One of the most fun ways I can think of to celebrate birthdays of young ones in my life is to gift them or better yet: make WITH THEM their very own ring of glitter. Hoop-making tutorials abound on the interwebs, including this one featuring footage of yours truly- so if you’re feeling in a do-it-yourself kinda mood and like artful projects, give it a try to the delight of friends and family and strangers alike. Acquiring a hoop is one of the greatest gifts of self-love ever; and making yourself a hoop is That Much Sweeter. This past week I helped my niece make a hoola hoop in honor of her 6th birthday. It was truly a pleasure and now she has an unbelievably cute hoola hoop to provide countless hours of fun for years to come…
Archive for the ‘Hoophilosophy’ Category
HoopMakin’ Love
Saturday, April 6th, 2013Foto~Circular #11- HoopLove To You, Always
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
The hoola hoop is hands down the most unconditionally-loving-low-maintenance-high-pleasure-forever-partner dreamable. Who else can you choose to or refuse to dance with at any hour of any day and it will always be okay? What else looks as beautiful silently dangling from a hook on your wall as it does swinging boldly around your heavenly hips? Give it a whirl this LOVE day, or tomorrow, or the next… it is ALWAYS a great day for some scrumptious hoop lovin. Photo Credit: Stefanie Atkinson, 2010.
Revolutionary Blessings To All
Monday, January 21st, 2013
There is so much to celebrate today, and so much more work ahead PLUS PLAY. Make sure to take time to replenish in your self-loving hoop practice as we strive to keep making positive changes, both within society and towards this precious planet. Thank you to all who work for civil rights, children’s rights, environmental sustainability, and economic justice. Happy birthday, Dr. King- may all our various revolutions continue onward towards further peace & loving actions.
My Brain On Hoops
Sunday, December 9th, 2012
Hooping somehow simultaneously quiets my mind AND makes it flow forth with ideas. An intellectually stimulating, meditatively relaxing godsend. Here is a snapshot of my brain on hoops from a lesson plan of long ago- there’s always so much more to explore in the world of hooping. What are you currently working on these days? I have been drilling rolls- horizontal style, from one hand/arm to the other, and then (of course) reversing the direction. Rolls are something I’ve more or less avoided for a long time, and now that I’m actually putting the practice into them, it’s all clicking! Or more precisely: it’s all rolling! Rollin’ with my hoopies… 
Jammin’ on the One~
Sunday, September 9th, 2012
We have thankfully resumed our weekly jams at Joe’s Movement Emporium on Tuesday evenings, from 6:45-8:15pm. This is a wonderful chance to develop your hoop skills, have tons of fun, meet other local hoopers, and most likely learn a new thing or few. While it’s not a formal class, the jam facilitator, Powers, will be happy to provide guidance and mini-lessons as so desired. Otherwise, spin jams are a free-style, improv-based hour and a half with fresh music and dozens of multi-sized hoops for your whirling delight. $7 entry. All ages and skill levels are welcome. Newbies encouraged to come out! Don’t be shy, hoop-curious friends! (: Contact noelle@hoopingpowers.com with any questions or concerns, and hope to see you soon at the weekly Spin Jam!
Hello100! A Hundred HoOpDancers spin up a New York Isle!
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
This Saturday and Sunday, June 9 & 10, at 2pm and 4pm, Hello100!, a vision of the bold & beautiful Bex Burton will be danced by dozens of hoopers from all over the land on Governors Island, NYC. Strange Powers will be making it up from MD to join in this epic event- part of an amazing arts festival that is free to all: the Figment Project. It’s not every day that you get to see a hundred or more colorfully costumed hoopdancers in a choreographed piece inspired by LOVE. But each day of this weekend, it IS that day. And it’s twice daily. And there’s a BUNCH more wild, fun, love-centered, experiential arts pieces happening on the island all day long, THIS WEEKEND! Here’s a video link to inspire you even more. If you have any way to get to that free ferry that takes you to that pretty island of (pedestrians and bicyclists, no cars:) and spend the day in a priceless, liberating joy-state, I strongly suggest you go. And we will hug you in our hoops when we see you.
