[Hooping.org columnist Kim Burden (Kamala)presents this piece with deepest respect for the Yoruba people and the ancestors and devoted practitioners of Ifa, Santeria and other diaspora based traditions.]

We’ve all, at one time or maybe many times, been blown away by the stories of transformation shared by our hoop sisters and brothers – weight loss, healing from trauma and addiction, improved self esteem, improved health, increased connection to community, increased connection to self, a rebirth of fun and play… the list goes on and on. Whenhooping.org turned nine recently, I was inspired to share about Oya, Yoruban Spirit of the Wind, spiralic motion, fire and transformation. Her number is nine. She loves swirling multi-colored ribbons, and she spins – so it seemed fitting to weave some of her wisdom into our wonderful web here.

Take a moment and recall the first time you twirled that hoop around your body: the swirling, whirling spinning, feeling yourself centered at the eye of the tornado. Recall the “whoosh” sound the hoop made as you began to spin faster & learned to maneuver the hoop up & down your vertical axis in a “vortex”. It’s both centering and exhilarating, like dancing with the Wind itself. As a practitioner of earth-centered spiritual traditions that work with the movement of the forces of nature, the connection to the Yoruba Spirit of the Wind was crystal clear the moment that divine sparkly circlular hoop danced with me. Read the rest of this entry →