{"id":526,"date":"2015-01-20T04:09:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T04:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/?p=526"},"modified":"2015-01-27T01:08:32","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T01:08:32","slug":"took-a-break-returning-to-aerial-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/took-a-break-returning-to-aerial-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"Took a Break? Returning to Aerial Shape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"p90x\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As I(Rebekah) am currently 7 months pregnant, I find myself\u00a0reflecting back on my journey back into aerial shape that I wrote about after the birth of my first child in 2011. You may recognize the picture above from a blog I posted a few years back. These pictures were taken in February and August of 2011. I am about to make that very same journey this year once I have this baby, and so I am encouraged by hearing other “returns to aerial after a break” stories. Ryah Cooley is one of those aerialists who have a story to tell. If you are also one of those who took a break for any reason, be encouraged!\u00a0If it feels hard, you’re not alone. Read below as Ryah shares from the heart.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once upon a time aerial fabric dancing kind of was my life. I took classes, performed,<\/p>\n

traveled for intensive workshops, taught aerial to kids and even wrote pieces on it.<\/p>\n

Then life got busy. I became more focused on school, pursuing a career in writing<\/p>\n

and my long-term relationship. Things like time, money and proximity to a good<\/p>\n

studio got in the way of even doing aerial for fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then things quickly changed and I found myself with a lot more time on my<\/p>\n

hands. Within the span of two months my relationship ended, I was laid off from my<\/p>\n

writing job and I had to move back home with my parents to save money and try to<\/p>\n

piece my life back together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With everything in life bringing me down, I wanted to return to doing something<\/p>\n

that made me happy, which is how recently I found myself staring at a set of silks for<\/p>\n

the first time in close to two years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although I had been doing other things to stay physically active during that time, I\u2019m<\/p>\n

nowhere close to being as in shape now as I was back when I taught and practiced<\/p>\n

aerial multiple times a week.<\/p>\n

\"image6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve found yourself going through an aerial dry-spell for whatever reason, read<\/p>\n

on for my tips on getting back into aerial shape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t go alone.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s been a while and your skills are probably a tad rusty. For safety<\/p>\n

reasons, I made sure other people would be around at the studio I was practicing at<\/p>\n

and I even had a friend come along to watch me.<\/p>\n

-Consider a refresher class. You\u2019ll be surprised at how many movements your<\/p>\n

body remembers on its own, but to avoid that oh-so-scary moment where you\u2019re up<\/p>\n

in the air and can\u2019t remember which way the wrap goes for that big drop, splurge on<\/p>\n

some instruction time. If an aerial class is nowhere to be found in your area, take<\/p>\n

some time to review aerial movements at our video library.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go slow.<\/h3>\n

Even if you were doing aerial five times a week before, your body likely<\/p>\n

won\u2019t be able to handle that right off the bat. Start off with one or two aerial sessions<\/p>\n

a week and go from there as you progress.<\/p>\n

-Go low at first. I\u2019ve always been a big fan of learning the wraps to drops at a nice,<\/p>\n

low height until I\u2019ve got them completely memorized. This trick is even handier if<\/p>\n

you\u2019ve been on aerial hiatus and things are a little fuzzy. Having silks with an extra<\/p>\n

long tail makes this easier.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cross train.<\/h3>\n

Definitely continue to incorporate other workouts, like strength<\/p>\n

training, yoga and cardio into your fitness routine, as it will only benefit your time in<\/p>\n

the air. Now that aerial is back in my life, I take care to not do a crazy hard workout<\/p>\n

the day before an aerial session so my muscles aren\u2019t overly fatigued when I\u2019m on<\/p>\n

the silks. I also love taking a long yoga class the day after an intense aerial session to<\/p>\n

stretch everything out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Balance your plate.<\/h3>\n

Make sure you\u2019re fueling your body with a good mixture of<\/p>\n

fruits, veggies, protein and healthy carbs so you have the energy to sustain your<\/p>\n

aerial sessions. In particular, I notice that I need a lot more protein when I\u2019m doing<\/p>\n

aerial versus when I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have fun!<\/h3>\n

Above all, have fun with the process. You\u2019re literally defying gravity,<\/p>\n

which is ridiculously cool and you\u2019re making time for something that you love. Don\u2019t<\/p>\n

beat yourself up about not being where you used to be skill wise. You\u2019ll get there in<\/p>\n

time.<\/p>\n

\"ryah.portraits-54\"<\/a>Ryah is a writer and aerialist currently hanging out in San Luis Obispo, CA. She needs a step stool to reach most things and is pro-double dipping. To read more of her writing, visit\u00a0<\/span>ryahcooley.com<\/a>\u00a0or follow @ryahcooley on Twitter.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I(Rebekah) am currently 7 months pregnant, I find myself\u00a0reflecting back on my journey back into aerial shape that I wrote about after the birth of my first child in 2011. You may recognize the picture above from a blog I posted a few years back. These pictures were taken in February and August of … Continue reading “Took a Break? Returning to Aerial Shape”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}