Flying free - a personal experience of AcroYoga

“The Hangle Dangle, with a flyer’s leg crossing the corresponding arm and the base supporting them with only one foot, looks impossible to achieve. In Yoga, the Scorpion (Vrischika asana) demands a flexibility that is built through practice, but performing it in the air is a greater feat that most consider out of their reach. These are the sorts of preconceptions and fears that Anna Karides, who presents herself as one of the five AcroYoga teachers in the UK, sees in people’s responses to AcroYoga. She reassures that 'It looks hard, but it’s just about practice and technique and not how strong you are’.
   AcroYoga is a discipline founded five years ago in California that combines Yoga, Acrobatics and Thai Massage. Plank becomes plank on plank. Down Dogs make a pyramid with Scorpions performed on top of them. ‘You can come up with different asanas, as the more bodies you put together, the more creativity there is’, says Anna. The flyer is the person who is supported by the base. You tend to specialise as either a flyer or base, where being a flyer demands flexibility and a base strength. ‘Most people who begin AcroYoga don’t have an acrobatic background’, explains Anna. I tried a class and a private session with Anna to see whether AcroYoga was as unique, challenging and fun as it is thought to be...
   ...Flying is one of the defining asanas in AcroYoga. I managed to perform the front bird as a flyer, where your body takes on the shape of an aeroplane with each arm outstretched to the side, legs straight and the bases’ legs in 90 degrees with their feet parallel on your hipbones. I have to concentrate on my balance and block the instinct to shoot my hands to the ground for support. I feel exhilarated and free as I am suspended in air with the breeze whipping over my arms...”

Written by Joanne Elliot, the article describes the author’s experience of AcroYoga and discusses how it differs from the experience of traditional Yoga. Further information can be found at www.annakarides.com or www.acroyoga.org