New Things

Last week, I tried a new aerial apparatus. So far, I'd stuck exclusively to aerial silks. Since I'm so inconsistent with getting to classes, I wanted to focus my limited time on really improving in the one apparatus. But over Memorial Weekend, I took the plunge and tried out a lyra (aerial hoop) class.

Lyra was so much fun! It felt like an odd combination of uneven bars (probably my favorite event in my previous gymnast life) and aerial silks. It was easy for me to grasp the skills the instructor taught (figuratively, not literally, thanks to my wimpy hands), and I felt like I appeared more graceful on the hoop in one hour than I have ever been on the silks after 7 months.

I tried the beginning of class without my hand splints, but quickly put them on after one attempt at a skill. I always come armed with my braces and splints. What I realized though, and probably the reason I felt more graceful, was that Lyra did not require as much constant stabilization through my muscles. I could rest on the hoop in a way that even the "rest" poses on silks don't allow. The nature of the apparatus - hard versus soft - seems to be the big difference. So, while I would love to spend some time developing Lyra skills, I still plan to focus my primary efforts on aerial silks so that it continues to be physically therapeutic for my body as well as fun.

Still, trying a new apparatus and feeling it come more natural to me (at least in the very-super-first-time-beginners class I attended - I'm certainly not calling Lyra easy) was the confidence boost I needed after I felt sidelined by one injury after the next these last few months.

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