There are numerous different kinds of yoga, and so there is also something called AcroYoga. The name already says it a little: this form is a combination of yoga and acrobatics. During the practice of AcroYoga you perform myriads of different creative poses with a partner. Within AcroYoga there are again different forms. There are yogi's that combine the yoga with dance, whilst others do it in combination with Thai massage. AcroYoga is not only very calming, it is also the ideal way to improve your balance and to get rid of stress. But be careful! The poses are sometimes quite complicated and therefore it also because easy to hurt yourself or your partner during the practice.
AcroYoga came in to being in two different place, separate from each other. Acrobatic Jason Nemer and circus artists Jenny Sauer-Klein met each other in San Francisco. Because of their acrobatic past and their love for yoga they worked together to try something new. From this came AcroYoga. Together they started a website (www.acroyoga.com) and in 2006 they tried to patent the name "ACROYOGA", which they were already using the year before.
What they however didn't know was that this term was already invented in 1999 by Jessie Goldberg and Eugene Poku. Together they started the company AcroYoga Montréal where they are still teaching classes and workshops to many yogi's from all across the world.
It is possible to do AcroYoga by yourself, but if you really want to work with the different poses then you do really need a partner. At a standard AcroYoga class there are three different roles to take:
A typical session begins with a circle ceremony, in which it is communicated to each other to really be open for each other. Next a warm up is started to warm up the muscles and different parts of the body. Through this we can perhaps prevent some injuries. Then you go into a partner flow, in which you are using different 'asanas' (powerful but restful seated positions) to stretch you and your partner. Then you take the first positions, the so called inversions. With these it is really important to create trust between you and your partner. Only when this goes well you can start doing the more complicated postures, the 'therapeutic flying'. You divide the roles of Base and Flyer and then you start doing the creative postures in a safe and slow manner. Usually it is finished with the Base giving the Flyer a Thai massage.
AcroYoga is for everybody! The different postures may look a little intimidating, but at a workshop everything is perfectly explained and you can start doing the poses in your own pace to learn them correctly. Don't be afraid if you do not have a partner who wants to come with you to a class, at a class you can easily be matched up with another yoga student. Before you know it you are a real professional and you will be doing complicated poses such as 'The Whale', the 'Temple Pose' and the 'Floating Camel' like its nothing. Once you start to get a little bit familiar with the techniques AcroYoga becomes a lot of fun! It is fun working together in pairs and together learning something new. Besides all this some of the poses feel amazing, especially the therapeutic poses, where you can get a little bit of Thai massage whilst hanging upside down on the feet of your Base.
An American celebrity that shares her experiences in AcroYoga is Lena Dunham, an actrice known from films such as Family Tree and This Is 40. After posting a lot of pictures on her Instagram, she came to tell at the Ellen DeGeneres Show that she's a total addict. Other celebrities that do AcroYoga are Ashley Judd, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen.
