Acro Yoga

"I honor the place in you 

in which the entire Universe dwells.

I honor the place in you 

which is of love, of truth,

of light and of peace.

When you are in that place in your, 

and I am in that place in me,

we are one"

-- Namaste by Judy Cox

Acro Yoga is exhilarating, challenging and if done with open communication between partners can be very intimate. Samantha & Justin, from the lineage of Jason & Jenny, founders of Acro Yoga came to Houston this past weekend to teach Thai yoga massage & Acro Yoga techniques (aerial acrobatics with a partner). Their straight forward, touchy-feely approach was welcoming and yet, at times was slightly uncomfortable for me since I tend to be more pitta (fiery) than kapha (nurturing). We were to invoke the spirit of Lakshmi or abundance and give blessings to our partner (through therapeutics) and to ourselves (a lovely self-blessing gesture).

Sam & Justin

When it came to flying, at first I got frustrated with myself for wanting to control the situation when partnered with a dear, sweet friend. As a flier in therapeutic partner work, you must trust the base and listen to the base's instructions. I have to admit when I flew with my friend, and I saw her knee buckle... my faith in her ability to hold me up seeped out and then I wobbled. When I wobbled, she did too, making it that much harder for her.


All judgement comes from lack of understanding and fear, and when I judged that the strength to hold me wasn't there, I began to fear falling. When instead, I should have shown her love by being more at ease with my body and breath, which would have translated to respecting her instincts in how to be the best foundational support for me.

Lisa & Brook

"I came here a flyer. I went home a base." ~Huck Hirsch

By the second day, we learned what our "roles" were. If you're tall, you're a "tree" or base. If you're somewhat vertically challenged, you're an "elf" or flyer. Or, in my case, if you're strong, you're a base. Always somewhat annoyed when I'm type-cast by anyone for any reason, I'm now grateful for the role of a base. Being the support and having someone completely rely on you for their body in mid air... that takes equanimity and as I learned the first day, an ability to be free of judgement. There is a power and grace to Acro Yoga that certainly has a place in the yoga community. Yet another way of connecting to yourself and to others in abundance-- Sangha.

Getting together in the park this weekend to play around with some of the folks from the workshop... I'm ready to base or fly... either way, I'm ready!

Jenny, Cathal, Brook, Lisa, Melissa & Todd