Thoughts on Hooping Blindfolded
The following is an excerpt from a response of mine on an online forum. You can read to entire exchange by clicking here. The initial poster, Sharna Rose, asked for feelings and thoughts regarding the practice of hooping blindfolded.
You have asked about a technique that has meant so much to me on this path, that I feel compelled to add my thoughts to this discussion. Reading these posts is very funny for me, because all of the reasons that have been mentioned have at one time or the other been a reason for me to go blind. Eventually, all the reasons grew together into a very solid acceptance of the blindfold’s place and importance in my Training.
My ancestors of the Hoop have said to me repeatedly, “There are many Winds.” It certainly applies to the use of blindfolds in one’s Practice. It’s not for everybody. Each of us takes hold of this world in different ways. For some, their eyes are essential in finding and moving about holds on the proverbial climbing wall. Without sight, some have told me it feels as though they are in ‘freefall.’ To have these types of Hoopers blindfold themselves is equivalent to spinning them around until dizzy and asking them to then run as fast as they can. I have had the honor of hooping with other ‘Madres’ and I can say that each of them had different relationships to being blindfolded: some of them used blindfolds a lot, some not so much.
My own experience with the blindfold has honestly been life changing. There are two main reasons I started hooping blind: the first reason, was that I was tired of worrying about witnessing someone’s reaction to my hooping in my backyard, the second reason was that I (later) did not want to be witness to anything other than the pe*A*ce (rhythmic balance) between my hoop and myself. As time has gone on, I have pulled further and further away from the outside world when I am Within no matter what or where the setting.
It was at Burning Man in 2006, when I first started hooping Blind in public spaces. It was weird at first, but I remember being nervous and thinking the blind would calm my nerves. It did. I think I might have only hooped ten minutes or less when I came out. A woman came up to me and hugged me and said, “Thank you for your gift.” I am so grateful she was the first person I saw for I took it to Heart. (I had gone that year to ‘give’ my hooping prayers to the Playa.)
One of the biggest reasons I used the blindfold early on is that, unfortunately, for most of my life, demons (insecurities) have used the gateways of my eyes to infiltrate my consciousness. Like mosquitoes, they come inside and bite me again and again, breaking my concentration and creating a chaotic discomfort within which I can find no peace. Demons have a way of needling me with useless questions regarding my appearance to others and mocking my replies. At the end of most days, I think these conversations are more destructive than helpful, and I find my participation in these exchanges to be moments of life not fully lived. So I go blind, thus, denying an entry to these triggers of insecurity. Of course, this doesn’t mean I don’t have insecure feelings when hooping blind. Rather, it means there are fewer and therefore, I am not as overwhelmed and I am able to be more present within the Current of that moment. Subsequently, those moments of real connection and presence strengthen my resolve to work on the weaknesses upon which these demons feed. Going blind is not a denial of insecurity, but of its triggers. Wrestling with one insecurity can be enough to inhibit one’s expression, but taking on many insecurities at once can flat out destroy it. A Warrior understands that the isolated foe is more easily defeated than when in the company of his allies. By going blind, I am able to have greater control of when and how I deal with my weaknesses and insecurities. The result of this training, for me, is that it now takes much more nasty and vicious demons, to break me from Calm than it once did (both in and out of my hoop.)
As a teacher of Hooping, I think there is much to learn from being blindfolded away from the reasons I just mentioned. Sometimes, hoopers are more connected to what move they are going to pull off next, than to what rhythms are happening in the now. “Next. Next. Next.” As a hoop mantra can create a “hurry up” tempo and disrupt a natural Flow from forming. From what I have experienced, Flow gathers itself like winds do. I have seen in many of my students and in my own practice, that the blindfold seems to awaken a Patience in hoopers. Whatever the reason may be, there is, very often, a noticeable difference in the way someone moves the moment the blindfold is put on. Many, many times the difference is that their hooping looks smoother and more organic. Again, this does not apply to everyone, but I have seen it happen a lot since I began teaching.
If asked, I would probably say that I am a better hooper when I am not blind, but my best hoop feelings have almost all come when I was blindfolded. Probably for that reason more than any other these days, I spend about 70 percent of my practices hooping blind. I think it definitely is worth a try for everyone once.
[The teacher in me won’t let me get out of here without saying that I think it is good to condition yourself to hooping blind. For me, the initial feeling of disorientation and dizziness went away as I worked my way into longer and longer sessions.]
I love reading this tribe. Thanks to all of you who post here.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:13 am
I just came across this article and have to say how cool it was to read this. It’s funny because I’m just starting to hoop (backyard also with an apartment complex able to just look right at me) and have some of those same type of insecurity demons in general. This was pretty inspirational to read