Morgan Jenkins, of the LA Hoop Team The Hooptown Hotties is the only hula hooper to be given a four minute feature in Pharrell Williams’ recently released 24-hour long music video “Happy”.
You can watch Morgan’s incredible, fun-loving segment here...It’s sure to put a smile on your face!
Often when we first start hooping we feel like we are learning new things and getting better and better every day and then after a little while (a few months or more) we suddenly feel like our progress drops off....
We received this question on our Facebook Page from Chelsea D:
"I have been hooping for a few months now and at first I was doing really good, catching on really fast. But now I seem to have plateaued out. Any tips or advice to help me get out of this funk ?!"
Even the most seasoned hoopers can get the hoop blues from time to time. So it is important to acknowledge that we can sometimes go through periods of feeling frustrated in the hoop. The good thing is, this feeling always passes. Here are some tips to get you out of your hooping "funk" fast and back into that sweet honeymoon phase with your hoop!
1. Try a new sensory approach to hooping! Some hoopers choose to hoop with a blindfold on so that they can feel and hear the hoop better. Just make sure you try this in an uncluttered space!
2. In this same vein...you can try making "Power Playlists" for hooping that will inspire you to get out of your hooping comfort zone and get you to loosen up and feel good!
3. We sometimes get stuck doing the same few moves we love. Meeting up with other hoopers so that you can see all of incredible possibilities of hoop moves and styles...and get inspired to switch it up! (MORE: Learn how you can find hoopers near you!)
4. Switch up your hoop! Getting a new hoop may seem counter-intuitive at a time when you are feeling disenchanted with the one you already have..but getting a new hoop (of a different size/weight) can reignite some of your curiosity about hooping and also make you feel less complacent. You may not be able to do all of the same moves with your new hoop right away but that makes it a challenging puzzle for you to figure out! Different types of hoops also allow you to engage different parts of your body...for example, MiniHoops are exclusively used on your hands and require a different skill set from on body hooping. Polypro Hoops are also a fun option, even though more advance, because they are so light, you can start to learn beautiful floating moves with them.
5. Find a Hoopnotica Class in your area! (See our Find an Instructor page) or, if there isn't a class near you, set up a Skype session with a Hoopnotica Certified Instructor like Hoopnotica's incredible Jacqui Becker! You can email trainings@hoopnotica.com to set up your web tutorial session.
6. Get Certified to Teach Hoopnotica! There is a consensus in the Hoopnotica Certified Instructor Community that getting Certified not only teaches you how to be an effective and engaging instructor, it actually helps you to see how all of the amazing moves you have been doing fit together! Happy Hooping!
The Younger Lovers' new song "Hey Now" premiered on MTV this week... In this simple and upbeat video the adorable lead singer Brontez Purnell is featured guitar strumming, dancing with a bouquet of flowers, popping bubblegum and...HOOPING!
Not only is the video adorable but the song will definitely make you want to grab your hoop! Watch it here!
Happy Hooping!
What is #GivingTuesday?
We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. This year help us create #GivingTuesday. A new day for giving back. On Tuesday December 3, 2013, global charities, families, businesses, community centers, students and more will come together to create #GivingTuesday. (Source: http://community.givingtuesday.org/Page/About)
Learn More about Hoopnotica's #GivingTuesday Initiative to connect hoopers in need with new hoops!
Betsy's Story
Recently, a hooper told us about her friend, Betsy, who lost her hoop (among other things) in a terrible flood. We wanted to get Betsy a new hoop so that she would have her feel-good practice back in her life while dealing with the aftermath of the flood.
We were so happy that we were able to reconnect Betsy with a hoop that we decided that, for our first ever GivingTuesday initiative, we want to give hoops to other hoopers like Betsy who are currently hoopless!
Do you know any hoopers in need? Send a Letter to Your Fairy HoopMama! You can nominate a hooper (it could be you or someone you know) to receive a free Hoopnotica hoop by telling us who you nominate and why in less than 300 words and sending it to inspiration@hoopnotica.com with the subject line "Fairy Hoopmama" or by posting in the comments below. Deadline is 11:59 pm Dec. 3rd, 2013.
We will contact you no later than Dec. 5th to let you know if your nominee will be receiving a hoop from their Fairy Hoopmama!'
