Yoga for Aerialists: Splits

I'm extremely excited to share with you the first installment of Yoga for Aerialists! It's a series about two of my favorite things...yoga and circus. So let's get down to it, today we're talking about splits. Specifically left and right front splits.

Even though splits can be challenging, they are often one of the first poses beginning aerial students learn. For flying trapeze, it might be the second trick you learn, for aerial silks it could be the first one you learn after you nail your double foot lock, and for lyra you may learn it on the bottom bar the very first day you ever place your hands on the apparatus. It can be intimidating, yes, but the good news is you don't need perfectly flat splits on the floor to make them look pretty up in the air. But if you'd like to work on your technique, yoga is a great option.

(Side note: one trick if you want to make your splits "sparkle," as my fly gal CC would say, hold your splits position open at catch point, slowly bringing the legs together as you make your way to poles in-hands).

Before stretching, it's important to warm up your body to prevent injury. Start your practice with a few Sun Salutations. Also, be sure to include some planks; they are a great way to create heat, fire up the core and engage the entire body. I love this sequence put together by MOVE NOURISH BELIEVE, which starts with Sun Salutation A (Surya Namaskar A) before moving on to various plank positions. This flow will not only get the blood moving, it will also condition your upper body and core. AND it also includes Dolphin pose, which is one of my favorite postures to prep the upper body and core for inversions, which are of course totally circus-y. haha

Below are a selection of postures to assist you in your front splits journey. Hold each of the poses for 15 seconds. Breath should be moving freely at all times.

Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

1. Lower to your hands and knees on the mat, placing wrists directly below the shoulders and knees directly below the hips. Finger tips should be spread and the weight should be distributed evenly across the palm.

2. Tuck your toes under, lifting the knees off the ground. Draw the hips up towards the sky and press them back away from your hands, creating a modified v-shape with the body. It's okay to walk your feet back a step and also keep a bend to the knees. It's most important to maintain a long spine and distribute the weight equally in the both hands and feet, keeping the shoulders square.

3. Relax the shoulders away from the ears, allowing the shoulder blades to slide down the back towards the tailbone.

4. Your ears should be in line with the biceps and the focal point is between the feet.

Benefits for Aerialists 

+Strengthens the arms, legs and torso

+Stretches the palms, chest, back, hamstrings, calves and feet

+Energizes the body

Runner's Lunge

1. Start in Downward Facing Dog

2. Look at the mat between your hands and step one foot up between your thumbs. Bend the front knee, aligning it directly above the ankle.

3. The wrists should be directly below the shoulders. You can rise up onto fingertips as pictured above or keep the palms flat on the ground.

4. The back leg should be long and lifted, knee pointed towards the ground and the toes tucked. Flexing the foot will help engage the leg.

5. Engage the core to lift the torso away from the front thigh, keeping a long spine.

Benefits for Aerialists 

+Strengthens the arms and legs

+Stretches the groin

Lizard lunge (Utthan Pristhasana)

1. Starting in a runner's lunge position, bring both hands to the inside of the front foot and walk the front foot out to the edge of the mat. Align the hands so that the wrists are directly below the shoulders.

2. You have the option to stay in this position or to go deeper (as pictured above), lower the back knee to the ground and untuck the back toes, resting the top of the foot on the mat. This is an intense hip and hamstring stretch so proceed with caution.

3. Press into the hands or forearms lifting the chest to avoid collapsing into the shoulders, gazing forward to keep the chest open.

4. To add additional challenge, replace the hands with the elbows, lowering down to the forearms.

Benefits for Aerialists 

+Strengthens the inner thigh muscles of the front leg

+Stretches the hip, hamstrings, quadriceps, groin, hip flexors

Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

1. Begin in runner's lunge position.

2. Lower the back knee to the ground and untuck the back toes so that the top of the foot rests on the mat.

3. Engage the core and the lower abdominals

4. Slowly lift the arms, reaching the fingertips towards the ceiling, aligning the biceps with the ears. Palms should face towards each other. Keep the arms active, but relax the top of shoulders away from the ears.

5. The focal point can be directly forward or slightly up towards the ceiling.

Benefits for Aerialists 

+Stretches the hip, hamstrings, quadriceps, groin
+Strengthens the shoulders, arms, core and knees
+Improves balance

Half Monkey / Half Front Splits (Ardha Hanumanasana)

1. Begin in runner's lunge position. 

2. Lower the back knee to the mat.

3. Move the hips towards the back foot, keeping them aligned so that both hip bones are facing towards the top of the mat. Keep the glutes lifted off off the back leg.

