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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Feeling the poi create its path as a new extension of your body, it opens up your mind to be more aware. More aware of your own body and the muscles needed to complete a move. Also more aware of my immediate surroundings. I had found a way to escape this confusing world and enter one that made complete sense to me. I felt in control, and this feeling gave me confidence. As a shy kid, I couldn't speak in public or give a speech, but put some poi in my hands and my fears dissipated.
I have epilepsy. I have been dealing with grand mal seizures since I was 18 years old, I'm 25 now. With my meds comes crazy side effects and my mind is not clear unless I'm doing stuff I love like poi or skateboarding. I went to the best neurologist around Knoxville TN area. We talked about things I like to do, like skateboarding, and I mentioned spinning fire. He said he was totally in support of fire spinning because of the benefits from exercise and the concentration, because it works the brain.
There's not been a single day that I haven't wanted to be poiing. Its taught me how to hold my posture, flow to music, given me something to give back to the world, helped me meet and become friends with hundreds of other people who spin, shown me a confidence in myself that helps in any other situation, and brought a harmony in my household because now we're all spinning :)
It was at a low point in my life that I discovered juggling, staff, and poi. Even with all my troubles, I still progressed. The motion and satisfaction of getting a move down filled my heart with joy. These skills came with powerful "magic", indeed. Playing with poi and the flow arts can make "magical" changes in you too, and I encourage all no matter where you are in life to give it a go.
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.
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.