Jamaica-me Acro - Travel Diary
I recently returned from a two week vacation where part was spent in Jamaica for Acrofest. It was eight days spent flying, sweating, connecting and playing with new friends amidst locals and turquoise water beaches.
Acroyoga is one of those activities that I've loved ever since I was introduced to it over 10 years ago at the Om Factory in NYC. There's no other feeling like the collaborative interplay between sensitivity, trust and connection that's cultivated with your partner as you find balance, graceful movement and controlled strength. And the exhilaration of being suspended in space is thrilling!
Although I enjoy Acroyoga so much I hadn't made time for it since I had kids. Aside from summer evenings flying my boys on our trampoline, I made excuses for not attending the weekly "jam sessions" as there was always so many other things to do.
Over the past 6 years I've immersed myself in the lifestyle and business of yoga and Ayurveda. Being both my work AND my play, I found myself doing something "work-related" 7 days a week. However, this year it became more and more apparent that I needed something in my life that was NOT related to my work. I know that I had become miopically focused on eating and breathing yoga that I needed breakout times to play and do something that was for no other reason than pure fun and enjoyment.
Although this was something I'd known for several years, I never made a sincere effort to make it happen. Then, when the opportunity to attend Acrofest presented itself, I knew I had to take it.
We taught the locals Acroyoga and they taught us Jamaican dancing!
It can be hard to make the changes we need without stepping out of our current environment. Our environment has an enormous impact on our behaviors and often the only way to make real and lasting changes is to plop ourselves in a context which makes the transformation we seek inevitable. And sometimes just a week with peak experiences is enough to create the momentum for new ways of living to take root. xo
