Strangers shake their hips at me and sometimes it makes me angry

I’m going to admit it up front, I am not in a good mood today. I tried to write you an up beat blog post, I really did but it just felt empty and meaningless so I am going to have a little rant. 

I carry hula hoops around London, all the time and I get a lot of attention because of it. Children pull at their parents sleeves to point out the hoops, adults grin from ear to ear and some even giggle. People comment and ask questions and it is nice. I like it, I like the attention. 

What I don’t like however is the men who manage to turn it into something dirty. Generally the only word that comes out of their mouth is ‘hula hoop’ and then they show me! They literally swing their hips at me and it's offensive, really offensive. It happens all the time, at least once a day. Part of me thinks 'You can’t blame them, I am the one walking around with 50 hula hoops.' But really?? Really?? How can you make it so dirty, it’s just horrible. 

If the conversation continues, which it generally doesn’t because honestly if you can’t think of anything more intelligent to do than shaking your hips at a stranger then you're unlikely to put a whole sentence together (I did warn you I was in a bad mood). But if it does continue I always tell them I am on my way to an orphanage to cheer up some underprivileged children… I NEVER tell them I am on the way to a performance. 

So I was thinking about it and if I had £1 for every person who did this to me I could retire / cure cancer / achieve world peace / _________ fill in the blank. Basically I really could do something great! 

Don’t get me wrong some people say the word ‘hula hoop’ and shake their hips and they are doing it in the most innocent way and I appreciate that. I laugh at that. But I am seriously thinking about implementing an on the spot fine for ‘dirty fantasy hooping’, the fine would be donated to a given charity and I would need to get cards made. This is how the card would read…

YOU HAVE BEEN ISSUED WITH A £1 FINE FOR SHAKING YOUR HIPS AT A HOOPER
YOUR' FINE WILL BE DONATED TO ________ CHARITY!

If I had £1 for every time someone shook their hips at me on the street I could        (insert amazing statement about world peace) and you are going to help me do this by giving me £1 right now.

Please don’t shake your hips at strangers in the future unless you actually have a hula         hoop around you’re waist in which case go for it. 

Rant over! I'm off to hoop myself happy again and I promise a proper cheerful blog post next week. 

xx

The Art of Distraction

Last sunday I had the pleasure of providing Swing Patrol London with a bit of pre-dance hula hooping! Of course they threw themselves into it with the same enthusiasm that they fling their partners around the dance floor. After the hula hooping I found myself hovering at the edge of the dance floor watching in amazement as they twirled around the room... I started edging away slowly as I realised I was in danger of being asked to join in. 

Post by Happy Healthy Hoops.

Just when I thought I was safe, a very dapper gentleman asked me to dance. I of course refused, explaining that I had only ever done one swing dance lesson and I was quite simply awful. But of course no wasn't a good enough answer and I found myself on the dance floor feeling as glamorous as some 1940's film star. 

That bubble was promptly burst as I stumbled and bumped into other couples. I was so embarrassed by my own awkwardness. But my partner chatted to me politely, asking about hula hooping, asking where I had done my first swing dance class (it was swing patrol by the way) and before I had even notice this handsome man said to me 'You realise when you're talking you don't stumble at all'. I was dancing and I wasn't awful at all, I wasn't amazing but I was definitely not awful and it was bloody fun thats for sure!  

It reminded me that distraction can be a really useful tool when you are learning new hoop tricks too. I know....Where are you going to find some hottie with enough patience to to chat to you while you work on the weave or the vortex?? Probably not going to happen right?! But try sticking on the TV on, some music or even read a book!!!

Get smart about your hoop practice and stop over thinking things. Give your brain something else to think about for a or give your self a complete break and try a Swing Dance Class who knows you might even find prince charming. You are only limited by your own imagination! 

Post by Happy Healthy Hoops.

P.S. This event was so much fun I just can't fit it into one blog post but Antidote London I can't thank you enough for all the games. 

Sunday at W9 Dry Goods Store

So we had a ridiculous amount of fun on Sunday at my local W9 Dry Good Store. Coffee, Ice Cream and a lot of playing with hoops. 

After the performance everyone had a go at the hoops. There were parents teaching their kids and even more kids teaching their parents! Was such a fun day! 

Intermediate Hoop Classes

I can't tell me how happy this class at Warwick Avenue made me last night. It was meant to be a normal HoopFit class but then these three turned up. Heather, Nicole and Sammi have all been hoping with me for... Um I'm not sure how long but they rock and we had so much fun that the class ran over an extra 20 mins mainly because I kept saying 'one more time, lets just do it one more time.'

Intermediate Hula Hoop Class London from Bree Kirk-Burnnand on Vimeo.

We came up with new really random tricks and as Nicole said 'it was everything I love about hooping'  Playful, fun but also seriously challenging! Expect to see some of our random tricks in your next class. 

I am NOT a Fitness Junkie

I have been writing this post in my head for months because I feel like people have got me all wrong. My job means that I meet a lot of fitness fanatics… they think I am one of them but I am not. Maybe I should keep this a secret but honestly if exercise isn't fun and interesting I am NOT doing it. 

Before I discovered hooping I’d water skied, tried pole dancing, power plates and the odd dance class here and there. I generally exercised for three months of the year and did nothing for the other nine months. I do not run and I do not do sit ups. 

I remember going for induction sessions at gyms and telling them my aim was to ‘feel good’ which fell on deaf ears every time. Some how it always translated in their minds to ‘loose weight’ or ‘tone up’ but I really just wanted to feel good and have fun. And this to me is one of the major problems with the fitness industry, most people just want to feel amazing and fell alive! 

I know, so shedding a few kilos is great too but when did we decide that it had to be all work and no play. What do kids do to keep fit? They play right? We don't stick them on a tread mill or make them lift weights. Please stop making exercise so awful, lets just go outside and play… please. 

That is what I love about hula hooping. Whether you're working on keeping the hoop spinning for more than a minute at a time or splitting hoops you are always learning and playing. I’m not a fitness junkie, I am a fun junkie!