Hooping Makes the World Go Round

I have a new hobby obsession which is taking on epic proportions…

Yep, hula hooping! In my juice feast eBook I wrote:

“Right before I left for Bali I somehow already knew I was going to fall in love with hooping – even though I can’t remember ever having touched a hoop (nope, not even as a kid!). A few months ago I saw this tiny, spunky girl hooping at a club – totally in her element and in the zone. I sat watching her for about half an hour, completely in awe. Right then and there I knew I wanted to get into hooping.”

And I did, big time. A few days after I returned back home in Amsterdam I got myself my first hoop and have pretty much been hooping every day since. Words can not describe how much joy hooping brings me. I have always loved dancing, but somehow it’s not something I’d soon do at home or with some music at the park, so it sorta got reserved for when going clubbing, something I also enjoy less and less these days (unless it’s conscious clubbing!) Thanks to hooping, all of that’s changed. I am dancing hours a day without feeling awkward or getting bored.

Lola Hoop

Dancing and hooping are both great ways to relax and unwind, lift your energy and spirit, and raise your frequency (more on this soon!) because both are so playful and flowing. When combined you get something called hoop-dancing, and the effects get multiplied. Here is how my gorgeous and talented friend Mariluz described it:

‎”I can tell, when you start hooping, you spin and get connected to the flow, that universal flow we are all part of…. things start moving in your life, suddenly the pieces start falling into the right places like if it would be by some kind of unexplicable magic… and everything around becomes a joyful experience.”

I could not agree with her more (and I wish I had a video of her hooping, so fierce!). When I made this subtle shift from hooping to hoop-dancing I was hooked. I crave it every day. My days feel incomplete if I don’t hoop for at least a little bit. And like Mariluz said, it’s like tapping into a new universal energy level. My everyday life feels much more flowing and fluent and with a purpose; the purpose to, simply, enjoy life. Wow.

Lola Hoop

Hoop dancing is like a combination of play, sport and art. It never gets boring. You develop a certain relationship, yes really, with your hoop. After so many hours, you know how the hoop feels on your body, what effect certain body motions have on it’s circulation, and so on. With every session, you discover a new movement, or a hidden little technique. Tricks are of couse also fun to do and ‘easy’ to learn by yourself thanks to the interwebz; video tutorials. On my third day of hooping I learned how to hoop with one leg simply by trying, and failing, 99 times, and getting it the 100th time. I learned how to do the lasso (video here). and pick up the hoop with my feet by looking at tutorials. Like my Yoga teacher in Bali said;

“If you want something, you have to obsess over it”

Now that’s a quote to my heart if there ever was one. I hate people who say you shouldn’t obsess over something. Screw them! lol. Obsession, passion, potato, potato.

I highly recommend hooping to anyone who wants to — never mind that. I highly recommend hooping to anyone! Whenever I am practicing in the park and people are mesmerized , or so it seems, by the movements. Anyone who tries is surprised by how much they like it and the feeling of freedom you get from it. I really think hoop-dancing, as with Yoga, is one of those things that could save the human species from self-destructing .

Lola Hoop

Whenever I find something this good, like I had and have with raw foods, I simply want to share it in which ever way I can. So, I decided to gift my mom her first hoop (mom, if you’re reading this, stop letting your son hog the hoop and try it out yourself!) and my bestemest roomie a day of hoop workshops this weekend, since she’s already hooked too. We’re going to a three day festival called Solstice which is basically an undercover extended hoop jam where tons of hoopers collide and have a blast.

Here are a handful of hoop videos you simply must (!) see in order to understand the epicness of hoop-dancing! The first one is my all-time favorite and my ultimate goal is to be able to hoop like that!

I am following a workshop of this dude tonight :

<3

And that ‘tiny, spunky girl’ hooping at the club? Well turns out that was Lola Hoop, a fellow raw foodie and now friend and co-worker of mine. She’s seriously the best hooper you’ll ever see, everyone agrees. Her style is very gentle, subtle, feminine and with a hint of sexy. I have had the pleasure of seeing her perform at Club Lite several times now, and it’s the best treat for your eyes ever. Check our her website LolaHoop.nl !

Want to get in on the hoop-dancing fun as well? I suggest you start with a 100cm hoop, one that is not too heavy and not too light. I bought mine at Juggle (staalstraat 3, Amsterdam) for €19. Hoop Holland also sells nice hoops. As your practice progresses you can buy a smaller and/or lighter one, which is easier for tricks (no, not those kind of ‘tricks’).

Are you into hooping as well? Talk to me! What’s your favorite music/song to hoop-dance to? (Mine: deephouse and some rave songs, lol. Also, Fat Freddy’s Drop for slow movements). What trick are you working on? What size hoop do you use (I am getting a 94cm one this weekend!)