Foto~Circular #10- Even Babies HOoP!
Monday, May 21st, 2012
Here’s a magnificent little being who’s already found the ring of love. It’s easy for people of ALL ages to fall for the hoop, since it is simply a pretty-shaped object even if all you’re doing is picking it up, staring at it (a.k.a. being ‘hoopnitized’), or donning it on your wall as decoration. Don’t believe the myth that one needs to be able to actively waist hoop to enjoy all the many bennies. The hoop is far too useful in ways beyond the waist to cast it aside based on your age or body’s physical limitations. So get to it! Start surrounding yourself with circles and watch your world fill with MORE JOY.
Hoop Jam tonight! And Sari Mah~
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012VIDEO: Sari Mah’s Hoop Progress* Time and time again, getting into my hoop to dance for an hour or two (or even two minutes) TRULY DOES TRANSFORM my stress into glee, and fuels love into my body… want to join me? ( : Once again, for another Tuesday night installment, we will gather at Joe’s Movement Emporium (6:45 to 8:15pm) for our weekly community spin jam. Last week I met a brand new hooper who stunned me with inspiration in her commitment to learning the hoop and healing her body. The next day I read about Hooper of the Week, Sari Mah the hooper’s hub that is hooping dot org. The link at the start of this post takes you to a video of the magnificent Sari Mah inspiring the free outta me. And to beauteously boot, she starts of the video with the poetry of beloved Rumi on dance: *Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance if you’re perfectly free.* Thank you for furthering my free, Sari.
Foto~Circular #9- Spin Into Spring!
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Spring of ‘12 & MXPlay is BACK!
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
My first day of the new season of hardly comprehensible amounts of play happened this past week at Malcolm X Park, a.k.a. Meridian Hill Park, in NW Washington DC. More deets: Most Sundays, post 3pm, til dark. Live by about 5pm. Dozens of drummers (so nearly six hours of beats!) dancers, circus heads (hoopers, poi spinners, acroyogis, contact jugglers, slackliners, & sometimes even stilt-walkers!), soccer players, picnickers, passersby, and peace. COME OUT! You will not regret it. Seriously. Sunday’s picture shown here is pure music to mine eyes.
Foto~Circular #8- Las ‘Upas,’ Las Gaviotas, y La Luna
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
A beautiful, striking shot my friend Ricardo captured during my stay in Valdivia, southern Chile, a couple of years ago. The seagulls (las gaviotas) were migrating and can be seen as a wispy shadow above my hoops (mi palabra= upas) held high, with the moon (la luna) prettily peering out, too. <3
Hooping for Social Justice
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
The revolution may or may not be televised, but it will most definitely be social-networkified, and it will ONE HUNDRED PERCENT be hoola hooped! Hooping was, is, and will always will be for me a true act of revolution~ not only of the physical variety (which is so infinitely cool) but also for the plight of oppressed peoples who need a lift, a jolt of joy, and a big boost of community momentum. Real and large-scale social change is taking place in our country, the colonizing capital of our planet~ having begun a month ago in New York City with the tremendous Occupy Wall Street movement. Masses of people are rising up in frustration, desperation, compassion, and all in the spirit of non-violent, loving-kindness with a vision of major paradigm shifting. Hoopers are among the many brave ones taking to the streets and inundating social media networks with coverage of what’s actually happening. It’s so easy to get stuck in our analytical, overwhelmed heads these days, amidst the traumatic events, economic crises, and environmental disasters taking place across the world. A hoop can help with this worrisome tendency. Hooping is an immediate source of grounding into ourselves, flexing & strengthening our muscles, and feeling the full range of motion our bodies will allow. Hooping also quickly unblocks stagnant energy channels and returns them to their natural states of flow. It is no wonder that so many hoopers are hip (pun noted) to the greater socio-economic revolution taking place right here, right now. As a general truth, hoopers are community-oriented, justice-centered, optimistic, super flexible, and (as an added bonus:) truly in our bodies. A superb recipe for a revolutionist, I do believe. AND HOOPING IS FUN! Super fun! Plus it keeps you well & feeling frisky. Consider organizing groups of hoopers to take to the streets, not only amongst all of the awesome ‘OCCUPY’ movements happening across the country and planet, but just to walk the walk and spin the circle in united communal fashion wherever you may find yourself, and in doing so draw magnetic attention to this overarching concept of REVOLUTION. There are groups sprouting up all over to hoop for peace and social justice. Tisha Marina, pictured above, has been holding it down with the hoop in LA for a number of years, successfully using our beloved circle as a means for social change. As my dear hooper friend Jaguar Mary likes to say: “Flow is the new Change.” Today I think we can safely add that: “Change is the new Flow.” Welcome to the age of Aquarius and the return to human decency. And let us all hoopdance to celebrate!
