“I had a lot of health problems,” said Zammert. “Because of my asthma, I can’t do much exercise and I’ve never felt comfortable going to the gym every day in my life.”

Today, Zammert runs his own hula hoop manufacturing company and teaches hula hoop classes at a local gym.

This inspiring journey with hula hooping began when Zammert asked a friend if there were any exercises she could safely do despite her asthma, and that friend suggested hula hooping.

Zammert began to research hula hoop and discovered that it could be much more than just simple “around the waist” Tires.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Jamie Zammert sorts some of her many homemade hula hoops at her booth downtown during Arts in the City on Thursday.

“There was a whole art form. There was a dance form,” Zammert said, “So I bought my first hoop and an instructional video and spent the whole winter locked in my house watching and learning. Then in the spring, some days I was outside practicing hoops for four hours a day.”

“People don’t realize it, but it’s a complete aerobic workout. If you hula hoop and do all the movements, you burn more calories hula hooping than running.” said Zammert. “And it puts less strain on the body, so if you have breathing problems, it’s not as stressful. If you have mobility problems, you can still stay fit without overexerting your body or injuring yourself.”

Minot residents may have seen Zammert hoop dancing in Oak Park at Arts in the Park events and at Misfits of Minot shows. Zammert also recently performed at the Midsummer Festival at Scandinavian Heritage Park and in Oak Park at Minot’s Juneteenth celebrations.

Flow

Zammert explained that the terms “hula hoop” and “hooping” are largely used synonymously.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Jamie Zammert dances in the hoop dance before Arts in the City: Thursdays Downtown begins last Thursday.

“I think most people think of hula hooping as waist hooping. They think of the classic hula hoop of the ’50s.” she said. “Hooping becomes hoop dancing when you add the other elements.”

Hooping and hoop dancing are flow arts, physical activities involving props and artistic dance. These activities often put practitioners into a flow state.

“The flow state is achieved when you take what you have, even if it’s just simple waist hooping. You put on some music, switch off, and allow yourself to just feel and be in the moment.” said Zammert.

Not surprisingly, “going with the flow” is an important aspect of the flow state.

“Do what feels natural,” said Zammert.

“I feel like the flow state allows me to be in touch with my higher self or my inner self instead of all the other noise like ‘Are you done with the dishes? Did you wash the kids’ clothes?’… All the other stressors of daily life,” said Zammert.

Although Zammert originally started playing basketball for physical reasons, she realized that it also improved her mental health.

“I am autistic and have ADHD. I cannot sit and meditate without becoming even more anxious because I cannot,” said Zammert. “I’ve found that hula hooping actually silences my brain and allows me to just be.”

If there are things or stressors that Zammert needs to deal with mentally or emotionally, she will “Get it out.”

“I notice that I hold on to feelings. I get stuck in thought and feeling loops and it’s hard to get out of them. Hooping helps me to keep going.” she said.

When Zammert is having trouble getting something done, she gets a reboot and is then able to complete tasks that require her attention.

Fire

In addition to her solo performances, Zammert led a community fire flow troupe called the Full Moon Fire Club years ago.

Fire flow arts are a subset of flow arts that uses fire and burning props. Zammert can spin fire using special hoops designed for fire spinning and use other burning props such as fire sticks and fire poi.

When it comes to safety, Zammert firmly believes that all aspiring Fire Flow artists need professional training and guidance.

“You need to know what clothes to wear. You need to know how to do it safely. You need to know what safety precautions to put around you.” she said.

Zammert was professionally trained in fireflow arts at a training camp in Minneapolis.

“When I tried it for the first time, I had the guidance of professionals,” she said.

“Fire is an element that deserves respect,” she said. “I want to maintain a certain level of integrity in fire dancing because it’s hard enough in this community to explain to other people what we do.

“It doesn’t help that there are people who do things badly,” said Zammert. “There just has to be a certain level of integrity and professionalism, especially if we want to build a community, maintain the community and have a good reputation in our community.”

Zammert said she would like to start another Fire Flow Arts troupe with the right people on her team.

“I used hula hooping and fire dancing to build a community around me because I don’t fit into many other communities. So I had to build my own and bring people to me.”

Crafts

Zammert makes custom tires for sale for bodies of all shapes and sizes.

“Anyone can play hoop. Anyone, no matter how big they are, can play hoop.” said Zammert. “A lot of girls who have come to my hoop groups in the past have said, ‘Oh, I’m too big to hoop,’ and I say, ‘No, anyone can hoop!’ You just need a hoop that’s the right size.”

Zammert even made a special hoop for her fiancé, Michael Jewett, who is 6’4″. Zammert’s fiancé loves hooping and often goes hooping in the backyard with Zammert.

Zammert said her fiancé is her biggest supporter, along with her three children, Justice, 10, Journey, 9, and Finnley, 6. Justice is also interested in hooping and feels “spoiled” of her mother’s handmade hoops compared to the hula hoops available at her school.

“The beginner tires that I make for customers and beginners are made from irrigation hoses,” said Zammert. “I cut them to the desired size, then heat the ends and glue them together with connecting tubes.” By heating the ends of the pipes, they can be bent so that Zammert can shape them into tires.

Zammert also purchases specialty ribbons online to decorate and customize the tires according to the customer’s wishes.

The tires manufactured by Zammert are only weighted with the weight of the actual tube.

“I don’t like adding weights. That was just a fad for a short while, but weights can actually cause injury to people who are just starting out hooping because they put too much weight on the hips and it can be too much.” she said.

The size of the hoop is what separates most beginner hoops from advanced hoops. The smaller the hoop, the faster a person has to move to keep the hoop up. Zammert likes to use smaller hoops right now, but recommends beginners start with a larger hoop.

Zammert also recommends that hoop beginners exaggerate their movements when waist-hooping to keep the hoop up until muscle memory is built up.

“Just don’t give up. If it feels difficult at first and you feel like you’re not in your body or you can’t do it, don’t give up because you get in touch with your body by keeping doing it. Some of it just takes time to build muscle memory.” she said. “Keep telling yourself that you can do it, because the best way to fail is to tell yourself you can’t do it. So even when you fail, tell yourself that you can do it and that you will eventually do it.”

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