Selamat Hari Minggu!

Hari ini mrsBuckwheat mau sharing pengalaman pertama ikut aerial yoga. Dulu gue sempat pengen mencoba aerial yoga gara-gara ngelihat postingan teman di sosmed. Kayaknya seru banget bisa gelantungan jungkir balik. Berhubung waktu itu olahraga ini baru santer, masih belum banyak kelasnya. Studio tempat teman latihan juga jauh dari rumah.

Untung banget, ternyata ada studio senam dekat sini yang buka kelas aerial yoga sejak tahun lalu. Begitu dapat konfirmasi jadwal latihan, gue langsung daftar sehari sebelumnya. Hampir saja gue nekat ikut Muaythai lagi karena akhir-akhir ini rasanya kangen sekali bergerak aktif. Walaupun pemanasannya mungkin boleh diatur nggak seintens biasanya, gue nggak yakin gue mampu menahan hasrat meninju dan menendang sekuat tenaga *geleng-geleng*. Itu hal yang mustahil. Lebih aman nunggu 4 bulan, supaya genap 1 tahun.

Selain Muaythai, gue pernah nyoba ikut Perisai Diri (silat) jaman SMA dan Wushu jaman kuliah. Sekarang jangan ditanya ya jurus-jurusnya? Jujur nggak ada yang keinget sama sekali hehehe... Kalau gym/senam, gue hanya cocok dengan pilates. Beberapa kali ikutan zumba tapi kok jadi pusing gerakannya salsa sekali di studio yang dulu. Selain itu, jalan pagi di jalan raya bikin jerawatan, sementara jalan pagi di taman.... Gue suka... TAPI kadang-kadang ada orang yang bawa hewan peliharaannya yang panjang dan tidak memiliki kaki ke sana.

Happy Sunday!

Today, Mrs.Buckwheat wants to share her first experience joining aerial yoga class. I have wanted trying it since I saw a friend's post on social media. It seemed really exciting to be able to "fly" and to be upside down. At that time this kind of yoga was still new, so there were not many classes available. The studio where my friend practicing was also far from my home.

Fortunately, there is a gym studio near here that has opened an aerial yoga class since last year. Once I could confirm the training schedule and empty spot availability, I immediately registered the day before. I almost became desperate to join Muaythai again because lately I really miss moving actively. Even though the warming up may be reduced, not as intense as usual, I'm not sure if  I could withstand the desire to punch and to kick as hard as I can *head shaking*. That's impossible. It's safer to wait another 4 months.

Besides Muaythai, I had joined Perisai Diri (silat) during senior high school and wushu when in college. But, don't ask me about the movements now. Honestly, I have forgotten it all. For gym/fitness, I only prefer pilates. I have tried to do Zumba a few times but its movements (in the previous studio) was too Salsa. It made me dizzy. Moreover, morning walking on the street gave me a lot of acne while morning walking on the park was.... I loved it...until there was a guy, brought his long-and-has-no-feet pets to that park.


Jadi akhirnya, mrsBuckwheat yang kebanyakan alasan ini sampai di studio senam telat sedikit. Studionya lega, banyak jendela dan cukup terang. Di ruangan sudah siap 6 murid dan 1 guru, semuanya rapi duduk santai di dalam hammock. Kelas belum dimulai, selain gue masih ada satu murid lainnya yang ditunggu kehadirannya.

Gue dapat tempat di baris kedua. Selesai memasang hammock dengan bantuan mbak A yang super ramah (semua di kelas itu luar biasa ramah sekali), gue juga berusaha duduk di dalam hammock. Oya, hammock dan matras di studio ini disediakan, cuma memang hammock harus dipasang sendiri. Gampang kok, hanya perlu dikaitkan ke tali-tali yang tersedia.

So finally, Mrs.Buckwheat, who has too many excuses, arrived at the gymnastics studio a bit late. The studio was spacious, with lots of windows and quite bright. Inside it, 6 participants and a teacher had been ready for the class. All of them were neatly sitting and relaxed in their hammocks. The class hasn't started yet, besides me there was still one participant who hadn't came yet.

I got a place in the second row. After installing the hammock with the help of super friendly Ms. A (all of people in the class was extremely friendly), I also tried to sit in my hammock. Anyway, hammocks and mattresses were provided by the studio. Hammocks had to be installed by each participants. It was easy, it just had to be linked to the available ropes.


Kelas dimulai dengan pernapasan dan peregangan menggunakan hammock. Paling pertama, yaitu berbaring di dalam hammock. Pernapasan abdomen diikuti pernapasan biasa. Ini "gerakan" favorit gue, seketika pengen punya hammock buat bobo siang di rumah.