Spin Art is Hooptastic Fun!
Sunday, August 21st, 2011
I cannot believe that I did not know about spin art until this week of my life. Not only am I a hooper (so naturally obsessed with mandalas and all things that orbit) but I had never set mine eyes on a spin art machine, much less even heard of it until I got a chance to see one in action at a camp where I taught hoopdance last week. After we’d wrapped up our hooping, I saw all the youth bustling in a far corner of the retreat space, and when I followed them over I found several gorgeous, bright-colored, circular-blasted paintings hanging to dry and a sweet older fellow helping folks one by one, affix their paper canvases to the inside of the spin machine and go to town on creating their prize paintings. Apparently this man had found an heavy-duty grade spin art machine at an estate sale and took time to clean it up and get it running well, and then volunteered his time to spread the spin art love with these young campers. What a splendid combination of activities for a youth (or any age!) camp~ hooping AND spin art… when I mentioned the natural association, people said they hadn’t until then thought of them being related. Well I’ll be! I want to spin more art! Pictured is the one I did very quickly just before departing… I shall name it ‘Spin Rising.’ : )
Musically-Inspired HoopDance
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
Over the last few months, no doubt thanks in large part to the incredible musical offerings of the MXP drum circle players on Sunday afternoons, I have been able to fuse my hooping with my dancing more and more seamlessly each time I enter the ring. Hoop-Dance fusion has always been my favorite ’style’ of hooping (vs. being a trick monkey or exercise monkey, e.g.)~ and now that I’m getting better at it, I like it even more! While I’m enjoying newfound levels of pleasure and skill in this realm, I am concurrently developing ways of how to easily instruct folks in the art of ‘hoopdance musicality.’ We are in the process of lining up some dates for fall classes and workshops~ where we will definitely be working on techniques to better bridge the gap that frequently exists between a person’s hooping and the accompanying music. If you are interested in enhancing your own hoopdance musicality, please do message us from the contact page and we’ll keep you abreast of class information as it solidifies. The shot above is of several hoopers feelin the beat with drummers backs barely visible to the left and in the far center background the Joan of Arc on horse statue that presides over the southern end of this most magical spot in our nation’s capital. Do come out tomorrow and join us! Drumming begins around 3:00, is LIVE BY FIVE, and wraps up by 9pm~
Squashportation
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
My dear friends were such good sports taking the back seat of my auto with hoops monopolizing most of the space en route to our afternoon park-time. Tis the life of the hoop lovers~ we’ve gotta share our space and hoop love, at pretty much any cost. : )
Sage~Hooping
