This week in class we were told that we were going to learn about therapeutic hula-hooping. I didn't really know what this meant, but I love hula-hooping so I was pretty excited for it. When I told my friends what I was going to be doing in class, they looked at me like I was crazy, but I just told them that I have the best major and have fun studying for your tests. We had a guest speaker named Alli who taught us why hooping is so great. It turns out that hooping is great exercise as well as relaxing when you are stressed out. She made me think about hooping in a way that I had never thought about it before. She showed us how to dance with the hoop and just let yourself be free. Her energy was contagious!
Hooping is an activity that I had not thought much about previous to this class, but now I am thinking about the different ways I could use it in the future. I think you could use it with students in a residence hall as a de-stress program, with elderly participants as a gentle way of getting moving, with youth at risk as a different means of self expression, and so many more.
I was surprised in myself during class because I thought I would fee awkward and uncomfortable during some of the activities, but I found myself letting go. I wish we could have done more with the hoops than we did. I think if a hooping class were offered on campus, I would be one of the first to sign up. I would really like to learn more about hooping and I think I might soon be doing some research on the topic. Hopefully I can find some helpful books and Alli said to check out youtube for great videos. Here's a pretty cool example of hoop dancing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j46ll2_jR7k. Now I'm off to find more about hooping!
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