check out our event listing on our Facebook group page for the most up to date events listings: www.facebook.com/group.php

P.S. you do not need a FB account to view, Joy!!

Hello hoopers and lovers of flow. I would like to introduce to you a new tribe~ Giving Back Through Flow~ This tribe is all about a flow community who is dedicated to giving back to the community through the promotion of volunteer work, sharing volunteer knowledge, reaching out for help, volunteer information, posting your volunteer events, ect. This is an open tribe for all and will benefit greatly through your information sharing. Empower others, together we can change the world and share our love of all things flow. tribes.tribe.net/letyourloveflow

~Blessings,
B

~Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

~Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on earth.
Mohammed Ali

~The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke, British statesman and orator

~Never before has man had such a great capacity to control his own environment, to end hunger, poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and human misery. We have the power to make the best generation of mankind in the history of the world.
President John F. Kennedy

~Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.
Japanese Proverb

Everyone we need your support to keep this ministry going, this is our first meeting and I suspect it will grow larger by the end of our first series. Whether you can contribute through your time, hoops, tape, $, words of encouragement, advertisement, ect... we need YOU to help the children of the greater Birmingham Area. Let's band together as a community and give these kids something to look forward to.

The link for info: www.facebook.com/share.php

While the flow community has vast amounts of hoopers to look up to, a few of my favorites consist of:

Caroleena~ such grace, positive, energy and love to give
Jewels~ Such a sense of peace radiates from her aura which emits in her dance
Spiral~ nothing short of amazing and uplifitng
Rich~ so creative, so inspiring
Ann~ This woman amazes me! She is a dedicated hooper who loves to bring the fun to her dance.
Baxter~ His personal story empowers many
Anah a.k.a. Hoopalicios~ This woman truly is inspirational and brings such joy and love to the hooping community.

I have been an athlete for years and have always been overweight I just used the “I’m Big Boned Excuse”. After years of failed diets and workouts I had gained even more weight which took it’s toll on my health and mental well being. I picked up my first hoop in August of 2008 and have not put it down since! I have lost a total of 116 lbs.!! I have gone from a size 26 to a size 6, I never thought I would see that size again! I still have a little bit more to go, but hooping has been so easy to do I know it will take no time at all. The fitness benefits from hooping have been great, but what I truly love is how the hoop has transformed my entire life. I feel centered and whole within my hoop. My hoop has given me courage beyond my wildest dreams. Hooping has helped with my depression and has taught me to embrace who I am flaws and all. With hoop dance I am free to express myself through the hoop and to encourage others to do the same. I love the Hoop Life and how it has changed my life. Now I use the hoops to reach others in need of balance, meaning, or encouragement in their life.

Carolyn Mabry, aka Caroleeena, a hooper with over five years experience. Carolyn has studied flamenco and many other forms of dance, including bellydance, classical Indian dance, bollywood, hula, and modern dance. She is a poi dancer as well as a hoopdancer and she teaches Hoopdance at Ninth Street Dance in Durham, NC and in workshops throughout the state. She also performs with A Full Circle.

In 2005, Carolyn created an annual hoop, books and musical instrument donation service project in Negril, Jamaica. Working in collaboration with the Little Feat band and CHNY, this year's program placed dozens of hoops with foster children and brought in hundreds of books and many musical instruments for local schools. She hopes to do similar projects in Thailand and Africa in coming years.

In 2007 Caroleeena won a Hoopie Award from Hooping.org for Outstanding Hooping Tribe member. She moderates the Hooping Videos tribe, the Hooping Costumes tribe and RaleighHoops! She also mentors new hoopers throughout the world via the internet.

Read what her students have to say:
Junebug~ "Caroleeena is amazing. Caroleeena changed my life. With a simple invitation to Transformus she opened up a whole new world to me. I don't mean just the new people I have met and the things I have done (all of that is great too.) I mean she opened me up on the inside. My heart has been stretched and thrown open. She is like the caress of sunshine that gives a seedling the room and strength to grow. I have never felt so free. She simply grants you permission to be yourself and joyously witnesses it. What a beautiful gift.

