As you may have guessed, I've got a thing for hula hoops. Several years ago, when we bought a Wii fit, I tried its hooping game. As I swiveled my imaginary hoop, I remembered how much I loved hooping as a kid, and I got the itch to try again with a real hoop. However, when I experimented with some hoops owned by friends' kids, it was way more difficult than I remembered. Like almost impossible. Had I gotten sooo out of shape? Well, yeah, but it turns out that wasn't my only problem. Shortly thereafter, I ran into a professional hooper busking downtown. He was amazing and let me in on a secret: adult-sized hoops! Now, you can buy some gorgeous adult hoops on line, but if you're impatient and/or thrifty, you can make them yourself. Off I went to a hardware store with my husband to buy some PVC tubing. Add a wooden peg stolen from one of our kids toys to connect one end to the other, and some duct tape to hold it all together, and voila! I rushed outside to practice. After a few weeks and many bruises, I could do the basics-neck to waist, waist to knees, and reverse.
Then I got greedy. I wanted to learn more tricks. But short of traveling to a Burning Man festival to hoop with the hipsters, where could I go to learn? YouTube to the rescue! The hooper tribe is well represented. By the following summer, I'd taught myself to lasso the hoop from my waist to overhead and bring it back down again. I've got a long way to go before I'd call myself a good hooper. My husband keeps asking when I'm going to learn some brand new tricks-you can only applaud your spouse's lassos so many times. Fortunately, after years of looking, I've found a class. Someday, someday, I hope to add shoulder hooping and maybe even a dance routine to my repertoire. Like all fanatics, I can't end my spiel without a little proselytizing. If you're looking for a super fun way to exercise, meditate, get your groove back or simply find some happy, maybe these videos will inspire you. Here's what an amazing hooper looks like. And here's the first step toward getting there. Hoping you find your happy!