those lovely splotches of purple

bruises are sexy.

no, not in a family abuse kind of way….i mean in a “my lip is fat
because i was trying this new trick last night and thoroughly thwacked myself” kind of way.

you know what i mean?

i walk away from some practices with nothing more than a bruised ego at having been super sloppy.  then there are those practices that wreak pure havoc on my body.  last wednesday i got popped in the cheek from my unending attempt to do this cool kick-back over my head thing i’m exploring (i will conquer that move, dammit).
i also got a nice charlie-horse on the back of my right thigh (source
unknown).  we had two kickass dj’s spinning, with lots of floor time,
which meant i was rocking it super hard for long stretches until i was
spent.  when i woke up on thursday morning, my back was a complete
wreck.  felt like i had been gangbanged by a rhinoceros (you figure it out).  well, maybe
not that bad, but i tried not to do too much moving that day as i
yearned for some arnica.

what have i learned about all this? well, number one, i need to
stretch a helluva lot more, before, during and after.  especially my
back.  number two, much more water, particularly with intoxicants.
alcohol markedly dehydrates you.  combine that with pouring sweat and
your body is hemorraghing h2o inside and out at the same time.  lemur
told me the other day that prompt bruise recovery is dependent on
water, as well.  so, much more water!  number three, the same old
thing i’ve been spouting for awhile, it is when i am pushing the edges
of my ability that i have the best time.  that means a whole lot of
bruising.  even with the lighter hoop i’m using these days, it is
still a big piece of plastic being whipped around.  plastic with
velocity meeting person equals hematoma.

so, in that sense, the bruising is just a mark of pushing it, or in
some cases, that your peeps like to fuck with you by throwing another
hoop at you when you are locked into your groove.  either way, the
after-bruising marks reaching for it beyond some safe little squirrel
moves.  and, that, my dear reader, is what hooppain is all about.  so
wear those purple badges of courage proudly and stock up on arnica.