A follower of ours on Tumblr recently asked us this question: How does one become a hooper? I know how to hoop pretty well, but how can I put myself into the kind of beautiful lifestyle? What sort of things do you do to get started?
This really got us thinking...is a person "a hooper" simply because they know how to hula hoop or is there something extra, a mentality or a mantra, that one can follow or aspire to that allows you to truly embody "hooperdom"?
Here are our 'Five Commandments' for not only being a person inside a hula hoop, but for becoming the living embodiment of a hooper and a more fulfilled hooper at that!
Adapted Text from Cynthia Narcisi
I - Hoop with Integrity - Practice when you say you will. Be on time for lessons, performances, and your own practice sessions.
II - Hoop with Authenticity - Ignore the inner voice that says “I’m not good at this” or “I can’t” or “I shouldn’t”. Be the awesome hooper you know you can be and give yourself over to the experience. Have the courage to exceed your own expectations rather than trying to meet the expectations of others.
III - Hoop with Responsibility - Own the joy you experience within your hoop. You choose this path and determine your own progress! Continue to grow your skills and maintain your enthusiasm for hooping. Fight against getting bored, tired or frustrated, this is very bad for you!
IV - Hoop with Certainty - Don’t feel threatened by other hoopers or jealous of their skills and don’t get caught up in one-upmanship or bravado. Feel confident in your own abilities and the special something you and only you can bring to hooping.
V - Hoop with Generosity - Hoop with the intention to enrich others as well as yourself. Share your knowledge and joy of hooping, don’t hoard it. Teaching others to hoop will make you a better hooper!
Please start practicing that generosity right now by sharing these inspirational words with all of the hoopers in your life!
"I found a whole new group of great friends - my new hoop family!" -Char B.
"Embraced my authentic self and actually love how I look!" - Hallie B.
"Tighter abs, lighter spirit. I also spend more quality time hooping with my nine year old. We chat and listen to each other while working on our moves. Definitely brought play back into the forefront of my life." -Pamela H.
"My mind is healthier because hooping is like meditation. Quiet flow time for your mind. My body is healthier because of the physical exercise." -Lindsay W.
"Hooping made Houston home for me. Becoming a Hoopnotica instructor, being able to teach hoopdance, helped me realize and fulfill a long given-up dream!" -Heather Mia S.
"In almost every way imaginable! Happier, healthier, stronger (mentally, emotionally and physically) and I am now a much more confident person!" -Samantha M.
"I've begun to look for the fun in each day and often find it involves both movement and creativity that I missed since childhood." -Teresa Hardin S.
"I'm much braver about making mistakes. I'm better at both laughing and persisting. I no longer assume 'I just can't do that.' Now I'll try something six different ways until I figure it out. I'm better at playing, too. I've also overcome social anxiety in order to take hoop workshops and made some great friends...some of whom are also introverts." -Angie B.
"Stronger core, body, mind, and soul! It has given me an outlet for meditation. It has also taught me to play like a child again as an adult!" -Micha W.
"Hooping has not only lead me to some of my best friends, it has completely changed my career path. I am now full time hooping! After many years of being afraid to jump in with both feet, I quit my "day" job yesterday and am launching my website in a matter of days. Thank you hoops for making my life and work so happy!" -Suzanne R.
"Hooping has given me the freedom to have the fun I didn't know as a young girl. I get lost in a happy place. I missed so much living a life in Anorexia and the fear of failure that it brings. I'm learning for the first time what fun is and letting go, and realizing that beauty comes from imperfections." -Janette G.
"Hooping is so easy to do because it is such an readily available option to get moving, just pick up the hoop and get inside! I do it often in the middle of the living room and I feel enormous core strength from it which translates into more energy all around." -Monique S.
"More passion for life and dance. Finally a fun way to exercise!" -F.D.
"Hooping has been good for my self esteem and my body its changed my whole outlook on life!" -Allison F.
"I beat cancer and began to follow my dreams Thanks Hoopnotica!" -Sarah R.
"I lost 40 lbs and some bad relationships. I gained a new career, new friends and a new home in a new part of the country." -Katie Pinto L.
"I lost weight but more important I gained confidence." -Lily O.
"I'm moving more, I'm teaching, I've found more balance in my life, met some awesome new people, and it made it very easy to keep my New Year's resolution to get rid of things/people that don't make me happy!" -Rachel N.J.
"I feel sexy, beautiful and free when in flow with my hoop. I can't wait to practice everyday!" - Mary T.
"I'm a pro dancer, started hooping in 2003, and many people say that I have stopped the aging process. Now, at 62, I am in better shape than ever!" -Y. T.
"I'm more active and have fewer back issues." -Joanna C.
"I have more reasons to dance now! Its so fun and empowering as a woman to have something that is my own thing and it's healthy! Been hooping for almost 3 years and love every time I’m in my hoop!" -Jaymi P.
"Since I started hooping about 6 weeks ago, I've had much less joint pain! I can feel my body getting stronger after not working out for 2 years or so. It's also making early menopause more manageable! I always wanted to be a dancer, and now I am learning to incorporate this into hooping...besides the the fact that it is totally addicting and FUN! I've had a hard time taking a day off, even with sore muscles. I know I will never stop Hooping!" - Tisa J. C.