Setelah itu, secara bertahap gurunya ngajarin posisi-posisi dari yang mudah sampai ke tingkat yang lebih sulit. Gue paling kesulitan di posisi di mana hammock harus menyangga tubuh depan bagian bawah. Posisi badan terbalik dengan tumpuan hammock pada panggul. Si hammock bolak-balik naik ke pinggang setiap mulai kebalik. Terlebih kekuatan core gue masih kurang kuat plus suka lupa kalau badannya harus tegak (tahan perut). Menurut guru dan mbak B, kalau perut dikunci, otomatis hammock lebih mudah dikontrol begitu juga kekuatan core. Noted! Lumayanlah, berhasil juga dengan arahan teman-teman dan dibantuin gurunya nahan hammock supaya tetap di panggul sampai pose gue stabil.

The class began with breathing and stretching using a hammock. The very first was lying inside the hammock. Abdominal breathing followed by regular breathing. This was my favorite "pose", immediately wanting to have a hammock for a nap at home.

After that, gradually the teacher taught us some poses from easy to more difficult levels. I had the most difficulty in a pose where the hammock had to support the lower front body. The position of the body was upside down, hanging with a hammock on the pelvis. My hammock always went up to my waist every time I started raising my legs. Moreover, my core strength was still not strong. Plus, I often forgot that my body had to be upright (holding the stomach and the back). According to the teacher and Ms. B, if the stomach was held, the hammock would be easier to control as well as the strength of my core. Noted! Not bad, I finally could do it with directions from friends and assisted by the teacher to keep the hammock at my pelvis until my pose was steady.

Singa lagi menyamar jadi kepiting.

Nah, posisi yang ini kalau nggak salah namanya Bound One-Legged King Pigeon Pose. Di setiap pose yang sulit, gurunya akan memotivasi dengan sesi foto ha-ha... Supaya gampang, dilakukannya bergiliran. Ini foto percobaan pertama gue, yang sebenarnya gagal. Melihat gue kesusahan mengangkat bagian bawah badan ke atas sementara punggung belakang bertumpu di hammock. Mbak-mbak peserta lainnya dan "Bu" guru memutuskan untuk menata badan gue sedemikian rupa seperti kertas origami, LOL.

"Kita harus saling membantu!", kata mereka cekikikan. Jadilah, berhasil difoto *nyengir*. Foto yang dari samping lebih bagus siluetnya. Saking bagusnya gue simpan sebagai koleksi pribadi saja haha...becanda!. Sesudahnya pun mereka dengan sabarnya membantu melepaskan kaitan kaki gue yang entah kenapa sekaku kayu.

TAPI, begitu gue berhasil berdiri tegak lagi. "Bu" guru tersenyum manis, beliau bilang peserta yang baru melakukan 1 kali harus melakukan 1 kali lagi untuk kaki sebelahnya *sigh*. Tak bisa berkata-kata, gue langsung bergelantung terbalik lagi. Namun kali ini nggak dibantu. Di percobaan ketiga, akhirnya gue berhasil angkat kaki ke atas sendiri. Mbak A ngebantu menaruh sisi hammock lainnya ke genggaman gue, karena gue cuma berhasil megang satu sisi doang. Sebenarnya lebih bagus nggak pegangan ke hammock, kedua tangan menyentuh kaki yang di bawah. Tapi..., tolong biarkan gue begini dulu ya... Minggu depan gue akan coba tanpa pegangan hammock. Janji.

Senang sudah sukses melakukan posisi Bound One-Legged King Pigeon, gue dengan pedenya berkata kalau gue akan mencoba berdiri sendiri pelan-pelan sewaktu mbak-mbak pasang ancang-ancang mau bantuin berdiri lagi. Tetap, mereka pasang mata sampai gue stabil berdiri tegak.

Rupanya, gue nggak diberi kesempatan menunda lepas pegangan sampai minggu depan. Posisi akhirnya adalah Monkey Pose, di mana badan bergelantung terbalik ke belakang dan kedua kaki di atas, masing-masing mengait ke tiap sisi hammock. Tangan? Kedua tangan harus pegangan ke tangan teman di sisi kiri dan kanan.

Awalnya, gue sama sekali nggak kepikiran "takut" tapi begitu disuruh lepas pegangan. Tiba-tiba ciut lagi. Lalu terjadilah versi slow motion adegan dramatis di film-film.. Antara mrsBuckwheat, mbak B, dan mbak A dalam posisi terbalik.
"Buckwheat....., lepas pegangannya...."
"Nggak....., aku takut jatuh....."
"Nggak apa-apa, Buckwheat... Lepas saja..."
"Nggak mau......"
"Kuatkan saja kakimu.... Pegang tanganku..."
Adegan berakhir saat mrsBuckwheat melepas kedua pegangannya, meraih tangan mbak B di sisi kanan dan mbak A di sisi kiri. Menakjubkan, memang nggak jatuh loh hehehe... Asal kaitan kakinya kuat dan perut ditahan.

