Joining the Circus!

Almost a month ago, days after Marc and I returned from our fabulous vacation, I dove headfirst into the Circus Yoga Ring One Immersion.  It's called an Immersion instead of a teacher training because that's exactly what it is.  More than a workshop, but not quite a teacher training.

It was a three day extravaganza devoted to throwing us all in the deep end of experiencing Circus Yoga for ourselves, and it was an absolute blast!  For those of you wondering what the heck Circus Yoga is, it's a fantastically fun blend of, "the consciousness of yoga with the communal ceremony and expression of circus," according to founders Erin Maile O'Keefe and Kevin O'Keefe.  Erin was our "ringmaster," so to speak, for the weekend and she was so much fun.

Circus Yoga is honestly something I probably would never have looked twice at if not for Karma Kids.  Aside from the fact that the two programs have a strong relationship, there is SO MUCH value to knowing Circus skills and games as a kid's yoga teacher.  Whether it be juggling scarves, walking the balance pipe, playing hilarious games like Wrong Room, or learning to fly and do tricky acrobatic partner poses, Circus Yoga provides an absolutely endless array of ways for people of all ages to break outside their comfort zone and pleasantly surprise themselves.  It's a wonderful gift to give to anyone, and it's particularly special and rewarding to be able to share it with kids.

One of the coolest moments I had was when we were learning how to fly each other, and with the help of our wonderful assistant WT, I was able to actually fly Marc!  Keep in mind he's a full foot taller than me and outweighs me by about 70 pounds, and that's a truly remarkable feat.  I had to have about 8 blankets under my lower back so that his head wouldn't just crash into my torso and he could get some traction, and it's certainly not something I could do every day, but it was so amazing and empowering!   It was also really cool that Marc was able to come participate in a workshop, as most of the events at Karma Kids revolve exclusively around kids - and needless to say, we don't have any yet.  Circus Yoga is truly for all ages.

To check out some of our adventures in Circus, go to facebook and "like" the Karma Kids Yoga page and the Circus Yoga page.  Karma Kids has several albums of their Circus Yoga workshop pictures, and obviously the Circus Yoga page itself is rife with pictures from their workshops, immersions, and teacher trainings all around the country.  (There are also plenty of pictures of folks flying each other if you have no clue what I'm talking about...)

Circus Ring One was an amazing experience, and I've been sharing the games and the love with almost every single one of my classes ever since.  Check it out!