Inside the Hoop (October 20, 2009)

                                                    Hooping it up can be exhilarating

We come spinning out of nothingness,
scattering stars…

the stars form a circle

and in the center we dance.

~Rumi

If you’re lucky, you may just see a group of hoopers in a public park sometime, blissed out and hooping it up with some custom, colorful hoops. I love hooping and am excited that it’s experiencing a surge in popularity. These are not the hoops you played with as a kid! Real, customized hoops are larger, heavier, and therefore rotate slower, making it easier to keep them going round and round. People who say they can’t hoop, are amazed to find they really can hoop when they try a real one!

Hooping is a great way to get or stay fit and have fun while doing it. The challenge of learning new tricks and moving to the music keeps it exciting and fun, plus it’s a great activity for all ages. My children love it. Lots of times, I’ll grab the hoops and take them to the front or back yard and we’ll all go out there and hoop. It’s fun have ‘hoop-offs’ with the neighbor children or my own. And sometimes I even let them win.

And then there are times when I spin and twirl—just me in my hoop—lost in the music and the movement, feeling the circle spin around me again and again. Closing my eyes and feeling, just feeling and being in the moment. It’s exhilarating and never gets old. It’s so meditative to swirl and twirl and just move. You know when you’re doing it right, too, because the hoop stays up!

Visit hooping.org for more info on hooping, and if you are interested in either purchasing a hoop or just trying one out, contact me. Happy hooping!


Krista Bocko loves finding herself in the hoop. She and her children (and sometimes her husband) can often be found hooping in the yard. She enjoys making custom hoops and spreading the hooping love & can be reached at kbocko@sbcglobal.net or via her blog: www.cachet-cachet.blogspot.com.