At LSU, there is a community of people that enjoys standing and sitting on each other’s hands and feet and getting tossed in the air.
Acroyoga, which combines acrobatics and yoga, has a sizeable faction in Baton Rouge.
Acroyoga instructor Joshua Roberts rents out Elite Gymnastics for his class and hosts acroyoga “jams” near the LSU lakes. An acro jam is a meet up with no formal instruction where people come to practice acroyoga with others.
Though it appears difficult, Roberts likes to emphasize anyone can do acroyoga.
“I had a girl with no feet and no hands do it the other day,” Roberts said. “My little brother who’s autistic, he does it.”
Roberts said that he even had 7-foot-tall LSU basketball player Darcy Malone do acroyoga.
Despite his insistence, Roberts said first-timers’ fear is real and can be hard to overcome. That’s where trust and communication come in.
“So many people are afraid of touching each other,” Roberts said. “It makes people connect on a level that, in this day and age where people are so used to texting and social media, they don’t connect like that.”
The power of persuasion also comes into play, which he said he’s become good at, as he has to talk many of his eventual students into doing acro. His go-to persuasive line is, “Do you want to leave here knowing you didn’t try something new today?”
Roberts said acroyoga is more than yoga, acrobatics or working out. It’s a way to connect on a mental and personal level. He likens it to when he was a child and his family members would put him up in the air doing the “airplane.” Roberts said acroyoga is almost primitive in that way.
Valery Notaro, a physical therapy graduate student at Northeastern University, takes part in Roberts’ acroyoga jams.
“I moved to Baton Rouge for a clinical affiliation and didn’t know anyone here,” Notaro said. “But acroyoga is everywhere. I looked up acroyoga in Baton Rouge and made my way to a jam by the LSU lakes.”
Notaro said she was drawn in by Roberts’ welcoming, patient and helpful personality. She said he likes to teach people who are new to acroyoga.
When Notaro herself was new to the spot, she said she was scared, but the community feel helped her branch out.
“I was intimidated and amazed by what other people could do when I was new to it,” Notaro said. “But anyone can try it. Just start with the basics, go to a class or a jam and maybe bring a friend.”
Notaro said performing acroyoga with people she trusted her first few times was essential. She is a rock climber and said for her first few times doing poses, she did so with strong climbers who she had the utmost confidence in.
For Notaro, what makes acro so special is the sense of community and both the mental and physical challenges it presents, she said.
“There’s fulfillment in discovering something new and sharing skills,” Notaro said. “There are endless possibilities, no matter where you go.”
While some may feel acroyoga on a more spiritual level, Notaro said she doesn’t necessarily feel that for herself, but she still appreciates the mental aspects.
“It requires focus and body awareness, as well as trust in yourself and your partner,” Notaro said. “There are some transitions or poses that make me nervous. For those, I really have to focus, relax, trust, breathe and maintain my body awareness through it all.”