Those of us in the hoop-know are also likely well aware of the hoop-feel-and-release phenomenon. Hooping & hoopdance help to process emotions quicker- just like movement in general…so that when we feel not only physical lethargy or stiffness, but mental anxiety, confusion, depression, or fear, we can literal step into the hoop to help stretch and spin it out of us. The hoop melds our emotional brain half with our logical brain half, thereby creating healing to take place at the connection point~ or what I like to think of as our soul~spirit spot. For whatever reason, this works. You must try it to believe it. If you’ve heard of the therapeutic healing modality called EMDR or if you’ve heard of trauma relief through bilateral brain stimulation, you have a general idea of why hooping may be so helpful… it’s a more physically exaggerated version of what’s happening in these other therapeutic forms- but basically boils down to the hoop touching your right and left body sides over and over again- and attuning your logical and emotional centers in the process. To keep track of what we are working through, along with our progress and discoveries made along the way, we can choose to hoop nearby a pen and paper, a dedicated flow journal (see one of my own in photo above) or our computer~ and go back and forth between free spinning and free writing~ stimulating each activity through the other. I have personally hooped myself through a great deal of grief in the last 6 years. The hoop has kept me afloat in a turbulent sea of sad~ a literal oversized lifesaver that has not only helped me work through the hard, but continues to renew my faith in joy and play and healing~ over and over again.
Archive for June, 2011
Hooping for Emotional Alignment
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011Spring-Summer Hoopdance Events!
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Hooping Powers is actively and joyfully booking out spring & summertime events for all things hooptacular! A sampling of our 2011 schedule includes: performance at an end of year school social, birthday parties for folks of all ages (youth AND adults!), summer camps for special needs groups of all ages (i.e. people with disabilities, folks experiencing grief, etc.), weddings, and community festivals. Your custom-designed event complete with fresh hoopdance flavor can look like a straight-ahead performance by one or more of our radical hoopdancers, a lesson or workshop of sorts, with or without audience/attendee participation, or some exciting combination thereof. In the past we’ve also led hoop-making workshops, brought rings to bat and bar Mitzvahs, and hosted countless other hooptastic happenings. We can arrange to do choreographed pieces or improvisation/ambient hoopdance, or pretty much whatever you can dream up having to do with the revolutionary circle. Please contact: Noelle Powers, director and principle performer of HoopingPowers, to discuss your hooping vision, our proposal, & get your event on our books! Powers can be reached at: noelle at HoopingPowers dot com, or by clicking on the CONTACT page of the left-hand toolbar. Accompanying photo courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art and photographer: Maximilian Franz. We look forward to hearing from you and hooping with you very soon~