Believe in Yourself & Radical Self Reliance

What a shock it was today, as I was deep in aerial meditation, wildly flying through the multiverses, when I felt a familiar sensation, that of my nose smashing into my face, HARD.

Opening my eyes, I saw not the face of my base, but rather the wood of the floorboards. Shivering and stunned, indeed. It took a second or two to realise what had transpired, and then I tasted the blood. And then I simply laughed. And simultaneously flashed back to that day of skydiving...

When I first got into the Contact Improv community, I found that each and every participant was considered responsible for their own weight and safety, ready to fall at any time.

In AcroYoga, there is a much more pronounced dynamic; instead of constant yin/yang ebb and flow between masculine and feminine, lead and follow, base and flyer, it is quite concrete: a base connects to the ground firmly; a flyer's only contact with the ground is via the base. The flyer can really only perform to the limit of their ability, and the limit of their trust in the base.

As a flyer, I leapt heart forward into this equation, and gave myself up to the flow and the intention of the base. I closed my eyes often flying, enabling me to imagine vast cloudscapes and constellations that I was flying through.... leading me to, my bloody nose today. :)

The point here is, while much theory may speak to who is responsible for your safety, practice points to the cold hard fact of life:

you and only you are responsible for your actions, for your safety, and for the consequences of your own life. Be aware at all times. Even when you fly, keep at least half an eye open... even if its your third eye :)

This has been a public safety announcement.

And now, well primed and awaken, I head to San Francisco for my 5 day, 6-hour-a-day, AcroYoga Immersion.