How's Your Acroyoga Body Awareness?
Imagine you’re upside down in a headstand, handstand or a pose like star...
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And someone asks you: ‘could you rotate your hips to the right, shift your weight a bit to the left and move your butt back’.
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Would you be able to translate those cues into the right movement?
As a flyer I want to share with you my personal experience on how I feel my body awareness influences my practice.
​ But first; what is body awareness?
​ I would describe it as how conscious and connected you are to your own body.
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Basically it’s how you recognize where your body is in space.
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The ability to notice the position and movement of body parts and to direct it to do what you want it to do.
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This all comes with a strong mind-body connection.
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Everyone has some level of body awareness thanks to the receptors in our muscles and joints that we are born with.
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They inform our brain about our position and movement in space.
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The body is already very intelligent and our body awareness only grows over time...
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Think of children who get more coordinated while getting older.
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Going from rolling around, to crawling, to stumbling, to walking and more...
​ That's simply because nearly any type of physical exercise and movement, can and will increase your body awareness!
​ Movement challenges your body and trains your balance, coordination and precision.
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Ok so as grown adults we have a decent amount of body awareness.
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You can probably balance on one foot, walk backwards, jump or skip and can follow instructions like ‘place your left hand on your right shoulder’.
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So you probably think you have a decent orientation in space and know what left and right is.
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Until…
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You find yourself upside down and feel completely lost in what’s left, right, forward and backward!
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I’ve often seen, mostly beginner flyers, saying when they are upside down:
‘I don’t know where I am or which way to move!’
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People react surprised by this unexpected change in the way they experience their surroundings and their body.
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It's Funny right?
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How being upside down suddenly makes things that you normally take for granted much more difficult!
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Luckily for me I didn’t experience a big change in my perception the first times when I was upside down in acro, and I think this had to do with two things.
​ I’m born with a very sensitive body (and a sensitive heart and soul too).
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I notice sensations and impulses very well.
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Both external stimuli like sounds, touch, temperature and smell as internal stimuli like thirst, muscle tension and tiredness.
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With this body I’ve done a lot of exercise and grew up practicing different kind of sports.
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This helped me develop and enhance my body awareness.
​ Over time I grew a strong mind-body connection which enables me on a very detailed level to direct and control my body.
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I can isolate certain muscles and make micro movements.
​ In acro, this means when someone gives me cues to move in a specific way I’m able to translate these words into adjustments in my body.
​ A challenging part will be the shapes and moves we flyers do when literally flying around and being upside down.
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I’m pretty sure my background in martial arts helped me grow awareness in these moments.
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Because of all the falling and rolling that’s involved in judo and aikido.
So if you struggle or find body awareness a challenge in acro, and are keen on improving in this way to level up your acro...
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Then I would recommend practicing other sports and explore different movements than your body is used to.
Challenge your balance while skipping or standing on one foot on a bosu ball. Or take it next level and try slacklining!
Try rolling forwards, backwards and sideways; remember you used to do that as a kid? Go to a gym with a soft floor and see if you make your roll smooth and easy.
Join a dance class
Take martial arts lessons
Cycle
Swim
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There are so many things you can do! And they will all only help build your body awareness.
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Last tip: try acro with your eyes closed of blindfolded!
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With no sight it will change your perspective for sure.
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As always: play safe ;) and enjoy!
P.S.
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If you want to really improve your acro practice, learn more, or attend one of our retreats and events, then these are the best ways I can help you :)
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1. You can learn about our product The AcroBack and order your very own here:
2. If you're interested in learning more about our personal acroyoga coaching online then you can find all of the info here, and book a free chat with me!
​https://www.acrospiritcommunity.com/acroyogapersonalcoach​
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3. If you want to stay updated about our retreats, festival, and workshop events then our AcroSpirit Community Facebook Group is the best place to check.
​https://www.facebook.com/groups/461264611914642
