I wanted to talk a bit about Acroyoga. I have been doing this practice since 2012. Everyone gets hooked into flying at first because it’s such a unique and incredible sensory experience that leaves you wanting more. Due to my size I shifted pretty rapidly into being a base.
As a base you become an extension of the ground, you lift another, and you hold them up in a very literal way. As a person I tend to be oriented towards experiences with other people, and less so experiences with things.
So Acroyoga is something that I value in my life as it allows me to create and move in relation with another person. I want to get into some of the nuances of basing, and I would like to consider who I am as a person and how that affects who I am as a base.
I find that in part ( not always) I tend to be focused on the needs of those who I am around. I am especially curious about people, so I will ask questions to understand someone in a deeper way. I want them to feel seen, herd, and understood as best I can. Am I always this way? No, if I am low on energy resources I will probably not want to be around anyone, I will need to focus on my own needs which is very hard for me to do when I am around others, especially those I can deeply for. I am learning to be less polarized on this topic, as I feel like I have value at all times and not just when I feel my best.
I do my best to see people without my own narrative about who they are. I look for the aspects in them that are the most inspiring, and I highlight them in conversation.
So what does this mean in relation to my Acro practice? It means that I am listening to the connection I have with my partner first and it will have my undivided attention. I will be there fully present and do my best to help my partners to feel seen, heard, and understood through my touch. I will do everything I can to help them feel safe and uplifted.
Just like I know that I cannot control anyone by telling them what’s best for them, I take this valuable lesson with me into Acro, by realizing that if I coach peoples movements I might be asking them to do things that are unnatural to them. As well I find it distracting to bring attention away from the point of connection that we share.
If a connection point is under stress both parties are going to notice it. And it will require learning from both parties to “correct” a strained connection. Am I still talking about acro? Hell yes I am. I think it can be much easier to place the blame on one side and make corrections to them, instead of really diving into the connection where things begin to get more blurry.
When the problem is between us, it requires humility from both sides, and turns us into a team instead of at times creating opponents out of two people who are trying to co-create something together.
A point of connection gives us both something to focus on, and a goal or task whether that is a skill, a flow, or a washing machine gives us a direction to move together…
I have been a “Base” for over 10 years, and it was in my first two years I thought I knew the most. As I get deeper into this practice the lines are getting more blurry and the connections are getting stronger. The connections I share with my friends, who are also my flyers, are meaningful to me and I feel every connection to be unique, just as every person is unique. Some connections are more natural, and some require deep learning in order to feel good for both parties.
I have worked with so many people as a base and flier. The natural flowstate is a rare find, I am blessed to have shared that level of understanding with some very special people over the years. You know who you are
Thank you to anyone reading this who has ever been a flier, or base for me over the last decade. Especially those who built something with me and consistently showed up to practice together