Hula-Hooping in a Niqab: @balqis_alrashed’s Twirling...

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Hula-Hooping in a Niqab: @balqis_alrashed’s Twirling Art

#MyStory is a series that spotlights inspiring women in the Instagram community. Join the conversation by sharing your own story. To see more of Balqis’ art and hula-hooping performances, follow @balqis_alrashed on Instagram.

“#MyStory is about play. Being free and experimental and seeing the world with a fresh perspective.” —Balqis AlRashed (@balqis_alrashed), a visual artist and graphic designer from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I was attempting to get out of my comfort zone. Hula-hoop class sounded like a good idea, something I would never do willingly. But I’ve been hooping ever since. You have to be in the moment when you’re in the hoop or it will not stick to your waist. It seems like it’s a plastic circle that won’t have any power to transform you physically and mentally and energetically, but it changed the way I talked to myself. I started encouraging myself to learn and play versus me being perfect and better than anyone in the room. That’s what I love about the hoop. Once I’m in there, I feel like I enter a space where there’s no judgment, no resistance to anything or anyone or any thought.

When I created the niqab hoop series, I was inspired to combine the practice of play and the physical constraint of the veil. It’s shocking but enchanting. I feel like I’m always boldly walking on eggshells.”

by via Instagram Blog