The New Year has been a pivotal and celebrated time to humankind for thousands of years. Our modern times have proven that we are no exception, and hoopers everywhere are joining the ranks of celebration and new beginnings. Often times getting lost amidst the hubbub of the “New Year, New You” mantra, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that personal growth and transformation should not only be reserved for the fast to fade excitement over transitioning from year to year. Not to say we should stifle a fun and tribal tradition in lieu of this sentiment, but it is important to remember that our personal growth path is a never-ending one.
Now, some of you might be asking- what does this have to do with hooping? The answer: everything. Every single hooper I’ve ever had an in depth conversation with has always circled back to the notion that hooping has helped them immensely with multiple facets of their life- AKA, personal growth. However, many of us, myself included, sometimes lose a bit of the excitement and love we first experienced with hooping after doing so for years. There may be periods in which we are hooping every day for hours, and some when we don’t hoop much, or at all. While there are innumerable reasons we experience this bell-curve, a huge one I’ve encountered (and almost every other hooper I observe) is getting swept up in the hooping world that lies outside of myself. When we begin focusing too much on hoop-making, viewing videos of others, taking videos for others to see, learning new techniques and tricks, etc, instead of being intimately alone dancing and flowing with our hoop just for ourselves, it becomes easy to upset the delicate balance of our relationship with our hoop.
By no means am I implying hoop-making, taking and viewing videos, and the like are negative in the slightest (in fact they are immensely beneficial!), but when we neglect our truly “alone” time with our hoop we create the potential to lose out on the profound benefits that hooping has to offer; hence the reason it is such a delicate balance. One of the greatest pieces of wisdom that I have attained with my circle thus far is that hooping is a way of practicing self-love and learning how to carry it with you into your daily life. This practice and absorption can begin to become mute if we dwell too much outside of our own intimate little world with our hoop by focusing too much on others’. In some scenarios it can even add to or create feelings of jealousy, self-judgment, lack of motivation, and the like.
All of these feelings, including many unmentioned, are a part of those innumerable reasons we might find ourselves straying away from hooping as much as we’d ideally like to, adding to the bell-curve. This evidently happens to more of us than we might think, otherwise we would not be witnessing so many hoop challenges on social networking sites motivating us to hoop for a certain length of time every day for x number of days. I personally notice even more of these pop up around the New Year because of the previously mentioned “New Year, New You” mantra that becomes so infectious. While these are all amazing motivations and fun, social ways to get us hooping more, I like to pose and ponder the question, “how can we keep this motivation, personal growth, and self-love alive and kicking every single day throughout the year?” One of the greatest answers is quite simple, really. Go back to the way hooping used to make you feel when you first started- your beginner’s mind.
While it is easier said than done for most of us, even just making the slightest effort and acknowledging that you have the ability to be back in that beginner’s mind in every moment, it will make quite a noticeable difference in your daily practice (even if it’s only for five minutes!). Enjoy hooping for exactly what it is- hooping, dance, movement, art… Enjoy the feeling of your hoop caressing you at every point of contact around your body. Enjoy the moving meditative state that your mind automatically slips into while spinning in circles. Just be aware and allow your beginner’s mind joy to shine through. And always remember- hooping is first and foremost a sacred time for your Self.
As we continually learn and re-learn how to experience the happiness and self-love that exists within each and every one of us, there are ups and downs and turnarounds along the path. Just keep in mind that us hoopers have stumbled upon an amazingly beautiful tool that has the power to help in immeasurable ways when we continue to hone our relationship with it. Pull it out of your tool-belt on days you may be feeling lost and unmotivated, even if only for a few minutes. There is absolutely no need to wait for a new year or even a new hoop challenge to start or continue climbing up the next curve. Toss out that dated New Year’s mantra and replace it with “New Day, New You”, or create something of your very own. Because we are all constantly changing and transforming, we persistently have the opportunity to be exactly what we want to be and experience exactly what we want to experience. Every moment possesses the possibility to be something beautiful.
***Amber Lane of Lucid Hooping is a general lover-of-life and hoop enthusiast. After being diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and two herniated discs at the age of 17, she entered the world of healing and relief. She discovered the hoop and meditation in 2010 when she was 19 and instantly fell in love, not only because they boosted her self-confidence to new highs, but also because these modalities magically healed her chronic pain. Life since then has been a whirlwind of learning and sharing self-healing techniques and manifesting the life of her dreams. Through Lucid Hooping she hopes to help others in their journeys to health and true happiness through self-healing and transformation.