HOOP WARRIORS FITNESS ED PROGRAM ~ Liberating Women & Children through Hoop Dance

Fastest Hula Hooper Alive

2008-05-31T16:06:00.001-07:00

Betty Hoops does it AGAIN! Betty Hoops again ran the BolderBoulder 10K Road Race in 1:14:48.71 while hula hooping. She beat her previous world record. The BolderBoulder was the largest ever, with 54,040 entrants. See the video here.

Betty Hoops to teach classes throughout New Orleans for the Katrina Warriors Festival & VDay at the Superdome

2008-04-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

photo: Jason E Evitt

March 8th -Buy Your Hoop

The Dance hoop kit will be offered. The Dance Hoop Kit will be marked down by $10 in honor of International Womens Day. To purchase, go to http://www.bettyhoops.com/

April 10th Hoop Warriors

McDonogh 15

Ashe Womens Program

April 11th Family Fun Festival McDonogh#15 St. Philip St. French Quarter

April 11,12,13th Free Hoop Dance Gate G (next to Superdome)

April 12 & 13th Hoop4Peace

9-10am Gate G & Marketplace (by Superdome)

Group Hoop 1hr of guided trance dance & in the Hoop.

HoopWarriors Program™
Created to unite, empower and support all women and children. Students get to find their own rhythm while hooping to the 4Elements. Upbeat music and guided imagery make this teambuilding experience fun and unique.

The Programs Outreach
It has been effective in Battered Women Shelters, Youth Recovery Centers as well as Childrens Hospitals & Bulimia/Anorexia Recovery Clinics.

The Collapsible Dance Hoop
Not any hoop will work. Height, weight & spinal tension dictate the size of hoop needed for each person. The Collapsible Dance Hoop is used. This hoop was designed by Betty Hoops & is easy & effective. It is heavier & larger than the average toy hoop. This hoop comes 2 sizes in 1! It fits kids from 7 yrs old up to adults that are 200 pounds. It is extremely durable & has a cushy foam exterior.

The Programs Benefits
-Releases Post Traumatic Stress
-Boosts mental focus & interaction
-Builds confidence through creative movement
-Increases flexibility, coordination & weight loss
-Similar to Somatic Psych. Yoga, Dance Movement Therapy & Aerobics

How You Can Get Involved

All your donations will go toward:

1.) The purchase of hoops from Gaiam to be used & given to schools & centers throughout New Orleans.

2.) Studio rental spaces for teaching the HoopWarriors Program.

3.) Any money received above & beyond these expenses will go toward the HoopWarrior training DVD. This will enable schools and youth recovery programs to incorperate it into their curriculum.

Thanks for Your Donations

2008-04-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

All Donations receieved through this site go directly toward implementing my Fitness ED program into 1 school & 1 Womens Wellness Center in New Orleans. Money also goes toward making & giving hoops to locations throughout NOLA.

Thank you Ron Clint of Canyon Hoops.

Ron makes & sells hoops online. He is a smart business man & loves to hoop. He can sell more of my dvds than I do.

Thank you Hilary Sims of Sims snowboards.

Hilary met my birthfather,the Signing Chef, at a party in Santa Barbara.

He told her that I hula hoop while snowboarding & fundraise & teach Hoop Dance.

She then sent me her new Sugarboard-not out on the market yet-

This board rocks. It is a 151 & somewhat stiff. This was perfect in the deep powder & Aspen,CO has had deep powder all year.

Sierra Leone Kids Hoop it Up

2008-04-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was fortunate to get a ticket to see the Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars. They sung at the Wheeler Oprah House in Aspen. They are a soulful band from Africa & met at the refugee camp that was filmed in the movie 'Blood Diamond.' I am currently trying to raise money for my Hoop Warriors Program. This will help me travel to other countries to share my program & donate hoops. I gave a collapsible hoop to Cindy, the executive director. The picture above is from her recent trip.

Cindy Nofziger

Executive Director

Schools for Salone

http://www.schoolsforsalone.org/

http://www.schoolsforsalone.blogspot.org/

What Oprah Didn't Know

2008-03-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

Many Hoop Companies as well as myself were outraged to find that a few years ago, Oprah had a hoop company on her show. This company sells hoops that are over 3 pounds. They are in fact, they weigh up to 8 pounds. Since their introduction through national TV, I get calls every month from people who use their hoop. They tell me of their internal bruising, incontinence, popped knee joints & pain in the abdomen.

I then have to explain to them that the money they spent is for a dangerous product. When you have a very heavy force pulling around you, it torques, over rotates joints. It pushes in to organs & overstimulates. These hoops are marketed for 'weightloss'. Yet most people should know that although, you are only as good as your gear, the integrity in movement is what isolates & tones & promotes weight loss.

I predicted that this company would either be sued or have to put a disclaimer on their product. Sure enough, a few months later, there was a statement posted saying to use the hoop for a maximum of 3 minutes.

Any unilateral, rotative movement can be harder to execute safely. That is why it is important to use core strengthening techniques & integrate all muscles to work together.

