Scorpion pose

This is my trick of the night: Scorpion pose against the wall

I went to open gym and one of the girls was practicing this. I thought it looked cool and tried it.

To do it:

1) It starts off a little like a headstand. Put your arms in sphinx, maybe a foot away from the way.
2) Kick up into a headstand, and you can try and touch your feet on the wall
3) Make sure to really push your hips out (away from the wall)
4) Walk your feet down towards you head
5) Try to put your knees against the wall

And you're done. You can kick out of it. Or I think I just splatted out of it.

It's fairly easy if you have a flexible back. I'm feeling it today though.

Acropolis Open house

I went to an open house for Acro Athens for their new acro yoga space.

Leah and Martha

I know a lot of the acro people from Wednesday tumbling. A few of them stopped by Aerofit a few months ago and I took a few classes this summer. It was fun.

I'm excited that they got their own space. They've been talking about it for a while. So I dropped by and played for a bit.

Now, if only I could find the time to take a class there...

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.)