This photo makes me smile because it captures my girls doing the things they love the most right now. Lucy is opening my wallet to take out all the cards and then put them back in. Bella is dashing about and “protecting” the house with her amazing sword a la She-Ra.

And more She-Ra action. Every time I see this sword, I think of the amazing time we had at Hill Shade. Our friend Chris made this sword…all the kids had them while we were there. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we spent that time there…so many sweet memories.

I always look forward to this moment in the day (ok, ok…the mate happens several times a day). I’m thinking I should probably start beekeeping soon…we go through so much honey!

We ended our day with a trip to the park…with big sisters giving underdogs and mama hoopin’ it up.

The past couple of days we’ve taken our music and hoops with us and it’s so fun to watch the community spirit grow…just by throwing down a bunch of colorful plastic. We’ve even convinced a 52-year-old ex-gang member to give it a whirl with his grandkids I can’t wait until it’s even warmer so we can just stay there all day!

What are you most looking forward to this spring?

“Wildish Woman” from High on Butterfly Wings! Congratulations…you will LOVE your online hoop classes. I’ve been having such fun downloading the different lessons and connecting with other hoopers out there. I can’t wait to finish these classes so I can move on to the next one! Yes, I’m addicted

The thing that I like best is that I can work through the classes completely at my own pace and that I can download the videos to my computer and/or iPhone and have them with me wherever I’m hooping! These takes away the annoyance of streaming if your connection is slow.

I’ve checked out another online hoop class, but SaFire’s classes are hands down the most thorough, high quality (video quality and quality of content) that I’ve come across. She is highly active on the boards and gives great feedback. If you are considering an online hooping class, don’t hesitate at all. It’s awesome!

The best part is that she covers all of the “hooping secrets” that the free YouTube tutorials miss out on…things like flow and combination building, hand placement, etc. I feel like my knowledge of hooping in general is exponentially higher after being in her classes.

Go check it out…and have fun hooping!

Photo Credit: SaFire

The winner of the Superhooper hoop is….

The fabulous Shauna from Mama’s Herbal Soaps! Congratulations Shauna…you will LOVE your new hoop.

For those of you who didn’t win, be sure to take advantage of Lara’s generous offer to “upgrade” your order. When you order a SuperGrip Classic, you can upgrade for FREE to a SuperGrip Alpha or a SuperGrip Omega. Just enter the words “Walk Slowly” in the comment section upon checkout and specify your upgrade. This offer is good until May 17, 2010. Awesome!! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Hoop City giveaway…

Learn With Other Hoopers
I feel that one of the best ways to learn is in community with other hoopers. I had been trying to practice different movements on my own…but as soon as I spent a little time with “real” people (as opposed to a video) who were hooping, it all clicked. There was just something about watching a 3-dimensional person doing it. There are many cities offering hoop classes and hoop meetups…but if your town doesn’t have anyone gathering to hoop, start a group yourself! Hooping is one of those activities that draws a crowd…so just break out your hoop in the park, bring extras and make some new hooping friends.

Videos
There are many, many tutorial videos on YouTube and elsewhere. We live in a really sweet time of technological advancement where we can share our lives with each other in detail. I can take video of me hooping and 10 minutes later, the entire world can see. It’s so fun to see everyone’s different expressions of hooping online. There are also fantastic DVD’s: HoopDance and Hoopnotica are 2 that I know of. The DVD’s are especially nice if your internet connection is slow and you can’t stream very well.

Online Community
Hoop City is an amazing community of hoopers (created by SaFire) who post videos, photos, and encouragement on the site every day.  They have specialty “tribes”, and there is something for everyone. Hoop Mamas, Vegetarian/Vegan Hoopers, Curvy Hoopers…you name it. I could spend hours exploring the forums there. Good stuff. Hooping.org Magazine is another HUGE community of hoopers. It’s ever changing and has tons of info. I learn something new every time I visit these sites.

Online Classes
And lastly, there are online hooping classes. In particular, SaFire’s classes at Hoop City. When I first found her classes, I thought…”Why would I spend money on classes when I can just watch free YouTube videos all day?”. And then I took a class. And IT. IS. AMAZING. SaFire is an incredible teacher (she actually has a degree in teaching and fine art)…and she is able to break down the movements in such a way that makes it so easy to learn. She also teaches the “flow” of hoopdancing…not just one movement at a time, but actually how to piece them together easily. These classes are so detailed and full of inspiration…they are absolutely worth every penny.

