Emmeline and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us at the weekend. We were really impressed with your:
- willingness to give things a try – even if it felt scary
- communication skills – saying what worked, but giving feedback to each other about how it could feel better
- openness – being able to feed back to the group
- ability to build trust in people you’d only just met
- sense of fun – lots of laughter!
Here are some photos and more information about the practices – text taken from acroyoga.org.
Saturday’s solar practice
Trust is the currency that we exchange in acrobatics. With this blanket of trust we become empowered and empower others.
The AcroYoga solar practices are the tools that unlock that power in others and ourselves. The solar elements build strength and feature inversions and partner acrobatics.
As we build strength by using acrobatic and gymnastic training techniques we build confidence. Push ups, down dog push ups, abdominal exercises and partner conditioning are some of the building blocks that create strong teams. We also cultivate the ability to coach each other to encourage positively.
The inversions give us the chance to build trust and efficient acrobatic techniques for headstands, handstands and so on.
Partner acrobatics is where we put it all together in a group of three: base, flyer and spotter. The base creates the foundation for the acrobatics, the flyer trusts and consciously moves through the air and the spotter makes sure this all happens safely! These practices build a playful, strong community that can help us all realise our true potential.
Sunday’s lunar practice
The first steps in the practice of AcroYoga are listening and relearning to be open. The lunar therapeutic practice includes massage, therapeutic flying and partner yoga. The aim in these practices is that both the giver and receiver can feel more full and balanced. Our main tools are gravity, sensitivity, loving kindness, feeling and releasing.
Massage is an ancient gift from traditions. It is a practice that can be cultivated to open the body using bodyweight, loving touch and mindfulness. Before students fly each other it is key for them to have some massage technique so they can be more confident when they massage people while they are in the air.
Therapeutic flying is an inverted aerial massage. The base supports the flyer with their legs as the flyer hangs passively. The base uses gravity, stretching and sensitive touch to open the flyers upper body. When the flyer comes down they do massage on the bases warmed up legs. The session is complete when both partner have given and received, based and flown, inhaled and exhaled.
Partner yoga is the art of using each other’s body weight and breath to open and warm the body. This is a way for us to use a partner’s strength or bodyweight to open our bodies in new ways. In all of these practices gravity and loving touch help us to let go of fear and pain. As we learn to listen deeply we can use our power in a sustainable way.
We will be running another weekend of AcroYoga in St Albans in Spring 2016. If you’re interested in coming, let us know.
