through physical developmental stages.
There’s an intention to their play and
movement; they’re learning to acquire
skills that need them to connect their
brains and their bodies and that
combination seems to really help drive
early brain and motor development.’
In addition to the physical benefits from
this type of training, there are huge
social, emotional and cognitive benefits
as well.
‘From a cognitive perspective, kids in
our classes have to learn special ways of
wrapping themselves in the silk and
following a series of steps to set
themselves up for a pose or “drop.” Kids
learn to execute and recall an ordered
and methodical process for each of
these moves, and they also have to
problem solve (‘’I wrapped myself the
wrong way – how do I fix it?”).’
‘Socially and emotionally, they develop
trust (for us as their coaches and for
other kids, but mostly themselves), they
support and encourage each other, and
work as a team (taking turns to
of change right now. Consumers, our
customers and members, have realised
that you don’t necessarily have to
struggle through 60 minutes on a
treadmill. They want to acquire skills,
have fun, be social, do something
different, and most of them don’t want it
to feel like “exercise”.’
The resurgence in the popularity of
gymnastics among adults has largely
been driven by adults wanting to be
able to do the ‘things’ they used to be
able to do (or never mastered as a kid),
such as a freestanding handstand, and
many other alternative fitness styles (e.g.,
calisthenics, free-running, pole dancing,
obstacle course racing) have seen huge
increases in participation as a result.
‘Integral is unique in that,’ explains
Alisha. ‘As well as being aerialists, we’re
a collection of movement practitioners
from a range of disciplines. Most of our
instructors are also yoga teachers,
physiotherapists, personal trainers,
gymnastics coaches or dance teachers.
This means that we understand the
importance of training both sides of the
body, of doing complementary body
work, of seeing a physio regularly for
tunes ups, and conditioning your body
with safe and effective exercises that
help our students prepare their bodies
for the rigorous activities they’ll be doing
in classes.’
Yet many other alternative fitness
businesses may have subject matter
experts who are great at what they do,
but they’re usually not fitness experts. I
see this as a huge opportunity for PTs to
connect with, and offer their expertise
to, facilities just like ours.
We get loads of trainers and instructors
coming in to try something different
and to put their own fitness to the test.
When I started I thought ‘I’m a PT, I
can do chin ups, it’ll be easy!’ but it
was such a specific type of fitness that
as I progressed with aerials, I become
stronger, fitter, more flexible than I’d ever
been before.
Of course, aerial arts aren’t just for those
interested in performing arts. It is
adaptable for everyone including kids,
adults, seniors, boys and girls! Anyone, in
fact, who wants to:
•
have fun and laugh
•
overcome obstacles
•
correct body alignment
•
increase strength and flexibility
•
improve confidence in themselves
•
feel exhilarated doing aerial tricks
While aerial arts help build alignment,
strengthen core muscles, increase spinal,
hip and shoulder flexibility in a fun,
challenging and supportive
environment, our ultimate vision is to
bring colour into your life, musicality into
your spirit and balance to your body.
‘We aim to empower students to have
the feeling of being part of a creative
atmosphere and to be able to release
their inner artist (or daredevil!)’.
Photos by Gareth Christian Photography
(www.garethchristianphotography.com)
‘go first’, compromising on themes for
performances, etc).’
‘One of the things I’m most proud of and
passionate about though, is the impact
we’re having on teenage girls and
young women. Aerial arts helps them
view their body from a position of pride
over what it can do – rather than focus
on how it looks. We commend them
on how their strength has improved,
how they’ve become more fluid in their
movement quality, or how committed
they’ve