Bruised by silk

I did it!  All by myself! 

posted by Melissa Baumgart
After too much "Holiday Cheer" and a nightcap of karaoke on Thanksgiving, I spent most of my Black Friday not wanting to go to the aerial class that Amy and I were signed up for.  It was getting closer to 6:30pm and it was getting very dark outside, all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and watch a movie.  As I ate my turkey leftovers with gravy so amazing I ate a small bowl of it late night while my family all had bowls of ice cream, I knew class was going to suck.  I would be full, and I had to take Tallulah with me.  She was tired and whiney, and possibly hungry...bad combination.

The three of us got into the van, and drove to Emerald City Trapeze.  Amy and I both realized we had left our smart phones at home when we also realized we forgot exactly where the trapeze place was.  (Resisting the urge for a "I guess we're not so smart" joke right now.)  We drove around SODO for a bit, knowing we were going to be late, and not really caring too much about it.  We knew what we were missing: a stretching session so physically challenging that Amy and I often glance at each other with silent expressions of pain that want to turn into fits of giggles because we can't believe how non-flexible we are.

Warm up twisting.

We found the place and still with a good twenty minutes of crucial stretching to spare.  After which we headed to the silks.  I thought that this class wold involve other aerial equipment, like the hoops and the static trapeze.  It did not.  Our teacher did inform us though, that it is best to start with the silks due to their soft, stretchy nature...it is less painful than metal.  Made sense to me.

Our teacher was great at teasing out all the details of where to place hand, how to lean your body certain beneficial ways and what not to do to make the tricks easier.  Due to her thorough descriptions (and maybe the sticky rosin I put on my feet as well as my hands this time), I was able to achieve getting my foot hold on the silks in the L-sit Climb.  Basically, you have to wrap the silk around one foot and hold it in place with the other foot from the top.  The last class I went to, I could not get a good grip and the silk kept slipping right through my feet, leaving me no option for any sort of climbing.  Now, I am not saying I did any climbing this class either, but I did get my feet to hold tightly together without the silk slipping through from between them.  One small step closer to the task of climbing those damn silks.

A culprit of the bruise.

One of the fun parts of class for the beginner is that even if you cannot climb very high, or at all, you can still do some upside-down tricks.  The teacher ties a knot into the silks, from which you get to contort your body into various forms and shapes that give you the feeling you must look like you're a Cirqu de Soleil preformer.  And actually, you look like what you are, an out of shape nearly 40-yr old stuck between two pieces of silk...and in pain.

The silk, while soft to the touch when it is hanging, becomes taut and digs into your skin with the force of your weight behind it.  So, if you weigh more, the silk is probably breaking more capillaries, creating beautiful bruising along your inner thigh or upper arm.

This morning I interrupted Jamie's conversation about yoga when I realized I was very tender on my thigh.  "Ouch, I  think I got a bruise" I said, cutting into his dream of our future he had been discussing.

"What?  What did you get bruised by?" He asked.

"Silk!"  I replied.

He started laughing, "You got bruised my silk?" he said sarcastically and with disbelief.

Totally, I did.  And the funniest part about it, with all the dread about going and all the attempts of jumping into the knotted silks with both knees landing in the silks left unattained,  even with the tired muscles and bruises the next day...I kinda loved it.

-Melissa

I am going to do it again!

My first jump off the edge.

posted by Melissa Baumgart
I have been busy trying to organize a Flying Trapeze Party.  Can you believe it?  I am going to do this again!  I am going to climb that ladder and jump off the platform again!  And this time it will be with a bunch of our friends.  After my experience, I really wanted to share it with everyone.

I am nervous to do it again, of course.  But I am also excited.  I am looking forward to "hopping" off the platform without bending my knees.  I am looking forward to keeping my toes pointed and legs together and actually getting my knees up onto the bar so I can hang upside down.  And getting to see a bunch of my friends try their hand at the trick too!

Perhaps I am working through this fear of heights thing.  I guess we'll see next time I face that ladder and the tiny platform with no railing.  I wonder if I will have that familiar tension throughout my body, that urge to cry and wish myself away from where I am.  Or, if I will feel that tension release a little and feel a bit of joy swell in my chest instead of dread sinking down.

I may have a couple of chances to find out.  Here's what we have lined up...

Upcoming aerial and trapeze happenings:

Friday, 11/25:  Beginner Aerial Class at Emerald City Trapeze.
I will learn more on silks, and hopefully be able to climb a few feet up the silk.  I have been going to yoga almost everyday, in the hopes that my strength will be increased before class.  I will also get to try tricks on the static trapeze, the hoop, and the rope.

Saturday, 11/26:  Flying Trapeze at SANCA.
I am not sure if it will be me or Lily joining Jamie, Amy and her husband, Bob, in class that day.  I want to do it again, but I also want Lily to give it a try (before she has to do it in front of our friends.)  I am just nervous that she will chicken out.  I wonder if she does, if I can take her place...

Tuesday, 11/29:  Flying Trapeze Party at SANCA!!!
Like I mentioned above...so, even if I don't get to fly on Saturday, I'll get to go again on Tuesday.  Me, Jamie, Lily and Levi will all get to give it a go.  Unfortunately, Tallulah is too young.  She'll get to watch everyone, which I am sure will be very entertaining for her!