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Recently I was lighting some cleansing sage (a.k.a. salvia apiana) in my oh-so-woo-ish way and popped outside for a quick spin with the hoop~ I kept the burning sage in my hand as I twisted within the infinite ring~ spinning my torso both counter-directionally from it- and then also conjoined in a sustained spin… a flowing, scented dance. Twisting as the ring surrounded my torso while burning sage in hand proved to be a great way to combine multiple senses (touch, scent or aromatherapy, movement & vision) and hence to combine powerful healing modalities. Over a number of years I have professed hooping to be a highly ‘neurobic’ activity- combining use of our senses in novel & interesting ways to help increase our brain wellness. For those of us who’ve been hooping now for quite a while- I believe we are wise to find creative ways of making our hooping practice stay novel & therefore, neurobic. I purport that adding scent inhalation to your hoop-experience is one such way. According to Wikipedia, the term ‘neurobics’ was coined by late neurobiologist & author Lawrence Katz to describe mental exercises designed to keep the brain alert. Wikipedia states, “It is presumed that unusual sensory stimulation and activities like non-routine actions and thoughts, produce more of such chemicals of the neurobiology system of body that encourage growth of new dendrites and neurons in the brain. Routine actions become so automatic to the individual that most of actions are done largely unconsciously. Such automated or unconscious actions require less activity in the brain, and exercise it less. With the help of neurobics exercises, it is claimed that one can stimulate the brain. An example of a neurobic exercise is to carry out a routine action such as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand,” OR, to this I add: HOOLA HOOPING IN YOUR NON-DOMINANT DIRECTION! And for an added brain boost: breathing in a special or sweet smell that you fancy. Oh wise and fragrant sage, you keep me sane! : )
Hooping for Emotional Alignment
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
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.
Spring-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~
Foto~Circular #7: Mural Desde Chile
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
This beautiful mandala is one of many different ones painted on my friends’ property in Santiago, Chile. I do not know of what artist to credit- but I am thankful for their creation. I love the 12 (paralleling astrological houses & signs, all 12-step programs, and the number of apostles, etc.) points on the rose-colored portion of the mandala. Within the 12-pointed flower is a 6-pointed flower- 1/2 of twelve and also my favorite number. Additionally, I enjoy seeing the light beamy bubbles peering from the 4 corners towards the edge of the circle- representing for me both the cardinal directions and seasons where I live. The mint-green colored square, scale-like shape reminds me to strive towards balance in all my pursuits. And finally, the triangular, sideways Star of David-like Venn diagrams resting in the center help me sit with life’s core complexities a little bit easier.
Hoopitation
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
For many of us, hooping practice affords us a chance to clear our minds and be with our breath, grounded & embodied. Whether actively spinning the circle around your core- constantly hugging your hips and heart space, stretching with the hoop as your body follows the curve of the ring, or simply & peacefully sitting inside of the hoop & breathing (like Elsie the cat pictured above), the hoop is a gift to be present.
Many folks new to meditation have a hard time practicing the sitting still part- fidgeting & restlessness being a common experience. A solitary hoop practice can help by focusing on keeping the ring up… and through this physical, rocking back and forth body motion bilaterally stimulating the brain, thoughts & feelings more easily synthesize, come & go- and eventually fade from focus making way for that quintessential feeling of flow.
