Aerial is Always Full of Surprises

I have been taking classes at Aerial Dance WI for almost five years, and classes are still surprising me! Surprises are not always a good thing in my book, but Aerial Dance always seems to make me surprise myself in a positive way. My first surprise was that I actually fell in love with pole! By taking baby steps, I was able to stand, to sit on the pole, and to finally climbing the pole! I was surprised by how much fun the classes were and how much strength I was building. Now, I am flying high in Extreme Pole, which comes with its own surprises. After my love of pole, the surprises just kept coming! I fell in love with hammock, hoop, and I am slowly building an affection for silks.
When I started at Aerial Dance WI, the aerial classes were not leveled. When you went to classes it was a mix basket of what tricks, poses, or sequences you would learn. I didn’t mind this as it lead you to learn a wide variety of things in one class.
Early on in my aerial journey, I had seen women doing drop tricks. My first thought when I saw someone do a drop was, “WOW, that was really amazing, but I am never going to do that!” There was no way in H that I was plummeting towards the floor face first. I am not a afraid of many things, but falling face first really gets my blood pumping. Fast forward five years and……..

5 Years Later

Drops are still not my cup of tea, but I am slowly making them tolerable. A few weeks ago, I over came my fear of falling towards the ground in Revolving Door on hammock. In order to do Revolving Door, I had to have instructor Chrissy stand near me. For me, just having an instructor close makes a world of difference in my fear level. When they are standing near all things are possible!
This past week, I gave Seal Drop on hammock a go. It took A LOT of encouragement from my aerial sisters and instructors. I watched the ladies in my class several times before finding my courage. I did the full sequence up until the seal drop and I froze…….. Hanging there, looking at the floor, I was terrified. I couldn’t do it, I came down from the hammock shaking. As I watched a few more ladies give Seal Drop a try, I was pep talking the heck out of myself!
Round two, I was going to do it! I was going to SEAL DROP! Through the sequence I went, I could feel my heart pounding in my ears! Chopper, Show Girl, Mermaid, Fallen Tree, roll to Straddle Back, pull up to Upright Straddle, to Seal, and then Seal Drop……. I closed my eyes, held my breath, and let go! Arms out, I tumbled forward, and landed on my feet. I laughed out loud! I had forgot to tuck my feet up and ended up standing. That was the worst that could happen, land on my feet! Seal Drop didn’t seem so bad now. Round three went a little more smoothly, but I still had a bit of hesitation on the actual drop, but I did remember to tuck my feet up to complete the drop!
 

 
Surprises lurk around every corner at Aerial Dance WI! I want to you to reflect this week and think about what have you been surprised by while attending Aerial Dance? Was it the first class you took? Was it overcoming a fear or was it having enough courage to believe in yourself? Remember ladies, we are strong beautiful women and anything is possible!
Until Next Time,
Janelle