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Keeping fit through intricate AcroYoga poses
Cheloti Ken (bottom) and Africa Yoga Project director of teachers Catherine Njeri (top) demonstrate an acro yoga pose. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
While watching people in an AcroYoga session, one is almost intimidated by its seeming complexities.
However, instructors at Shine Centre, which is located at Diamond Plaza in Nairobi’s Parklands area, swear that anyone can learn it, and they go on to prove their words with a series of fluid poses, encouraging both learners and spectators to want to join in.
The teachers enjoy the session as they transit between poses while remaining calm and balanced.
AcroYoga combines the benefits of traditional yoga with those of acrobatics. This type of exercise is done in pairs, with one person lying on a mat as the “base”, to provide support to the “flyer’ on top”.
Partners in AcroYoga are always in communication with each other and in most cases, the base is the one who gives directives. Constant communication between the pair encourages playfulness and bonding.
Challenging
AcroYoga is more vigorous compared to traditional yoga and thus more challenging, physically. But while it seems different from all other types of yoga in both form and concept, it still results in immense fitness and relaxation.
I participated in an AcroYoga session for the first time recently and it is now one of my favourite ways of keeping fit.
Transitioning between poses was easy as the base kept me in balance helping us flow through the poses, although it took some getting used to before I could let go of my fears and trust on my exercise partner in order to enjoy the session.
Teachers
Shine Centre is the only institution that offers AcroYoga classes in Kenya, with the classes officially starting last month.
Ken Cheloti, one of the instructors, said that this type of yoga is a blend of three aspects; “the wisdom of yoga as a practice, the dynamic power of acrobatics and the love and kindness of a Thai massage. The three aspects, when brought together, cultivate a practice of trust, connection and playfulness.”
The centre is run by the Africa Yoga Project (AYP), which was started by Paige Elenson, a certified AcroYoga instructor. The institution has 10 yoga teachers and all are trained by Ms Elenson, who is also a social entrepreneur and an ardent yogi.
Classes are conducted every Sunday for one hour, starting from 2pm, with a session going for Sh700.
However, starting May 3, the institution will have a five-week package going for Sh3,000, with classes scheduled to take place every Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm. Cheloti says that the institution has, so far, received overwhelming feedback regarding its AcroYoga programme.
A session starts with partner flow and warm-up exercises to get the muscles ready, followed by flying and acrobatics poses that include plunk, back bend, pike, half camel, mountain and throne.
An AcroYoga session ends with a Thai massage where the flyer (partner on top) repays the base with a Thai massage on the shoulders and back. The base can offer a massage too.
Transformation
Cheloti says that a lot can come out of a session, among them emotional and physical transformation.
“It creates a good environment from which to create communication, tackle trust issues or the way that you relate to one another and it brings people together,” he said.
Further, the regimen cultivates trust, through a playfulness that ensures people partaking in it have fun while staying fit.
“AcroYoga is an encouragement of building trust between people in a relationship of whatever kind (couples/family/colleagues) and that is why it is good for team building. The essence is to bring people together,” he said.
Trust
To start off in AcroYoga, one need not to be a gymnast, a yogi or an acrobat because like with other forms of exercise, the skills are picked gradually. With time, practitioners gain trust, courage, balance and the ability to relax as a base or a flyer.
“Technique is important and it can be taught in a number of sessions, starting with the basics,” said Isaac Mukwanga, an AcroYoga instructor at the centre.
“It is a work-out, but you do not realise it until you are done with the session. Its uniqueness is that it gives you the space to make mistakes and not feel so bad about them.
