AcroYoga: Attempting and Achieving

I recently had the opportunity to attempt something new to me- AcroYoga!

The class was held by Embrace Yoga studio at the Weswood shopping center in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A little about them, first! This was my first visit, and I was impressed by the space. Parking was easy, with many spaces at the shopping center. There is a peaceful waiting area with storage cubbies to stash stuff during class, a contemporary tablet sign-in system, two spacious yoga studios (one for hot yoga), and an inviting meditation room with enough space and comfortable accoutrements to sit or lie down. The studio provides yoga mats, blocks, towels, and cleaning supplies for the mats. We started with a brief warm up including some more traditional yoga poses and time to focus on whatever we needed individually. Then on to AcroYoga partnering! We practiced each movement several times, and were able to get a few pictures once we were safely balanced!

Each participant took turns as base, flyer, and spotter (and photographer) for each different pose.

The base was the person doing the lifting and support work, but the flyer, or person being elevated was not off the hook!

It was very important to maintain good core stability, and move slowly to work with the base on fine tuning shared balance points.

The spotter stood near, ready to help with controlled descent, extra support, or balance shifts as needed for safety.

The instructor, Dave, was very good with preparing our group of complete beginners for what to expect, and responsive to individual needs and concerns.

With each pose, he explained where our partnered weight shift should be, how the base should grip or position themselves, and how and when the flyer should move.

The process was technical, but just enough to make me feel safe and comfortable, not so much that it was in danger of feeling tedious. The entire experience was exciting and fun, and - oh yes- it was a workout too!

My background in dance definitely helped to prepare me for this sort of work, especially modern and partner improvisation. I’ve been both base and flyer in choreography before. In AcroYoga there is actually set technique whereas past choreographic endeavors often required more experimentation to figure out how to perform a lift and meet the choreographers aesthetic demands it time with the music. This was my first class. I was happy with what I achieved in my time there, and I hope to do more soon. There is a chance AcroYoga will be offered at Embrace Yoga in Fayetteville one weekend a month. Interested in joining in? Check out Embrace Yoga studio for their usual class information posted online (http://embraceyogastudio.com). I saw this class advertised as a Facebook event, so like their page and keep an eye out (https://www.facebook.com/embraceyogastudio). Or maybe give them a call to see when they’ll offer another AcroYoga class!

I hope to see you there!