Sitara Bird (hooper, Hoopnotica Certified Instructor, and avid enthusiast for healing arts & holistic health) shares her favorite smoothie recipe to keep you fueled for fall!
I discovered hoop dance almost six and a half years ago and instantly fell in love. My 'hoop mama' is Katie; one of the OG hoopers on the scene in Detroit. I met her at this small festival in Detroit called Fourth Street Fair in 2008. I remember the moment exactly; her dance wholly captivated me, as I stared in awe while this circle traveled effortlessly around her body, she radiated grace and fluidity. It was as if she was tapping into other portals with her hoop. I bought a handmade hoop from her that day and thus my hoop journey began.
Today, I am a Hoopnotica Certified Instructor and a performer who has coupled this movement medicine with the healing benefits of yoga. I also am a nutrition enthusiast. I learned early on that my body requires a rather diligent lifestyle to perform at it's best. I've healed many old internal wounds through these healing arts and my aim is to share my story with others so that they can pave their own path towards health.
RECIPE: Autumn may be one of my favorite seasons. I love the cooler air in the mornings. Coffee shop walks where you can hear the rustle of reddish, orange leaves beneath your feet. And I definitely love pumpkin – pumpkin anything and everything. That’s why I created this Chai-Inspired Pumpkin Pie Smoothie.
What you’ll need:
• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond mylk
• 1 TBS of organic, local honey
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp of nutmeg & ginger
• 1/8 tsp of garam masala
• sprinkle of black pepper & cloves
Add all ingredients to your Vita-Mix or any other high speed blender and enjoy!
You could also add in cinnamon sticks for an aesthetic twist if you’re serving company!
For more from Sitara, visit her site: www.sitarabird.com
We can't get enough of the incredible shots in this video!
Where in the world would you like to bring your hoop?
"We were always looking for new jobs, hoping to find that perfect job that paid the bills AND that we looked forward to daily." Sound familiar?
In 2007, Jen and Keith Moore were both morbidly obese, unemployed or between unsatisfying jobs, and feeling very frustrated and unsuccessful. Six years on, 270 lbs lost, and several Hoopnotica Certifications later, Jen and Keith are finally living the hoop dream!
Jen talks about what it means to support their family as Hoopnotica Master Trainers and independent fitness professionals!
Even after almost four years of being professional Hula Hoopers, we still cannot at times believe this is our reality: we are truly living the hoop dream!
It was a process that began gradually, until one day we stopped, looked our lives, and realized this was it-this was the direction we were headed, to support ourselves and our family 100% by hooping and still working way fewer hours than most people!
Many of you are already familiar with how hooping changed our lives forever-with Keith and I losing a total of almost 300 lbs and finally winning the battle over obesity that we had struggled with our entire lives. However many of you aren’t as familiar with the impact hooping has had on us professionally.
Before Hooping...Hoping for the Perfect Job:
Before Hooping, Keith was always in upper level retail management. The money was good, but the hours were long and the jobs were stressful, especially when we started a family. Keith never enjoyed his job, and constantly was job hopping, because he would grow bored with the monotony of the work. (Just to give you an idea, at age 35, Keith has worked at over 80 different jobs!) He was always looking for new jobs, hoping he’d find that perfect job that paid the bills AND he looked forward to daily.
I worked as a nanny, which I enjoyed, but the pay was very low, and once I started having children, I wanted to stay home with them and focus on them, not raise someone else’s children and mine at the same time.Keith decided to go back to school in 2008, because many job opportunities were closed to him without a degree. In 2009 when the economy crashed, he lost his job. We had a 4 year old, a 6 month old, and we were living on $222 a week in unemployment.
When I started hooping and people started asking me if I was a hoop instructor, I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Me, obese, a fitness or dance instructor? HA!! I would laugh about it to Keith every time.
But, then a really funny thing happened: after a few months of hooping, and countless people stopping me to ask me when/where I taught class, I started to consider the idea of becoming a hoop instructor. There were no Hoopnotica Certified Instructors in upstate New York, and maybe I could make a little extra money while Keith kept searching for a "real" job.
Your Dream Job Can Be Your "Real" Job
I got certified through the distance program in January 2010, thinking I would teach in a few months, towards the fall, when I was really “good” and had lost more weight. (I was still well over 200lbs at this time.) I started putting out feelers, and within a few days, THREE gyms emailed me asking me to start the following week.I was terrified, but stepped forward with the idea of “fake it til you make it” and by the summer I was teaching over 20 classes a week and turning down requests for workshops, performances and classes! I told Keith that I thought he should get certified too, until he found that “real” job he was still looking for.
