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Permalink Reply by Kinetic Kristen* on April 10, 2009 at 8:08am

Lol, I love the last question.

Flow, for me & I'm a former dancer and flag twirler, is partially a state of mind and partially the way one slides and undulates moves and tricks into one smooth story with the music. I also call it "being in the Kool-Aid" because I often forget everything else and I'm lost in the music and whatever I'm doing (dance, flag, hoop) rolls with it. It doesn't look like "Oh, here's a trick. And now I'm doing this trick. And now I'm doing this."

SaFire is really great with this. She can do a lot of tricks but she also will just dance while holding the hoop or spinning it on her waist or knees or chest; it never looks like she is trying to string her entire trick repertoire into one song. GroovinMegZz is another great example. She always smoothly transitions what she is doing and will just chill with some isolations while dancing around because it fits that part of the song she is in.

I've been in the Kool-Aid a couple of times and it's never until afterwards when I'm done that I realize, hey, I had some flow goin' on there for a bit. I'm at complete chilled-out peace, so yea, I guess my perspective does change when it happens. So, I try to nurture it by having "trick" practice sessions and then sessions where I'll just go with the music, even if all I'm doing is core hooping up and down and spinning and dancing around with the music.

Flow is important so that when you're hooping it doesn't just look like: "She has a hoop. Oh, here's a trick with the hoop And now I'm doing this trick. And now I'm doing this....with the hoop." Flow allows the hoop to become a part of you, like an extension of your arm or chest or body, so that it is more you (you being whoever is hooping) and not "you and the hoop" as two separate entities.

Wow. That was a lot. :-)

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Permalink Reply by OrganicHoop on April 10, 2009 at 8:22am

I am wondering how many people have read Csikszentmihahyi's book "Finding Flow:The psychology of engagement with everyday life." I've had it on my shelf for a few years and have read a little bit. He has other books on flow and creativity as well.

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Permalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on April 10, 2009 at 8:44am

I've never heard of the book, Organichoop. Is it more self-help or psychology? I'm not sure creativity is something that can be understood scientifically or learned from a book.However I'm fascinated by the ways the brain works. It's mind boggling to think that our mental/emotion/spiritual experience is rooted in biology, in neurons, and the chemical processes of the brain.

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Permalink Reply by OrganicHoop on April 10, 2009 at 9:04am

His books are both self help and psychology.

I nabbed this from wiki-

Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following nine factors as accompanying an experience of flow:[2][3]

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities).

2. Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).

3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.

4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.

5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).

6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).

7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.

8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

9. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

Not all are needed for flow to be experienced.


http://www.meaningandhappiness.com/zone-enjoyment-creativity-elemen...

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Permalink Reply by Mad Maxine on April 15, 2009 at 7:46am

What an excellent summary of the hooping process! I think he nailed it. I'm going to check that out.

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Permalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on April 10, 2009 at 9:02am

I think of flow as an active meditation. It’s when hooping moves from a thinking process, to an experience. When I stop thinking in terms of tricks, or even dance, and just explore the space and motion of the hoop.

Like any kind of meditation, I think flowing with the hoop takes skill and practice. I tend to find the flow after an afternoon of practice, when the kids are asleep and the lights are off. My glow hoop really helps. Once the hoop becomes a circle of light, it’s like my thinking-self just wanders away, bored. For me, the glow hoop is like a mudra or ritual. My brain recognizes the situation and prepares for a shift in consciousness. Of course, it doesn’t happen EVERY time, but I feel most “in the flow” with my glow hoop. My dance changes as well. I do a lot more “touch” style hooping, just moving the hoop in space. I slow down too—both mind and hoop.

Flow is important because it teaches me to BE the dance instead of over-thinking and criticizing myself. I feel that I bring new, raw techniques out of the flow. Later, during my work/practice sessions I refine these discoveries. For me flow/jam sessions and work/practice sessions are inter-connected. One feeds the other and vica-versa.

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Permalink Reply by Mad Maxine on April 10, 2009 at 9:59am

As I posted once before, flow is my personal struggle. I've been practicing in a small room for the last few months, and have only recently gotten into a gymnasium setting where I can move around. Even with that, I'm still doing trick after trick after trick. Someone on the boards here alluded to this phenomenon of hooping all these separate tricks as learning an alphabet. Much like that other forum member, I want to learn to flow so I can speak words and sentences.

I think that flow is the key to working around our individual limitations in such a way that we look and feel like we know what we're doing inside the hoop. Some folks can't spin around in little circles for five minutes. Some folks don't have a lot of strength and control. Others may be stiff and have joint or back problems. But we all seem to learn to find what we are good at, and work within that set of limitations. In a way, the limitations become a freeing framework in which we can explore.

There's a definite point where the body begins to understand the mechanics and physics of a move, and from there it all falls together into a related series of actions and becomes flow. It's the difference between merely knitting a scarf that's all one stitch and knitting an Intarsia sweater with cables. When that point is breached, and flow is achieved, it is a thing of beauty.

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Permalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on April 10, 2009 at 11:44am

I loved Shimeralla's "speaking in setences" analogy when I saw it too. Your analogy to knitting is also right on the money. A couple days ago I had a real a-ha moment when I realized the similar mechanics of a step-in and the vortex. It really boggled my mind because the realization transformed the motion from something I was imitating into something I really understood. Understanding is the springboard of inspiration and new discovery.

I'm so glad to hear you found some hoop-space, Maxine, best of luck and thanks for sharing your insight.

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Permalink Reply by shimarella* on April 12, 2009 at 11:10am

Ah yes, speaking in sentences... that's what flow is about to me. It's still a challenge for me right now because I am still in the phase of learning the alphabet ( ie tricks) and haven't put a lot of time into just grooving with the music. I think that flow will come with time and patience, honestly, as you get more comfortable with your hooping "accent".

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Permalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on April 12, 2009 at 7:32pm

All the energy and work you've put into learning the alphabet is aparent when you find your flow.

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Permalink Reply by Kinetic Kristen* on April 13, 2009 at 6:54am

I love this analogy. And the hooping accent is right on -- mine is a bit of muddled Southern I think. Some words roll together and others are shortened/modified but it's all me and my hooping style and I love it :-)

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Permalink Reply by spider baby on April 13, 2009 at 9:04am

my mind seems to understand the alphabet analogy for flow in hooping.. most of the times it is just letters but occasionally a word pops up

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