Alternative title: I'm dangling upside down, the silks wrapped around my legs bearing the brunt of my weight, my arms relaxed, fingers grazing the mat and my brain - my dearest brain - is shrieking in sheer terror.
"What manner of witchcraft is this?!" It screams at me.
I start to hum a tune from 'Labyrinth' and put a spin on my silks.
"What the heck dude? I'll be sick - I mean it! Don't make me tell your stomach!" It hollers.
I clasp my hands together and smile as we twirl.
"Go to an exercise class you said, it'll be fun you said, you never said we'd be suspended from the ceiling in an ex-pub by some crappy bits of fabric!" It huffs "This is like the time you said we were going for ice-cream and we ended up at the GP's office!"
...
My brain and I have been at loggerheads recently, every little thing has caused an internal battle that even Gandalf the Grey wouldn't want to undertake! ... Though I wouldn't mind seeing Gandalf attempt Aerial Silks, I think he'd love to give it a go don't you?
As you've probably realised, I have an affinity for Aerial Arts, from the moment I achieved my first invert on a Pole to sitting comfortably in a Hoop, I have been hooked. It helps to create a synchronicity between body and mind (after the brain gets over the initial shock that is) that rivals even the most intense Yoga class.
The ecstasy that hits as you position yourself in such a way that you are relying solely on your own body and the silks to hold you, the beauty the shape generates, the confidence it exudes, the realisation that you can achieve much more than you believed you could...The awe you have for a body you have been hating on.
I grasp hold of the silks, untangle my legs and relax out of the move. Relishing the slight light-headedness as my feet hit the mat and my eyes adjust to being upright, not wanting to relinquish control to my fellow student.
Have to say there is something incredibly freeing about Aerial Arts ...
Yup ... Those are the actual Silks I fell off (that is a story for another day though)... Dang!
And to think I was chucked out of gymnastics at school for face planting on the pommel horse (...I wasn't the most graceful of children mind). Ended up in rugby instead.
Did you lovely lot enjoy sports at school? Or, like me, have you come to enjoy sports which you can choose to do now that you're older?
R x
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