New Beginnings

It's a funny thing how anxiety can keep you up at night, drowning in what-ifs, should'ves, and how-will-I-possiblys, all leading up to a situation that is perfect. 

My incredible aerial instructor moved away from LA last week to pursue her masters degree. She was the only silks instructor I went to, because I loved her focus on body mechanics, proper technique, and safe positioning of joints and limbs. She modified skills as necessary to minimize pressure on weak/unstable/awkwardly positioned joints and ligaments. And as a bonus, she was familiar with EDS and with my struggles with it. So when I would come back after missing weeks of classes because of a flare-up, all I had to say to her was "I'm just coming back from a flare-up" and she knew that meant I would be really pacing myself during class, and she knew to double check with me to see if I was feeling up for certain skills or activities. 

I've been going to aerial about twice a week the last few weeks to get in as many classes with my instructor as I could before moving away. This meant that last week, when every muscle in my left hip was in spasm mode, I still went to class, but did not do any drops or inversions and minimized splits. (Pretty much, I went back to basics.) But it was completely worth it, and my aerial friends and I got to send her off with love and thanks and cookies. 

Then this past Thursday, I had my first class with my new instructor. Immediately, she was able to put me at ease. She, too, put an enormous emphasis on conditioning and fitness. When I told her about EDS, she was attentive and asked follow-up questions to ensure she understood the implications relevant to my participation in aerial. Turns out, not only was my original instructor one of her foundational aerial instructors (which my original instructor had told me to ease my anxiety before leaving), but she also has multiple physical therapists in her family. As a result, her aerial practice and instruction has a solid basis in truly understanding the body, which was one of the aspects I loved so much about my previous instructor. 

So Thursday's class was fantastic! I happened to be feeling pretty strong, and I learned a new skill and started to clean up a drop series I have been working on. My new instructor helped me work through how to accomplish a split balance (balancing upside in a split on silks without any secure wrapping) without pulling my knee into horrific hyperextension (see my Instagram post about the split balance for more on that) and targeted a specific shoulder exercise directly toward me and my unstable shoulders. 

I will definitely miss my first aerial instructor, whose incredible teaching built me up and gave me the skills, strength, and confidence to progress to this point. But after a successful introduction, I am now excited to train with my new instructor, who also has the skills, the knowledge, and the compassion to help me continue to grow as a fit, healthy aerialist.

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