a new trick, but just living in the moment and dancing for ourselves. This is often when we can truly find ourselves in a state of movement meditation within the hoop. Present to only the here and now and full of joy.

One of my students once told me that “When I’m hooping I can’t have a to do list going on in my head.” This has stuck with me for years and I use it in classes periodically. She expresses so clearly what many people feel. My hoop is a place for me to clear my head and go for refuge. With so many people telling their stories of healing within the hoop, I can’t imagine that I am alone with these thoughts and feelings. I am curious about yours. I invite you to take this time to share your experience of presence or presents offered through hooping. I can’t wait to hear!

Inaugural Hoop Class at Ladies Fitness and Wellness

Last night was the inaugural (wonderful word given the time of year) hoop class at Ladies Fitness and Wellness. We had an awesome time! In attendance, were 21 beautiful women, each with their own rhythms and movements to bring to the hoop. We spent the majority of the class working on basic core hooping at the waist, as most of the women had not picked up a hoop since childhood, if ever. It was fantastic to see each person find their own connection, struggles, bliss and more within the space of the hoop and the studio.

One of the things that I love about hooping is that anyone can do it. I mean anyone. In the HoopPath, http://www.hooppath.com there is a concept that Baxter talks about as a sort of fundemental to hooping. This is the "Belief, Strength, Grace" concept. It is true in hooping as it is in life (I'm finding most things are). One must first have the belief that they can do something, in hooping that they can accomplish "a move". The belief is the essence to all else, once it is established then comes building the strength. In reference to last night's class for some this strength means continuing to work just on increasing the amount of "flight time" (time spent with in the hoop) on the waist, for others it may be becoming fluent in both currents, and others it may just be having the stregth to pick the hoop back up each time it falls and sustain the belief that it will stay up longer and longer the more you try. Grace comes later, with fluidity of movement and thought. Last night was beautiful watching others begin to find their way into this dance.

I look forward to seing what next week brings for this group of hoopers and for me as an instructor. I am reminded of a the parenting philosphy that we are using, reminding us that we should be happy when our kids make mistakes or do something "wrong" because these are the learning moments that will last a lifetime. Isn't this true for all of us? We are each climbing up this mountain at our own pace, taking time to enjoy the beauty surrounding us, perhaps falling back a bit, but always working toward that acension that will make us better hoopers and better people.

Owning a "Move"

photo from www.mandalahoops.com

Over the last several years as hooping has become more mainstream, or perhaps as the number of hoopers on tribe.net has increased, there has on occasion been a thread written about the idea of hoop moves and ownership. For example, was there truly someone out there that was the first person to do an isolation, a barrel roll, a sky/earth angle etc. I've always struggled with this idea of ownership or firsts for many reasons. The main reason being that the hoop is an ancient tool/toy that can be dated to 1000BC in Egypt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooping) .That being said can we really be so arrogant to think that in all these thousands of years no one else has been creative enough to come up with the hooping moves of today? There are also circus performers, gymnasts and others who have used the hoop in current times, and all though they may not be a part of the flow arts, they certainly have played with and used hoops enough to have explored many of the techniques we currently use.

So that is the soapbox I have sat on for many, many months....years even.

The last month or so is where the self exploration begins. Several months ago, perhaps it was even back in late summer, I can't remember time has played tricks with me this past year; I was at a Weds. night class at the DoJhang. Baxter was having us work on two tree technique, specifically moving our feet. Something I've been doing for along time is accentuating my foot movements, pretending almost to be a ballerina, in my desire to really "dance" as I hoop. I've never had an formal dance training, but I was your typical little girl who closed her bedroom door, turned up the music and danced her ass off in solitude. I never really grew out of that, or out of the idea of being a dancer. Hooping has allowed me to play with that dream.

As the class went on Bax mentioned that as your balance got better you could begin to "draw" with you feet like Bonnie was doing. It felt good to be noticed. I know that we all like feedback in his classes as we joke about it from time to time. In my daily practice I continued this style of dance as I had been. Unfortunately the economy was getting worse and worse and gas kept increasing, and hard decisions needed to be made. So I decided to take some time off from class and my general trips into town. It was just too expensive and we really needed to keep a tight budget.

After a couple months, I resumed classes again and Baxter was teaching this method of "drawing" regularly. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I thought I was the master at this move, not the student. I felt robbed....I thought, "dude he stole my move"....uuhhummm, yep knocked right off my high horse. I was having this huge inner turmoil. Why did I have such attachment to this "move"? I've seen tons of other hoopers move their feet. I am surely....I mean surely... not the first to move my feet in this way...hello hooping is called a "flow art"...flow ..you can't flow if you aren't moving. Yet, still I was struggling inside with the idea that he was teaching "my move". I so badly wanted to reconcile this with in myself.

Then Monday night in class I went in and told myself I would be an open book. I was there to learn. Baxter is my teacher. I am the student. During the entire class I let go of attachment to anything regarding my hooping. I allowed myself to just be. Just be a hooper. Just learn. Listen. Open. It was one of the best classes I've had in a very long time. I learned a lot, especially as Baxter taught about drawing. Mostly I learned more about myself. About my judgments of others, about my own attachment, and about my need for approval. The hoop, a tool, a toy, an instrument for great growth, both inner and outer. Once again I am blessed by its sacred geometry.

Monday's class was the bow on a package of yuck which I was trying to let go. Nice metaphor huh? Really though, I had been needing to release this attachment, needing to learn, and needing to face my own judgments of others that have felt similarly. Once again facing my humanness. While I strive to be "Maidan", "Haven", these are aspirations...beautiful aspirations, great aspirations, but not a place that I am. I am human, with faults, idiosyncrasies, and many areas to grow. I love that the hoop, my hooping community, my family, the greater community is constantly challenging me. How boring life would be without constant growth. To be stagnant, would be like death. Thank you all for helping me grow. Thank you to my hoop, my dance partner, for always pushing me to new illuminations.