Here is a photo of a lesson (click to enlarge once it loads)
Here is a sample of what a class looks like:

But before you buy a class…you can try to WIN ONE!

YES! You can enter this giveaway to win TWO online classes of your choice + her “Planting Seeds” course which focuses on general ideas for approaching your hoop practice, how to vary your style and general tips and tricks that SaFire has discovered in her years of hooping. Even if you’ve been hooping for years…SaFire will bring a freshness to your practice, teaching you new ways of entering/exiting a movement and adding new style.

I’m so excited about this giveaway because I know first hand how amazing these classes are! One thing that I love is that you can download each class so that you can have it on your iPhone / iPod and take it outside with you to hoop. Love that!

There are several ways you can enter your name in the drawing (choose as many as you like for multiple entries, but each entry must be a separate comment). I will choose the winner at random on Tue. May 11, at 12:00 p.m. CST.

• Click on over to Hoop City and JOIN the community of hoopers there.
• Leave a comment below and tell me something fun about your hooping adventures (your favorite movement/trick, your favorite hoop, where/when you like to hoop…basically anything hoop related and you’re good).
• For an extra entries, put a link back to this giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter (and then leave a comment here that says “FB/Twitter”) Here is some sample wording for posting: I just entered the Hoop City Online Hooping Class giveaway. Come check it out ! http://bit.ly/9gtkqS . For Twitter, you can add the hashtag #hooping.
• Add another entry for becoming a “fan” of the SaFire Facebook page, Hoop City Facebook page or “Follow” Hoop City on Twitter.
• You will get yet ANOTHER entry for posting about this giveaway on your own blog (add another comment here that says “blogged here” with a link).

Thanks so much for stopping by…happy hooping!

Superhooper is giving away a day hoop from their amazing collection to one lucky winner! If you read yesterday’s post and thought,”I can do that!”…then you need to enter this giveaway. If you read yesterday’s post and thought, “There is no way can I ever do that!”…then you need to enter this giveaway. Even if you’ve never thought about hooping, you need to start now. It will change your life!

Why Superhooper?
With so many places that you could choose to buy a hoop…why choose Superhooper? Superhooper was founded by Lara Eastburn and her business partner, Barry Clement in 2002. She taught classes and performed in the Atlanta area up until Oct. 2009, and then her family hit the road (I like where this story is going ).

She and her family (husband, Drew and daughter, Navi) are traveling the country in a veggie-oil bus teaching free hoop classes! You can imagine my excitement when I found a fellow veggie oil mama who likes to hoop And of course, I want to support their efforts in any way I can.  They are doing a great thing!

Click here for their schedule…you can also put in a request for your city! Here is brief overview of why they are offering these awesome classes…

In towns all across America, hoopers are learning this new movement art from YouTube videos and instructional DVDs. It is our mission over the next 18 months (maybe more!) to travel to towns where there is little to no live hooping and/or fire safety instruction, bringing hooping to your back yards, parks, and studios. We will help you get started, or master that one difficult move, introduce you safely to fire, or help you start a hoop group in your area. You’ll be amazed at what you can do in a hoop!

Lara and her crew have been making hoops for 6 years, and one of their specialties is the LED (light up) hoop. Soon I will be the proud owner of a blue-green binary LED hoop! Oh my…I am excited. I’ll be hoopin’ all through the night. I’m also going to be trying out some of their mini poi hoops as well. Check out Lara’s write up about minis and the video here…it’s great!

Lara is offering a sweet deal for my blog readers too! When you purchase the SuperGrip Classic Hoop, you can upgrade to the SuperGrip Alpha -OR- the SuperGrip Omega for FREE. Just include the words “Walk Slowly” in the comments section and specify your choice when you check out. This offer is good through May 17, 2010.

See the inside of their sweet bus here. And be sure to check out Lara’s fabulous blog, Hooposophy. I’ve really enjoyed her perspective and thoughtful writing.

The giveaway will take place on Monday, May 10 at 12:00 p.m. CST. Spread the word…hooping is delightful!