Keith started teaching and by the end of the year, we stepped back and said, Wow, this is a business...there are our real jobs! We are professional hula hooper fitness instructors! We had lost almost 300 lbs by this time and were continuing to change our lifestyles while spreading the hoop love! We had named our business Roc City Hoopdance in February, and it became an offical LLC by the end of the year.
Doing What We Love & Spending Time with the People Who We Love
Now, even as Hoopnotica Master Trainers, running our own HoopDance studio and certifying new Hoopnotica Instructors around the world, we get to spend all day with our children, educating them (our kids are home-schooled) and creating amazing bonds that Keith especially wouldn’t have had if he was still working 60-80 hour work weeks away from home and from our family. And the crazy thing is, we make more money NOW than when he worked all of those long, labor-intensive hours!Going on four years of teaching HoopDance, this is the longest Keith has ever been at a job and every day still brings new and exciting challenges. Even though the basics of hooping never change, the amazing people we get to interact with and the new places we get to go change every day, week and month.
And all of this happened because, for many months, the obese girl (I used to be) in the corner of the gym with her TravelHoop and Hoopnotica DVD playing on a laptop, who never truly thought she could hoop, kept trying and kept trying. Less than four years later, I am healthy, happy, and living the ultimate Hoop fairy tale. If I can do it, so can you!
Choosing the perfect hula hoop is not always straightforward for beginners, so we're sharing our answers to your most frequently asked questions!
One of the first questions that new hoopers often ask is: What is the best starter hoop for me? We believe that a 40-44” diameter hoop weighing about 1½ - 2 lbs is the perfect hoop to begin with, whether you are hooping for fitness, flow, or fun! Just add on one of our acclaimed instructional DVDs and you are on your way to learning the basics!
Check out these hoops that are perfect for beginners: The Forties, The TravelHoop
Question number two: I read somewhere that I should have a hoop that goes up to my belly button. Is this true? While this has been a standard way of measuring a hoop for many years, we don’t necessarily follow this method exclusively. We believe that your level of learning as a hooper is the more accurate way of determining the size of the hoop you need. If you are a beginning hooper, and are at least 4’11” you will be fine to start with a hoop that is at least 40” in diameter. If you are under 4’11”, you still may be able to use a 40” hoop, but you may also enjoy a hoop that is about 38” in diameter. If you need a smaller hoop, Hoopnotica can customize one for you! Check out the chart below to see what type of hoop is perfect for you:
Another question we often get is: Is there really a difference between a kids’ toy hula hoop and an adult fitness hoop except the price tag? Yes! The adult fitness hoops that Hoopnotica sells are larger in diameter and heavier than toy hoops because they are built with adult hoopers in mind. They are also made of more durable materials than the toy hoops you can pick up at the Dollar Store to ensure that you won’t break your hoop if you drop it or step on it! Have you ever, as an adult, seen a child's toy hoop on the ground and picked it up, thinking, "I used to be able to do this" or “I wonder if I’ve still got it”? If you decided to give it a whirl, chances are the hoop fell down almost instantaneously. It’s not you, it’s your hoop! Everybody can hula hoop, at virtually any age, size, and fitness level. Unfortunately, a lot of people think they can’t hoop the way they once did as kids simply because they are using the wrong hoop!
Most toy hula hoops only weigh 1.5-2 oz. which is far too light for adult use!
Note on Weight: Is a heavier hoop better for weight loss? As with most things, moderation is key when it comes to the weight of your hula hoop when starting out. While a heavy hoop can increase muscle tone and does have fat-blasting benefits, as a beginning hooper you will want to keep your hoop at around 1½ lbs, and, ideally, no more than 2lbs. A 1½-2lb hoop will allow your body time to build up muscle memory and endurance so that you have a much lower chance of bruising and soreness.
Photo: Gaz Shirley, Pacific Coast News.
This is what happens when a marriage proposal meets a hula hooping flash mob! Get out the tissues! Watch the incredible video here.
I guess you can say he put a ring on it! Congratulations to the happy couple: Jo Mondy and Andy Broughton!
