Christabel transformed herself from an unsatisfied, unhealthy student to a fitness dynamo with the help of a simple childhood toy.
Christabel's Story
"I attended a college where eating was a popular pastime."
People were constantly eating, drinking and partying where I went to college. At the time, I was studying to become a university professor. I was studying cultural anthropology and psychology, so I was always fascinated by the ideas of personal transformation and consciousness. I was also aware that I was due for a personal transformation of my own, because I was overweight at 180 pounds and very unhappy with my body.
I was at a conference on sustainability in Los Angeles, and they had an icebreaker exercise involving hula hooping, so everyone went out into the streets and had hula hoops. I was one of the few people in the group who couldn't keep the hoop up at all. It was intimidating but fascinating to me, so I decided to buy a hula hoop and take it home with me so I could practice.
"I didn't intentionally start hooping with the idea that I was going to lose weight, but it didn't take long before I started seeing physical benefits."
A couple of weeks after regularly practicing in the park, I noticed my body and my outlook was changing. I felt more confident and had more self-esteem, and I was always smiling and laughing more afterward. I started losing weight and having muscle definition, my heart rate was going up more regularly, I had more endurance. I went down to about 130 pounds.
I started performing for movie openings, concerts, commercials and galas, and while I loved hooping, I realized it wasn't feeding a larger purpose. I was becoming aware of the obesity epidemic and people needing to find ways to be physically active, and I realized I had to take something that I love doing for artistic reasons and find a way to tie it to a larger purpose -- wellness.
"Hooping is hot, sensual and acrobatic - but everyone can do it."
Hooping used to be an underground movement that you saw at dance clubs or festivals, but I wanted to make it more accessible to more people. I got certified as a primary group exercise instructor and started studying physiology and how to take people through a fitness experience in a safe and responsible way, and as I was reading and becoming educated, I was simultaneously developing a hoop teacher training program. I wanted to create a Hoop Girl workout so other teachers could impart this artistic, sensual dance form in a way that also promoted fitness.
"Hoop dance today is very different from '50's era hooping.?"
It's almost like crumping or breakdance, but it's more fluid and less intimidating. We use these special hoops that are large in diameter and pipe size. They're weighted and covered in friction tape. They really stick to your body, so people who thought they could never hoop can experience success. We started using these hoops and taking them beyond the hips to create new moves. The moves have great names like "Booty Bump" and "Snake" and "Slinky" and things like that. They're really playful and easy to remember. We do all kinds of moves that help build hand-eye coordination, dexterity, flexibility, core strength. We take the hoop off the body and do spins and jumps with the hoop, which really gets the heart rate going. It's a full body workout. This is truly the next generation of hooping. It's hot, it's sensual, it's fluid, it's acrobatic, but everyone can learn it. I've even taught 84-year-old women at the gym how to hoop. There are no limits.
"Hoop dance falls into this new mode of body-mind fitness."
Body-mind fitness is about the physical body and the emotional body, the spirit. It gives you a way to bring wholeness and well being to every part of your life. A lot of people say they have meditative experiences hooping, and I can definitely arrive at a place of inner quietude. You really get in touch with the rhythmic rotation of the hoop, and it's very hypnotic. It can be spiritual for people who are able to make space in their mind and connect with a larger sense of the universe than they might otherwise allow themselves to do. And it's all through this very unassuming plastic ring that is accessible to anybody.
