CRI听力:Acro Yoga Gains Popularity

Acro yoga, which is catching on in Canada is a dynamic style of yoga that combines acrobatics, balancing and so-called 'flying'.

It not only helps practitioners get flexible and fit, but also helps to build their courage as there are many daring poses involved.

Mallory Eddy is an acro yoga enthusiast in Squamish, British Columbia on Canada's West Coast:

"You're capable of anything. It looks really hard to do at first, but it's the type of thing that you just practice it enough and you're doing these amazing things. You're doing the splits, or you're doing headstands, or something like that. It seems very intimidating, but it's so rewarding."

Eddy is working on balancing in the air with the help of fellow students.

Eddy says the key to balancing or 'flying' is learning to trust the partners who are known as bases.
So she says one of the great things about acro yoga is she can build trust with new people who have a passion for yoga.

Meanwhile, Slava Goloubov, a well known acro yoga instructor based in Vancouver, says acro yoga is unique because of the immediate rewards students can feel.

"It's a moment of achievement, especially in our culture. It gives you a really direct experience. Where sometimes in a yoga class you might practice for years and years before you get something, we get immediate satisfaction here, and then you grow off of that, you get more complex. But initially, when you go to an acro yoga class, to our class, you'll feel this big moment of wow."

The instructor adds that when acro yoga students try poses they may have previously thought they couldn't do, they gain a sense of accomplishment, which is helpful to other parts of their lives.

Teresa Joe, a yoga instructor in Squamish says although the poses demand a high level of concentration, strength and flexibility, students of all levels can try acro yoga.

"There's always ways to modify and there's always a part of it that you can do. You don't have to feel pressurised to do something that you're really not ready for. But you'll be supported at every level that you're up for."

At the end of the acro yoga session, students unwind by massaging each other's backs.

It's just one more way of supporting each other in the challenging but rewarding style of yoga.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.