than two pounds; they even come in collapsible travel models. This year,


hooping hit


the big screen with Director


Amy Goldstein’s self-proclaimed


popumentary, The Hooping Life. She first


discovered hooping in Venice, Califor- nia, where it’s hugely popular. “I’ve noticed that hooping brings people from every walk of life togeth- er,” Goldstein says. “It has a spiritual side, a business side and a healthy side, and I’ve seen how many young people who used to feel isolated and without direction are now hooping and living life to its fullest.” Highlights of her feel good film in-


clude appearances by Michelle Obama and Shaquille O’Neal, plus intimate portraits of eight hoopers from around the world. “The essence of the film,” says Goldstein, “is about finding something you love and taking the risk to give it all you’ve got.” After discovering hooping, Anah


Reichenbach, aka “Hoopalicious,” a California-based dancer and hooper in the film, started making and selling inno- vative hoops on her own. She now offers a hoop mentor certification program through hooping workshops nationwide. “Beyond being an incredible core workout,” Reichenbach says, “hooping can become an all-body, cardiovas- cular workout.” Other benefits she’s observed first-hand extend to increased calm and peacefulness, happiness and even more personal compassion. As a movement, the hoop has be-


come a widespread symbol for individu- als’ willingness to be free and playful as adults as well as show that they care about community; people unite around the rhythm and creativity. “You really can transcend yourself if you let yourself go with the hoop,” remarks Goldstein. “Even if you have no rhythm, you get it with a hoop.”


Ellen Mahoney teaches writing at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Email evm@infionline.net.


Inside Leandra Harrison’s Hoop W


by Linda Sechrist


as it the beat of the


music, the beauty of synchronized movement, the costumes or the poetic fluidity of spinning hoops? Leandra Harrison, owner of Pure Magic Hoops, is still trying to


figure out what put her in a mesmerized state when she watched her first Internet


Leandra Harrison


video of women hooping together. “What I did know for certain was that I wanted to see more videos and learn how to hoop,” recalls Harrison, who is now a certified hoop instructor and gifted hoop maker. “I originally wanted to be a teacher, but discov- ered that I so much enjoy the artistic part of creating customized hoops for those who are just beginning their journey into hooping.”


Harrison loves to talk about the spiritual journey she’s been on since taking up hooping. “While each person’s experience is different, they all seem to begin on the same inspir- ing high note of whirling a hoop to some upbeat piece of music, but then drop down the scale to intimidating thoughts that are ignited by tricks that appear too difficult,” says Har- rison, whose sense of self-esteem and fiery passion for hooping get stoked every time she masters a new trick or makes just the right hoop for a client. “Thoughts like, ‘I can’t do that,’ are quickly replaced by a state of euphoria whenever someone masters what they thought they couldn’t do; the result is an instant boost to self-esteem,” she advises.


Much of what once seemed im- possible for Harrison before hooping became possible after. For this artistic sprite, the story of synchronistic events


is a little like the space inside her


hoop—hard to tell where it begins and ends. For


example, during her hooping certification,


someone recom- mended that she read Abraham-


Hicks’ material on the Law of Attrac-


tion. Only a few whirls, loops and tricks later, she found an Abraham-Hicks


meetup group, kindred hoopers, a hoop convergence program and workshops—and a sense of well-being which led her to notice that many of the things she once considered bother- some in her in life had dropped away while she wasn’t looking. “I awoke to a sense of knowing that with every revolution of my hoop, I was unwind- ing things inside that no longer served me,” reflects Harrison, who relishes the level of freedom she experiences inside her hoop.


Discovering a thoroughly enjoy- able form of exercise was the icing on the cake for Harrison. “It was a bonus to lose weight and inches that I didn’t need,” she quips. Whether she’s teach- ing a one-on-one hoop lesson on her back porch, inside her home studio, with its padded floor, three huge mir- rors, industrial-sized fans and upbeat music, or in a dynamic group setting like the drum circles that meet regu- larly at Cambier Park and in Bonita Springs, Harrison hoops it up whenev- er she gets the chance. “It’s my bliss,” says Harrison, “and anyone who runs would describe it as their runner’s high. Whatever you want to call it, I say it’s pure fun!”


For more info, call 239-777-5157, visit FacebookNaplesHoolaHoopers or email LeandraNaples@aol.com.


natural awakenings August 2010 41


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