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The Lady Nerd

Geek Made Chic

The Joy of Hooping

May 26, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 4 Comments

Hula hooper. Model The Lady Nerd. Photographed by FrameshotThere are few greater joys in life than finding that one physical activity that you love. I’ve never been a gym rat or fitness nut (no offense to those who are, it’s just not my cup o’ tea). I’ve been blessed with naturally thin physique, so that coupled with a severe dislike of lifting weights (i.e. I focus on all the pain!) has kept me looking for alternative forms of exercise.

neck hoopingThankfully, I got involved with martial arts early in life and developed a love for exercise that engages both the body and the mind. Later on in high school I discovered dance which opened up a whole new world for me in terms of isometric conditioning and mind-body interaction.

Then in college came hooping.

hoopingOh yes, you read that right. Hooping. As in ‘hula hoop'(ing).

I adore hooping. Be it simply moving with the hula hoop around my waist or eliciting oos and aas from an audience with some crazy off-body movement. It’s fun, it’s energizing, it’s calming, it’s refreshing, it’s simple, it’s hard, it’s all of these things. There’s so many different things that one can do with a hula hoop. So many different things that can be brought inside that circle (pun intended). It can be a soulful dance, full of slow explorations of what your body can do or a fast-paced frenzy of wild energy. I never get tired of picking up my hoop and learning a new trick (or better yet, sharing the simple joy of hooping with others). There’s nothing quite like it.

hooping joyI had hoped to take my hooping further to become an instructor and spread this joy to others (or even to choreograph my own hoop routines and do geek-themed videos ala Lindsey Stirling). But alas, those dreams got put on the backburner when my accident happened.

hula hoop portraitBut my dreams didn’t die in the car accident. They just took on a different form. Hooping became a small part of my recovery, with hooping with my arms, then eventually my waist was used as an unofficial part of my physical therapy. Now, I’m back to the level I was hooping at before the accident (with the exception of not quite being able to dance fully just yet. My left leg isn’t quite up to strength. But soon!).

HoopingRight before these pictures were taking by my friend James, I had been invited to a cosplay dance-off at Atlanta’s anime convention Momocon. I’ll confess I was quite nervous as I hadn’t hooped in public since before the accident. But as you’ll see in the video below, I had nothing to fear.

Dress: Double slit maxi dress from Bebe
Photographer: James “Frameshot” Garner (photos used by permission from Anime Geek Gaming Nation)
Video: The Aficionados

Filed Under: Outfits Tagged With: atlanta hooper, atlanta hooping, hooper, hooping, hula hoop, hula hooping

Comments

  1. Brielle says

    May 26, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    Greetings Briana,
    This was soooo inspiring! You are such a beautiful and talented hoop dancer. I have now been researching hoops and want to get started hooping asap. Thank you for sharing your journey with fitness after your accident. I have been trying to find an exercise that I enjoy (as gyms and weight lifting are not something I enjoy and frankly my wrists are too small lol). (Pre-existing injuries rule out running or swimming for me) and hooping looks so beautiful and fun. (Plus all the music is so inspiring) Thank you for sharing your magic with the world. You have a really unique perspective on things.

    Reply
    • The Lady Nerd says

      June 5, 2018 at 9:57 am

      Thank you so much! I need to inspire myself to hoop more…*blush* I’m so bad about exercising. It’s so hard to restart things once you’re out of the habit of it.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Perfect Spring Maxi Dress - The Lady Nerd™ says:
    June 22, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    […] like to call it). Ah, but that wasn’t the only part of the fun. Here’s a sneak peek of Part Two of the photoshoot…. Dress: Bebe Double slit maxi dress Cuff: Forever 21 Photographer: James […]

    Reply
  2. 2015 in Review - The Lady Nerd says:
    December 31, 2015 at 11:49 am

    […] and was dubbed a ‘founding member’ – Found the perfect spring maxi dress and hooped in it – Did a business outfit inspired by Tony Stark – Met and test shot with my new […]

    Reply

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