"Hooping has given my whole family another activity that we love to do together. This includes my mom, my children, sister, niece, nephews, sis in law, my other half. Every time we get together the hoops are with us great bonding times." -Kimberly B.
"I found that I am good at something that consists of a physical activity. Not only has hooping given me the incentive to get up and out and move but I can't remember a time I have felt so sad when I don't get to be active. I found confidence in myself and a sense of self esteem that I thought had been lost somewhere along the years. I have always been a woman of Faith and I feel as though hooping has been a gift in my life. I have more Faith now and I am excited to watch others grow in their own journey as well." -Angela Tierno O.
"Since hooping everything has fallen into place for me." -Robyn H.
If you haven't already answered this question, please tell us now: how has hula hooping changed your life?
Name: Pamela Crawford
Hooping Hometown: Los Angeles, CAYears Hooping: 6 years
Hooping Confession:
"Because of Hooping I have completed one third of my bucket list!"
Find out how much teaching Hoopnotica means to Pamela in her video!
Our Exclusive Q&A:
Who introduced you to hooping?
Hoopnotica did, actually!
What was your biggest challenge?
To be patient with myself when attempting new moves.
What made you decide to become a Hoopnotica Certified Instructor?
When I realized I had more excitement from teaching a move that I had just mastered myself.
What was your experience at your teacher training?
I was fortunate enough to be in the very first Teacher Training. Having the opportunity to learn as well as help create the foundation is something I am very proud of.
What is your favorite thing about being an instructor?
The hoop always creates a beautiful common ground for people who may have never met each other, friends and society. Its always great to watch and I feel instructors get to experience that the most.
What’s the one thing you would tell someone who’s considering getting certified?
What's not fun about bringing joy and inspiration to others? Just do it!
What do you consider to be your signature move?
I love floats and stalls. (click for a quick video tutorial!)
Pamela Crawford is one of Hoopnotica’s original Master Trainers and a celebrity in her own right within the international hooping community. Pamela regularly appears in the media and has students that include Perez Hilton, Maya Rudolph and Melissa Rivers. One of our most active Master Trainers, she travels extensively Certifying new Hoopnotica Instructors throughout the US. An incredible instructor known for her effortless dance flow, choreography, her booty kicking HoopnoticaFiT classes, and her unforgettable smile. Pamela lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Sign up for one of Pamela's Hoopnotica Instructor Trainings now.
Photo: Lisa Richards' 8 year old daughter giving her hoop a whirl![/caption]
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” - Henry James
Hooping perfectly captures the wonderment and beauty of childhood, when summer afternoons seemed to go on forever. Ever had a memory that seems to be so big in your mind and actually took place over just a few hours on a hot, sunny afternoon?
Every time you hoop, let it take you back there.
Hoopnotica lays out some of the benefits of hula hooping that are guaranteed to have you wanting to give hooping a try for at least 8 minutes a day. (Keep reading to find out why.)
Hooping is a complete core workout. (Cue the killer abs.) Hooping regularly can help to whittle your waist and strengthen your stomach muscles while blasting fat in these (often problematic) areas. (Studies that show that hooping burns visceral fat- the fat that is the hardest to get off the older you get, and also the most detrimental to heart health.) That's what we'd like to call a win-win-win situation!
...It's also a full body workout.Recent studies have suggested that hula hooping works as many as 30 of your body's muscles. Just by incorporating some of the moves from HoopnoticaDance DVD 1 you will be working your arms and thighs as well as your complete core.
Hooping will make you feel the (calorie) burn. Hooping has been proven to burn over 400 calories per hour by the American Council on Exercise, although the calorie-burn from hooping may be as high as 600 calories per hour when other parts of your body, such as your arms and legs, are engaged. To break this down even more, consider that, according to a 2009 AARP Bulletin, hooping it up for eight minutes gives you a good cardiovascular workout and will burn a whopping 50 calories, or a satisfying 6.25 calories per minute! And the ACE reported, according to a study they conducted, that hooping burns approximately 7 calories per minute! Burn, calories, burn!
Hooping is good for your heart. Hooping is an intense workout for your muscles..including one of the most important muscles of all: the heart! Anyone who picks up a hoop will notice their heart rate go up in minutes! So hooping for just twenty minutes a day can count towards your moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity recommended for improving and maintaining your health.
It improves your spine's strength and flexibility. The movements require a significant range of motion for your spine while increased practice can train your spine to a greater range of motions than you are used to, increasing your flexibility and even preventing back injuries. According to 3FatChicks, one of several online sources on the subject (and an awesome diet and health blog), "While performing hula hooping, you make very rhythmic rocking movements forward and backward, shifting your weight along the way. This kind of movement releases the tension of the muscles surrounding the sacrum (the lower part of the back) and realigns the sacrum with the rest of the spine. As a result, blood flow to the spine improves and total flexibility of the spine is increased."
