so. I was going to make the next post about all the amazing LED hoops I built over the holiday break. But then Rayna (formerly of Hoopnotica and current guest writer for hooping.org) posted a fun little kind-of New Years resolution/challenge yesterday: The Hooping.org 30/30 Hooping Challenge. So starting January 8 and ending (hopefully continuing even after) February 6th, I’m going to try to hoop 30 minutes every single day. Even if I have to do ten minutes at at a time at work on my breaks, on those 15-hour show days, I’m going to try to get 30 minutes in. The idea is to really develop a “hoop practice,” the way yogis and meditators do, where it’s not so much about what you accomplish as it is about just getting in there and letting your body feel that consistency.

I’ve been feeling a bit blah since the holidays, since my birthday this year is a milestone and these last couple of years I’ve actually been able to feel and see the effects of slowing metabolism, aging joints and all the rest of it. I don’t regret indulging over the holidays – I have really been enjoying the mulled wine, and all the rich food and dessert really are a rarity for the hubs and I, but it IS easy to let that become the norm instead of a once-in-awhile indulgence. Rayna has been one of my hooping idols since Jennifer and I started – and she seems to be in a really good place for herself right now, which is even more inspirational for the rest of us.

So the funny part is: being the gung-ho gal I am, I mis-read the start date and thought it was today! So I got a head-start on all the goodness! It’s just as well though – I hate starting things on the weekend. Since I normally work weekends, they tend to get crowded, so starting on a random Thursday works for me

Anyway, I’ll be checking in over the month, but my ultimate goal is to get some of that choreography out of my brain and into my body. I can feel it ALL THE TIME now when I listen to music: my body is trying to hoop to it, even when I’m in the car or at work, so by golly, it’s about friggin time to put all those ideas together!

Wish me luck!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 6th, 2011 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Colleen. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Colleen on the phone and asked her if she had seen Babz Robinson’s newest video. Of course she hadn’t because she was busy moving across the country, getting settled in a new home, and starting a new job.

I have to admit that a small part of me was crushed because, even though Colleen has been busy attending to real life, this is an amazing hooper we’re talking about. I mean, she puts out these kick-ass tutorials of these great hoop tricks. Watching her videos makes me want to learn every trick she does and emulate her style. She rocks! Moving-shmoving, there’s hooping to be done!

When I mentioned to Colleen how much I love watching her videos, it clicked with me that I really consider her to be a huge inspiration for me and that, although I’ve seen some beautiful hoopers, very few actually inspire me in the way she and a few others do. When I thought about the hoopers that really inspire me, it made me see what kind of hooper I am (or hope to become) and that made me happy to think that I may someday be able to hoop as well as they do.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 21st, 2010 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Ok, so I haven’t had a lot of time for hooping since I moved (a couple of hours per week is about it), but I made the effort and braved the traffic to go to the DC World Hoop Day. What a great community! A bunch of the major DC-metro-area hoopers were there, plus I got to meet Ann Humphreys of the HoopPath in NC, and Tisha Marina, who was featured in the Hooping Life documentary!

The names were cool, but probably the coolest part was seeing so many hoopers all in the same place! Our little community in Vegas seems to be doing well, and hopefully my Fairfax meetup will pick up some new hoopers, but WOW – to see 30-40 hoopers all in the same place was really cool. Everyone was really friendly, there was hoop-making and food, and I even taught some passersby the basics of waist-hooping.

The whole thing really made me miss Jennifer – we would have rocked it out for hours, and she would have loved the poi hoops I saw that had tinsel all over them! My hubby accompanied and was very patient while I did my thing, but nothing like having a hooping buddy along…

Anyway, I am renewed and inspired to continue working on some new choreography, as well as keep this Fairfax meetup going through the winter!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 11th, 2010 at 9:09 am and is filed under Colleen. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

You may be one of the 279,000 or so people who’ve seen this video. What do you think of it?

I actually love it. I love the vibe and attitude. I love the hooping and how it flows with the music.

I really love that this girl can leg hoop in tights. How does she do that? I can leg hoop on bare skin or on worn jeans but if I’m wearing anything else on my legs, the hoop just slides right down to the ground. Is this performer super-human in her leg hooping skills or is there just some really grippy tape on the inside of her hoop. Finding the answer to this has become somewhat of an obsession for me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

September 2010 has been quite the memorable month for me. Personally I’ve made some life changes that started to take effect this month. It’s really been quite the roller coaster ride of highs and lows. But, well, as they say “that’s life”.

On a sadder note, September 2010 was the first whole month that I’ve spent without having Colleen around to hoop with. Of course, “that’s life” and all but I miss my hooping partner in crime.

But, since I don’t want to end this post on a totally depressing note, I will also say that September 2010 was also the month that I learned this trick (courtesy of the amazing Babz Robinson):

This was so exciting for me that it almost made up for the fact that Colleen wasn’t here to share it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Argh, it’s only been a week, and already I’m missing my hooping partner! However, the weather is beautiful in PA and I might even get a chance to hoop today if I can finish the rest of my packing for the NEXT move, down to Virginia.

I’m nervous about the big changes Hyperbola is undergoing. I wish I hadn’t had to leave so many of my hoops in Las Vegas. I hope my new job leaves enough time for me to get a hoop-life going, however small. But I feel like all of these are normal worries, and that my hoop(s) will be there no matter what, to help me laugh and de-stress when I need it most. And hooping has already led me to meet so many wonderful people: kids and adults that love to have fun, be silly and get a little exercise, so maybe it will be a bridge to this new part of my life!

I am itching to get settled in Virginia – to find a house so I can check out the neighborhood for parks and community centers, and for existing hoop-groups. This in-between time is unnerving (but it IS nice to have a free place to stay for a week or so); as is par for my nature, I’m impatient to get to the next thing so I can settle. However, I DO recognize that these transition times are just as important as the next stages: they help me recognize the things that really matter to me: my husband, our cats, hooping, singing, and work that is fulfilling. And they are a little like that latest hoop trick – there’s that time when we are SO CLOSE to finding the correct positioning, timing and grace, but we keep hitting ourselves in the face, or the shins, or wherever. We know what we have to do, but our bodies haven’t quite got the visceral knowledge to execute it. It’s an uncomfortable place, but that’s where the learning happens. So cheers to that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 11:41 pm and is filed under blog. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.