One way to dramatically enhance your ability to go inward with your hoop practice is to use a blindfold while you hoop. Hooping without being able to use your sense of sight helps to increase the kinesthetic experience of the hoop encircling your body. ‘Kinesthesia’ is defined as the sense that detects bodily position, weight, or movement of the muscles, tendons, and joints, or the sense of moving in space. Particularly with a rapidly moving object like a hoop whipping around the core, one’s vision can serve as a real distraction from being able to fully feel the hoop’s motion & the body’s innate rhythmic connection to it. Oftentimes when someone begins to hoop blind, they immediately find it to be easier, more calming, and even a transcendental experience. Do you yet practice hoopitation inside your ring? Let us know how it goes and any useful tips you have for finding your flow~
Hoop Funk Shui
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Anyone that has a hoop or two or twenty has likely become well-acquainted with the nature of what I like to call hoop funk shui- the challenge of flowful transport & placement of your hoop/s in your abode or practice space. It’s quite humbling (and often frustrating) after a super fluid and inspiring session of play inside your hoop to then try to clunkily traverse a space, doorway, or narrow passageway with hoops on your person, or even to set your hoops against a wall to have them quickly slide to the ground sometimes knocking over other objects along the way. There is actually an art and dance to simply walking through the world with your hoop (becoming exponentially more difficult when using crowded public transportation). Backing up or turning feels like one should have an accompanying beep like a big truck or otherwise ‘wide load.’ The sheer size and shape of the hoop require that there be intention and actual delicacy in where and how you decide to keep them. I have found the best sources of storage, both practically and aesthetically to be hanging your hoops- this could be from a single nail against the wall for a lone hoop, to a full on bike-rack protruding from the wall for a gang of hoops (make sure to place it above head level to prevent potentially injurious collisions). At a hoop class or jam where there are lots of other bodies around- sometimes a awkward lean against the wall is all you can hope for- but if there’s room to set the hoops flush against the floor- that’s a great option. Hoops demand our attention not just when we’re in them spinning ‘em around us; their mere existence is a cause for pause and thoughtfulness. A lesson we can draw from the difficulty of hoop travel and storage is that we are invited to find and cultivate flow in our lives both inside and outside of the hoop. Hoopdance and the hooping movement itself is indeed a great place to start. As we start to discover our inner dancer and rhythm from within the hoop- we can try to apply the same skill set to our life outside of the hoop. The consideration of how flowing and calm our hoop’s physical placement feels in our life can soon move into how flowing and calm does our communication feel, or our dietary habits, or our accountability for missteps in our relationships. The endless circle of the hoop symbolizes all of the possibilities life has to offer. We can chose to focus on what’s working, and actively work to improve that which is not working so well. There are infinite possibilities and paths- it’s up to us to truly consider what feels best and keeps our energy flowing optimally, each and every day.
Foto Circular #6: The Ring
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Hooping makes us feel not only well-connected to ourselves, but extraordinarily connected to each other as well. The shared love of the hoop creates community faster than a wolverine can dash across a field (I just watched a nature documentary on wolverines; they’re fast!)- and amongst some of the most diverse types of people imaginable. Have you experienced a connection through your hoop? Chances are, if you’ve walked outside of your house with a hoola hoop, many otherwise would-be strangers have eagerly smiled at you, or begun a conversation with you from across the street, or even tried to hire you to bring hoops to their niece’s birthday party. Hooping crosses all lifestyle barriers~ from age to culture, gender to body size, religion to ability. We are scant of objects and pastimes in our world quite as positive & bridge-building as that of the simple and infinite ring. How blessed we are for the hoop’s awesomeness. And hoop hoop hooray for community!
The Subtleties and Vastness of Arm-Hand Spinning
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011I am pretty much in love with light, mini arm & hand hooping these days. My time in Chile just over a year ago really jump-started this relationship, even though I had done it a bit before the trip~ but without as much intention nor attention regarding the many positive & often subtle impacts it was having on other parts of my life. I recently received movie clips captured in the Valdivian rainforest of my first natural exploration with mini hoops in hand. The videos (a portion of which is shown above) were produced by my friend Karin {y Ricardo tambien} whom I had the pleasure to meet during those few months I spent in South America, falling into winter~ 2009.
Core or torso hooping helps you be embodied and feel your core energy centers hugged. What an extraordinary gift to self in this day and age: positive & joyful touch and play, in a not-so-sexual yet body-positive, super sensual and self-loving kind of way, hugging around your belly, pelvis, & heart spaces. There is perhaps nothing to the hooper more personal and basic and raw and intimate as core hooping. Or so I thought- and still do, in certain ways. However, my mind has been super-charged of late through the motion of *lightly-weighted, miniature hooping on the left and right arms/hands/sides of body space. *I prefer a super light grade of tubing for tiny minis. This I feel allows me to focus more on the dance of hoopdance. It’s really up to your stylistic preferences- remembering that heavier tubing (even if only 125 PSI) is going to go a little slower and not fly of the fingers quite as fast.
