Sometimes I forget the power of the mind -- but yesterday I remembered that my brain's neurosynaptic pathways cannot tell the difference between visualizing an activity and actually doing it.

So....I was on the train to New York City, listening to my i-Pod, and I decided to have a hoop rehersal. It was amazing! I went through over an hour of a vast array of music and imagined exactly what hoop and dance moves I would do to each. After a while, I noticed that I was also swaying my body in spirals, closing my eyes slightly, smiling and feeling great!

The amazing thing about imagining a rehersal is that you can try so many new things without any limitations of your body's flexibility or co-ordiation. I found myself coiling in a stall which started all the way at the floor and then went high over head in a transition which took over 2 minutes -- a speed "in reality" which could seem impossible -- but it was so long and drawn out it felt fabulous.

I also played with continual hoop flip offs at quantum speed from every side of the body until my body was surrounded by a flashing blur of hoops -- looking almost like an entire globe surrounding my body.

I worked on jumps through every side and direction of the hoop swing with legs extended and launching like a gazelle.

I was able to jump to my transitions to the floor, instead of the stable electric slides I normally do, and once there, did a wild series of capoeira-like hand springs, and knee travelling moves with under body hoop sweeps which felt exhilerating. Normally I feel a bit restricted on the floor, but I got the same hoopgasm that I experience in real life just by imagining being able to do it.

I practiced going inside the vertical isolation with my entire body and being able to stand exactly in one place while turning the hoop over itself again and again at super fast speeds but maintaining an absolutly perfect circle shape with the hoop.

I also worked on a move I call frequency, which is basically a stall which keeps changing planes around the body, so you are guiding the hoop like a frequency wace continually up and down in slow motion surrounding yourself.

Side to side body flips with the hoop while letting it percussivly bounce off my hands in front of my body, going back the other way.

Overhead side to side atomic twirl directional switches, while passing the hoop hand to hand. Underleg atomic twirl passes.

Amazing body breaks, bouncing the hoop off my thighs, buttocks, and feet with effortless speed and no uncomfortable body sensations... and so many other things that are now blurring into the train ride...

I'm hoping to bring this rememberance into 2007 -- visualized rehersals when the real deal is impractical... while driving...while commuting...while flying...

Gosh it almost feels like even when I DO have access to real hoopdance at least one day a week of imagined dance allows some fun creative breakthroughs!

Thank you!