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Category Archives: Hoola Monsters in the News

My Story on BuzzFeed! Hooping for Depression

The BuzzFeed story is live! And this one is different than past media coverage I’ve received. It tells my real story – the truth about how hoop dance changed my life and why I’ve made it my mission to share this art form with others. Take a look:


Depression affects so many people. Some of us hide our pain behind smiling faces. I did that for years… Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Healing isn’t linear, either, and different things work for different people.

For me, it’s hoop dance, creative self expression, meditation, clean eating and reaching out to those who I love when I need support. I used to see a psychiatrist regularly, and I was on antidepressants too for a while.

Depression is scary, but you don’t have to go through it alone. If you or someone you know suffers in this way, PLEASE ask for help. Some great places to start are the National Alliance for Mental Illness American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

Believe that healing is possible. Notice which healthy habits make you feel good and do more of that. Be open, and you might find your life change in totally unexpected ways. I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m saying you’re worth it.
#youarenotalone

*To protect my family’s privacy, some elements of my story have been changed.*
Click here more information about hooping and healing.

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Here’s How Hula Hooping Led This Woman to Quit Her $70K/Year Career

Source: The Penny Hoarder Hula Hooping Article
Published: March 22, 2017 by Susan Shain and Heather Comparetto

“The sound of the fire is addictive — it’s a rush.”

Abby Albaum spins a flaming hula hoop around her waist, then her knees. She shimmies it up to her shoulders and, in a flash, it’s spinning in her hand.  It’s captivating: the fire’s rhythm, crackle and heat.

But perhaps not as much as Albaum herself. She’s a natural performer, an effortless mover.  Her hair is a rushing torrent of blonde underneath her velvet hood, chasing the flames as she whips around, and around, and around…

For a crowd that hopes she never stops.

*****Click for Full Story*****

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Hoola Monsters – Rounding Up the Community

Growing up as a circus gal I met folks who could walk on their hands, fly around in an arena, balance on the heads of elephants, juggle machetes with all ten fingers still in tack, and contort their bodies in unimaginable positions. Being the curious cat that I am, I had the opportunity to try many of these circus trades. However, there was one I was particularly fond of – and that was the art of hula-hooping…  Luckily, Downtown St. Pete has a company that keeps our community going ‘round and ‘round. HOOLA MONSTERS, created by Abby Albaum, offers classes for children and adults, has a performing troupe, and even produces their own hoops for you to purchase!

Read the full story!

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Hooping Deemed Trendy in the Burg

According to ilovetheburg.com, hooping is considered to be one of five strange trends to hit St.Petersburg, and we couldn’t agree more.

“Hooping has grown in popularity in the Sunshine City. If you head out to the Saturday Morning Market in the Fall, Kappa Field at Eckerd College when the semester is in full swing or the green at USFSP, you’ll catch students and pros alike contorting their body through handmade, neon taped hoops caught in infinite loops. What was once a toy for children has developed into quite the art form around St. Petersburg, Florida.”

– See more at: I Love the Burg

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Yoga Hooping on Daytime

Abby, from Hoola Monsters and Hoola-Fit, makes a guest appearance on the Daytime TV Show, to promote this year’s Rasa-Lila Yoga Festival, where she will be teaching and performing.

WFLA News Channel 8

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Getting Our Children Hula Hooping

Hooping.org (the worldwide hub for all things hoop dance) quotes Abby Albaum, founder of Hoola Monsters & Hoola Monster Kids, on the health and wellness benefits of hoop dance, both physical and mental.

With Michelle Obama and the Center for Disease Control on a mission to wipe out childhood obesity in America, it is no surprise that hula hooping has come into the limelight as one way to maintain health for our kids. Childhood obesity has, after all, more than tripled in the past 30 years here. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of youth struggling with obesity today already have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Something obviously has to be done.  Whether or not kids want to exercise, most want to play. Hula hooping is a great way for kids to spin up some exercise without really knowing it. And while that may not be a news flash exactly, it has seemed to me, as a mother, that my boys have been gaining a plethora of other benefits and life skills from picking up the hoop as well.

Click here for full story!

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The Hula Hoop Has Come Full Circle

DoYouRemember.com names Hoola Monsters one of the best companies for hoop dance classes in the country!

Who can forget the feeling of accomplishment one has after successfully spinning a hula hoop for the first time? For many, this was a childhood achievement akin to riding a bike without training wheels or going for a spin on new roller skates without crashing onto the pavement. Fast-forward several decades, and now grownups can get in on the retro craze as hula hooping has graduated from playtime to exercise. The newish fitness fad, which counts Kelly Osbourne and Catherine Zeta-Jones among its circle of fans, promises to tone, tighten and help people slim down.

Bummer! They took the story off of their site – but we were happy to be featured.

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Hoola Monsters Celebrate World Hoop Day

ABC’s “The List” talks with Hoola Monster’s Abby Albaum about World Hoop Day 2012.

TAMPA, FL – The good old-fashioned hula hoop has made a comeback, and now it’s being employed, not only as a good work-out tool, but also a means of self-expression. Abby Albaum owns Hoola Monsters, Inc., the first full-service hoop company in the area. Abby designs handmade custom professional hoops, she has a performance troop which works parties and festivals, and she offers sessions where you can learn the art of hoop dancing and get fit, too…

Read more and watch video…

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Pinellas County entrepreneur inspires with hoop dancing

Published in the Saint Petersburg Times
Abby Albaum’s climb up the corporate ladder began with a global public relations job in New York and ended with a Hula Hoop lesson in Tampa Bay.

“Kacey Douglas, a traveling nurse, showed me how to hoop,” said Albaum, 31. “I was totally inspired, but two months later, she moved away. It was the summer of 2007. I had a million questions, but no one to teach me.”

Albaum turned to the Internet to learn twirls, jumps and spins. She searched for other hoopers and found them at Treasure Island Beach Drum Circle gatherings. While she worked in marketing full time for a Sarasota restaurant company, she made and sold hoops on weekends at the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg.  Before long, word spread: Albaum was the go-to person for the scoop on hoops.
Read the full article

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