Fall
2006 Edition
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Fall 2006 eNews

Hello Hoopers,

As the summer winds down and the harvest season begins, take time to enjoy the cycles of change.

Get your hoop on and go outside for at least 10 minutes a day and move your body, breathe and smile. You will feel more relaxed in your mind and more energized in your body.

Diana (left) pictured at
Burning Man with Vivian Spiral of Spiral Hoop Dance.

It has been a very fun and productive summer and we are excited about the upcoming months.

Enjoy~
Diana Lopez

Summer Highlights

BodyHoops swirled around the hips of many these past few months as we have been expanding our classes, community demonstrations and events far and near. We kicked the summer off with a guest teaching visit at the Rancho La Puerta Spa. I highly recommend this wonderful health and fitness resort. Daily classes, hikes, relaxation and healthy gourmet meals are a part of the experience. I was thrilled to be a part of their dance week by offering hoopdance and fitness classes. The hooping classes caught on and have now become a regular offering. Check out www.rancholapuerta.com for more info.

In July, Ali and I loaded up the hoops and headed north to the Unconditional Dance Festival at Harbin Hot Springs. Harbin offers a range of relaxing activities and beautiful springs to soak in. The Dance Festival was high energy and transformative for many. We enjoyed sharing daily performances and interactive hoopdance sessions.

Finally, firehooping in the conclave at the Burning Man Festival this past August was an amazing experience. I was thrilled to be part of the largest demonstration of some of the world’s finest firedancers and hoopers. (See first picture above.)

Fall Family & Friends Special
It has been a joy to observe how hooping brings people together: families, friends, students and communities. Bodyhoops makes it fun and easy for adults and kids to hoop it up.
Photo credit: Jacob Foko - Brooks Institute Photography

For a limited time, we are offering a discount for group packs of BodyHoops. Buy 4 Value Bodyhoops and get the 5^th one free. Check it out at our BodyHoops shop.

Hooping Tip of the Season
Warm up and stretch! Especially as the outdoor temperature starts to cool down, it will be important to include a few minutes in the start and end of your hooping practice to warm up, stretch and then cool down and include a lengthier stretch session at the end.

Taking a few minutes to get the body temperature up and then stretching will help to prevent injuries, increase flexibility and prepare you for a more optimal hooping experience. Your warm up could include a few minutes of basic hooping, a fast walk around the block, a light jog or bike ride. Basically just getting to where you are breathing a little heavier and the core body temperature is a little up. Then take a couple of minutes to stretch the major muscle groups. At the end of your
session spend a bit more time stretching as you cool down.

BodyHoops Conference
Our 2nd Teaching Conference is scheduled to happen November 10-12 in Ojai, California.
Photo credit: Jacob Foko - Brooks Institute Photography

Register before October 10th to receive a 15% discount. Our hooping for fitness program is in the evaluation process for national accreditation which will validate how wonderful our program is for schools, fitness centers and spas. This will be a hooping intensive and an opportunity to become BodyHoops Certified Level 1.

Stay tuned for our upcoming East Coast Conference and a U.K. Hoop Conference to happen in Spring of 2007.

Upcoming Events
We will soon be in the studio to film our Level 2 Hoop Dance Fusion DVD, but until then we are excited to continue the Spa Tour and teaching more classes.

In November, I will be traveling to Las Vegas to be a “greet the day” presenter at the International Spa Conference ISPA at the The Venetian Resort and Hotel. For more information about the ISPA conference check out www.experienceispa.com/ISPA.

New classes are being added, my newest is at the NIA center in Ventura also, a 2nd weekly class has been added to the Oaks Spa fitness schedule. Click here to check out our classes and events page for a full listing of all our classes.

BodyHoops will also continue to attend many festivals through the fall and holiday seasons including Ojai Day and NoHo Theater & Arts Festivals.

Spotlight
Our guest spotlight hooper this month is Kelly W., she happens to be blind and loves to hula hoop. Kelly started hooping at Curves, later received a private BodyHoops lesson and her inspiration has led to teaching other blind students to become avid hoopers. Click here to find out more about Kelly.

“I started hooping October 13, 2004, when I became a new member at Curves for Women in Santa Monica. Since I tried hooping just that one day, I learned that I will continue doing it forever. I did not have a hoop for a year, so I would go to Curves and use theirs. A year later, I got two of my own hoops which were the metal ones, and then I had a lesson with our Diana Lopez in April of this year, and I got two of her hula hoops which I absolutely love better than the ones I got before. Because of one of her lessons with her that was so beautiful, I started teaching hula hooping at the Junior Blind of America, a school for the blind in Los Angeles, California where blind children and adults learn how to become independent.

Since my first class on June 7, 2006, I’ve been teaching the adults how to hoop, and they have kept coming back. This hooping I have done in the past is the reason for this, and not only has this given the students confidence, but it has given me even more confidence. The feeling of hooping and teaching it to these wonderful blind people could not be a better feeling. This is so great, because I am able to have the people imagine different things such as sailing on a boat, and dancing on a beach in Hawaii.

I started the first class teaching them the stretches and moves that Diana taught me, the first time I met her. These people told me that they are sleeping better since they have been hooping.

My experience of hooping is so rewarding because this gives me a childlike feeling, and this has made me feel better about everything in general. I am still teaching at the same location today, and would like to start teaching it to the sighted community as well.

So you hoopers out there, keep it up. You’re the best.”

If you are interested in being our spotlight hooper for future BodyHoops eNews editions, please send us your hooping photo, a bit about yourself and your hooping experiences to info(at)bodyhoops.com.

See you soon!
Our next eNews will arrive this winter, in the meantime please share this one with your friends and fellow hoopers. Anyone can sign up for their own copy.

If you would like to send us any hooping news or have a web site or retail store and would like to become a BodyHoops distributor, please send us an email to info(at)bodyhoops.com.

Photo by Pixie

Have a great fall and I hope to see you at some of our events.

Have fun and stay healthy~
Diana Lopez

bodyhoops.com