Holistic Hooping
By Bee Varga
Most of you surely remember how hooping got everybody spinning a toy-like thing round the waist a few decades ago. Now the hoop is back and heals holistically. Imagine that you comfortably can perform circular movements with your torso to any music that you like and you can do the kind of tricks that you only saw at the circus. How fab it would be to laugh your head off, having fun, dancing around, discover your sensuality and shed your extra tyre with a workout that does not feel like a chore, but something you got addicted to and love to bits.
Hoopdance is more than just spinning a hoop round your waist – there are countless tricks that you can learn and you will find that this really has got the ‘wow’ factor in it. When people watch you they get mesmerized & cannot help watching constantly - they will all think you have always been a gymnast. All this sounds like a dream but it is possible. My name is Bee and I picked up hooping in May, 2008... now have a look at my videos at my website: http://dancingstarhoops.weebly.com – I am about to qualify as a hoopdance instructor now. Never knew that such a qualification exists, but now all I want to be is a hoopdancer and instructor. As a practicing massage therapist and student of Osteopathy there has always been some extra stress in my life, especially by being so responsive to other people’s problems all my energies were sucked out. Then on Youtube I found hoopdance videos and got hooked.
Hoopdance hoops are handmade, you can either buy them (from us or anywhere else) or make them yourself. Because they are heavier and larger than kiddy ones from toyshops, you can actually use them. No wonder why we can’t use the ones of our kids – those were manufactured for them. Tiny creatures need tiny and lightweight hoops. Bigger ones need the bigger stuff. However let’s not pick the other extremity: the weighted hoop – that is an abusive monster. A hoop is cheaper than most fitness equipment, can go behind the sofa or wardrobe if you need the space and it is pretty much a green item because it is usually made of recycled materials and requires no electricity. You can do it inside or outside on the grass in the fresh air, no contribution to carbon emission, just burning tons of calories. You can turn the heating down, too – you will be steaming hot & sweaty.
The physiology behind it is quite straightforward. In order to protect the organs in your abdominal cavity, your abdominal muscles remain contracted constantly. As we all know as a measure of prevention from muscle fatigue the muscle fibres contract in series – some of them contract fully while others relax a bit. If the effort is sustained & maximum effort is required, you develop fatigue. With hooping effort is not at its maximum and can be adjusted at any time by different sized hoops. What you get basically is nice toned abs and back without the nasty back-pain that abdominal exercises usually make you end up with. But hoopdance does so much more for us to be healthy and pretty – the hoop as your personal trainer will tell you if your posture is not good enough. You will find that you are keeping yourself upright, nice and tall and working at a steady speed. Poor Quasimodo couldn’t have kept a hoop going – you can, as long as you concentrate on your posture and speed. Indeed, speed! If you slow down, the hoop falls off. Maybe I am masochistic, but I always dreamt of somebody cracking the whip on my back if I was running too slow – I was never getting any better at running because when I got a bit tired I slowed down & forgot about speed completely. Your hoop will let you know if you are not working hard enough. Also by introducing some gentle sideways movements you realize that you will become a lot more flexible, and fresh, nutrition and oxygen rich-blood gets pumped into all your bits that you have been neglecting while sitting in the car, in front of the screen and so on. The light shocks received by your joints will make them extra lubricated and the amount of synovial fluid you get will keep you supple & bouncy.
Although it doesn’t look like if you were working hard, but keep your heart rate monitor on & watch the miracle – hooping will prove to be a hardcore cardiovascular exercise! When you mastered the basic move, you can experiment with spinning the hoop the other way round, moving it up and down your body or arms & legs, do jumps, duck downs & ups – this will keep you entertained forever.
Your brain will be full of all the happy hormone just by being able to perform a new trick. I always get so explosively happy when I manage to do a new trick that I keep showing it to everyone, even record it & put it on Youtube because I want the world to see how cool I am. Hooping is one of the most rewarding things one can do. Helps losing weight, improves skin & muscle tone, fights depression, stimulates circulation of blood & lymph, uplifts the spirit, corrects posture and makes you very sensual & happy about your body, boosts confidence, can be done even if you have some limitations which will not allow you to do other kinds of exercises.
So if you fancy finding out some more or get in touch please visit: http://dancingstarhoops.weebly.com
Happy Hooping!
With lots of love,
Bee
Bee Varga hoopdancer massage therapist student of Osteopathy :)
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