Lessons I Learnt From Aerial Hoop Class

My jazzy jeff inspired leggings are totally fit for cirque du soleil

I have the total hots for the circus. I love the sparkling outfits. I love the incredible things people can do with their body. I love the unadulterated hedonism of it all. It is an absolute pleasure-fest and I am gorging like a pot-bellied Lord at a medieval feast. Ways I have indulged in this delicious addiction of mine has included attending 1-day classes at a circus school in London trying things like the flying trapeze (dreamy), to static trapeze (fun), to silks (bloody difficult). More recently I went to a taster class for an aerial hoop class and I fell so in love with it I signed up to a 6 week course to learn more.


Doing this totally lived up to several of my life philosophies "If not now, then f*cking when", "Be better everyday" and "Do more of what sets your soul on fire". I had also written a post previously about thriving not surviving as a result of wanting to learn. Of course there are other classes I could do which would be far more "beneficial" and sure, I had to drive an hour after a whole day at work to get there and it cost more than a gym class (and one week I was chowing down a McChicken sandwich in my car in a dark car park like a heathen before class started...not my finest moment) but those were seriously manageable compromises for the joy it gave me.

I learnt a lot about aerial hoop. I learnt that this was an art; it was strength AND beauty, to move from position to position without grimacing even though your fingers / abs / baby-making area was subject to a lot of pain. I learnt that a beat-up hoop was better because it was smoother. I learnt that you want to be friends with the person who has rosin. I learnt fun sounding moves like the man on the moon, the mermaid, the gazelle and the bird's nest to name a few.

But what I learnt about myself actually came from my teacher who asked me one week "So what do you do for a living?", me *mumble mumble* "It's an office-based job working as part of a project...why?", teacher "Because you have this incredible tenacity to keep trying until you get the move and I just wondered if it had anything to do with what your job was", me *beaming smile at the mildest whiff of any compliment*. I learnt to listen because you have to surrender your ego to get the maximum gains ("Teach me all you know, you with bicep-definition-to-die-for wise one"). I learnt that I'm stronger than I gave myself credit, this thought came to mind when I was hanging upside-down from the hoop doing sit-ups and wondering if I accidently stumbled into some non-hilarious Private Benjamin situation. Unfortunately I didn't learn to master surrendering my body into certain moves but it did teach me that I need to learn to relax more and not overthink.

I was completed gutted when the course ended and of course I'm nowhere near skilled enough to join the circus (thereby not fulfilling my dream to fall in love and run away with the bareback horse rider called Carlos) but that's not what it's about though is it?

The time I was nearly sick with the spinning but it looked good though right?

What classes have you been to recently that you've enjoyed?