People all over the world are experiencing the power of poi, from physical to mental to emotional benefits and everything in between! Check out the amazing stories below for some intimate truths about the positive influence of poi, or click the button to share your own story.
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Poi has transformed my life, in a very good way. Poi forces you to learn spatial awareness, awareness of the world around you. You learn timing, ambidexterity, focus, gain flexibility, react faster, and can begin to multitask your motions. In my opinion, it bonds your mind with your body, while simultaneously making both better.
A few years ago, in my early 50's, I had a horrid case of pneumonia that lasted for months; I'd also injured my knee, which took weeks to heal. I was getting very depressed. I believe that poi was an important healing force for me. It wasn't too physically demanding, yet it let me get range of motion and coordination at my own pace. It was always exciting to master a new weave. It got me off the couch without hurting me, it cheered me up, it gave me a chance to laugh at myself a lot, and it was great for my confidence and mood. And SO fun.
I was introduced to poi by my friend, and quickly understood the movements as I noticed a correlation between martial arts and poi. A year and a bit later I have started doing performances with poi and have been opened up to an array of arts including juggling, staff and fire breathing. It's really inspired me and helped improve my mental and physical health as well as helping me become more fluid and technical in my martial arts.
Poi has had a great impact on my life. Because I am so hyperactive and have ADHD poi helps me focus and calms me down. Every time I spin I don’t think about anything else, just that moment in time. My hand and leg coordination has improved dramatically which is mostly noticeable in my sport life. Currently I am doing fire shows as much as I can. With my friend we do a lot of workshops, especially for kids and older people (we work with lots of senior homes and youth associations for gifted kids), because we love seeing the look on their face when they learn a move or two and they thought that this is impossible.
The low resistance and technical nature of poi spinning was perfect to complete my full rehabilitation from my illness, many years after my last physical therapy session. I drilled and drilled the basics, gaining fluency with my movements and regaining feeling of where my limbs were in relation to my body. I now use poi as a form of mindfulness meditation and as a reminder of how far you can come if you work diligently at something for a long time.
With all my formal training and education in neuroscience and the mental health field, what has interestingly become one of the most powerful tools in my toolbox for personal healing and transformation is something I would have never expected – the Flow Arts, specifically the art and practice of dancing with poi, the hoop, and with fire, dancing being the key word.