Day 261 - The End of Summer

As summer comes to an end I am left reflecting on how amazing the last several months have been for me and for my hooping.  I have made so many new hooping friends and connections this year, but especially over the summer.  Between starting up my classes and hoop jams, and having the opportunity to attend the InFlow Festival, I feel like my hoop circle has increased 200%.  It's no longer just me anymore, I'm no longer just a lonely hooper.

For over a year I walked my hoop journey alone, with no community or friends to share it with.  I felt like somewhere there must be people who were as passionate about plastic circles as I was, and yet I couldn't find any.  I was envious of other cities or towns that seemed to have already established a hoop community. 

When I started out this year I had no idea where my path would lead, how many people it would bring me to.  All I knew is that I loved hooping, and that I wanted to share it with people. 

Looking back I can't believe how much I have accomplished in such a short period of time.  Starting Hoopla Hula Hoops, becoming a Hooplove Coach, attending workshops with Baxter and Hoopalicious, InFlow Festival.....  There is so much to be thankful for.

I would say that I did all of this for others, to share my love of hooping with the world, to reach out and enrich other people's lives through hoopdance.  The honest truth is, I did it for myself.  I wanted others to benefit from hooping the way I had, but what I really wanted was a community.  And since I couldn't find one near me to join, I started one.

There were times when no one was biting.  There were times when I thought I wouldn't succeed, that I wondered what the heck I was doing, why I was bothering trying to spread a love of hoopdance at all.  There were times when I thought I was crazy.  But this little voice inside of me kept saying, "Keep going.... People are going to join you... Just be patient".  So I kept putting myself out there, week after week, going to the same places, promoting my classes over and over again.

And then, it happened.  People started to take an interest.  People started to come out, to come to classes, and hoop jams.  Then I realized it, this was really happening.  I didn't have to twist people's arms to come hoop with me, they were coming because they wanted to hoop.

I had a wonderful moment yesterday when I pulled into the parking lot for the final hoop jam of the summer, and saw my friend and fellow hooper already hooping away.  I didn't have to be there first.  I wasn't the only one out there.

Now I am seeing in them what I saw in myself, a desire to continue on this path, to grow and get better, to move, to spin, to lose yourself in the hoop.  I knew it!  I knew there had to be other people out there like me, I just had to show them what hooping was all about.

I can't honestly say I've ever wanted to be a teacher of anything.  Even teaching hoopdance wasn't always something I wanted to do.  I would have been just as happy if someone in this town already taught it and I could have joined their classes.  But since there was no one, I decided to be that person.  I didn't want others to walk this hoop path alone in the beginning, like I did.  I wanted for others what I felt I didn't have, this hoop community, people to learn from and to motivate and encourage.  If I can be that person for other hoopers, then I will have done my job.

I would have never anticipated that teaching hoopdance would be as rewarding as it has been.  I have always felt like I already had the most rewarding job in the world being a mom.  Now I feel like I have two rewarding jobs.  Seeing my friends and my students love hooping as much as I do, and be as passionate about it, and want to grow and get better, has been the most amazing feeling.

The days are getting shorter and it is getting dark at 8pm again.  I already miss the warm summer evenings where I could just pop outside for a hoop after the kids are in bed.  I'm getting ready to settle for having to hoop in my dining room once again at home, and I already can't wait for next year.  Another summer full of hooping, and laughter, and friends. 

Day 243 - Fall Classes

Fall hoop classes are a go!

10 Week sessions starting the week of September 15:

Hoop Foundations 2 - Mondays 7-8
Hoop Foundations 1 - Wednesdays 7:30-8:30

3 Payment options:
Early bird rate (before September 8) - $90 for 10 weeks
Regular session rate - $100 for 10 weeks
Drop in rate - $12/class

Classes are held at Head Over Heels Gymnastics in Collingwood.  For the Monday group there is also the option to stay afterwards for their adult open gym.  The cost for adult gym is $5 and you can use the time to practice your hoop skills, or use the gymnastics equipment to work on strength and flexibility.

Class descriptions:

Hoop Foundations 1 focuses on the basics of hoop dance like hooping on the waist, hips, and shoulders.  We learn not only how to do these moves but also how to move and dance (or flow) while hooping.  We will learn how to coil the hoops up and down our bodies, as well as different ways to bring the hoops on and off our bodies.  In addition to on the body hooping, we will also learn many off body movements such as hand spins, passing the hoop around our bodies, weaves, isolations and more.  Each week we will put together a short sequence to learn how to transition between moves and link them into flow sessions.  There will also be lots of fun tricks in the mix as well.  We will learn all this and more!

Hoop Foundations 2 builds on the movements learned in foundations 1.  In this class we'll start to refine and smooth out our hoop dance movements and transitions.  We will learn some more intermediate skills such as leg hooping and angle hooping, as well as some more interesting tricks and isolations.  We will continue to put these moves together into sequences to help us dance with our hoops and unlock flow.  By the time you are finished with this class you will truly feel like a hoop dancer!

Contact me for more information or to register.
martina_rae@rogers.com
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Day 220 - Summer Classes and INFLOW

I am really late in posting about the summer classes seeing as they are already half over.  We have done three weeks so far out from the 6 week Hoop Foundations Course, and they have been a great success.  The students are learning all the foundational moves of hoop dance and are rocking it every week.  There are still 3 weeks left for anyone who wants to jump in and join us!  Classes are Tuesday evenings 7-8 at Head Over Heels Gymnastics in Collingwood and cost $10 per class.

This weekend is the INFLOW FESTIVAL, and I cannot describe my excitement at the prospect of 4 days and 3 nights filled with hooping, yoga, new friends, and fun.  I am also incredibly nervous.  For one I cannot remember the last time I went camping, nevermind the fact that I am going on my own.  Um, pitch a tent?  I will try!  I feel totally unprepared and completely overwhelmed with things to do before I leave on Friday, so much so that I spend the better part of the days thinking about what I have to do and very little time actually doing it.

Secondly I am leaving my children for 3 nights and 4 days, which I have never done.  I have only been away from all three of them for one night.  ONE NIGHT in almost 6 years, that's all I've gotten.  There are so many emotions over this - excited to finally have this time to myself, to be able to relax all weekend and focus on me, but also total anxiety over the idea of being away from them for so long.  It's funny how I want to go and don't want to go all at the same time.  It's hard to let go, especially since I am so used to being around them all the time (even when they are driving me nuts!).  The days go by and I'm pulling my hair out in frustration because let's face it, kids drive their mothers crazy.  And yet in the evenings when they are all in bed and sleeping peacefully, I don't remember what they did to drive me so insane and all I can think about are their beautiful little faces and how much I will miss them.  This weekend will be very bittersweet.

I cannot believe how much amazing stuff is going down this weekend.  Dancing, hooping, fire spinning, LED jams, yoga, fresh locally prepared food, the market, swimming, and hopefully making some new friends.  It's almost too much to process.

I also still cannot believe that I have the opportunity to attend this event.  I am so glad I entered the competition to win the Flowbot Award this year, and so incredibly honoured that I did.

I have no idea what to expect from this weekend, but I'm sure it will be great.  Bring on INFLOW!