Acroyoga: photo from wiki

What is Acroyoga?

Acroyoga, or “Couple’s Yoga”, is a fascinating form of yoga that has emerged in recent times. It combines typical yoga movements, breathing and meditation exercises with acrobatic gymnastics and Thai massage. It is, in short, an acrobatic discipline done in pairs, with a partner with whom you can train and learn the basic techniques.

There are many yoga positions for couples, at different levels of difficulty. Beware: this is “acrobatic” activity, and therefore inevitably not suitable for everyone. The origins of Acroyoga are fairly recent, in fact, it was only founded in the West at the end of the 1990s.

AcroYoga postures

As with all types of yoga, relaxation and calmness are of paramount importance. These two aspects are necessary to achieve the static nature of the positions and the dynamic cycles of the movements. Naturally, trust between the two partners is another necessary ingredient.

You must be in control of your breathing or pranayama throughout the sessions. For the practice of the sequences, there must be a “base”, i.e. the one who remains anchored to the ground, acting as a support for the other, and a flyer, i.e. the one who moves upwards, keeping his gaze upwards.

Generally, a session begins with a group circle – in which you perform a few warm-up yoga positions – and then moves on to the actual partner work and concludes with a Thai Massage, which provides the right amount of relaxation. Let’s take a look at some of the positions that can also be done alone.

As you can see in this picture, the person acting as a pivot with the ground should hold the one doing the Acroyoga exercise, in this case, a stretch that resembles the tree position with the hands and arms above the head and one leg resting on the other. The aim of the Acroyoga positions is to achieve psychophysical balance, using physical effort, but proceeding step by step without demanding too much from our bodies and learning little by little.

The benefits of acro yoga

There are many benefits of Acroyoga for the health of body, mind and spirit.

1. Fights back pain, neck pain and scoliosis
2. Improves muscle and tendon elasticity
3. improves overall mental and physical health, as well as the body’s ability to control itself
4. Regulates endocrine glands and the nervous system
5. Counteracts chronic stress, depression, insomnia, weakness, panic attacks and social anxiety
6. Acroyoga works in respect of the spine and its health, as well as benefiting various internal organs of the body.

AcroYoga: volunteer projects related

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