My first article I wrote about disc golf and why it would take over ball golf in some odd years. Now I am going to chat a bit about hobby #2, and that is Acro Yoga. When I say Acro Yoga, a lot of people are super confused. The conversation often goes like this, Me: I love to participate in Acro Yoga. Other person: Agro Yoga? what is that, is that like with goats?.
Quick answer....no. It is ACRO yoga, short for acrobatic yoga. After I explain this part the other person in the conversation kinda looks at me like I am crazy. I am a really big guy and I clearly am not an acrobat. However, lucky for me, this is a two or more person discipline and can include elements of balance, flexibility, and strength of which I have enough of both to play. (Background info, I was a college cheerleader too)
Without further ado, here is the 5 reasons I LOVE acro yoga
One: Nearly anyone can do Acro Yoga
Like many other of my life enjoyments, Acro Yoga is accessible to many. Sometimes people look at the things that we do and are intimidated by the physicality of it, however, there are various levels to everything including Acro Yoga, and it starts with a few basic moves that 75% of living people could likely participate in.
Two: Acro Yoga is easy to get into…
but infinitely challenging once you start. You can push yourself to try anything; your biggest limitation is your own creativity and finding a partner who is open-minded to your idea. (a spotter is at times really nice too!) The greatest Acro Yoga teachers are never satisfied with what they can already do and are always searching for new ways to do a partner pose.
Three: I love Acro Yoga because it is a fantastic outdoor or indoor activity.
In nice weather you can catch me outside catching some sun and doing some Acro Yoga in the grass with friends. In the wintertime you will see me jamming with my buddies in a gymnastic studio (5$ entry to open gym). No matter what I am getting a great work-out in and a fun time with my friends.
Four: Acro Yoga makes for AMAZING pictures.
If you are an Instagram king or queen you should put in an Acro picture, it is sure to be a hit! If you ever log into Instagram and check out the tag #acroyoga you will see a multitude of pictures of easy to difficult poses. One thing you will see in addition to that is some of the coolest background for photos ever. Whether a person is doing a hand-to-hand in a waterfall, to a bird (that’s a partner pose) on a Hawaiian island beach you can see some very cool places. Step your photos game up by learning a few Acro poses and try it out!
Five: Acro Yoga is infinitely cheap.
All you need is a partner and a soft landing zone (grass works perfectly) So the cost is about 0$ in that case. Like anything, the more you get into something the higher the costs get, and that is no different in Acro Yoga. Many of the community I started in (Indianapolis raise up!!) would go to weekend long festivals or trainings where they could learn from the best teachers and work with multiple different partners. However, I have always been cheap and many people are cool with sharing what they learned in the much less expensive Acro Yoga get-togethers they call Jams (free to 5$) So even though I am at least an intermediate practitioner of Acro Yoga, I still pay next to nothing to keep up my hobby.
So that is my 5 big reasons why I love Acro Yoga. What do you think about this article? What about the pictures? Any feedback is appreciated.
If you are a person looking to get into acro yoga, check your local facebook groups (generally there are acro yoga offering in middle sized to bigger cities.) search for: acro yoga and then your city and likely you will see some hits. Once you find those hits join the groups and see where the next jam is and show up! Like anything, the more you step out of your comfort zone, the more you can learn!