Acro Yoga: First class

I tried my first acro yoga class. It was fun. And maybe more my speed than normal yoga. I'm all about tricks. 

It's at a yoga studio that seems pretty popular—there were tons of people coming out when I came in. It had a very casual atmosphere and the people there seemed friendly and welcoming. 

The class started out with going around the room and introducing yourself—we had a lot of new people. (Wherever I go, there are Canopy people and pole studio people. Maybe I roll with the adventurous crowd?). 

Then it yoga style stretching (lunges, stretching hip flexors) and abs (touch for toes, bent knees, V-ups and then banana rolls). 

Finally, it was on to tricks. We learned bird pose and folded leaf.  

(*Pix are from Friday at Aerofit—not the class)

Bird pose. Once you balance you can take your hands away.

Bird pose is where a flyer balances on the base's feet. The flyer has to keep their core and feet super tight and stay very balanced.

I tried basing for this one and I was terrible. I couldn't get the balance right. You lay on the ground and keep your legs up, inline over your hips, and at a 90 degree angle. 

Folded leaf, before the flyer is fully folded. 

Folded leaf, is where the flyer balances upside with their feet in a straddle. 

This one isn't as hard to base. The weight is in the flyer's legs, so I was more successful basing this one, but I was one of the smaller girls in the class.

Throne pose. The flyer wraps her legs around the bases legs, sits  back and balances. The leg bones stack together for this one to work. 

We also tried throne and cartwheel. I attempted shoulder stands, which was probably too advanced for me. Maybe next time?

This might be a shoulder stand. I sure wanted to try this one.

The class was difficult enough to pose a challenge athletically. I just need to remind myself not to get frustrated when I don't get something perfectly the first time. (The curse of being a perfectionist and uncoordinated!) 

Random thoughts: Is it weird to climb on people for exercise? And shouldn't former cheerleaders be all over this?

Hazards: I should add that when I got home, my skin was red on my stomach where I was balancing on people's feet. So were my shoulders. But it faded.

Quick guide to acro yoga:

Verdict: A really interesting class that I was telling all my friend about. I need to learn these poses! Also the instructors are awesome. 

Atmosphere: Friendly, laid back, welcoming and helpful. Everyone was so  great. 

Intensity: Doesn't feel intense at the time (except for small bursts when trying new holds), but my shoulders were sore the next day.

Price: It's a $5 donation class. So awesome. 

What to wear: Workout clothes. A tight fitting top might be good if you don't want it to ride up when you're upside down or inverted. It's yoga so you do it bare foot so no need for socks and shoes. 

Would I go again? Yes, though it might be more fun with friends. So come with me! I selfishly thought it was more fun to fly, so maybe I need the hubby to come with me.

If you go: Bring a yoga mat, know you're going to climb all over other people, and don't get frustrated if you don't get something the first time. Also, you might crash and fall. That's okay too! The floor is padded and the people are all super nice. 

Acro-yoga

Me getting out of crown pose. 

Until a few weeks ago, I didn't know there was such a thing as acro yoga. Then a few new people came to my tumbling class and they were all very impressive: doing back rolls on the first try, rolling up to a handstand even, getting the back kick overs, front walk overs. They were all strong and flexible and I was curious where they worked out that they could effortlessly do these gymnastics exercises the first time. After class, we were stretching and they started doing tricks. I couldn't look away. This tiny girl was balancing on a guy's feet. A very strong greying women, took one of the instructors up on here feet and showed her a trick. Then they invited everyone to acro yoga Sunday at their studio.

I felt like I needed to know more. I wanted to go. I LOVE learning new tricks. But I could potentially be horrible at this, so I needed to bring a friend. But I couldn't find anyone that Sunday—and it was a holiday. So I filed it away under things to eventually try.

Well, two girls from acro yoga came to Aerofit today. So I had to try a move. So I sat on Julie's feet.  It was both easy and slightly terrifying. I just wanted to get down. And try a harder move all at once.

I'm supposed to go to acro yoga with two friends from Aerofit Sunday night at Rubber Soul yoga studio. We'll see how it goes. 

(*Also, Julie is such a good teacher. Love her. She's almost talked me in to trying Leap Flying Trapeze where she works. Now, I just need to save up the money for the $45 class.) 

