When I was a kid, my parents would take my siblings and me to LaFleur’s for gymnastics classes. We’d spend hours twirling on the bars, balancing on the high beam, and flipping on the trampoline.
Backbends and handstands came easier in those days. So it’s a good thing there’s still an adult playground where us big kids can flip and twirl — while being monitored by trained professionals.
“As children, we want to go upside down all the time,” says Denise Gleuck, aerial yoga instructor at St. Pete’s Yoga Moves Studio. We’re in the high-ceiling studio space at Emily Wenzel’s recently opened Kapok Pilates & Wellness Center in Clearwater. Glueck is Wenzel’s aerial yoga mentor. She learned aerial yoga at the studio that is credited with its creation, New York City’s Anti-Gravity Fitness. The technique was developed by Christopher Harris through a combination of yoga (sheepskin yoga swings were an earlier version) and, you guessed it, Cirque du Soleil silk acrobatics.
A bright purple silk drapes down from the ceiling. Wenzel, a Pilates instructor for the past 10 years, encases her body in the scarf and breathes deep as she rolls her feet overhead, curling her head and torso underneath (all while cradled in the silk). She stares up from underneath her toes.
“Pilates is a great complement to yoga because they both use body awareness and mindfulness,” Wenzel says. “Stabilization and then mobilization. This is an evolution. There is a lot of crossover between Pilates and aerial yoga.”
Beyond the aerial yoga silk, there’s an area devoted to Pilates resistance equipment, which Glueck and Wenzel later proceed to execute incredible inverted stretches. But back to the aerial yoga.
Stiff from long holiday hours and extra curled-shoulder desk time, I’m instructed by Wenzel to use the swing as a stretching tool. I pull down with both hands on the silk, back straight, pelvis tucked, shoulders relaxed, feet planted and hips stationary, and she directs me to stretch slowly from side to side. That’s one of the reasons aerial yoga was developed; the silks work for both extreme yogis and injured beginners. It can assist where help is needed or push a stretch to the next level.
After stretching, I’m scooped up inside the cradle like a silkworm. With minimal effort and total focus, Wenzel helps me replicate the “Fibonacci” spiral inversion. I stare at the studio, upside down and three feet off the ground. It’s incredibly invigorating.
By the time I unfurl, stretching my legs up toward the ceiling and flipping around, I’ve broken a sweat without even noticing.
“You’re creating traction and space,” Wenzel says. “You create space and energy in your mindset, too. It’s not so clouded or heavy as other workouts.”
She and Gleuck banter about the changes they’ve seen in their own clients.
“It really helps people overcome their fears,” Glueck says. “I see people make huge strides because it requires a certain level of trust. They become more confident. You strengthen physically and it radiates outward.”
The movements come naturally, even to someone with my rusty jungle gym skills. This “exercise” is playful and dare I say, fun. Obviously, I don’t look like quite as slick as Glueck, Wenzel, or those Cirque scarf dancers. But hell, it’s a start.
Emily Wenzel’s Kapok Pilates & Wellness Center begins aerial yoga classes in February. 908 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater, 727-365-8574.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2014.