When I began doing aerials, I suddenly became very vocal when I was working out and training.
Me, playing with a baby hoop in an outdoor aerial rig a few years ago.
When I began doing straps (a type of aerials where you hang with your wrists in straps and do things with your body-I have no pictures of this. The pictures would be very boring since my skill level is low. Trust me on this.) my vocals became even more expressive.
I grunted. I groaned. I cursed. I growled. I yelled. I hurHURarrred. (As a side note, I sent my mother a video of me doing aerials that had audio and her only comment was, “I never hear the people in Cirque du Soleil breathing that hard.” Thanks, mom!)
Every now and then I eeped. Or I squeaked. Or I gakked.
I realized I had a kind of code going on. When I was working really hard, at the limits of my ability but still within my range, my vocals were deep and expansive and ongoing.
When I passed my range and lost control, my vocals went shrill and sharp.
Working hard and making noise was fine. It meant I was still breathing. But when my voice went up an octave, I knew I had gone too far and I was working in a place where my body couldn’t learn anything anymore. It was time to take a break.
This idea came up for me while teaching a few weeks ago in a class focused on balance. Improving your balance requires a little bit of slack, a little bit of ease, a little bit of playfulness. If you want to get better, you have to push the boundaries a little and when you push the boundaries sometimes the boundaries push back. Sometimes when the boundaries push back, we feel unsafe. When we feel unsafe, our bodies stop learning.
I often talk about that little bit of play we have to bring to learning how to balance better. We have to give ourselves some slack, without making our bodies feel anxious. My vocal performance when doing aerial training is an illustration: grunts and groans equal slack and a place of learning; take it a little too far and the learning stops and the squeaking begins.
I think, with or without vocal accompaniment, this idea translates into learning in general. It’s okay to explore your range, even if you’re not doing the thing exactly perfectly, as long as you’re in a place of learning.
A place of learning means that you feel engaged and curious and interested. Maybe you feel excited and light and good humored. Or maybe you feel deeply focused and intense and hard working.
But cross the line into panicked, overwhelmed, fatigued, frightened, stressed…You’re not in a place of learning anymore; you’re in a place of defense and survival.
Next time you’re learning something new with your body, pay attention to your signals. Do you have a tell, like my vocal signaling during aerial training? Use it to help you, and let your body stay in a place of learning.
copyright 2021 Autumn Needles Pilates and Fitness LLC