The only thing we didn't try that I was thinking about was aerial yoga.  Maybe I can squeeze it in somewhere.  Maybe.

-Melissa

Let's join the Circus!

Photo by Amy Baranski

posted by Melissa Baumgart
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be in the circus?  Have you wondred if, since the days of your youth when you went to the Barnum & Bailey Circus, if there even was a true circus out there anymore?  I know, there's Cirque de Soleil, but I am talking more real, nitty-gritty circus folk.

I discovered, through the sweet little video rental place up the street, that such a thing does exist.  We started watching a documentary about the circus, aptly titled, "Circus"!  It is made by PBS and it is quite good.  I highly recommend watching it.

So far we have watched 2 and a half of the six disc season.  You get to see the high profile performers, the ones that don't make the cut and get fired, the behind the scenes families and the ones that go to jail for a alleged bomb threat.  This show has it all, if you are into that reality TV kind of thing.  Or, I have to say, if you are into human nature and sometimes dream of running away to the circus.

I could be wrong, you know, Amy and I are kinda known for our "all or nothing" penchant for living.  But I am thinking we could totally do this.  If we keep up with yoga, go to this booty camp work out thing that we signed up for next week, and do some more aerial this month and beyond....we could be the aerialist,  We could be the circus.

Or it could be just another thing that we get all excited about, make up $70.00 worth of flyers for (can anybody say OCCUPY?), and then decide that it isn't our scene after all.  And that's OK.  Because I think it is perfectly fine to try many new possibilities for your life, and discover that it isn't your thing.  Rather than to not try anything new at all, just for the fear that maybe you might end up looking like you gave up on this new thing that seemed sooooo cool.

Doesn't almost everything that takes tons of practice and dedication seem amazing from the outside?  Pianists, gymnasts, Olympians, actors, aerialists, yoga instructors, accomplished artists of all kinds.  It is all within our reach if we also choose to dedicate ourselves.  Did you know that Julia Child was nearly 50 years old when she published her first French Cooking book?  Or that Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't publish her first book until the age of 65!

The world is still your oyster, no matter what your age, health status, weight, height, state of mind.  Grab it, make it what you want.  Or at least try something new...it just might inspire you to become the next Grandma Moses!  (She was Anna Mary Robertson Moses.  In her 70s she began painting scenes of her rural life in upstate New York, and become one of the most revered American folk artists of the 20th century.)

-Melissa

Excuse me, I am having an issue!

Me, upside-down!

posted by Melissa Baumgart
I had this idea in my head that if I was thinner, I wouldn't be nervous for the aerial silks class that Amy and I took this past Saturday.  On the drive to Emerald City Trapeze, I shared that with Amy and she shook her head "No!", apparently unable to utter any words at that point.  It turns out that Amy, although in appearances is fit and looks like she could hold her own in a silks class, was extremely apprehensive as well.

I hate to be all about the fact that I gained weight lately.  But it consumes me, well, when I am not consuming burgers, fries, pizza and poutine.  But for real, the fact is that I was the heaviest and weakest person in the class.  It reminded me of the Single Ladies class I took with Dina.  I felt so self conscious, with all these fit and capable people surpassing my every move.  But I handled it better this time around.  I attempted *almost* everything, and for that I am exceedingly proud.

Our teacher demonstrating a trick I may never do.

We did one silks skill where you learn how to climb up the silk.  Some people were getting 10 to 20 feet in the air.  I didn't even get past the first part where you get your foot in place, wrap the silk around it and hold it in place with the other foot, then use your arm strength to hang in that position while you attempt to lift your legs and do the same thing all over again.  I held myself in place for a few seconds while trying real hard to get the foot hold, and that would have to be where I am.  I am a true beginner.

At one point, I lost my footing while three feet in the air.  I thought fir sure I was going to tumble out, injure my neck and be stuck on the ground with my foot forever tied into the blue silk.  Our teacher was at the other silk, calmly helping another student.  How did she not see me struggling?  "Excuse me?"  I interrupted, embarrassed.  "I am having an issue!"  I voiced with more authority that I had acquired through sheer terror.  She, again, calmly walked over and help me out of what was actually no big deal at all.

Look, Ma!  No Hands!

I had fun doing the upside down moves.  The moves where we got to make a little knotted foothold in the silk seemed like it would be easier, but it killed my foot in the process.  It was all wrapped up in a knot of silk with all my weight bearing down on top of it.  Ouch.

With aerial class behind me, and feeling like it went better than expected, I was on track to get more fit so I could be more active in class.  On Monday, I went to Bikram.  And it felt like the worst class ever.  I had every amazing yogi in there's voice in my head; beating me up, putting me down and wondering why I even showed up to the studio since I was clearly unable to stand the heat.  Monday I wanted to give up on it all.

Then there was today.  And to be fair, my first cup of coffee in two weeks.   I went to yoga and it was awesome.  I didn't do every pose, but I felt stronger and my mind felt less swayed by my appearance and other's postures.

Maybe it all "really isn't any big deal at all"?  All of it.  All the drama.  All the worries.  All the stress.  All the weight.  Just start where you are.  And if you're not ready to start, don't be hard on yourself.  You will.  You'll wake up from the dream that you're not good enough.

Melissa