Hoopspiration

When it comes to the hula hoop, like yoga, kids are naturals. They pick it up fast and if they practice for just an hour total  they will have more tricks than most adults who have been practicing for hours for a month.

My children watched me as I taught myself to hoop dance from Youtube videos. They have seen me bang up my face, bruise my arms, chest, legs and mark up the walls of our house.  One day at least six months after I started my hula hooping adventure my son who was seven at the time said, “mom you got good”. At that moment I knew I had accomplished something and it was more than teaching my self to hoop dance.  I was demonstrating right in our living room the “growth mindset” in action. Carol Dweck author of” Mindset – the psychology of success” says in her book; “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.” When I first picked up the hoop I could  not even spin it around my waist for more than three spins without it falling.  Dweck also writes, “You have to apply your self each day to become a little better. By applying your self to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time you will become a lot better”. I did and now I can dance with my hoop for hours.

For me hula hooping is a fantastically fun way to move while developing my, “growth mind set” muscle. It just so happens to be a super fun activity to do with my kids.  Giggles and hula hoops what could be better?