I recently discovered the wonders of doing aerial yoga through Antigravity. I attend yoga classes once in a while but antigravity is special because obviously, it happens on air. In fact, others call it flying yoga. The practice was developed by former gymnast Christopher Harrison and combined moves derived from dance, pilates and yoga. It makes use of a silky hammock that can carry the weight of a baby elephant (so unless you weigh more than thousand pounds, you have nothing to worry about!).
ANTIGRAVITY YOGA. Jitters and murmurs fill the studio before class begins.
Coincidentally, our teacher that day was my friend Tony. We attended the same classes on cultural heritage back in university and the familiarity was comforting. He said that aerial yoga allows us the best back stretches without over-stressing our joints or spine. I became anxious as I stepped inside the studio. Somehow, I developed this annoying habit of overthinking things before they even happen. Broken elbows, bruised faces, injured spines–these images flashed before me the instant we were asked to stand behind our hammocks. I injured my tailbone back in high school and it was the worst month of my life.
However, the afternoon turned out to be a very personal, intuitive and insightful experience. I enjoyed the class so much that I am dedicating a whole blog post to antigravity and how the experience can relate to our lives.
1. Do not let your insecurity dictate the things you can do.
Oftentimes, the mistakes, disappointments and failures we make leave us feeling unworthy and doubtful of ourselves. We shame ourselves beyond forgivable that we forget the beautiful things we are made of. We also let this shame eat us up and paralyze our bodies from moving, functioning and most importantly, from creating. Truth is, the only real shame is denying all the great things you are capable of just because you choose to stay in your cocoon of insecurity and self-doubt. Let me take you back to fifth grade Reading class:
“Tell me Sir, what is a butterfly?
“It’s what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the sees of love from one another. Without butterflies, the world would soon have few flowers.”
“It can’t be true!” grasped yellow. “How can I believe there’s a butterfly inside you or me when all I see is a fuzzy worm?”
– Hope for the Flowers
We are all meant to be butterflies. We can choose to stay as fuzzy caterpillars or allow our natural becoming of something greater to take place. That afternoon, we chose to leave behind our insecurities and fears in exchange for wings. Never mind that we were skinny, or overweight, or that we have weak arms, we mounted our hammocks and flew. And that is all that matters.
2. Trust the hammock, be patient, and great things will happen.
Trust that “life is in the right. Always.” I understand Rainer Maria Rilke’s advice to mean that we should trust life and where it leads us, even if it does not harmonize with the inner workings of our heart and mind. We must build our confidence in the unpredictable and wait patiently for great things to unfold.
In the same way, trust the hammock as you would a stranger when asking for directions. You have to put your trust in that flimsy, silk cloth and be patient. In the words of Conan O’brien in his commencement speech to Darmouth graduates: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” Let life happen to you.
3. The pain is part of the process.
While it may look easy and pretty in pictures, the inversions can be painful and require effort to sustain. I remember collapsing against my hammock and my body refusing to embrace the pains and pangs of hanging upside down or dangling on a string. The willingness to be uncomfortable and to push oneself to the limit is key to emerging as stronger, wiser and more creative persons. That pain is part of life’s process is something we must embrace on an everyday struggle.
The pain of losing a loved one, ending a relationship, being rejected to your dream school, seeing injustice, or mom and dad falling out of love–I wish I could find words for all the pains we endure in this life, alas I can only speak for my own. We must learn to rise above these life-consuming experiences and acknowledge them as part of our healing process.
I lost count of how many puñetas came into my head as I flung myself into the air, but I knew those pains were a way for me to get better. Like Tony said, ‘no pain, no gain!‘.
SPIDERMAN. One of our favorite inversions for the day.
4. Pull yourself up, nobody can do it for you.
Put faith in yourself that you can do it–nobody else can do it for you. It’s that simple. The people who love and care about us can only do so much, we must learn to look after ourselves and be responsible for our decisions.
Recently a friend told me about an Indian tale. The elder tells the kid that there are two wolves fighting in the forest: the good wold and the bad wold. The bad wolf embodies all things negative while the good one the opposite. The kid asks the elder, “who wins?” And the elder answers, “the wolf you feed is the one who wins.” I hope we feed the good wolf inside of us. Nobody else can do it for us.
5. You are surrounded by people who actually understand.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but you are not the only one hanging upside down as of the moment. In yoga classes, a personal undertaking becomes a collective endeavor as each participant struggles to achieve the poses demonstrated by the teacher.
In life, your friends will give you honest advice and words of encouragement, but do not think they carry no baggage themselves. We must avoid the tendency to gloss over our miseries and be a self-pitying, self-absorbed prick. I’m quoting too much Rilke but this guy nails everything:
“Don’t think that the person who is trying to comfort you now lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes give you much pleasure. His life has much trouble and sadness, and remains far behind yours. If it were otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words.”
So if you feel nobody actually understands you and what you are going through, think again.
FABULOUS. Channeling our inner Pink and Beyonce.
Well, that’s enough muni-muni for the night. I hope you try out antigravity and find it meaningful and fun. I know I did!
Try out Antigravity Yoga in Tomas Morato, visit: www.igobeyondyoga.com
Filipina Bohemian 