Spinning Spirit into Balance
There was a time when the hula hoop was simply a plastic toy. For decades, since its invention in 1958, the large twirling ring-around-the-waist was a fun, simple, and carefree activity; a hobby kids could revel in and adults could laugh about. In recent years, however, hooping has blossomed into something much more powerful. It has become a form of meditation—a spiritual practice—one that empowers, heals, saves lives, creates peace, and cultivates mental and physical balance in its practitioners.
The Hooping Life, a documentary by filmmaker Amy Goldstein and produced by Anouchka Van Riel, examines the impact this playful fitness device has had on culture and society. With the keen eye of an anthropologist, Goldstein dives deep into the lives of eight hoopers and over the course of nearly 10 years, documents their paths and careers. We learn that hoops are not simply toys, but effective tools to look inward and heal. Anah, aka “Hoopalicious,” is a young woman who is a significant pioneer in the modern hooping movement in California. Goldstein introduces Anah’s narrative as a way to connect the hoop to universal concepts we can each connect with. We all love, hurt, yearn, and chase our dreams. As Anah’s story unfolds, it is revealed that she has led a life filled with trials and tribulations. She is a woman who has walked right up to the edge of death and was ultimately saved by the hula hoop. Goldstein does a compelling and respectful job of exploring Anah’s struggles on her road to success.
When Goldstein met Anah through mutual friends, she knew she had stumbled upon someone special: an innovator. In Anah, Goldstein also found a worthy and willing collaborator,who pointed her toward seven more extraordinary individuals of the hoop movement: Baxter, a formerly-suicidal young man, who hooped himself out of depression; Christable, an academic in deep debt who becomes Anah’s business partner; Jeffrey, an at-risk teen orphan from South Central Los Angeles, who turns to hooping—with the help of his hooping mentor Tisha—as a way to stay out of trouble and away from gang life; Karis, a skilled hoop dancer, who loves to play with gender identities during his soulfully dazzling performances; and Sass, a South African actress on a quest to heal her emotional wounds after having been brutally raped in her home country. 
The Hooping Life provides an irresistible glimpse into the lives of these eight trailblazers. Observing the anatomy of a subculture that has not yet been documented in this way, one can’t help but notice many similarities to the practice of yoga. Rushing up and down the torso and limbs, the hoop energizes the chakra centers the way yoga asana practice can also do. The discipline calls for focus on the present moment. Hooping demands that the practitioner let go and move in a way that aligns the internal and external worlds. Hooping requires us to surrender to the natural cycles of beginning and end, birth and completion. There’s a finite number of rotations a hoop will make.—and that’s okay, because once the hoop falls, it only asks to be picked up again to continue its dance.
For more information on The Hooping Life, visit: thehoopinglife.com
By Nadine Truong, an LA-based filmmaker, Ashtanga enthusiast, and Vinyasa/Power Flow Yoga teacher.
