Day two! The day was packed with reviews of the HoopGirl Workout class format, training in the HoopGirl Philosophy, hooping drills and teaching practicums where students started taking on the role of teaching all of us. This is always my favorite part of the weekend because we get to see the creative genius and unique personality of each new teacher emerge! I love how distinctive each teacher's method of communicating is. Of course, at first, some are nervous and fumble a bit, but the best part is watching them use the resources we provide to come back to center faster and step forward with confidence. I really appreciate how much courage it takes to stand up before a group of people they hardly know and start teaching material they still in the process of learning!

Each group has a different "feel". This one feels focused. Their intent to become articulate and effective teachers is clear. I also appreciate their amazing energy levels! Some groups are a bit tired after two days with lots of movement.. but this group's smiles, inquisitive questions and enthusiasm really says they are ready for more!

What I am also enjoying is the vibrance of color in the room. Many students have purchased up items from our new HoopGirl clothing line, and have been wearing brightly colored Sassy Pants and HoopGirl Tanks and they look like a brilliant sea of jewels as they hoop through the room. Honestly, hooping has given me so much courage to shine brightly and part of that has included wearing bright colors. It is wonderful to see that energetic nourishing others as well.

As always it is amazing to co-teach with Candice. The teaching flow which exists between us is amazing and we always inspire eachother to move to the next level. It is such a pure energetic! There is no sense of anything other than presence, brilliance and ease. It is by far the best and easiest hoop collaboration I have ever experienced in my life. True equals. I am SO grateful for the day that Candice showed up in my life, appearing at the very first HoopGirl teacher training that took place! I knew from the moment she led her first mock class that I would be co-teaching with her. This relationship has really inspired me to seek out collaboration at every opportunity with exceptional individuals... as a path to personal growth and also as a way to move towards goals in a way which is fun and joyous.

Thank you! On to day three!

Day 3 always feels SO good because we get to watch all the trainees put it all together and teach us! It is a remarkable experience, especially witnessing each student so clearly articulate what worked during each student's sample class, and what could be improved. We ALL learn from eachother, without personalizing, and each one really begins to discern the true art of teaching. Also wonderful was watching how this group organically began to teach eachother hoop moves which could be improved during jam sessions. Their questions during the business training portion were insightful and they were full of ideas and resources about building the HoopGirl brand, which was really wonderful. I feel so blessed to be able to hold space and share the work with so many wonderful women! Thank you!

I wasn't sure how I could move my body to hoop this morning after the training this past weekend, but I watched a few Hoop Videos on tribe.net and managed to move the coffee table over and hop to it. It felt really good just to show up for myself, even though I had a story about being "tired". I did a lot of Ann's arm capture breaks, a few sets of floor touching breaks, lots of Outflow hooping in Snake position, just bumping and grooving to the music. It is interesting. I breathe deeply and try to get into my body but sometimes I just get so many creative ideas while hooping I have to pause and take notes! It is as if I just plug into a much bigger source of information. So I kept moving and feeling and enjoying brilliant thoughts when the visited, but mostly trying to come back to my body. I focused on dancing this morning, without needing to drill too much, do many moves or achieve anything. Showing up was enough.

This morning I got all revved up, went to the gym, sweated like crazy, lifted heavy weights, came home and watched some hoop videos, and took notes of what I wanted to work on. I felt so organized! Then my hoop started flying and all I could do was Spunk. I was fascinated by the sensation of the hoop going in my outflow direction on my legs, seeing how long I could stay facing the same direction while maintaining hoop spin, seeing how much I could shake and shimmy my shoulders. Then I would push it back in my inflow for a bit, then back to outflow again and again, until I realized I had been doing this one exercise alone for 32 minutes. Since my legs were quite flushed, I changed it up. I played with vertical isolations, rocking back and forth and flipping the hoop on different sides so it magically changed direction and flow. 17 minutes later, I felt done so I stopped. Such an interesting practice! I saved the notes for next time.

Today was not a "bad ass" day... there are days like that where the hoop just unfurls my body in such powerful and surprising ways. In contrast, today was sort of a "steady as she goes" day. Just hung with the process of moving it. I logged on to talk about on my blog but got sucked into Angelicious' blog which had a link to a series of 18 videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7qXLGaruOk).