It improves hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills. Like other sports, hooping requires hand-eye co-ordination and challenges your brain as well as your muscles. Hooping in both your natural direction and your reverse directions (recommended) is an excellent opportunity for your brain to engage both your dominant and non-dominant sides while guaranteeing your body's balance.
The "H" Factor. Happiness. At the risk of sounding sappy, aside from these amazing physical fitness benefits, most of us fall in love with hooping because of how it makes us feel: Happy. Besides the wonderful burst of endorphins you're likely to enjoy after a good bout of hooping, this activity can have other, more subtle positive effects on your psyche. After hooping we often feel like younger, stronger, more toned, more confident versions of ourselves...in other words, we feel like better--if not our best Selves. The bottom line is that Hooping, just like running, as a solitary or a shared activity, can be anything you need it to be, big or small: a tool you use to center yourself before or after a long day or a healthy activity you in which you take part with family and friends; an 8 minute-a-day activity (with a big fitness payoff); a satisfying career; or--a way of life.
This much we know is true: whatever hooping brings to us personally or professionally, whatever benefits (and lessons) we take from it, whether they are quantifiable or not, we, as hoopers, keep coming back for more! 
Photo: Brenna Rose Fisher, Alberta, Canada
Hooping has been proven to burn over 400 calories per hour by the American Council on Exercise although the calorie-burn from hooping may be as high as 600 calories per hour when other parts of your body such as your arms and legs are engaged! To break this down even more, consider that, according to a 2009 AARP Bulletin, hooping it up for eight minutes gives you a good cardiovascular workout and will burn a whopping 50 calories, or a satisfying 6.25 calories per minute! And the ACE reported, that hooping burns approximately 7 calories per minute! Burn, calories, burn!
Hoop Tip: To maximize your calorie burn while hooping (and get into the 450+ calories/per hour bracket) we recommend you get comfortable hooping on other areas of your body aside from your waist such as your hips, thighs, shoulders and chest! You can learn more advanced moves and stances such as these from watching HoopnoticaDance DVDs Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 or benefit from the entire HoopnoticaDance DVD Collection with the Box Set.
Recently, hooper Dijana Milosevic reached out to Hoopnotica through Facebook and a new homespun hooping story came to light!
Dijana lives in Belgrade, Serbia, where hula hoops are hard to come by! "In my country, they don't exist" says Didi and they are expensive to have shipped. So Didi decided to take matters into her own hands, literally! For the past few years she has been making hoops in the hopes that she will be able to create her very own hooping community: “I just wanted to spread love for Hula Hoops, and I hope I can turn some people into new hoopers.”
We were really intrigued to learn more about DiDi’s day to day hoop life and her goals for the future of hooping in Serbia! Read DiDi’s full Q&A here:
Do you have a hooping name?
Yup. It's Didi. But I'm thinking of start using a new one, like DidiHoop. It's convenient. How long have you been hooping? Not very long. About 2 years only. But for the first year I was only into fitness hooping. Tricks seemed impossible to me. I thought I would never be able to do anything but waist hooping. But I was wrong. It’s an addiction! Once you start hooping, there's no turning back! Who introduced you to hooping? It was YouTube's fault! I randomly came across a hooping video, and I was fascinated at once. There was no doubt. In a few seconds I was looking all over the web for more info. and learned a lot of things, like how important the size of your hoop is. So I figured out that I needed a new hoop. And that was the beginning of a wonderful experience. Who is a hooper that you admire? Now that is a difficult question. Not because I can't choose between all of them, but because I divide them into two groups: One group are hoopers that I can learn from because they know how to slow things down and explain them well and other group are advanced performers, and I can only watch them performing their magic. But I would have to say I prefer the hoopers who teach me new things!If you could hoop anywhere in the world where would it be?
Some big open air festival, like Burning Man, or somewhere like Ibiza. Looks tempting!
Is hooping popular in Serbia? Not so much, but I think it will be soon. It's not that people aren't interested, I think they are not familiar enough with it. It needs promotion! But so far I have gotten a couple of other people into hooping. I hope it will start to expand and I am keep working on it. Everyday. How long have you been making hoops? For about two years now! Since I needed one! But I started getting into making hoops for others about a year ago and one day my Facebook Page, DidiHulaHoop was born. We’d love to know, how do you say hula hoop in Serbian?Young people call it exactly the same. It can’t be translated and still sound cool. People who are a bit older learned to pronounced it wrong from beginning. I think that the guy who imported the Hula Hoop first didn't know how to read Hoop (those two O's in the word), so he named it "HulaHop". And it stayed that way, until today.
What is your hooping dream?
First one is to sell all of my hoops because that will mean that at least 50 more Serbian women have become hooping “addicts” and that would be a good start. The second thing is about me: I would like to be able to do all the tricks I want to, and be able to perform in public. I have stage fright. It is a disease!!! Maybe it's a bit shallow, but it is a good start for dreaming.
We loved hearing DiDi’s homespun hoop story! It makes us grateful for the many hooper communities we are a part of and inspired to hear about DiDi’s big projects for the future of hooping in her local community. We hope DiDi’s hoop dreams come true! Where there is a hoop, there is a way! :)
