No, I'm not talking about the famous song from "Wicked," but something a bit more. . .uh. . . personal and a subtle, but important benefit of regular hooping.  This topic may just be a wee bit wicked or maybe just a little TMI.  

Recently, my 34-year-old daughter asked me an odd question.  "Mom," she said, "I don't usually notice this kind of thing, but what kind of bra are you wearing?"  Of course, I looked down and noticed nothing out of the ordinary with my standard undergarment.  I looked at my daughter curiously and she stammered, "well, it's just that your profile is very, er, youthful!"  

Well, how about that?  Prior to taking up hooping, I felt that my poor bosum was akin to a couple of oranges in tube socks.  Hooping can do nothing about breast tissue, but it surely can give a big lift to the muscles that support the bustline.  I thought of all the thousands of times I've lifted the hoop from my waist over my head; how learning to weave my arms and dance in the hoop made me sore across the chest; how the muscles in my chest and back have often complained over the 15 months I've been hooping.  I'm not at all coordinated and my progress has been much slower than most.  But then I looked at my profile in the mirror and grinned. 

I mentioned this to my husband and he smiled, too, indicating he had noticed the change, saying one word that brought a blush to my face:  "Perky," he commented.

So this is just a note of encouragment and a reminder that even when we don't see immediate results in our hooping technique, our bodies are continuing to learn to embrace the motion we yearn for, and when we least expect it, we find that we are—in one way or another—defying gravity.