I hope to hoop with Oprah outside the Superdome for VDAY next week. I think she will fully appreciate a gal who inspires, educates and tries keeps intrigty within her growing business.

In a New York Minute

2008-03-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

Everything flashes to dark giving life to my senses. My skin clams up in the humid air. The man next to me smells like curry and in that instant I felt as though we were all family. The rattling under my feet throws me into the next seat just as the lights come on.“Grand Central station, next stop!” I hadn’t been back to NY since I planned my moms funeral in 1991. Now, it’s 2001, October.

What the hell am I doing here again? I left the best job ever and all my friends to be here? Last month I was 13 thousand feet above people, spinning my prayers on top of a mountain peak. And now I am… the subway doors open and the waves of people push and pull me effortlessly out into Grand Central Station.

I grew up in Westchester County and occasionally would run away to the city with a few close friends from high school. We would come down to shop, try to get in to small jazz clubs and drink. There was that one time where they all left me because I said that I would rather talk to the Social Studies professor who was living in Grand Central station by the east entrance. First he lost his job, then his wife and child, home, car, teeth. The only things you could see that were most impressively his, was his clear mind and his open heart.

The hallucinogenic effect of NYC had kicked in. Women were stressed out and running in high heals. Shiny briefcases were swinging to catch the attention of coworkers. Men with shiny, squeaky shoes race walking to the closest exit and me standing in the middle of it all, in a cotton wrap around skirt, holding 20 oversized rainbow colored hoops and a boom box.

First stop; all the firehouses on the west side. I was thrilled at the opportunity to teach Hoop Dance in the city. I knew that as soon as one steps into a hoop they feel its’ vortex. And on some level, when they spin it, they can feel safe, open, moved and like a kid again.

I was planning on moving to San Diego earlier that year. The location was a good choice for growing my Hoop business. It was close to LA for getting better media exposure and close to the yoga center where I used to live and where my friends and teachers were. After 9/11, I kept having dreams that geographically, NYC was the place where people needed to spin. To spin, with intention, much like the Whirling Dervish, can heal a person. Rhythm, breath, timelessness and sense are all lost and found and lost again, while in this movement.

As it turned out, it took me an hour to walk about 50 feet to the door. 2 police men, a bagel maker and a tiny polish woman all summoned me to show them how I hoop and to teach them. After this, I opened the heavy doors, walked out into the sunshine and took my first big breath of NYC air. Fresh coffee and urine! Ahh…my adventure had begun.

I am a dreamer of what, I don’t know. I plant my vision in every flake of snow. And as it falls upon your lips, speak your dreams to all who will listen. For without your dreams, life is indecision. I remembered that quote from someone and thought, Betty, you might look like a freak right now but you came here to laugh with people through the hoop.

In the weeks that passed, I hooped with hundreds of people. I gave hoops to policemen for their kids and to giddy Firemen for a rainy day activity. I usually went into the city by myself and never did by a digital camera until recently. So most of my adventures were not documented.

The hoop craze was growing. By 2002 there were 3 other hoop businesses in the country. They were mostly performing at the time. They would teach others hoop tricks and how to execute cool techniques. Some hoopers entered Burlesque shows. Though I thought that would be fun, I really just wanted to travel around the city and help others heal through Hoop Dance.

Construction workers with their pants hanging dangerously too low, would yell to me from scaffolding, “Yo! Wait there I’m coming down to give that thing a spin.” And they would. Right there, in the middle of Time Square, tool belt and all, these men would grab my rainbow colored hoops and have a blast. Then I would go to Wall Street for lunch time. That was a show. I would slither my way upstream in the crowd and it wouldn’t be long before men and women would literally grab the hoop off my shoulder.

There faces would glow just looking at the hoop and once they were spinning it they would all transform into children. Giggling and playful. You could see their mental stress wash away and their breath expand in their chest. They seemed grounded, relaxed, present. Just the recipe for healing Post Traumatic Stress.

In the weeks that followed, I convinced some people to hire me. I am not very schmoozy nor do I know how to conform. I traded in my hiking sandals for open toes shoes. I safety pinned the hole on my skirt where my hoop had worn through and I used a nice pen in to hold my hair up instead of tying it in a not on top of my head. I guess my conviction and passion convinced certain locations to hire me because it certainly wasn;t my corporate pitch or presentation.

My Hoop Dance program was now being offered at Bally Total Fitness locations, Public schools, Private schools, Catholic Schools, a Jewish Community Center and a KidsYoga Studio. One of my favorite memories was in White Plains NY. I was teaching in a fishbowl room surrounded in glass. The room had 20 spinning students with barely enough room for us to partake in my popular Hoop Limbo contest that pops up in the middle of each class. From the front desk all the way to into the weight room, members were watching with anticipation to see what techniques everyone would do next. There was a huge foggy spot on the glass wall. I continued to teach and call out different ways to adjust the body to execute a certain technique. I hooped my way over to the spot on the glass. Behind it was a woman whose face was pressed into the window so hard, it looked like she was licking the glass. Her head was making the circular motion of the spinning hoops on the other side of the wall. I will never forget the look in her eyes. It was like the first time you look out the window on an airplane. The amazement and shock from the powerful energy beneath you, the desire to let go and connect to the real speed of the plane. Making yourself hold back from yelling, Holy Crap!

