heading to vegas!

so i am heading to vegas for 5 days at the end of the week, and i am super stoked about the fact that i can still travel with my hoop....last go round i flew to chicago, and didnt have a problem, other than the awkward small spaces in the overhead compartments. ummmmm. but it still fit with a little push and wiggle. the only thing now is finding a place to hoop in vegas while i am there.....i am going to need a place to unwind after a stressful day, and a casino is the last place i wanna be. so where to hoop in the city of lights and "cha-ching"? ill bring back pictures.

hoop flow video pick of the day.

i was persusing hoopcity this morning, and stumbled on this fantastic video of amanda of hip flick hoops working on her flow in the gym....WHAT WHAT!!!! sit back, enjoy!

a mix of stuff..

a bit of todays session.

identity crisis....!

talk about perfect timing!

today i was having a very hard time wrapping my head around the fact that i may not be able to take my hoop with me on a trip i am going on later this month. even though i have a collapsible hoop, it will still be too much for me to carry on board the plane.....i was so upset by this sudden revelation that i started looking up travel hoops that break down into several pieces....while i could get one of the hoops in time, or maybe purchase a solid hoop there, and leave it (yes i have considered it), i started wondering why i was so eager to get a new hoop in time to take with me on this particular trip. i will only be gone for 4 days, i am sure i can survive without it. while perusing through my blog list tonight i came across this wonderfully written post on hooposophy. it pretty much sums it up.

will i still be looking for travel hoops? you better believe it! but i will keep this in my mind as i may have to put the hoop down for a few days.

have you come to a place where you identify yourself as a "hooper"? do you feel "naked" without a hoop nearby? how long did it take before you felt like hooping was a part of your life fabric?

i love yall bunches!!! rock those hoops!

progression.

so i am noticing a progression in my hooping.... i started this hoop journey with a very simple approach to it....waist hooping.....trying hard just to keep it up. but as the months have progressed i have found so many different "styles" of hooping, and each one has its own appeal. it may be hoop dancing at its rawest form, or trying to perfect the ultimate "trick" technique, sustained spinning, or perfecting your flow.

i love this about hooping....it never gets boring. i have life A.D.D! i move from one interest to another like it is my job! but hooping has so many different branches it is easy to flow right into another branch and incorporate it into your own practice.....make it your own style. do something new!

like tonight i was watching some sustained spinning videos, while i am not ready for it quite yet, i am completely mesmerized by it, and know at some point i will want to delve into that deep deep pool. (seriously look it up, that goes way back, like to the whirling dervishes of rumi.)

right now i feel like i am in a place in my practice where i need to be very aware of wether i am hooping for the wow factor or simply because it is an extension of me. i want to move more toward the latter. to move because that is what my body feels, that is what my heart means. i am learning new technique all along the way, but more to give my body the vocabulary it needs to speak a language it is learning.

so my question to you is.....where are you in your journey? are you in the technique junkie faze (this is a fun place to be!!!!) learning all the moves your bruised body can handle, are you settled into your routine, picking up new styles?????? how do you feel about your practice right now, do you see it moving in a new direction soon? what new motions have you spinning your heart out?

Fear not, Love all!

b.

loose it all babay!!!!

today i grabbed my hoop and headed to the backyard for a much needed session. popped in the amazing cd sara made for me, and shook it like a mad woman.....
i am trying my hardest right now to teach my body to hoop the other way.....i have no desire for the 3 pack abs. so for a good bit of tonight's practice i hooped to the right. it is very much like starting all over again, but the concepts are a little easier to get this go round.
but what made todays hooping spectacular was that at some point around song 6 my skirt fell off.....hehehehe....so there i was in my back yard in my tank top and undies! normally i would be a little self conscious about this, but we have a privacy fence, and my undies look very much like boy shorts, soooooo my clothes stayed off. this was when practice got good! i could pull of maneuvers that i have never been able to land with pants or a skirt on. my leg hooping got about 150% better! i could even do a kick start for the first time without feeling like i was trying to beat myself to death by way of my ankles. i kicked legs out of the hoop, and got them back in again with ease, did switches, and reverses. it was great!!!! once i did put my skirt back on my muscles already had the concepts down, and i could rock it with my skirt on.....i just had to let my skin hold the hoop. it added the grip i needed to let my body work out the movements. i highly recommend taking another layer off during your next hoop session, or rock some short shorts.
who knows maybe one day i will suck up my pride and rock some of those furry leg warmers that some hoopers wear....i for the life of me cant figure out what purpose they serve, but who knows maybe they help with all sorts of stuff.....
as soon as i get a chance i want to post a picture of my dirty dirty feet, the fruit of a good hoop session in the yard.

so if you have, what changes did you make to your wardrobe that helped you move to the next level of your hoop practice?

the most beautiful thing ever!!!!

thanks to the fabulous hooposophy blog i came across this video, please go check out the post she wrote up about telling stories with our hoops!!! unbelievable!
this video made me cry and giggle all in its very short time span....enjoy!