When I practice on my own, I essentially have two different types of practice: trick practice or flow practice. Trick practice is when I just focus on doing particular moves over and over and over again, and I often do this while watching TV so I don't get bored while I repeatedly attempt to shoulder hoop in my second current (or whatever I'm trying to master.) These practices are essential, but can be very frustrating!

For a flow practice, the most important thing I do is to put on some awesome music, the kind of music that I **have** to move to, and my focus is to just keep moving! If I pay more attention to the music than to thinking "what move should I do next?" the flow starts to come more naturally. I give myself permission NOT to push myself with tricks; if I feel like just hooping on my waist and dancing in the hoop, that's what I do.

The other advantage to flow practice is that I sweat more and burn more calories! Actually, I've been thinking about splitting my hoop exercise into two categories: hoop practice (at roughly 300 cal/hour) and hoop flow (450 cal/hour). The two exercises are not equal!