We've had a beautiful evolution of our Asheville Aerial Arts Conditioning Class!
I
am so blessed to have had the opportunity to share my love of aerial
arts in a way that encourages, inspires and sustains strength and
passion within the realm of creative movement.
From the humble beginnings of class including myself and my wonderful friend Nalda to the amazing full last class
with six amazing and dedicated students ranging from yogis, to cross-fit
and all around superstars(!)- teaching this class has been an unbelievable learning experience for us all.
For
those who don't know, the reason that this was my 'last' class was due
to the fact that I have a new job that requires me to relocate to the
Philippines in order to be a part of the World Wildlife Fund whaleshark
project located in Donsol! It's a very rare and amazing opportunity to
be drafted as an underwater photographer for an organization like the
WWF and to swim with the biggest fish in the sea!
For
newbies and veterans of the class, we followed the typical regimen of
cardio, stretching, flexibility and circuit training until we got on the
silks, where we learn to climb. Now this class was never about learning tricks, but about
getting strong- however, since it was the last class I figured it would
be fun to learn some aerial basics, as well as what it feels like to
'drop'!
A few highlights from our finale class:
It was Ilya's first time to class, but he's ever so strong so it took him only enough time to learn climbing technique before he was making moves up and down the silks-
Taking her newly learned foot wrap skills, Melissa climbed up a little higher and explored what it feels like to fly!
Ilya following his Russian circus roots...
Eowyn rocking out with the extended and beautifully pointed leg & toes :)
Our lovely and dedicated Laurel gracefully spreads her wings :)
AND NOW: The introduction of what it feels like to drop, plummet, fall, through the air, and trusting that the silks are wrapped in a way that they will catch you!
First, we sit up nice and tall...
Then we move the knot in the silks to our lower back, and transition into an inverted straddle...
What's it like to be upside down? The gravity pulls your spine apart and actually gives you a great stretch! It's when that blood starts pooling in your head that you might start to think about the next step...
The next phase of preparation for this drop is to bring your legs through the silks and use all that awesome core muscle we trained for the past hour and a half, and reach up to your feet and pull your body up to sit on the silks.
You can ask any of the participants how intense the compression was between the silks and their poor thighs! I warned them...
Melissa rocked getting herself up on the silks-
Eowyn displaying perfect 'starfish' posture!
(Right before she lets go for the drop)
Check out the videos of all the drops on youtube :)
Ilya sitting pretty!!!
We ended up staying till about 11:30pm that night, and that's because we not only had so many wonderful attendees to class, but such eager learners who were game to try anything I threw their way whether it be the conditioning controlled dancer poses or straddle walking the parallel bars to the crazy feeling of falling face first.
Again, I'm so thankful for such an amazing last class, as well as all the classes before and the inspiring participants that joined me in my development as a teacher as well! Thank you as well to the Asheville Gymnastics Gym for supporting me with this endeavor and providing me with such an amazing opportunity to spread my love for aerials and effective conditioning training.