It was nice, almost like an audiobook version of a book called, "Bringers of The Dawn", an item which I have had on my shelf unread for some time. What I love about these esoteric teachings is that they remind me that we are all connected at a deep level, and that we have the power to accelerate the evolution of our consciousness, and that there is a much bigger picture of life than we, with our earth-centric perceptions, recognize! It was a sweet reminder since I was so deep into my physical experience and had to go off to work in the business world shortly thereafter.

These teachings remind me that all of us who have been drawn to hooping are part of a family of light which is quickening together, accelerating our awareness and healing, letting go of whatever is slowing our vibration and anchoring positivity on the planet. At a deep level I sincerely believe we are all working towards the same goal, on divine assignment, and that even those who harbor fear-based thoughts or emotions towards other hoopers are all dear, loved, soul family members. We are all here to help anchor a new vibration of joy on the planet! We are all here to help each other shine brighter! What a lovely gift we have all been given. I'm determined to enjoy every precious moment of it.

I wake up to this awareness for hours, days, sometimes weeks at a time, then I fall asleep again, lulled into the monotony of deadlines, work, classes, performances, running a business. There are moments of awareness, moments of forgetfulness, moments of ego, moments of one-ness, moments of fear, moments of love, and back and forth. What a journey this incarnation is!

Whew! I started the day with 40 minutes on the Eliptical machine doing intervals at level 12! Not going to the gym for a while, I forget how intensely it pushes my edges. Honestly, taking walks in the morning or hikes or even casual hoop practice doesn't always take me to that place of "holding on for dear life" while my heart rate soars to 154. BUT, after working out in the gym for about a month I am able to crank up the volume on my hooping so it does take me there and I can sustain it.

It feels so good to just be so sweaty... breathing deeply and feeling all my muscles work makes me feel so strong and alive. After that I did lots of weights for my upper body (yesterday was lower body). Cruised home and hooped for 30 minutes, playing with hooping in my outflow in Spunk again. Also played with raising and lowering the hoop with one hand while turning and bringing my body close to the floor and then high, then switching hands and going the opposite direction. Played with some flip offs, zest with straight arms forward and to the sides in my outflow while standing in place, forward leaning shoulder breaks while lifting alternate legs and breaks with paddling in general, while reaching alternate hands down to touch my thigh. Fun! Got to get off to the office early today since I teach back to back classes on Wednesdays... So glad to be alive!

Off to the gym where I listed to the audiobook version of "Bringers of the Dawn" while working out. Wow! Such a sweet book. It is nice to sweat so much and feel my muscles working while listening to dialog about digging into the library of our cells to learn how to emit a higher frequency in every day life, helping ascend the human species to the next level of conscious awareness! Worked out legs...

Back home, I made 2 new hoops- something I rarely do now a days but I was way impatient to have someone else make them. Candice recently showed me a new hoop which was sweet. 5/8 diameter and super light. While I had asked for this material to be purchased, I actually was delivered the "wrong" material. 1/2 inch pipe which felt tiny and incredibly flimsy. I was wrapping them with some pre-judgement, thinking that I wouldn't like them. So on to 1/2 hour of practice afterwards and discovered some interesting things.

First of all, they have a strange wobble that makes them unappealing to me when used one a time... but using them both at once was a wonderful new physical sensation. They move very diferently from my current 3/4 inch 100psi 35inch diameter hoops. I had to break out of habitual movement patterns to keep them spinning. I particularly had fun with swinging both at once in Warrior and leaping through both sides, trying it again and again with both hands. Also had fun hooping on my legs and doing continual reversals. They are so light that they fly back and forth no problem. Interesting... I am not really sure how I feel about them overall.. so darn light and skinny! And not sure about the size. We will see... bright side... I tried something new! We will see how all unfolds.

Well those light thin hoops have been growing on me. ;) I've been whipping them both around my body so fast and it feels really nice. I discovered I can do an Eagle Roll with them both at the same time and Jiffy Pop them up into the air, catch them both and keep swinging. Sweet! Also spent a long time doing reversals with them both at the same time. Yummy body sensation to navigate both at once. I picked up my reegular hoop afterwards (which actually was a lighter hoop) and it felt heavy! At the rate that my personal hoops are shrinking, soon I'll just be using a plastic straw around my waist.

