Flying Free : My Aerial Yoga Experience

Sometimes you need to let life turn you upside down so that you can learn how to live right side up.
-Proverb

I walk into Palm Beach Yoga and see beautiful wooden floors and colorful cloth hammocks hanging from the ceiling. A large mirror covers the wall at the front of the room. The instructor ,Kristen , pulls down a hammock to my hips and then gets on a ladder to adjust it from the ceiling. She gets down, pulls the hammock to my hips again and says “ perfect”.

Kristen has us sit back against the hammock and  swing back and forth . Soon our bodies become elastic, folding forward, backward, and sideways. For the “bat pose” we wrap the hammock snugly around our hips  with our hands gripping overhead and slide our legs up straight towards the ceiling. She tells us to and let go  “Trust that your body can go upside down and that the hammock will hold you.”    I surrendered and flipped upside down. I lose orientation and all sense of time and space. I felt as if I was walking on the ceiling. Kristine said to look at the front of the room to regain orientation. The weight of the world had left me.  I was flying.

We come down from the pose and sit in the hammock then drop our head forward. Floating child’s pose helps center and calm the body after an inversion.

Kristen instructs us to  step into the hammock with the silk supporting under our knee cap. We bend our front leg as the back leg stretches back , as we grip each side of the hammock overhead.

We use the hammock to stretch deeper , supporting our body  while performing back bends and splits.  When we perform inversions, we can help cleanse the lymphatic system , take pressure off the joints ,and help circulation return to the body .

When we are sitting with the hammock wrapped around our thighs the silk feels tight and a little painful against the skin. Kristen explains that as we move and the silk slides across the back of our thighs, we are giving ourself a massage.

We end  the session in a cocoon pose. I sit  in the hammock then lay  back , letting my head fall back and my body relax. The hammock is  holding me tight and safe. Kristine came and gave me a small push so the hammock swayed gently. After several minutes she had us slowly open our eyes and step out. She looked at each of us as we stood in front of our hammocks. “May you bring this sense of peace and tranquility with you into your day." Hands folded, we bow and lean slightly forward.  "Namaste.”

On the Sidelines

I look around me at the dragon boat teams warming up for the race. My boyfriend gets up from the lawn chair besides me and joins the team huddle.

I take photos of the team doing their chant . Then everyone poses for a group photo.  “One on my camera now”, I get handed the camera  . The team walks to the launching point to get into the boat as I walk with the other significant others to the dock.  They paddle slowly around the corner past the dock then out to the race starting point. We watch the boats line up. “Two strokes forward Boat 2.. and hold!  “  . The horn sounds and the boats propel forward. We squint and look for the brightly colored shirts to ensure we are cheering for the correct team. "Let’s go Blazing Paddles!" I scream. I start recording on my phone to catch the finish of the race.

 I’m sure I just looked like a girlfriend who didn’t paddle watching the race,  but I felt like a fraud. I was someone who should be on the water but wasn’t.

The paddlers climb of of the boat slowly , drained of their energy. After they return I kiss Jody . I am proud of him and the smile on his face makes me happy.

Over the course of the day the team members who didn’t know me asked if I had ever paddled. I had to explain that I was on the team previously but injured myself. They would smile and nod. They meant well but it was like the wound was opened a little every time they asked.

At lunch I order light. I feel like I  haven’t earned the heavy meal the paddlers are ordering. They excitedly talk about the race. I flash back to that feeling into the boat during a race; paddles cutting through the water,  feeling the boat propel forward with each stroke, water splashing against your aching arms, and the drummer at the front of the boat screaming out the count.  I had never experienced a high like it with any other sport.

Before we left the race location the team captain, Will , asks when I will be back. I tell him I have a few more months of PT then will work my way back. He says “ It will be great to have you back.”  I smile . It was exactly the words I needed to hear. He adds, “and we will deal with Jody if that means having you back.” And everyone laughs.

Will asks if I can run and I tell him no. He asks if I can bike and I say yes. He says “ Great, start getting your cardio back up.” I feel a sudden relief from the despair. It is  replaced with a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a while, a feeling of hope . Looks like it’s time to get back into the saddle.