KymSpins

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Water Made Hoop

I don't know what I am looking at - but I know I want to try it.

Bendy Wendy

I love this look! If the pieces are interesting enough then it is easy to keep the overall outfit pretty simple. Bandeau, tights and some sweet kicks.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Swish

The best part is that there was a sweet older lady and her baby granddaughter watching me from their porch next door. Just smiling as I flailed my hoop along.

Confetti Paintbox

via carrythewhat:

everyone should own at least one pair of rainbow socks

yes.

Long Sleeved Treats

Thanks for the inspiration, Devon. Now where do I find that dress?

It is the perfect mix between something that looks like pajamas and something I could wear outside.

We Love Colors

Hoops making an appearance in Teen Vogue.

I love it.

Tell A Story: Kathak Inspiration

Inspired by yesterday's intention to emotionally connect with the music during my hoop practice, today I looked up information about dances that serve as story telling tools. My search brought me to kathak dance, a form of Indian classical dance in which gestures and expressions are used during stylized performances to recount a mythological or moral tale.

Facial expression seems to be an incredibly important tool when dancing in this style. So often when I hoop I get caught up thinking about my body, my limbs, the external moving parts - and forget about the most expressive tool a human has - my face. Whether I drop into 'grumpy hoop face' or 'new trick face' I usually have a hard time even remembering to smile when I hoop, let alone convey story telling emotions throughout. I love finding other forms of art or movement and thinking, "hmm maybe I can use that..." and with my next practice I will try and put the story into both my movement and my face.

All these little tools that I have been stumbling upon - the 3 words to describe the practice, thinking of the hoop as a partner, and now conveying a story in both my face and movements - really add something to the practice. Even though at the end of most first trials with something new I am left with a video that is only about halfway there, and usually ...well, sorta awkward, these tools still help to keep me motivated and excited to practice. They really encourage growth in a new way, without having to study endless YouTube videos trying to find a new 'trick.' In a few more practices, who knows what I will keep or where it will go.

Finding a hoop identity sure does feel good, though.

Gold and Feathers

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Curves and Lines

Moving Beyond Physical Exploration in (my) Hoop Practice

I thought of a new word for my three words to describe my hooping: emotional.

I am a very emotional person. Ugh. Oh how I have fought that fact forever. I always wanted to be one of the 'cool' girls - hardened, jaded, and good at things like pool and changing a tire. Well. I can't change a tire, am an embarrassment to myself and others when playing pool and have found that being jaded is only a thin veil for what usually turns out to be a very emotional person after all - so I may as well embrace reality, yes?

This past week away was wonderful - but, as travel can be - it was also stressful and exhaustive. My body was very ready to release the tension of the week with an intense practice, but I knew that after so much time of only periodic hooping my body was also not ready for a physically strenuous practice.

Inspired by Shannon's blog about the difference between a hooper and a hoop dancer, I set an intention to think of the hoop as a partner during my practice session. I danced to Regina Spektor's (yes, I am on a real kick with her) Chemo Limo about a mother who is dying of cancer and has a dream that it magically goes away and she is able to take care of her four young children instead of dying due to an inability - and mocking unwillingness - to pay for treatment.

As I listened to the song I envisioned being the mother and thinking of her reactions as she rides along in the limo she rents as a last hurrah of a stylish lifestyle that she will never have. She angrily thinks about how she would rather pay for the limo than stupid chemotherapy, which is failing to save her, costing an exorbitant fee and making her unable to care for her children. On the aimless ride in the car she watches her four children. The song makes the emotional connection easy. The vivid descriptions of the children's nuanced behaviors throughout the ride hint at the mother's attempt to cling to what is happening now because she realizes that there may not be much more. It was an intense practice, indeed.

I found a wonderful outlet for my enjoyment of emotional exploration by incorporating it into my hoop practice. So much easier than learning to change a tire.

As I progress I am trying to move beyond physical progress and delve more deeply into emotional and mental exploration. I am trying to fully embrace what I can bring to my practice that is specific to me instead of an imitation of someone else.

So...that whole...not being an emotional person thing? Not really working out. But that whole stress release thing? Totally got it.

Basscamp Bliss

the lovely twirlingflutterby lost in LED bliss

Silver and White Spinning

who took this photo from way up there?

Tread Softly Water Dancers

Balance on the Chest

Life's Top Regrets

This list of the top regrets elder care nurse Bonnie Ware heard over her many years working with dying patients and her thoughts on such regrets. It inspired me to continue living a life of passion rather than one of safety.

What things do I do, say, own, and feel in my current life that I think will continue to be of value at the very end? Those are the things to which I must gravitate and ground myself in. Of course - no one knows what experiences life will bring nor how they will feel at the end, but this list helps me to be less afraid of being afraid every once in awhile.

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result. We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly,in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved.Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip.But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks,love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again,long before you are dying.