I'm proud of this photo for a few reasons.. and possibly not the ones you'd think.
Firstly, this photo was taken by a Totterdown hoop student, who has been coming to class, along with her Mum, since I started teaching years ago. They were a great addition to the class and still are - their ability to laugh at themselves and inject humour whilst hooping in their own unique styles is exactly what I love about teaching. I've gained two good friends in Maria and Serena Tottle. I've seen Serena grow up into a fantastic self-assured and utterly hilarious woman who's now studying Photography at Bath University.
Secondly, I can look at this photo and see my smile, my lit up face first and foremost, rather than lingering on the size 18 body that's crept up on me in my later years. I am happy that I can view this photo as someone who, at this captured moment in time, truly Gives No F***s.
The genuinely relaxed and smiling woman you see before you is a product of a great photographer who I felt completely at ease with and a self acceptance that's at times been hard won.
Thirdly, I am proud to be associated with the 'This Girl Can' campaign.. A campaign that has broken down long standing barriers to women and girls exercising and delivered results. Sport England aim to help identify and break down these barriers.. and I think hoop ticks a lot of boxes towards this.
If you haven't watched the This Girl Can campaign video, or it's been a while.. take a minute and a half for yourself now. Why not try out the app and create yourself a This Girl Can poster complete with slogans like 'I jiggle, therefore I am' or 'Damn right I look hot'? Try and look past what you perceive as your imperfections. I dare you.
Check out the Bristol Girls Can Facebook page for more inspiration.
Right, I'm off to jiggle ;)
Firstly, this photo was taken by a Totterdown hoop student, who has been coming to class, along with her Mum, since I started teaching years ago. They were a great addition to the class and still are - their ability to laugh at themselves and inject humour whilst hooping in their own unique styles is exactly what I love about teaching. I've gained two good friends in Maria and Serena Tottle. I've seen Serena grow up into a fantastic self-assured and utterly hilarious woman who's now studying Photography at Bath University.
Secondly, I can look at this photo and see my smile, my lit up face first and foremost, rather than lingering on the size 18 body that's crept up on me in my later years. I am happy that I can view this photo as someone who, at this captured moment in time, truly Gives No F***s.
The genuinely relaxed and smiling woman you see before you is a product of a great photographer who I felt completely at ease with and a self acceptance that's at times been hard won.
Thirdly, I am proud to be associated with the 'This Girl Can' campaign.. A campaign that has broken down long standing barriers to women and girls exercising and delivered results. Sport England aim to help identify and break down these barriers.. and I think hoop ticks a lot of boxes towards this.
If you haven't watched the This Girl Can campaign video, or it's been a while.. take a minute and a half for yourself now. Why not try out the app and create yourself a This Girl Can poster complete with slogans like 'I jiggle, therefore I am' or 'Damn right I look hot'? Try and look past what you perceive as your imperfections. I dare you.
Check out the Bristol Girls Can Facebook page for more inspiration.
Right, I'm off to jiggle ;)
Read my full interview for Bristol Girls Can below
Bristol Girls Can
8 August at 09:34 · #BristolGirlsCan-Cat’s Story
I first started hula hooping in 2009. Having been completely unable to do it as a child, I had my doubts but I saw a friend with a hoop and she assured me that it was much easier with the modern day dance hoops. I still remember how it felt when I first pushed the hoop around my waist and it kept going! If someone had snapshotted it, it would have been a photo combination of disbelief and total joy rolled into one. ‘Wait, I can do this?! -‘YES!’
Every now and then, I wonder about how I am still hooping 7 years later. I’ve always been one for taking up something but not carrying it on. For me, hooping is a kind of ‘stealth’ exercise – I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like I’m exercising. Maybe that’s because I had always associated exercise with being unpleasant or unachievable - running has never been my thing and don’t even get me started on those aerobics classes where I seemed to just flail around in a confused, uncoordinated mess!
For me, hooping has so many benefits other than physical fitness. I LOVE the hoop community – I feel as if I gel with everyone – that somehow although we’re all pretty diverse in background, we get on because we share a common passion. It’s such a supportive network and I have made some lifelong friends. I have found better self-acceptance and confidence through hooping.
Hooping can turn around a bad day – true fact! Occasionally, after the day job, I feel exhausted and the last thing I want to do is to go and teach two hours of hoop classes. Within minutes of starting, I’m grinning like a fool and by the end of the night I am so energised I don’t want to go to bed! I completely love helping other people to find their potential. Learning new hoop moves gives you an amazing sense of achievement. I love, and fully encourage, creativity and expression within hoop dance.. I guess the lack of rules and scope for doing your own thing is something that really appeals to me. There is nothing better than putting on your favourite tracks or hearing an awesome tune playing at a festival and being able to grab a hoop and let go of everything – who you are, who you think you should be, how you look, you know, all the pressures that we carry just spin off into nothing, where they belong.
If you’d like to find more about what I do, take a look at my website www.cathoops.co.uk,
find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/hulahoopbristol
and Twitter @cathoopsbristol
I run 6 week blocks of classes on a Thursday evening, in Totterdown, Bristol. Keep an eye out on my Facebook page and website for special events, workshops and taster sessions.
You could also join the Bristol Hoopers Facebook page for local news and the Bristol Hula Hoop Sales group for .. yes.. buying hula hoops!
#ThisGirlCan #Hooping #Fun
8 August at 09:34 · #BristolGirlsCan-Cat’s Story
I first started hula hooping in 2009. Having been completely unable to do it as a child, I had my doubts but I saw a friend with a hoop and she assured me that it was much easier with the modern day dance hoops. I still remember how it felt when I first pushed the hoop around my waist and it kept going! If someone had snapshotted it, it would have been a photo combination of disbelief and total joy rolled into one. ‘Wait, I can do this?! -‘YES!’
Every now and then, I wonder about how I am still hooping 7 years later. I’ve always been one for taking up something but not carrying it on. For me, hooping is a kind of ‘stealth’ exercise – I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like I’m exercising. Maybe that’s because I had always associated exercise with being unpleasant or unachievable - running has never been my thing and don’t even get me started on those aerobics classes where I seemed to just flail around in a confused, uncoordinated mess!
For me, hooping has so many benefits other than physical fitness. I LOVE the hoop community – I feel as if I gel with everyone – that somehow although we’re all pretty diverse in background, we get on because we share a common passion. It’s such a supportive network and I have made some lifelong friends. I have found better self-acceptance and confidence through hooping.
Hooping can turn around a bad day – true fact! Occasionally, after the day job, I feel exhausted and the last thing I want to do is to go and teach two hours of hoop classes. Within minutes of starting, I’m grinning like a fool and by the end of the night I am so energised I don’t want to go to bed! I completely love helping other people to find their potential. Learning new hoop moves gives you an amazing sense of achievement. I love, and fully encourage, creativity and expression within hoop dance.. I guess the lack of rules and scope for doing your own thing is something that really appeals to me. There is nothing better than putting on your favourite tracks or hearing an awesome tune playing at a festival and being able to grab a hoop and let go of everything – who you are, who you think you should be, how you look, you know, all the pressures that we carry just spin off into nothing, where they belong.
If you’d like to find more about what I do, take a look at my website www.cathoops.co.uk,
find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/hulahoopbristol
and Twitter @cathoopsbristol
I run 6 week blocks of classes on a Thursday evening, in Totterdown, Bristol. Keep an eye out on my Facebook page and website for special events, workshops and taster sessions.
You could also join the Bristol Hoopers Facebook page for local news and the Bristol Hula Hoop Sales group for .. yes.. buying hula hoops!
#ThisGirlCan #Hooping #Fun