Well, this position (if I'm not wrong) is called Bound One-Legged King Pigeon Pose. Every time there was a difficult pose, the teacher would motivate the class with a photo session... To make it easier, every participants would do the pose one by one. And, this was my first trial photo, which actually failed. Seeing me having trouble lifting the lower part of my body up while my back was resting on a hammock. The experienced participants and the teacher decided to arrange my body in such a way as an origami paper, LOL.

"We have to help each other!", they giggled. And voilà! I was successfully photographed *grinned*. The other photo from the side is better than this one. Its silhouette is so good that I just keep it as a private collection haha.. I'm kidding. After that, the experienced participants patiently helped me to untangle my legs which were somehow stiff as wood.

BUT, once I was able to stand up straight again. The teacher smiled calmly. She said that the participants who had just done once had to do 1 more time for the other leg *sigh*. Speechless, I immediately started hanging upside down again. But this time, I did it by myself. 

In the third trial, finally I managed to lift my feet up. Ms. A helped me to put the other side of the hammock into my hand, because I only succeed to hold one side. It's actually better not to hold onto the hammock, both hands should touch the feet below. But I said, please let me do like this first... Next week I will try to do it without hold on to the hammock. I promise.

Glad to have succeeded in doing Bound One-Legged King Pigeon pose, I told them that I would try to stand up slowly by myself when their were ready to help me untangle my legs again. Still, they put their eyes on me until I was able to stand upright.

Apparently, I couldn't avoid to do an upside down pose without holding the hammock until next week. The final position was Monkey Pose, where the body was hanging upside down and both feet went up, hooked to each side of the hammock. Both hands had to hold to the friend's hands on the left and right side.

At first, I didn't scared at all. But, when I was told to release the handles. Suddenly, I became afraid again. Then, a slow motion version of the dramatic scene begins... between mrsBuckwheat, Ms. B, and Ms. A in an upside down position.
"Buckwheat..., let it go (the handles)..."
"No... I would fall ..."
"It's okay, Buckwheat ... Just let it go..."
"I don't want to......"
"Just strengthen your legs ... Hold my hand ..."
The scene ended when Mrs. Buckwheat released her hands from her hammock, grabbed Ms. B's hand on the right side and Ms. A's hand on the left side. Amazingly, she really didn't fall down ha-ha... As long as the legs were strongly hooked on the hammock and the stomach was held, the pose would be steady.


Begitulah, pengalaman pertama gue ikut kelas aerial yoga, hehehe... Menurut yang berpengalaman lama-lama gue bakal ngeh sendiri bagaimana trik menahan hammock tetap di panggul. Semakin banyak berlatih, semakin terbiasa.

Senangnya, gue masih sanggup puasa penuh sampai Maghrib setelah ikut aerial yoga.  Tanpa pusing, haus, ataupun kelelahan. Akhirnya gue menemukan olahraga yang selama ini gue cari :D.

Badan pegal-pegal nggak setelahnya? Iyalah.. Badan gue mulai pegal dini hari. Sudah 2 hari ini kebangun tiap jam 1 dan 3 pagi, habis itu nggak bisa tidur sampai malam hari. Dulu waktu ikut pilates pertama kalinya, gue susah telungkup selama 1 minggu, perut luar biasa tegang . Sekarang walaupun perut terasa sakit setiap batuk, gue masih bisa telungkup tanpa keluhan.

Mau ikutan aerial yoga juga? Kalau belum berhasil, ketawa saja dan coba lagi sampai berhasil. Semangat!

So that's my first experience joining an aerial yoga class.. According to experienced participants, I will find out the way to keep the hammock stays in my pelvis by practicing. The more I practice, the more I get used to it. I'm very glad that I was still able to do fasting even after doing aerial yoga. No dizziness, thirst, or fatigue. Finally, I found an activity that I had been looking for.

Does my body get sore afterwards? Yeah...  It has been 2 days. I woke up every 1 am and 3 am, and couldn't sleep again until night because of muscles soreness. But it's not really bad. When I tried Pilates for the 1st time, I couldn't lie on my stomach for a week. My stomach was unusually tense. Now, even though my stomach aches every time I cough, I can still lie on it without any complaint.

Do you want to do aerial yoga, too? If it doesn't work at first trial, just laugh it off and try again until it works. Don't give up! I'll join the class regularly, too.

P.S: Jika ada kesalahan dalam menerjemahkan, mohon koreksinya. Terima kasih :)



-mrsBuckwheat-



Disclaimer: 
- All the pictures are mine. Unless, it's stated otherwise