While I was hanging upside down this morning, my aerial yoga instructor at Trilogy Sanctuary talked about stories, namely the ones we tell ourselves. Stories like "I could never do that" and "I'm not ___ enough." She reiterated a message that's really become a mantra for me this year: stories that we tell ourselves are just that. They're just stories.
I've spent a lot of time disproving my stories over the past few months. Stories like, "I can't swim" or "I'm not good enough at yoga to go on a yoga retreat." In fact, I created a whole list of stuff that I wanted to do before my 30th birthday next year, many of which are attempting to rewrite my stories.
One of which was a little story that went something like: "I could never do aerial yoga."
I'd seen pictures of people flipping and twisting and rolling around in aerial silks before, but I'd always assumed they were majestic gymnasts at professional training centers. Then I started noticing locals on Instagram talking about Trilogy Sanctuary, an aerial yoga studio in La Jolla. I knew these people and they weren't Olympic gymnasts... some of them were beginners at yoga like me, but others didn't even practice yoga at all. This gave me hope.
Still, I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit to a class. At $20 bucks a pop for aerial yoga drop-in classes, I wasn't super keen on making a fool of myself / cracking my head open on any random given day. I had put aerial yoga on my 30 Before 30 to do list, but I was really great about making excuses to put it off.
Then I received a few free classes from a local fitness app. They had eliminated the financial risk excuse, so what did I have to lose?
I mean, besides my dignity.
Trilogy offers four aerial classes: Healing Sky Yoga, Sky Yoga Level 1, Sky Yoga Conditioning, and Sky Yoga Level 2. Any yoga with the word "healing" in it sounded like it was a good bet for a first timer, so I signed up for a 4:30pm class with Olivia one Monday night after work.
My first class was back in February. Since Trilogy's aerial setup is outdoors, I brought a sweater because it can get a bit chilly at night. But that was a small price to pay for the view I was treated to when I took the elevator to the penthouse floor. Where else can you watch the sun set into the ocean while you flip around on a rooftop? Hint: nowhere, at least not in California. Trilogy is the only open-air rooftop aerial studio in the state. And we're lucky enough to have them in San Diego!
I showed up for my first class with Olivia nervous and completely unsure of what to expect. And by our final savasana, I was a convert. Gentle stretching, light conditioning and aerial tricks had all been part of the agenda. It was a class that was constantly evolving and constantly fun, truly unlike any yoga class I had ever been to before.
At Trilogy, I was more energized than I had ever been in a yoga class. I was performing tricks and poses in the silk that I never thought I could do, even moments before I did them. The blood rushed to my head during all of our hammock-supported inversions and sent me on a natural high. Then, we savasanaed suspended in the evening breeze, cocooned in our hammocks while Olivia came around with a spritz of essential oils and did a light massage on our silk-covered feet.
It. Was. Amazing.
I've been hooked since that first class and I can safely say that Healing Sky Yoga with Olivia is probably one of my top three favorite yoga classes in the city. Don't hesitate, don't make excuses, just make sure you reserve a spot in advance (there's only 8 hammocks available) and go to one of her classes as soon as you can. Every one that I've taken since has been different and equally wonderful. I don't know how it is possible to be so energized and so relaxed at the same time after a class, but that's what happens every time I go to Trilogy.
But somehow, over the months that followed, I came up with another story: "I could never do Sky Yoga Level 1." I had no right to come up with this story... I didn't even know what was involved in the class. And I had gotten the hang of Healing Sky Yoga without any problem, so why couldn't I try the next level?
This storytelling, this naysaying is revealing itself as a huge issue for me. I have a feeling that I'm not the only one.
I put it off and put it off and finally, this past week, I decided to suck it up and register for a class. And this morning, bright and early, I chugged an iced coffee, drove to La Jolla, and sidled up to a hammock for HannaSita's 8:30am class.
In Sky Yoga Level 1, I learned how to control my backflips, I attempted all kinds of inversions (some more clumsily than others), and most importantly, I laughed a lot and felt like a carefree kid when myself and the six other strangers in class goofed off trying new poses and taking pictures after class.
Trilogy is a special, special place. And word of mouth moves pretty fast in San Diego. That means that with only 8 spots per class, you should register soon and early and often. Because guess what? Yogi or not, gymnast or not, athelete or not, you can do aerial yoga and you should because it is amazing.
Now, I can proudly say that I would know. :)
Trilogy Sanctuary
Phone: (858) 633-3893
7650 Girard Ave #4
La Jolla, CA 92037