4. As the hips float back, straighten out the front leg, coming on to the heel of the front foot. It's okay to keep a bend to the front knee.

5. Flexing the foot, drawing the toes towards the front knee will help engage the leg.

6. Inhale, rising up to fingertips as you lengthen the spine. 

7. Exhale, folding down over the leg.

8. To decrease the intensity of the stretch, walk the hands closer to the torso or place them on top of blocks. To add a challenge, walk the hands beyond the foot.

Benefits for Aerialists 

+Strengthens the hamstrings
+Stretches the hip, hamstrings, calves, lower back
+Preparation for Hanumanasana

Monkey Pose / Front Splits (Hanumanasana)

1.  Starting in a lunge position, place fingertips on the floor on either side of the front leg

2.  Exhale and lean torso forward, straightening back knee as sliding leg back as moving front thigh closer to floor. Stop straightening back knee as reach limit of stretch. (low lunge position) The back leg knee should be facing towards the ground, maintain this internal/neutral rotation of the back leg.

3. The hips should be squared towards the front of the mat, resist allowing the pelvis to rotate out to the side as you move the front heel away from the torso, straightening the leg to its own degree. You can continue moving back knee away from body as well. It's okay to feel sensation in this pose but never pain or strain.

4. Actively engage the legs to maintain this alignment, resisting the urge to roll either knee out to the side. Use props (blocks/blankets) to assist in maintaining integrity of pose, placing a block on either side of the front leg to rest the hands upon and/or placing a rolled up blanket underneath the back leg.

5. Aim to stay in pose for at least :30 seconds

6. To come out of pose, slide front heel back towards body, meeting back in low lunge position

7. Step back into Downward Facing Dog between sides. It is a nice counter pose to Splits/Hanumanasana. Stay in down dog for a few breaths before switching legs.

Benefits for Aerialists

+Strengthens and tones hamstrings

+Opens hips and groin and psoas muscles

+Improves balance

Let's Flow!
Putting it all together. The poses above can easily be linked together in a sequence, just do them in the order the are listed above. Here's what it would look like:

Repeat this sequence three times. Feel free to end your practice by taking child's pose (Balasana) for a few deep breaths.

Happy Stretching!

DISCLAIMER:

I love sharing what I know and helping others enjoy yoga, however, please note, I am not a doctor and you should always consult your physician before starting an exercise program. Also, I am not with you to offer assistance or guidance so please proceed with caution, listen to your body and never force yourself into a position. Always ease yourself into a posture and at no point should you ever feel strain or pain when stretching. If something feels too intense, please back out of it. With time, patience and consistency, you'll increase your strength and mobility safely.

Yoga for Aerialists

I am introducing a new series on the blog called Yoga for Aerialists. If you already practice both, you may already understand how yoga and aerial arts seem to go hand-in-hand. I practice mainly flow-style yoga and I often find myself thinking about what postures would be a great fit for someone working on strength and mobility for aerial arts. It may not be possible to climb up 20' in the air every time we wish to condition, so searching for alternative methods of exercise is not a bad idea.

Side note: it's also worth investing in a pull up bar. I have the same one Laura mentions in her post, the Iron Gym, and I love it! It's super easy to install and can be easily removed and stowed away. Most yogis I've spoken with (myself included) were completely humbled their first time climbing up on a silk. Even if you do a ton of yoga, aerial arts will challenge you in an entirely different way. In yoga we do a bunch of pushing motions (planks, down dogs, chaturangas, arm balances) but we rarely have the opportunity to pull up the body the way we do in aerial arts. Can anyone think of any similar pulling movements we do in yoga? Please comment below, I'd love to get a dialog going on this subject.

But with that, yoga does have many benefits for aerialists, so I'll be sharing some yoga poses and short flows that can be practiced alone or in conjunction with your aerial conditioning.

I love sharing what I know and helping others enjoy yoga, however, please note, I am not a doctor and you should always consult your physician before starting an exercise program. Also, I am not with you to offer assistance or guidance so please proceed with caution, listen to your body and never force yourself into a position. Always ease yourself into a posture and at no point should you ever feel strain or pain when stretching. If something feels too intense, please back out of it. With time, patience and consistency, you'll increase your strength and mobility safely.

With that, happy stretching!

If you have a particular trick, skill or area of the body you would like to work on, just let me know in the comments below!

