AcroYoga: Learning to Fly
When I heard my friends gushing about Mexican AcroYogi Alexandra Luiz, I made her session with Pau Castellsague one of my must-attends for the festival.
Full confession: I’m only doing this session because I’m terrified. Even as a child, I was easily injured in falls and while I have scarred knees and wonky joints, I’m most afraid of further damaging my fragile spine. I’m also 5’10” and not exactly small. I’ve been in Acro classes before and feel reasonably comfortable being a base, but today I’m going to stop weaseling out of flying and get off the ground more than once.
The beauty of Acro yoga is the safety and control that’s possible. Pau and Alexandra assure us at the outset that proper alignment and using the architecture of the bones removes the need for any great strength. They show us how to stack our feet over our hips; wrists over shoulders and how to give and receive pressure to help our partners fly.
Alexandra and Pau are adorable presenters, switching from English with us to rapid fire Spanish between each other. They definitely make it look fun and easy but I guess physical comedy comes easily to folks who are used to flying and falling and throwing each other around.
After some basic warm ups and getting to know our fellow participants a little better (hand holding and booty shaking, what else?!) we break into groups of three: a base, a flyer and a spotter.
We switch between the three roles, working up into the Acro basic, Front Bird. With your base’s feet on your hip bones, you push up, look up and extend your legs behind you. The base also has straight legs and arms, and with the right alignment, it can be super comfortable for both yogis. I fly for a few seconds, but feel pretty good when we run out of time and I have to come down.
“Our highest aim is to bring individuals into a state of union with themselves, with each other, and with the divine. From this place of mutual support the true self can be realized, celebrated and shared for the benefit of all.”
Next we work into a chair position, which feels easy to me as a base, but frighteningly out of control as the flyer. But then something interesting happens once I’m up: I start to feel ok. Then my spotter encourages me to close my eyes. I momentarily panic: I’m going to fall! But they have me. I’m steady. It’s such a small thing, but for me, it’s a massive release of control and a huge rush of trust.
For our final pose, we move into a therapeutic flying pose, the folded leaf. This requires the flyer to really let go and relax their body over the base, even to the point of letting the arms flop to the floor. Watching Alexandra demonstrate, I can feel my heart rate rising. How am I going to relax enough to do that?
We are super lucky to have a thriving Acro community in Ubud and it was amazing to be supported by familiar faces: Carlos Romero and Bex Tyrer among other enthusiastic Acros. As I move from Front Bird forward into my Leaf, I have my spotter, Matt, and Bex, both there. While I’m shaking and scared, I start to relax and when it comes time to push back to Front Bird, I feel the strength of my base beneath me and WOOP! I’m up! I’m flying! I feel teary with relief and pride. We manage another transition and this time, I really let go. I notice how much easier the transition is when I let go of control and just allow it to happen. Absolutely a metaphor for my life off the mat.
Massive gratitude to my partners, Marley and Matt who helped me surrender and actually enjoy the process. Alexandra and Pau are running more sessions throughout the festival. Who knows? I might just be at a few of them.
Written by : Megan Flamer