Here is how you can enter:

• Click on over to Superhooper and look at the pretty hoops.
• Leave a comment below with your favorite hoop and colors you would pick (I love the SuperGrip Alpha with blue/green!)
• For an extra entries, put a link back to this giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter (and then do a second/third comment here that says “FB/Twitter”) Here is some sample wording for posting: “I just entered the Superhooper giveaway on Walk Slowly, Live Wildly! Come check it out! http://tinyurl.com/29bahdz.” For Twitter, add the hashtag #hooping.
• Add another entry for becoming a “fan” of the Superhooper Facebook page or “Follow” them on Twitter.
• You will get yet ANOTHER entry for posting about this giveaway on your own blog (add another comment here that says “blogged here” with a link).

**Photos courtesy of Superhooper.org.

The very first time I saw someone hooping, I was completely mesmerized. I stumbled across a YouTube video of a girl who went by the name of “SaFire” and I knew…in an instant, that I HAD to learn to do it too. That was a few years ago…and my desire to learn just kept getting pushed onto the back burner. Last spring, Bella and I got matching mother/daughter hoops made, and while Bella totally rocked it, I couldn’t seem to find time to figure it out…beyond just waist hooping. (Please note: when I talk about hooping, these are not the small “kids” hula hoops…they are adult sized and are usually custom made. The bigger they are, the easier to learn!).

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I finally decided that IT WAS TIME! I broke out my HoopDance DVD and watched a million YouTube videos. We went to HomeDepot and bought tubing to make our own hoops and ordered tape online. This was all during the NüRVers rally, and luckily, there were several other adventurous souls who were willing to hoop it up with me (check out Tara’s blog post about her hoop love). One of my new friends, Rose, helped me learn a trick that I had been working on…and once I got it, I was ecstatic! After that, it was like riding a bike…it just felt very easy and natural instead of awkward and clunky.

We had a BLAST learning different tricks together and cheering when we actually did them without dropping the hoop or hitting ourselves in the face! We even attended a Hooping Meetup in Austin (blogged here)..which was wonderful!

It’s safe to say I’m pretty obsessed with hooping. I dream about it. I plan hoop tape colors in my head. I am always searching for new videos online. And don’t you even think that it won’t happen to you Once you start, it’s totally addicting!!

Why do I love hooping so much?

It’s a good time.
Seriously. Who didn’t love hula hooping as a kid? If there is a hoop laying on the ground around here, it’s hard for someone to walk by without grabbing it for a few swirls.

It will raise your heart rate.
Hooping can burn 400-600 calories per hour! And you don’t even realize it because…yep, it’s fun. I will also strengthen your core, your arms, legs…you name it. It’s a great workout.

It’s fun for the whole family.
Both Bella and Matt have their own hoops and we love to hoop it up as a family. Bella learns new tricks so fast…it’s fun to watch her because she is so intuitive about the flow. She just does it…without fear. I learn from her every day.

It’s meditative.
Similar to yoga, spinning a hoop can calm your frenzied mind. Your hooping experience can be whatever you want it to be…depending on how fast or slow you’re hooping and what music you might be listening to.

It’s community-building.
What started off as just a few people wanting to make hoops turned into 16 hoops being made! Once one person starting learning and having fun with it, everyone wanted in on the action. It’s a fun way to pass time and chill with friends and family.

Beyond your immediate community, there is a worldwide hooping community/culture. There are events and performances and all kinds of ways to learn. Right now I have my heart set on Hoop Camp Retreat 2010…that would be the most yummy, wonderful time. All hooping. All day. All by amazing teachers. Oh my.  Anyone wanna come with me?

There are tons of hooping resources out there…here are just a few:

SaFire You Tube Videos I LOVE (yes, there are a lot, but she is an amazing hooper and teacher!):
SaFire Silouette: Gorgeous lines.
SaFire Shoulder Hooping: Oooooh how I love this.
SaFire Chest Hooping Tutorial (chest hooping is what I’m currently working on…so I love this)
SaFire in the Sun (love that song!)
SaFire’s Hooping Manifesto: Love The Process

Hooping is not just for girls:
Malcolm Stuart Hoop Demo
SuperVictorio
Rich Porter – Shoulder Hooping

And these just make me REALLY happy:
Hoopalicous HoopCamp Demo
Glory Days by sharnarose

I will be posting more about hooping music and online hooping communities…and I have some REALLY EXCITING hooping giveaways to announce over the next 2 days…so before you get all crazy and go buy a hoop, hold tight. You’ll wanna wait for this!! Wooooooo!