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?
How does being pregnant affect the hooping experience? Is it a good idea to hoop while pregnant and what benefits, if any, will a hooper receive from continuing her hoop practice while growing another hooper in her body?
If a hooper falls pregnant some challenges that she may need to overcome to continue the hooping life are morning sickness(all day sickness), fatigue, growing abdomen, and loosening of ligaments (a normal occurrence in pregnancy that can make injuries easier and soreness more prevalent). Most physical activity is safe for pregnant women who have done that activity for a while before pregnancy, but it is always important for a pregnant woman to consult her doctor when participating in any physical activity when pregnant and for the 6 weeks following birth.
In my research of this topic and in my own experience as a pregnant hooper I have found that challenges presented when hooping pregnant are easily solved by:
1. Listening to the pregnant body by going at a pace that suits it best in its pregnancy state.
It is unanimous among pregnant hoopers that stamina is less than it was before pregnancy, and there is no use getting upset about it. Listen and adjust to your muscles especially when they are screaming at you. Forget about how it was to hoop before pregnancy and focus on hooping in the now. The reward to listening to your body and going at a pregnancy pace will be yours and your little hooper.
2. Using a lighter hoop and practicing more off the body tricks
Practicing with a smaller hoop can help with stamina, reduce muscle soreness and make for a more pleasant hooping experience while pregnant. I found pregnancy was the time for me to learn the Three Beat Weave with dual small hoops, to practice more off the body tricks and get really good with chest hooping reversals. Hoop practice is different while pregnant, I dont enjoy hooping in public as much in my pregnant state and I hoop for shorter sessions.
I am biased towards yoga, as a yoga practitioner and teacher. For me yoga helps me use my breath to open, release and strengthen over all while improving balance and physical awareness. If prenatal yoga is not your thing,a substantial session of educated stretching before hooping is just as good to prepare the body for the maneuvers it is about to endure. I have discovered the hard way, through three pregnancies, that the days of exercising cold must be suspended while in the pregnant condition or injuries will occur, especially in the second and in the third trimester.
Doctors encourage exercise throughout a normal pregnancy. It is well-known in this day and age that exercise during pregnancy is beneficial to mother and baby. According to the American Collegeof Obstetricians and Gynecologists:
”Exercise during pregnancy helps reduce backaches, constipation, bloating, and swelling, may help prevent or treat gestational diabetes, increases your energy, improves your mood, improves your posture, promotes muscle tone, strength, endurance, and helps you sleep better. Best of all exercise during pregnancy can help prepare you for labor and childbirth. Exercising afterward can help get you back in shape.” To me this is motivating information, but the greatest benefit is the positive mood exercise and hooping puts me in along with the rewards my body pays me from my investment.
Hoop dance can be a creative awakening of gyrations and innovative moves that unlock a sexy creative energy that may not have been known before picking up the hoop. Releasing our creative potential is exhilarating and a great desire to hoop any moment possible arises. We carry our hoops with us on vacation to parties, parks, to friends’ houses. We hope at some point in our day–every day, we will encounter a clear open space with music and maybe mirrors where we can practice our latest trick or just get some good hooping vibes moving. The love affair with having a strong sexy body from a fun the hoop practice does not have to stop while pregnant; it just might need to be modified a bit but the rewards are well worth it for you and your little hooper.
How can you be in the best physical condition for hooping?
Physically hooping makes the body stronger, muscles and joints are strengthened by the actions of hoop dancing. Mentally hoping helps peripheral vision, balance, focus, and the ability to learn new things. In my experience hooping is a great exercise and is even better when combined with other physical activities such as yoga and cardiovascular training. Setting our bodies up to be in perfect condition for hooping creates an even more euphoric hooping experience and for me a more beautiful hoop dance.
As a long time yoga practitioner and teacher I have noticed my daily yoga practice has evolved to aid my hooping practice. Many days I will include my hoop in every pose just to stay connected to my hoop instrument. I have heard from many of my yoga teachers over the years than a 20 minute daily yoga practice is better than going to a 1 ½ hour yoga class three times a week.
Bunny Hoop Star so eloquently put it ” .. hooping and yoga go hand in hand. It’s about anchoring into your core strength, finding balance, powerful and free-flowing breath and that space of peaceful ease that allows you to explore the full realm of the practice”.
