What Do YOU Want to Train in Acroyoga?

A few days ago in a jam I had an interesting chat with some people about this question that I often ask during acroyoga.

To give some context I've developed a habit of asking someone before we play acro together...

"What do you want to train?"

A couple of people commented that they found this uninspiring and frustrating sometimes.

Because it comes across as me not having any inspiration and the pressure is on them to decide what to do.

Perfectly valid and fair points.

I'm going to take this opportunity to explain in some detail why I ask this question or the reason behind it, and the change I intend to make going forwards to avoid this frustration etc.

So the reason I developed a habit of asking this question stems from too much teaching happening at jams.

I've seen many others teaching plenty at jams and I also used to do it a lot too.

This is something that I've since changed (but is still a work in progress).

Because jams are not a place to teach.

Sure we can share some stuff and help out.

But hard teaching should be saved for the right environment - a class or workshop.

So by asking this question we avoid teaching something new.

Instead it makes someone think about what they want to train and practice.

This question is especially important to ask to beginners who come to jams with the expectation to learn.

Because it highlights the fact that they don't know what to train, and they don't know what they should be training.

This isn't to make them feel bad, but it's a gentle and helpful way of indicating that they should go learn in a proper setting and then use jams as a way to play, practice and do acro with others.

Another reason why I ask this question so often is from my personal point of view of being slightly more experienced than the majority of people I play with in a jam.

I end up leading and having to decide upon the movements, flows and things we will do.

This isn't a problem per say, but I have been working hard to be less "in control" in acro and find more of an equal balance and input when playing, rather than always leading.

By asking this question it is an attempt to shift the initiative and control in the opposite direction.

So we've established why this question can be useful, and the reasons behind asking it.

But we should address the frustrations...

That it's uninspiring and seems like I don't have anything that I am interested to train or work on.

Again perfectly valid points.

My personal take on this is that when I am at a jam I often have very few specific goals or intentions.

I show up to play with others, have fun and just go with the flow.

For me that is what a jam is about.

If I have specific things I do want to work on I will specifically communicate that with whoever before hand.

Or more often, I will work on them in dedicated training sessions not in jams.

The other thing that I've realised whilst writing this, is that often the things that I would actually like to train and work on aren't suitable for the majority of people I play with in a jam.

(Hence why I train them in specific sessions with specific people)

But that doesn't mean I don't want to play with beginners, quite the opposite I always enjoy doing acro with a variety of people.

So the solution I've come up with is a subtle change, but one that will hopefully address the frustrations.

That is to rephrase the question to...

"Is there anything you would like to train or work on?"

A small change but one that will hopefully remove a lot of the frustrations surrounding this question.

I also will share with them that what I want to train and work on is just playing and having fun etc.

To help people better understand my perspective in a jam situation too.

Maybe you think this is a minor and non-issue that's not worth mentioning.

I would offer the opposite way of thinking about it...

How we communicate, make others feel and approach acro before even playing has a massive impact on how enjoyable it is, what we get out of it etc.

Therefore I take a lot of mental energy and focus to these aspects of acro even more than the physical practice sometimes.

My parting challenge to you:

Try asking this new and improved question to someone at a jam next time you play and see how it works...

Cheers,

Cas