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Acro yoga may not exactly be newit's been around in some form since the late 1990s. But Nashville's finally catching onto the highly addictive, acrobatic style of yoga that offers the sensation of flying and the ability to try various moves midair while balancing on a partner's limbs.
Gillian St. Clair, owner of Steadfast and True Yoga, and independent instructor Sarah Jane Holmes are two of the few yoginis in town certified in Acro Revolution, and they teach three classes a week at St. Clair's new Germantown studio, which moved across town from its original Edgehill Village location earlier this year. Other than strength building and pure fun, St. Clair says acro is a great exercise in communicationas well as friendship.
'You go right into either basing or flying each other, and communication is helpful as you're saying ‘You need to do this' or ‘This is something you can fix,'” she explains. 'It's great for couples and friends, but it's also really good for strangers to learn how to touch somebody and move somebody. You'll make friends once you're there, so you don't have to bring anyoneyou can come alone!”
St. Clair wants newbies to know that they don't need to be any certain shape or size, and a yoga background is not required in order to attend an acro class. Having balance and body awareness through activities like dancing, gymnastics, or traditional yoga does make it easier, she adds.
'I think many women think that they need to be smaller in order to fly or that they need to be a base, which is not the caseit's all body mechanics,” she says. 'Everybody can be flown, and everybody can fly.”
St. Clair has been offering acro classes at Steadfast for more than four years, though recently she's seen the level of interest rise as more people have caught onto its appeal and her core group of fanatics has advanced beyond the basics, prompting her to add more classes to the weekly mix. She also regularly hosts weekend workshops with visiting instructors and outdoor jams, which are essentially 'playtime” sessions that take place all over town and allow enthusiasts an opportunity to get together in an informal setting and practice their moves.
'[Acro] just feels like you're getting hugged for an hour,” she says. 'Nobody does that anymore.”
Steadfast's beginner acro series takes place each Wednesday afternoon, with the more advanced classes held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Each session is $16 for drop-ins, and first-timers get an introductory class for $10; unlimited monthly and annual memberships are offered, as are discounted packages in increments of 5, 10, and 20 classes.
1325 3rd Ave. N.; steadfastandtrueyoga.com
don't miss out:
September 26 and 27 Fantabulous Flow: an Acro workshop with Scott Cooper $45 for a single three-hour session, $155 for the full weekend