Going to the gym by yourself

The first time you go to the gym, you might want a friend to go with you. Moral support. Someone to try you to the emergency room etc. That said, don't be afraid to go to the gym by yourself. You might see a friend there. You might make a friend. Just don't miss out on the opportunity to go to the gym because you can't persuade someone to with you.

The reason I started going to my local gym was because my neighbor invited me. We were both saying:"I will, if you will" about going to a trampoline gym. So she picked me up. We went. The teacher was a cute guy. There were a handful of other girls (also new-ish we would later learn) and a dad and his son. We jumped. We survived.

That was a Saturday. I felt like I had six-pack abs for the rest of the weekend. On Monday, I decided to go again and get a membership. My neighbor couldn't come with me. I couldn't talk anyone else in to going that night, but I sure wanted to go. 't I decided to just go by myself (which was a little braver than I normally am.)

I went—and another cuter guy taught the class. It was better than the first class. For partner work, a cheerful, enthusiastic blonde came over and introduced herself. She was so nice. I felt like I belonged. (Sure, she needed a partner too, but I felt like she picked me.)

And I kept going, by myself. I made friends. 

I made friends with the other only independent gym-goers. Heck, even with the girls that came with friends. And as curmudgeony as I am, I liked almost all of them. 

So be an independent woman. Go to the gym by yourself. You'll give off this confident, busy aura of a girl who knows what she wants and has her act together. 

And as a bonus, you can leave when you want. You can stay and chat up the cute instructor or hightail it out of there as fast as you want. And no one will judge you, if you stop and get an icee on the way home.

Caveat: There are some sports when it's better to with a friend. Indoor rock climbing for example. It's probably good to have someone to belay you. If you can get a friend to go, great! You'll have so much fun. But don't feel like it's a requirement. 

Dudes. Totally fine going solo to the gym.

Just a flesh wound

Tonight at tumbling I bled all over one of the rainbow tumbling mats. It was awesome.

I was working on a bridge kick-over on the rainbow mats. They're pretty primary colors.

The instructor walks over to me. I'm probably doing something wrong.

Her eyes get wide and her voice is a little more emphatic than her normal super excited tone.

"Are you bleeding!?" she asks me.

I blink. I don't think I'm bleeding. I'm certainly not hurt. I'm fine.

And then I wonder if I am bleeding. OMG. What did I do?

There is indeed blood on the yellow part of the rainbow mat.

"Am I bleeding?" I ask. 

She inspects me.

Do I have a compound fracture? Is there bone sticking out somewhere? What is wrong with me?

"I think it's a mole," she finally decides. "At first I thought it was a bug bite, but it's a mole. Maybe it got rubbed on one of the mats."

"I can't see it," I apologize. Really not knowing what's going on with my back.

I think of what could have caused it. Maybe when I was working on gymnastics presses and tumbled back on to one of the mats. Really, I don't feel hurt. 

And before I know it, I've turned around and the coach has applied a band-aid to my back. Like I was a good obedient, kindergartner. Except, I'm a 31-year-old woman. But it works for me, because it would be super difficult to bandage a spot I can't even see.

Tumbling class continued mostly without incident, though one guy did accidentally kick the instructor when we was working on a back tuck. Oops Job hazard. (I think I kicked the other instructor a few weeks ago. Sorry H)

The bandage fell off when I was working on my front tuck. Thankfully, it stuck to the bottom of my foot. 

Next time I will wear a shirt that covers that pesky mole. No more skinny racer-backs for me. Or I will bring a T-shirt. And show less of my massive muscles. 

Never workout immediately following allergy shots

What happens when you get an allergy shot before arms day at the gym.
Apparently shots don't mix with handstand pushups. 

Never work out immediately following an allergy shot or four.

For some reason, I thought my allergy doctor said it was fine to workout after getting my shots. I've gotten my shots in workout clothes, even told the nurses I was going to go workout. And I have before. I got an allergy shot after work, say 5:20 and then headed to the 6 p.m. class at the gym and had no reaction.

Today, I got an allergy shot after 5, headed directly to the 6 p.m. circuit training class—and my arm broke out into a giant itchy welt.

I didn't actually notice it until I got home around 8 p.m. But it was massive. I put hydrocortisone on it, took a pictures for the doctor and vowed not to do it again.

But, you're really supposed to wait about two hours after a shot to work out—otherwise there's too much blood flow to the tissues and cause the allergens to get into your blood faster. (Thanks WebMD)

So now I know! And from now on, only lunch time shots if I'm working out in the evening.