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

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. : )

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

I 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Joe’s Movement Emporium is closed in honor and observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day~ therefore there will be no evening hoop class tonight. Happy hooping wherever you may be today. Please join us next week for more practice and play in the ring of revolution, and happy birthday Dr. King! In gratitude for those [...]

Here’s a swank-diddilyOcious hoop shot of a fancy Friendship Heights shore on the MD-DC line I spotted not long ago. Most hoopers know what a stunning symbol & frame the hoola hoop naturally makes. A growing number of hoopers are also aware of the powerful meditative qualities of the hoop or ‘mandala’ to calm oneself, [...]

There are infinite fun things you can do with hoops as props and tools for movement play- beyond the traditional & popular ’spinning it around you’ concept. Here are some of my favorites: You can make a ‘hoopscotch’ course on the ground and then jump through them one by one- or toss a hacky sac [...]

Greetings friends of the revolution! Baltimore and the greater DMV areas are beaming with more hoopers than you can shake a hundred sticks at, and methinks it’s high time we meet and greet and spin with one another. Please come out, up, over, or however you have to travel to get to our Holiday Hoop [...]

Today and tomorrow are days originating in Aztec tradition to celebrate all deceased beings who are living and dancing and hooping among us. The first day of November, Dia de los Angelitos, is especially to focus on children who have died~ and the 2nd of November is the more general and traditional Dia de los [...]

This month’s World Hoop Day celebrations in DC and Maryland were resoundingly magical. My gratitude goes out to each person who showed up to hoop, take a workshop, join our jams, enjoy the premier DC showing of The Hooping Life, watch the diverse and delectable performances of the first DCHC Flow Showcase, and to [...]

In promotion of all our fabulous World Hoop Day events coming up this weekend, Paul Raphel from the local Fox news joined us at the monument yesterday to get the scoop on all things hoop! *Fast forward to 1:40 minutes (through 4:10) into the segment to get to the beautiful hooping goodness provided by our [...]

Tonight is an ideal time for going outside to gaze up at the gas giant that is Jupiter as it is now closer than it has been since the early 1960’s, and it won’t be this close to us again for another twelve more years. Bring your hoop while your at it… Astrologically, Jupiter [...]

This is one of my all time favorite hoop shots for so many reasons (thank you Christine for taking it! and Carol for sharing!). The composition & lighting= my cup of tea. It a picture of my oldest friend on earth, Carol, whom I have known since the ripe young age of one. It’s a [...]

While I have yet to take a formal class on the New Zealand-born art of Poi, I have increasingly amp’ed up my own exploration of poi-inspired hooping techniques in recent months and it has proven more powerful for bilateral brain strengthening than most other movement paths I have explored in this lifetime. The basic motion [...]