Aerial Fun

What better way to spend a Saturday than hanging upside down like a bat?

Last weekend saw me enter an aerial yoga class for the first time and I have to say that any expectations I had went out the window within the first five minutes.

I thought it would be tons of fun and no workout. 
I thought I wouldn't be able to manage even one inversion.
I thought I wouldn't ache like hell the next morning.

All of the above were totally, completely wrong.

The teacher, Jo, was wonderful in an upbeat, fun, encouraging kind of way which just made us all relax and leave all our worries about the class at the door. It didn't matter how good or bad we were, we were all there to have fun and do our best.

Ten minutes in and I'm realising that I'll have bruises in weird places, that my previously broken wrist isn't quite as strong as I thought it was, and that aerial yoga is all about trust. Trusting in yourself, in what your body can do and in knowing what it can't do, knowing that the swing will hold you if you get into the right position and knowing that it's OK to let go. And I mean that in more than just the literal sense.

Finding out that your body can do unexpected things, like bend into funny positions, or that you actually enjoy being in some inverted downward dog is immensely freeing. I found myself laughing, smiling, and actually being genuinely excited about an exercise routine in a way I haven't felt in a long time. I love my workouts, and I love yoga, but aerial gave me an exhilaration I haven't felt since I was a child on the swings.

We learned how to sit on the swing properly. How to stretch out backs by lying on the mat with our feet elevated. How to lean back, legs wide, and hook our ankles around the swing so we wouldn't fall on our yogi heads. And right at the end we did what I can only call an aerial savasana. We snuggled up in our individual swings like bugs in rugs, with lavender eye bags, and just rested. Rested body and mind. And when Jo said 'come back to the room' at the very end, that was exactly what I was doing, but I can't remember exactly where I went.

I ached like I've never ached before come the morning after. And the morning after that. The morning after that I booked in for my next session, because it's addictive and withdrawal is already kicking in.

Hurry up, Thursday! I want to play on the swings.