All the self hatred and shame just evaporates. I don't know how I got so lucky to meet such a beautiful person -inside and out-. Did I mention she is incredibly photogenic and has a laugh that is down right musical.

I am truly grateful to be friends with someone that says beautiful things like this:

"So I want to recognize everyone who has ever had the courage to share their opinion or go out a limb by filming themselves and sharing it with us or had the kindness to leave an encouraging comment or reached out to help a newbie figure something out. Community is made up by community members and I recognize that I am only one member of this wonderful community. It wouldn't exist without every single one of us."

Thank you Caroleeena for being such a beautiful inspiration and acknowledging the courage it takes to step out into the light. I LOVE YOU!"

Ali Cat~ "This amazing woman has changed my life. She has empowered me with so many wonderful skills and a truly valuable friendship. I am forever grateful to have her in my life. She is an inspiration, a confidant, an endlessly energetic playmate, and one of my heroes! I admire her courage, generosity, enthusiasm, optimism, activism, and her laugh. The world is a better place with you in it. I look forward to reading your book! I love you, and remember to think about bubbles!"

Visit Caroleena's website for the best hoop tutorials on the net.
people.tribe.net/caroleeena

Join Caroleena for Hoop Paradise weekend October 16-18 in Charolette, NC
web.mac.com/dornebob1/iW...a%20What.html

Reported by: Mike McClanahan CBS 42 News WIAT


Hula hoops have been around for fifty years and it turns out they may have some real fitness benefits.
Today people are hooping to get in shape for a good cause on "World Hoop Day."
Aura Hoops is a group of local hula hoopers who meet at local parks, churches, and other places to hoop for fun and fitness. They celebrated World Hoop Day with a free hoop jam at Homewood Park and a World Hoop Day Convergence at Vulcan Park.
Aura Hoops founder Dana Moore says what started as her hobby has spun into a fitness craze. She teaches excercise routines and even sells custom made hoops.
"It burns more calories than running and it's a whole lot more fun," said Dana Moore.
Her fellow hooper Brandi Santiago is a true believer in the fitness benefits of hooping.
"I've been hooping since August 2008 and I've lost 110 pounds. I can burn six hundred calories and hour with a hula hoop. You can feel the burn. You're able to work out different parts of your body like the backs of your arms. It's a way to have fun and be healthy," said Brandi Santiago.
"You can work your quads and your thighs and your hamstrings. If you lean backward while your hooping it's like doing squats at the gym," said Dana Moore.
They say it also increases flexibility and strengthens core muscle groups, so maybe hooping can help you, but World Hoop Day is about helping others.
"We really wanted to get involved in World Hoop day because what world hoop day does is provide hoops to kids who live in extreme poverty," said Dana Moore. "All money from hoop purchases today will go to the World Hooping Organization. We want people to experience joy, even if it's in a plastic circle you know," said Dana Moore.
Since 2006 more than 12,000 hula hoops have reportedly gone to underprivileged kids through World Hoop Day.

Tired of the "gun show" at the gym? Blast up to 600 calories in one 60-minute total body workout that's pure fun. ~ Hoop Dance Class every Monday night @ the Pell City Civic Center from 6:30p-7:30p

Ok guys each week I am going to spotlight on Hoop Dance and fitness teachers making a difference in their communities across the universe. Just another way to showcase how hooping has changed lives and giving back. Thank you to everyone that's hooping for a change and keep up the good work!!

Hoop Dance Teacher of the Week: Hoopin' Annie

Hoopin' Annie & her cause:


"OUR MISSION-

Since 2006, World Hoop Day has been dedicated to bringing dance, exercise and toy hoops to under-privileged children living in extreme poverty and underdeveloped neighborhoods of our world. Founded by Annie O'Keeffe, her husband, Kevin, and friend Stefan Pildes, World Hoop Day is a not-for-profit organization that uses a community-based, grass roots approach to provide one-of-a-kind "hula" hoops. The durable, adult-sized hoops can be used their entire life as a simple and effective way to bring joy to an otherwise devastating situation.