When I first began “neo” hooping in 2005, I marveled at the brain training that waist hooping afforded me. It was obvious: I could tell core hooping was extraordinarily helpful as my balance increased, and I felt steadied in thoughts & emotions through bilaterally stimulating the two halves of my brain. If core hooping is a brain-boosting college class, arm-hand hooping is the doctoral level of brain training. In the vein of Poi-style object manipulation, arm-hooping is simultaneously a challenge AND a graceful flowing mix; at once the New York Time’s Sunday crossword AND an Alvin Ailey dancer. And cutie baby hoops.
In the last year, I have started to make arm-hooping a standard part of my personal hoopdance practice as well as many of my hoop classes. Sometimes it’s challenging to leave the comforting core space~ but I do believe it’s a risk worth taking & well worth any struggle, in my humble hooper experience. The rewards abound and continue to come ’round. Have you yet ventured off your core for more?
On Healing Mandalas
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
I recently came across this wonderful gem of a book: Healing Mandalas, which is of course all about mandalas and their innate healing qualities. Lisa Tenzin-Dolma offers a wealth of information to expand your consciousness and exploration of mandala meditation as the hugely healing practice that it is. Not only are the words a breath of fresh air, but the mandala images themselves are quite stunning, intricate AND calming all at once~ a welcomed surprise in contrast to the few other mandala-themed books I have perused to date. Tenzin-Dolma gracefully shares on topics such as: finding one’s whole self by living in the present, embracing change, and trusting intuition; engaging with others through balancing opposites, fostering freedom, and offering loving kindness; and dealing with challenging times such as grief, illness, and fear. Each visual mandala is accompanied by text suggesting how to meditate on the mandala itself, though the offered guided meditations stand powerfully on their own without the accompanying picture (if, for example, you wanted to share the meditations with a large group of folks and didn’t want to have to make a bunch of color copies of the mandalas). I leave you with the wonderful words of Jung on mandalas, as they appear in the beginning of this beautiful book:
“I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point- namely, to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the center. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the center, to individuation… I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of the self I had attained what was for me the ultimate.”
A Comfortable Depth of Stretch
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Recently I was asked in a circle of spinners to share my current favorite hoop move. My answer was actually: “Hoopstretching.” For those of us who regularly use a hoop to assist us in our various stretching practices, we know that there’s an ability to experience a broader range of movement in the rather safe-feeling confines of the hoop. Often in classes I refer to the classic Leonardo da Vinci drawing above (Vitruvian Man, 1492) in which the human figure has outstretched arms and legs- and fits perfectly within the circumference of the circle. Having a rounded object such as a hoop to hold while warming up before more dynamic hoopdance helps us move through our ranges of motion feeling a deeper sense of groundedness, stability, and hoOpfully doing so a little further than we might otherwise be able to go sans hoop. For my particular body & range of motion, the hoop informs me of when I’ve stretched to my limit, and because of it’s circular shape, it more safely brings me back into my upstanding position with ease. In addition to helping with deeper side plane & forward/backward bending stretches, twists are significantly easier while wrapped happily inside a hoop: Holding the hoop while standing in the middle of it (hands on the sides around 3 and 9 ‘o clock’ with hoop equidistant from torso on all edges) is a great position for doing torso twists which help to keep the spine limber and complement the typical back and forth hip motion that waist hooping requires. Depending on the height of the hoop in this twisting exercise, one can get specific with the area of spine that you are loosening rather precisely (envision hoop below waist level, at waist, at chest, at head, overhead). Similarly, if you lean forward while twisting (like steering a wheel upside down) it helps to stretch the oft-tense sheets of muscle on the sides of our spines. Twisting variations abound- from the center-standing variety to placing the hoop against the front or back of your body for arm adjustments & consequent flexing of different muscles areas.
Taking the time to stretch in your hoop is also a wonderful opportunity to deepen your breath, release or ‘table’ distractions in order to become more present, set an intention for your practice, and generally become more embodied in the beauty & simplicity of the circle. Please do let us know how you like to warm up with your hoop, if you in fact do! Flexing blessings your way~