acroyoga | The Smile Chronicles

This is a VERY outdated post (happened January 28, 2012 to be exact), the reason why I moved to WordPress from Blogspot. What happened? I already finalized my entry and was about to publish the post when suddenly Blogger decided to play and hid it somewhere in the nether regions of cyberspace. I got so pissed I created a WordPress account and viola! The rest would be just laziness of writing this again. You see, I don’t really review my posts so much (so sorry about any grammar and spelling mistakes haha). When I’m with the draft, I read it maybe twice and add/remove details where I feel the need to then just publish. Good thing most of it was saved in Notepad. HA! Anyway, on to this yoga entry. :)

As I promised myself to expand my knowledge on yoga, I signed up for an AcroYoga workshop by Bliss Yoga Manila (Greenhills), which was led by Jen Leisch. I know I still have to learn the other “standard” kinds, but I couldn’t let the opportunity pass.

Photo c/o Bliss Yoga Manila

When I got there there were people from ABS-CBN taking videos and photos while we were upside down. I was uncomfortable at first as I know it will be aired on national TV and chances of my sweaty “Karla, why you so heavy?” and “I shouldn’t have ordered large fries last night.” faces could be zoomed in for everybody to appreciate. So right now I would like to apologize to Bliss and Jen if I wasn’t able to execute some poses with such grace as the other students, and of course, the cool teachers that attended the class with us.

We learned a LOT, and the Php 2,000.00 was worth it. 6 hours of yoga? Heck yeah! From the basic techniques, to the more advanced poses, we are now equipped to balance each other on our hands AND feet. Just like in cheer, it all comes down to technique still, so that stuck in my head pretty easily (it had to, since I don’t have enough physical strength in my itty bitty self). Sadly, Jen is not staying in the country so classes with her will not happen anytime soon. However, I can’t wait for the AcroYoga playgroup sessions (c/o Bliss). I’d be able to see again my classmates and start experimenting on lifts. Pretty hard to practice AcroYoga alone haha! Well, maybe if I convince my baby brother to lift me at home – which will require a lot of pizza treats a.k.a. suhol power OR blackmail, so maybe I’ll just start working on handstands :)

What I learned: Strength, flexibility and balance. – These are things that should not only be applied in AcroYoga (or even just yoga), but also in our lives. This realization made me appreciate this practice even more!

Strength: It is inevitable that life will give us blessings, but that comes with an equal amount of challenges. To be physically fit is not enough, but one has to have the mental fitness to overcome such obstacles, and to push oneself to go beyond their limits and expectations. We have to have the equipment to receive whatever is thrown at us. It is way easier to train the body to be ready, than the mind. So how we do that?! I honestly don’t know (yet). I guess that’s why we have problems and challenges to face every single day. Maybe everyday is to practice and train our mental, spiritual and emotional selves for the next day, and the day after that. When a bad thing happens what should you do? Be depressed and quit? Then that’s not training anymore, that’s just plain quitting. But if you find the positive side of things, you try and look for that silver lining. What CAN happen? Yes, you CAN feel better, you CAN make yourself happier and you CAN make yourself feel still grateful. I keep emphasizing “can” because I want to stress we all have a choice in having a more positive life no matter what load is put on our shoulders. We all just need to push a bit harder every time.

Photo c/o Bliss Yoga Manila

Flexibility: I think this is somehow related to strength. Once a person has mental and emotional strength, he or she also needs to learn how to adapt. Imagine a solid piece of metal. It is hard, stable and strong. However when put in fire it becomes malleable. You can bend it around to the shape you want. As in life, it is not a one, two, or even a 3-dimensional errr “space”. As I see it, it is multidimensional but you cant really put a finger on any of it. Why? because it is all based on perspective of different people, of different cultures, of different beliefs and of different mental states. If you are flexible you get to experience all of these faces and realities. If you are open what to what everything the universe offers, just imagine the possibilities and how exciting life is. For me, that’s simply magical.

Photo c/o Bliss Yoga Manila

Balance: Maybe some would say “an equal amount of strength and flexibility” – yes, that’s one way to look at it. For me though, balance is not only having the talent to allot equal space of both in your life. As I’ve mentioned, everything has an infinite amount of sides, of views. The ask would be to maintain a balance IN YOU to be able to take that all in, to identify which works for whatever situation. Simply put: One thing may not require so much strength, but a lot of flexibility, and vice versa. “Balancing” is knowing when and how to apply more of one or the other, to keep oneself solid and stable.