There are many aid organizations who provide food and medical relief, but what about the mental welfare of a child who grows up too quickly and hardly has a reason to smile or play or just be a child? To date 12,000+ hoops valued at $83,000 have been given away. The World Hoop Day Official Ambassadors have donated $6,529 in hoops to 1,000s of beautiful children and their families around the world.

The simple hoop has positive physical and mental health benefits, stimulates imaginations, and enables feelings of pure joy and bliss. We give to honor gratitude, appreciation, healing and to promote world peace and harmony."

Ok guys each week I am going to spotlight on Hoop Dance and fitness teachers making a difference in their communities across the universe. Just another way to showcase how hooping has changed lives and giving back. Thank you to everyone that's hooping for a change and keep up the good work!!

Hoop Dance Teacher of the Week: Sandra SaFire Sommerville

Who is SaFire?

A self-trained, dedicated and world renowned circus and fire performer with a wide range of skills and abilities. Able to perform the art of fire eating, poi spinning, staff spinning, double fire hula hoop dancing or four non-flaming hoops at once. Well-known and established in both the fire spinning and hula hoop dancing community as both an educator and performer.

Owner of SaFire Dance: Circus and Fire Entertainment

SaFire Dance provides professional live entertainment for clients of all ages and motivational presentations for schools. As well, we teach online and on location instructional classes and private lessons in the art of hula hoop dancing.
Major Achievments
SaFire has accomplished a tremendous amount in a short span of time. This list outlines a few of her accomplishments as a performer.
Won the ClipStar semi-finals in the dance category and was awarded $10,000.
Placed in 4th is Fire Idol at Burning Man, 2008
Performed on location in Hawaii, Las Vegas and all across Western Canada.
Demo video has been featured on various video sites and has a combined an increasing viewer count of well over 3,000,000 people.
Provided free online instructional tutorials for hoop dancing through YouTube with a subscriber list of over 3,000 viewers. www.youtube.com/firesandra
Created and produced an hour-long motivational presentation called Inspire Through Fire for middle school and high school students.
Won Hooping Instructor of the year in Hooping.org's Hoopie Awards.
Creator and moderator of the HoopCity.ca, an online social networking site for hoop dancers with over 1300 members.
Co-wrote and toured Canadian Fringe Festival's in The Nimble Twins duo show with fellow performer Carisa Hendrix.
Education
Dedicated to a life of learning, SaFire began her post secondary schooling in the arts and then moved towards her passion for teaching and sharing knowledge. Her skills in education and technology have come into full play in her online classes through HoopCity.ca where she teaches the art of hooping dancing to hundreds of students across the globe.

www.safiredance.com/

Learn Hooping online with SaFire @ Hoop City www.hoopcity.ca/page/hooping-classes
www.youtube.com/watch

From our hooping community to you, a big big thank you to Lara and her family for bringing their talents on the road for their free class series. For more information visit: www.superhooper.org/

Lara Eastburn: Inside The Hoop

Lara Eastburn is a hoop maker with Superhooper.org and philosophical mentor living in Atlanta, Georgia, with a PhD in French Literature, Philosophy and Theory. The 31-year-old originally from Gulfport, Mississippi, who happily lives and loves with her husband Drew and her 19-month-old daughter Navi, has found the hoop to be life changing. In our Hooper of the Week interview she told us, "Hooping turned me into a dancer, hands down. A very patient partner, it taught me about my body’s relationship to the space around it. The hoop gave me the freedom, and somehow the permission, to move. And that changed an awful lot. Getting my hips going seemed to get all parts of my life moving again at a time when things had slowed down and stalled for me." Find out more by reading on.
So how did it all begin? She explained, "August 17, 2002. What a day! The day I first hooped was also the day I met the love of my life. My Atlanta blues band was playing an outdoor music festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was so enjoying the music, the weather, and the people and I wanted to dance so badly. But, as usual, I was too embarrassed. I thought of myself as an incurable klutz and couldn’t bear to subject other people to the wild, erratic flailing of my limbs that was my best attempt at enjoying music. So like I had always done, I held myself back, smiling and tapping my foot while I swayed back and forth with unremarkable grace - and then I saw this giant black hula hoop laying off to the side in the grass. 'That’s how I’m going to get to move to this music without making a fool out of myself,' I thought. I picked up that monstrous beat-to-hell hoop and didn’t put it down for twelve straight hours. Dear God, I was dancing!"

