AcroFlow 2.0

Just got through my second private AcroYoga jam today, and it was as blissful as I dared to imagine.

We had all the time in the world, so we started real slow with partner stretches, and some of the stuff I had warmed up with in NY at the Om Factory. That was nice, since my practice had been getting more and more acrobatically, and simultaneously, macho oriented. Which only means, acro / circus has a tendency to jump straight into the advanced / highly physical stuff, and I've begun to really miss some of the really basic stuff which is the real foundation of the practice: like, two people coming into trusting physical contact.

What really brought this home to me was class on Sunday, where there was a 60/40 mix of complete newbies and experienced acroyogis. The experienced group was really pushing into some new ground which, with some of the heavier partners, was really beginning to strain my shoulder, so I went back and played with some of the new kids. To see, feel, and spot the instability of some of their basics (folded leaf even), really brought me back to foundations... and then to see the look on their eyes after completing... pure bliss and joy!

So H and I went through the foundation and got really relaxed and comfortable prior to a deep therapeutics session. My stated intent was to really start working on our flow... as in, really intuitive, natural transitioning through poses and full sequences, so we could get to that magic place of being.

We went through three or four sessions of intense practice, and worked verbally and bodily through some intriguing places and body spaces. One of the synchronistic highlights of the afternoon was when I had her up in throne, working through some nice one leg poses and arm movements, and she placed her hands above her head and said "wow, this feels like a halo..." literally at that precise moment the chandelier flickered and leapt to like 300% brighter than it had been. I looked up and saw all the arms of the chandelier (which she was perfectly positioned below) extending from her head, and it was a moment. :)

Since it was just me and H, my body/legs needed to recover between sessions, so we often returned to the mat and just did gentle partner mirroring work while having a natural conversation. Being able to have conversation while in physical flow was something completely new to me, and it was refreshing and fun. Normally I am so caught up in the blissful physical intensity that I am speechless.

So tonight I'm up now, after crashing early, and I received some intense dream intelligence about acro flow.. yes, finally I'm getting to the real reason for this post :)

Working through acro-flow with a partner is like a microcosmic mirror of working through a relationship with a person. The way your bodies feel, touch, balance, move, and flow together, how it feels for each of you, where the sticking points are in the pattern, how you choose to work through them together, the dance of flyer and base... these can all be seen (and in my dream, they were literal manifest) of the story of flow of the relationship... THIS MIRRORING IS THE CORE TRUTH OF THIS DREAM.

the real kicker was towards the end of the dream, where we started to add mechinical externals to the core acroyogic play. I visualized this as actual metal knobs bolted onto our hip bones for external attachment. H is an aerialist as well (trapeze, silks), so soon this will probably integrate into the practice. And the trapeze is a form of technical gear, a step away from purity but also an augmentation... and then I woke :)

chance and symbolism

Everything for a reason, everything with a purpose.

The other night I had a particularly depressing time on the town. The beginning of the 4th of July, around 1am. I got so flustered that I changed my dinner order to take-out, and sat there debating whether to pay cash or credit. I counted my cash and put my card on the table. Finally went with cash. And I was so done, that I just left the cash on the table (in Mew York City!), walked to the front desk, and told the waitress "I left it on the table" as I fled the scene of the crime.

he next morning I counted my cash. Something like $75 total, about $20 of that in 1s. I couldn't find my ATM card but didn't think much of it... until I had spent almost all my cash on a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, 2 slices of pizza and a drink. I had $8 left. And spent 30 minutes searching for my ATM card in vain.

I made it through the night through the kindness of strangers. The club gate girl who slipped me in, the girl who bought me bottled water.

Come the next morning, I had a single $2 bill and began to strategize how I might transform that and a metro card into a passage to the airport the next morning. It felt like Burning Man all over again, in a way.

Anyways, waltzed over to the restaurant, and asked the maitre de about a lost card. She was super sweet, checked the office, asked the bartender, even called the manager. No luck. I told the bartender "I lost my green card." He said "That sucks." And I replied, "Good News, Bad News... Who knows?"

Back to the homestead all 35 feet south, a renewed effort to find my card. It *will be* here. I *will* find it. A mere five minutes later:

bending three magazines (with a sneaking suspiscion), I sense something rigid inside one of them. Hmmmm... I grab them by their spines and shake. Low and behold, what falls out of, but my little green ATM card. Right behind the flap of "quiet your mind... 5 poses for inner calm," followed closely by "Transform your life with yoga of the heart"

This was a powerful message atop the Ram Dass Be Here Now, and Bhaghavan Dass' It's Here Now (Are You?) reading of the night prior. Slowly, but surely, a picture is forming...

The Purpose of Yoga Asana

I've been thinking more and more of my Sunday session with Monica.

As noted (a few blog posts) below, I think I lost 5 pounds of water weight during her teaching. And at the start, and the middle, and the end, she repeated the same wisdom:

"The entire purpose of asana is to bring our minds to a state of stillness. Some can achieve this in simple lotus. Others need to completely physically exhaust their body forms before their mind can come to rest."

Me, I'm in the latter. But lately, I've been practicing in other places. Like on the plane up here today. I was sitting next to a sexy young girl, and obviously I desired to communicate with her (and I did), but there were also times in the 3 hours of flight and tarmac that I wished to turn inward deeply (and I did). To get to that deep inner place, I thought of Monica's teaching.

And I did it again today walking through Central Park. And again tonight in my apartment. remain calm. seek inner peace. it will all be OK. :)

G

We be AcroJammin NYC!

Well, Jake started the AcroNYC Google Group, which takes up on the text-messaging foundation that Mary built, and perfect timing since I just joined this community.

So now we have a NY city-wide acroyogi superhero community building / flash mob decentralized communication hub! YES!

Via this mechanism, I was able to participate in the playtime in Central Park today. It was ultra-fun, very challenging, and by the end, I was ready for both a nap and a beer.

Participants included Jake, Mary, Metta, Jules, Wendy, and me. We warmed up for about 15 minutes then paired off for some basics. But pretty soon, we were into some *crazy* moves, including a daring inverted twist into full flip!

I put Wendy through a fairly advanced sequence including the flip and a jumping inverted flying handstand start, and we practiced it three times to make sure it was recorded in our bodies. it just got better and better each time.

In this sense, AcroYoga is incredibly similar to rock-climbing; it blends elements of balance, raw strength, improvisation, and serious problem solving skills all together in a spontaneous partner-based art-form.

In all we jammed for about 5 hours straight. The high is so good, I often found myself just drawling post-sequence, especially after flying.

Jake was a genuine ambassador to the arts, and not only gave me great training, but just by watching him I learned a lot. There were admirers all the while (the meadow we were playing in prolly had about 2000 people in it), but one group in particular started doing basic gymastics about 200 feet from us. Dear Jake just called out to them and said "wanna play and learn?" and the best of them came over with his two girl friends, and Jake proceeded to base him into a pretty badass sequence... this was this kids very first time doing acro. Afterwards, coming down, with a stunned look on his face, he asked "Is there somewhere I can learn how to do this more?" A card was given. I knew the look in this kids eyes. He was hooked.

Many more hours and water, and some poi spinning, and some hooping, later, we all joyously parted ways... until tomorrow, the 4th of July Jam :)

PLEASE GOD LET ME PRACTICE ACROYOGA AS A HAPPY FULFILLING LIFESTYLE!