How Are Your Hands? Part 2

"When you give a message, it is also a back scratch." (Kyla's 10 Ways to Spot a Female Flying Trapeze Addict). That is an extremely accurate assessment of a trapeze flyer's hands. Any mate of a bar-based apparatus student/teacher/performer can vouch for the legitimacy of this statement.

In my previous post about trapeze hands, How Are Your Hands? Part 1, I mentioned how we proudly wear our craft on the surface of our palms. In this installment, Trapeze Hands, Numero Dos, let's talk about hand care.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, so keep in mind I am just sharing what works for me. Please see your doctor if you have any questions about treatment and before caring for any open wounds.

Overgripping. Hot, humidity. Flying until my hands are screaming. I've ripped more times than I care to remember.

I am trying to be more conscious about my saving my hands, so I'm making hand care and hand mindfulness a priority going forward.

That being said, I've gotten my post-flying hand care routine down. I keep a pair of nail clippers in my grip bag. In the event that I rip, I try to trim off the excess skin as soon as possible. If I blister, I try to leave it alone and let it heal itself under its natural, protective layer. Which for me is a huge exercise in self control, because my instinct is to fidget with it until I can no longer take it and then clip it off.

Other supplies I also keep in my bag (pictured below) include unscented baby wipes and Joshua Tree Climbing Salve.

Baby wipes are awesome to remove the chalk from my hands, wrists (elbow, face...how the heck did I get chalk in the middle of my back?...) I prefer the unscented kind because they are more gentle on the skin.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I will fly until my hands are burning hot and yelling at me to stop. Regardless of whether I rip or not, I always try to soothe my hands after a good fly session. I had some cuticle cream lying around and decided to try it on my hands after flying one day. I noticed it helped calm my hands and moisturize my sensitive, roughed up skin post-fly. It was particularly useful when I would crack, softening up the skin and taking away the stinging pain.

A few months ago, Jen, my fellow lady flyer from across the pond, recommended Joshua Tree Gymnasts Salve. She said it saved her hands during a week-long trapeze vacation to the Dominican Republic. By the way, pop on over to her blog and read about her trip and her experience at Kaiceitos Circus, it sounds like a trapeze dream come true.

When she mentioned it, I remembered seeing some sort of Joshua Tree hand cream at the climbing store the week or two prior. I went there to check out the carabiners and ended up sampling the JT climbing salve labeled "try me." Coincidence? After checking out the JT website, I noticed that the ingredients in both the gymnastics and climbing salves appeared to be the same. So I decided I'd pick up some of their climbing balm next time I was out that way. (And by next time I was out that way, I mean, the next day I made a trip out to Travel Country specifically to grab some haha!)

Joshua Tree boasts that its organic, unscented products moisturize and promote healing of skin without softening the calluses. The balm does have a distinct scent to it, probably a result of all the natural herbs and essential oils. To me, it smells like tea tree, which is one of ingredients. I used the product after I ripped BAD and I noticed that it appeared to heal my hands faster than any of the other moisturizing treatments I've used.

Recently I have been practicing lyra quite a bit. This gorgeous gal was gifted to me by a good friend...she's 7/8" hollow steel tube...sighhhh...so dreamy...

As a result, my calluses have built back up nice and solid, but my roughed up hands wind up feeling pretty dry. I notice a huge different in how my hands feel after I apply a light layer of JT across my calluses. It is a bit oily at first, but then it soaks into the skin, leaving the hands soft to the touch. I wish I could place my palm on the computer screen for you to touch and feel how supple, yet strong my calluses feel haha. I have been applying JT after I fly as well and IT IS AWESOME. It's definitely worth checking out if you are looking for something designed for people who use their hands like we do. While I'm sure my husband loves the back-massage-slash-back-scratch combo, it's nice to be able to tone down the intensity of my "construction worker" hands (as they've often been referred to). I try to apply one coat in the morning and reapply as needed throughout the day. The full usage instructions are available on the JT website. I saw Joshua Tree products in climbing stores in Salt Lake City as well, so it appears to be widely available.

I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but I assure you, I have not been paid for this review, I just cannot say enough great things about this product. Thank you again, Jen, for the recommendation!!! Unwilling to commit to a product I was unsure about, I just grabbed a sample size. I will definitely pick up the large tub next time!

Side note, if you're looking to buy any steel props/apparatuses, I know a guy and would be happy to put you in touch with him...and yes, this one is a sales pitch. ;)

Leave me a comment and tell me about your post-flying hand care ritual. Happy Flying!