She told us, "After that day in Louisiana, it took two years for me to find Jason Unbound and Hooping.org to figure out how to make a hoop." Once she made a hoop of her own she really started hooping. She explained, "I'd hoop for up to 4 hours a day to my vinyl records. I woke up every morning, put on some soul/funk, and asked myself, 'What else can I do with this thing?' Today, my relationship to hooping has changed a lot. The passion I experienced early on fueled lots of performing and the creation of the LED hoop-making business that I built together with my roommate and longtime hooping partner, Barry Clement. Building our hoops and teaching and performing with Superhooper.org seemed a natural step in sharing with others what hooping had brought to my life. But it also put more emphasis on hooping as a job."

Her having a hoop career interfered with her hoop joy? She responded, "Right now I’d like to rediscover the personal love affair I began with the hoop nearly six years ago. Hooping in front of an audience for so long has distanced me somewhat from the intimate fun of those long, delirious mornings hooping solo. Though I may not pick up a hoop as often as I used to, hooping is still part of my movements every day. It’s in the way I walk and the way I instinctively know to move my body whether I’m learning new tricks from belly and African dance, or silly dancing with my daughter."

One of her favorite hooping moments was on the eve of the birth of her daughter, Navi. "It's my favorite hooping moment. I had found hooping while pregnant difficult and missed it terribly. But the night before my labor began, I picked up a hoop at a social gathering and hooped for hours the way I used to. As this big circle turned around my burgeoning belly, I thought about my body’s long relationship to the hoop and imagined I was dancing for the first time with the precious being on her last night still within me."

What music does Lara love hooping to the most? She explains, "I’m largely an old school music fan. I live for vintage soul, funk, and blues on vinyl. It’s in my blood. But I’m no snob, either. If my hips start moving despite themselves, then it’s too late to get picky – I’m already hooping!" Does she have a favorite hoop? "HA! My favorite hoop has got to be the first one I made. It was ludicrous. I hadn't any idea how big a hoop should be. There was still so little information out there. But I used Jason’s earliest instructions to make a 5 foot 5 inch hoop out of one inch tubing. It was taller than I am, unbelievably heavy and slow as molasses - and I loved it! I kept it around for a long time after and would give it a spin every time I put some slow jazz on, just to remember how far we had come together."

The quality Lara admires most in a hooper is the ability to hoop as though no one is watching. So what does she see as being her most marked hooping characteristic? "I can’t hoop while standing still. Just can’t do it. If I’m hooping, I’m turning or spinning one way or another. I imagine a whirling dervish and channel myself as a ten-year-old spinning until I fell down."

We asked if there was anything else that she wanted Hooping.org's readers to know. She said, "Well, I am so proud of Superhooper.org. When Barry and I started this business, so many years ago, we just wanted to make an LED hoop for ourselves. A hoop without all the bells and whistles - just sturdy, simple, bright and affordable. It took us about a year and a half to figure out how to do it, but when we did, we figured there might be some other folks that would like them too. From those humble beginnings to Barry’s creation of the first LED/Fire combo hoop, I still wake up every day and ask myself (in a very different way!) What else can we do with this thing? I am amazed, proud, and delighted at how the hooping community has supported innovation in the hoop. I feel like an old lady when I step back in awe of what has happened in hooping in just the past 3 years! The Internet and Hooping have shared a truly fascinating and complimentary relationship. Only a few years ago, I struggled to find information and materials for building hoops. Today, people separated by languages, miles, and even oceans are learning from and sharing with one another. Bless YouTube, Bless Tribe, and Thank Hooping.org!"

In closing, if Lara had one piece of advice to share with someone picking up a hoop for the very first time, what it would it be? She said, "Nothing helped me more than thinking of my hoop as the perfect dance partner. Marvel at how it follows your every movement, flawlessly executes every turn, and inevitably teaches you about how your body moves in the world around you."

www.hooping.org/archives/001399.html