Balance, muscle strength, focus, breath control, flexibility all receive a tune up from yoga practice. Make it consistent and daily, even just twenty minutes, and receive even more benefits.
If yoga is new to you try a very beginner class to get acquainted with some of the stretched. When conditioning our bodies and minds with yoga it is best to listen closely to the body and only stretch to what feel like your edge. I always tell my yoga students to go at their pace and move with their breath. The breath is an important component in lengthening and strengthen the body.
If you spend a lot of time learning new hoop tricks you might be surprised what 20 minutes as day of stretching will offer your hoop practice.
Do you want to bring your hoop on vacation for the first time and do you want to know the best way?
Here is how-
I am a regular globe trotter, I feel I have perfected the art, if it could be an art, of bringing exactly what I need on a trip and getting through the air ports and customs with the least effort and maximum ease. The first trip I took after I started hooping I did not bring a hoop with me. I thought an awkward hoop would be one extra hassle and might disturb my airport maneuvers. I soon realized when that vacation on the beach was tainted by painful hoop sickness that I had to invest in a travel hoop or figure out some way to take a hoop with me when I travel.
Today when I pick up the travel hoop I bought after that trip, it makes me laugh. Besides the ripped to bits, pieces of what was once metallic tape and the gashed in the PVC tubing, the hoop is huge and heavy, and seriously made with PVC. I need not make too much fun of it because it has served me well. I hooped with it on the beaches of South Beach Miami, Florinaoplis and Itacara Brazil and La Jolla, Carlsbad and Los Angles California.
The definition of a travel hoop is one that breaks down to fit in a suite case or bag. Some have a one joint connector to which you must reapply tape to the joint after every break down. Some have two joint that pivot at the joints and do not come apart. The two jointed hoops usually fold first to a figure eight and then down into two circles on top of each other. There are other travel hoops that break down in to many pieces that you screw together. Each has its own advantages and in my experience the important things to watch for are if it will fit easy in my bag and how it hoops when in its natural hoop form. Some times the precision of the hoop can be lost when it is made to travel.
Since my first travel hoop I have discovered these easy ways to hoop on my vacations.
1) The ultimate travel hoop is made by Cherry Hoops. They make two jointed travel hoops fold up small, quick and easy. My favorite part of Cherry Hoop travel hoops is when they unfold they easily go in to a perfect circle so once the hoop is unwound into hooping form it is precises just like all Cherry Hoops are. If you are unlike me and enjoy making your own hoops here are instructions for making your own travel hoop (how to make a collapsible hoop).
2) Buy or make a hoop bag and check it as luggage separate from your suite case. Hoop Girl sells sweet travel hoop bags which fit around standard hoops. You wont find them on their web site but they can be order by phone at Hoop Girl415-331-6633. This is how I will be traveling with my hoops on my next trip.
3) Wrap hoops with packaging paper or cardboard and check them as luggage. I am in Hawaii right now from San Francisco and on this trip I got a big box, broke it down and folded it around my hoops. I used packaging tape to seal the box and I checked it as a piece of luggage. Like the travel bag, I could bring many hoops with me and they did not take up room in my suite case and arrived undamaged. The box was not as easy as a travel bag because it had no strap for carrying. If you are going some where exotic make sure you have extra tape for when you return home so you can box them up again.
Having your hoop with you on vacation can make a huge difference in the enjoyment factor of your trip. If you are visiting family or friends who you are not used to being with for long periods of time going off with a hoop is a great way to regenerate and return with a new positive out look. When on vacation it is usual to have more free time and if your a Hooper it is logical you might want to spend some of it with the hoop. Traveling with a hoop makes it possible to hoop in some amazing places, if amazing is your destination which I hope it is. My favorite places to travel with my hoop is to warm exotic beaches. Try it!
I am excited to present to you “Hoopspiration” a collection of articles written to ignite and inspire the love of hooping. Moving in the direction of Hoopspiration propels us to grow and achieve new heights in our hooping practice. Hooping makes the body and mind stronger with every practice. Strengthening our bodies, strengthens the container for our life force. In strengthening our container we allow the life force energy to flow through us at higher levels. It is the love of hooping that keeps us hooping.
Hoopspiration 