The Steep and Unforgiving Learning Curve of Beginner Aerial Silks
Beginner Aerial Silks class can be tough but sticking to it will get you results!
Aerial silks i
s an intimidating class especially intimidating for a complete beginner aerial silks student. I want to talk about my aerial silks journey, from absolute beginner to, well…still a beginner. I am sure there are many of you who have taken a class and not returned, or are too intimidated to try a class, hopefully my experience will ease some of your concerns.
I first came to cherry blossom in January 2016. I came for a six-week aerial yoga session and ended up signing up for a six-week silks beginner class on the way out. Silks were something I had always dreamed of trying, having always been fond of climbing and hanging upside-down. I was pretty good with the aerial silks hammock but how much different could the silks really be right?
My first class was a humbling experience to say the least. I couldn’t climb at all, I couldn’t invert, and I couldn’t hold myself up. I was forced to confront my physical limitations. I have never had a particularly strong upper body so this was a real challenge for me. There were intermediate students in the class who had been practicing for some time and were inverting and doing all of the amazing cool things I wanted to do, and there I was unable to get one climb up the silk. I felt pathetic and I wanted to cry.
Somehow I mustered up the strength to come back for the second class, and the third, and the fourth, fifth and sixth. By the end of the session I could climb with the help of sticky hand spray (which I still use today), I figured out how to do candles by rolling forward instead of backwards, and I could do foot locks. I was still nowhere near the level of some of the other students in the class but this forced me to stop comparing myself to other people. I became more self-forgiving, I forced myself to take the small victories in and not worry so much about what I perceived as failures in my performance.
It took me about three months before I finally rolled backwards into a candle. This was a huge accomplishment for me and for once I felt strong in my body. New skills still take time, a lot of time, but there is a real sense of empowerment when you accomplish something you thought you would never be able to do.
You are stronger than you know and the impossible is possible you just have to be kind to yourself and not compare yourself to others and move at your own pace. I promise you will be rewarded for your persistence.
Come try a Beginner Aerial Silks class at Cherry Blossom Studio and increase your upper body strength and flexibility!