Today was interesting. I used the two smaller hoops which I made last week and rocked them. Not a super tricky day for me.. more energy invested in learning how to control these new hoops with grace. Hooped with both hoops on my legs in Spunk in my outflow for a *long* time, alternating with inflow and then back for a while in outflow. I was fascinated that I could keep them both spinning at the same rate for so long. One handed breaks with two hoops, step out reversals, and general flowing full body churning dance.

This morning's hour was spent twinning, using two hoops as one. It was sweet. For whatever reason, I rolled out of bed and slipped into some hot shorts and a bikini top and went for it in my livingroom. Something about practicing in hot shorts always gets me going! Inspired by Sharna Rose in the UK, I put on some bangin' psy-trance music and explored this wonderful world of twins, especially playing with one handed breaks while consistently standing tall and kicking up legs then reaching down and squatting and touch the floor with alternating hands. The rush of Burning Man came upon me as the music went faster and I had a blast using two hoops again in my outflow on my legs. Lots of step out reversals and returns to the body, as well as duck outs and flip offs, turning with the hoop and shifting it into a matrix formation while raising and lowering it over my whole body. Hooping in my inflow on one part of my body and breaks with the other hoop, or just using two hoops in alternating directions for a bit. Shoulder duck outs with both hoops which was sweet... I tried those wicked elbow to elbow breaks from Sharna's video but almost killed my plants from the hoop falling so much, so I think I need to save those moves for Bay Area Hoopers this weekend where there will be lots of space. Vertical isolations with reversals. The time seemed to go so fast, yet at the same time I had to reel in my attention which wanted to go ahead to my work day. Glad I stuck it out! Off and away...

This was a really fantastic video story about hooping and wellbeing! I think the best story that has ever been done with me.

Click here: http://health.yahoo.com/fitness-videos/hula-hooping-my-way-to-fitness/capessa--157_christabelz.html;_ylt=ApwC6yElCLXFnKEeF.jczXVLvs8F

I was really pleased with how it came out.

*Micro-disclaimer. Of course the written version of the interview got a few of the facts wrong about the timing of my weight loss. Just for the record, I did not weight 180 and then magically loose it all by hooping, as I have said many times before. I was 180 during undergraduate college studies, *changed my diet significantly* and started a regular walking program. I started hooping later once I was already down to 145, and yes, it did have unexpected slimming aspects. But I need to remind those who are coming to hooping seeking for weight loss that changing your diet and being less sedentary is *KEY*.

In my January 2008 newsletter, I asked readers to stop and consider all they have achieved during the past year. To recognize and celebrate their brilliance. So I thought it would be a neat exercise to write a blog about how my own hoop practice has developed over the last year. To help take stock, I just went back and skimmed my entire blog for 2007.

WOW! I want to give myself a high five! I think 2007 was by far the most serious and satisfying year for me as a hoopdancer! I was pretty blown away realizing how much serious practice I did. So many drills, combinations, and advanced moves. This year had the *least* on-stage performance and the *most* personal practice than any year in my life! Many thanks for this is due to Ann and Baxter of the Hoop Path who have been my biggest mentors during the past year, even if only virtually.

I see I have been undergoing some big transformations which have overlapped my hoop practice records with raw food recipies, realizations and spiritual investigations too. Hard to know which one may have instigated the others or if they are just parallel developments. Either way, I am so grateful and it is interesting.

Huge breakthroughs for me included:
-Developing the discipline for a timed one hour personal practice session several days per week
-Gaining mastery of moves and hoopdance in my outflow
-Deepening my practice of Twinning
-Entering the world of "breakdancing" in the hoop
-More combinations work
-Developing much more control and bi-arm and directional power with isolations
-Re-connecting with my own dance muse

Overall, lots of time spent going inward, rebuilding my foundations, finding my own center. I'm so glad! I'm so grateful. Everything is in perfect order, unfolding at the perfect moment. New Year's blessings!

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