I spent 12 weeks teaching an after school program at Hommocks, the middle school I attended in Larchmont, NY. These 25 kids were fantastic. After a few classes, the wallflowers suddenly blossomed into class clowns. They showed off during Simon Says Hoop and helped the slower learners. The kids who came in with something to prove discovered that they were good enough not to have to prove anything. And there were a few who, after becoming shut down on most levels after September 11th, began to talk and cry.

In the spring of 2003, I felt that it was time to return to the mountains. I missed the nourishment that the lifestyle provided. It was so hard to leave my classes though. New Yorkers are raw and edgy and some of the most enthusiastic people I had the pleasure of dancing with.
They say that you become a product of your environment. I found myself giving the person driving in front of me the finger on the Henry Hudson Parkway because he did not use his blinker and cut me off. I realized that I needed to take the sign off my car that said

‘Hoops4Healing’and ‘Kids Parties’ with my phone number and website if I was going to perform road rage. I figured that I should go home to the mountains and regroup my perspective of my Self and my business. Soon after I returned to Colorado, I started developing my National class and train program as well as the 4Element dvd and Padded Collapsible hoop.

Enter the Short Story Contest

2008-03-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought Americas favorite past time could be so healing. Maybe that is why. People of all ages seem to have a story about the hula hoop. There are people who have memories of being the best hooper on their block, winning a company contest, hooping for hours with their friends and then there is always the challenged one who could never quite master the hoop.

The hoops appeal is that it is plain, round and simple. It rolls on its own, generates momentum with little force and makes one feel youthful. It is easy to see why the resurgence of this 1960 recreational activity is now popular again. Maybe we are all looking for something to bring back our youth. After all, in this society, youth is power.

Walking down any street in any city is easy for me to make friends; if I have a hoop or two over my shoulder. Kids are always polite and ask if they can try my hoop. It’s the adults that I need to watch out for. Sometimes I will feel a tug pulling me back. When I turn around, on the other end of my hoop is an excited adult trying to pull it off my shoulder. I don’t really get offended because I know that some of these strangers will become my friends.

Fitness clubs are always trying to find new ways to inspire members. The stationary bike and treadmill alone will not entice someone to pay $80 a month. It has to come from the GroupX classes. Members want a deeper sense of social connection and a space to feel supported, sexy and liberated. Fitness clubs are adding Bellydance, Hip Hop and Stripper fit classes to their schedules. They work because dance is a total body workout. They work because it is easy to challenge yourself when you are having fun.

My time teaching at Bally Total Fitness was a blast. I had the opportunity to teach in 5 different locations around NYC. Since then, many aerobics instructors and some GroupX instructors have started incorporating the adult hoop into their routine. This is great although I wish these teachers had more education in unilateral rotating movements. One could also get hurt is they use a hoop over 3 pounds.

I am looking for short stories about your hoop memories. Please send them to yogabetty@hotmail.com. They will be read with much excitement. The winner’s stories and pictures will be in a book that I am writing about the hoop. All generations and all hoop experiences are welcome.

For the 'Aspen Dancing Divas' Performance

2008-03-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

This May the Dance Divas, a dance team from Aspen will show off their hoop dance skills. Every week we choreograph for 2 hours at Aspen Dance Progressions. These girls are all amazing. We have chosen to do a 4 minute performance with each girl doing a solo. The piece is called Journey Through the World. The music flows through African, classical, American pop and Euro beats.

It is very interesting teaching professional dancers. They are so used to learning and memorizing choreography. As we learn each number I can tell which dancers really come alive more by free style than choreographed. I always say that some choreography is great but it is most important to be soulful. If you stay in your head (when is the next count, next trick) then your body remains sort of tight and attached to the next move. When you let go, trust that you know your moves and can freestyle at anytime, then you set yourself up in the present moment. That is when the audience really connects with the dancers on stage.

The picture here is an old performance that I did with 2 student/friends. This was at through Naropa Insitiute Contemplative Psychology department where I taught a 12 week program.

Bio for Betty Hoops

1998-02-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Betty Hoops has been one of the pioneers to bring forth national awareness of using heavier/larger hoops as a form of fitness. She stepped into a hoop at a music festival in 1997 & quickly recognized its transformative benefits. She began hand making & selling hoops filled with sand & crystals at many festivals & health expos. Teaching a few thousand people in the first year, she was able to target common mistakes & coach them to achieve their individual goals. In 1998 the 4Element Hoop Dance program was born.

Betty connects to all who are in struggle & grief. She was bulimic for 11 years & lost her family at a young age. Since then, it has become her mission to know & express her Self. She is passionate about moving people out of drama & into a space grounded in laughter & confidence. “The hoop is my prayer wheel & I am its’ Dervish. Every turn I make is filled with the intention to experience love within, with others & joy for all things. The Earth is my stabilizer, & my breath is the conduit to move energy. When I spin, I empty myself into nothingness & feel whole again.”