Superhooping

 I respect and admire your symbolism.  Your link to yourself, to me, is a sign of unity, continuation, revolution, and isolation at the same time.  I recognize that within each of us is a place where peace dwells, and when we are in that place, we are One.  Through you I learn to respect myself and the space that continuosly revolves around me.  Through you I learn dedication, commitment, finesse, strengh, and most importantly freedom of motion.  I will pick you up if you fall.  I will learn from your flow, and I will share your strengh with anyone open enough to reach out for you.  The light within me sees and honors the light within you.

Namaste

Posted by superhooper at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Revolution" Resolutions

So I haven't been hooping.  Much. 

I've got about forty pounds left to lose after the August birth of my own little hooper. I've been out of the game . . . and way off mine.  And since my body's been on mind, hooping has too. 

Renewing my confidence has meant a good bit of soul-searching.  Why do I hoop, again? I mean, I thought I knew.  I hoop because it's fun, because it makes me feel good, right?  So what's up? 

Hooping's not the only sport where I've lost some pizazz. I'm a runner. I've run 5 half marathons in 2 countries. But post-baby, I'm only up to 4 miles so far.  Every sport draws on a different point of personal inspiration.  When I'm running, I tap into a certain ambition, a battle between two sides of me -- the part that wants to quit when it gets hard and the part that knows I can keep going.  Every run is a small symbolic victory for my internal optimist and a mini life lesson.
(Kickboxing, on the other hand, feeds off my anger.  I haven't kickboxed in years, so I'm going to assume that my inner angst-ridden teenager is finally subdued.) 

But what fuels my hoop?  I was recently reminded that my hooping is integrally linked to my sensuality.  When I hoop, I tap into a kind of self-expression that reflects how I feel about my body and how it relates to the bodies around me. Like nothing else in my life, hooping has zero to do with the chatter of my mind. Hooping is my body talking.  And lately, I haven't been listening.

My hooping has been a performance for so long -- tied up with its matching costumes that no longer fit, the tricks that are about nine months out of practice, and a feeling of flow and beauty in my movements that seem to belong to another, more youthful Lara -- that I've been experiencing a bit of (ahem) performance anxiety. . .

And since picking up my hoop again means wanting to feel beautiful and mine again, then it's time! I've just wrapped two new 2007 hoops -- one for me and one for my new running partner.  Tomorrow, I'm going to turn on Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" and remember the joy of moving my hips.  I'm on a mission to get my chops . . . and my body  . . . back.

Here's to feeling beautiful. And here's to jumping back in the hoop.

Read others' new year's hooping resolutions and add yours here to the hooping tribe: http://hooping.tribe.net/thread/46ffbf1b-12ad-4b4a-9d3c-b22a20d657bc 

Posted by superhooper at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)