Flying Free — Life Lessons Learned on the Flying Trapeze

 

I just finished reading “Flying Free — Life Lessons Learned on the Flying Trapeze” by Lynn Braz(@air_dancer on Instagram), and thoroughly enjoyed it. Lynn Brazz is a Renaissance woman — she’s a very talented writer, yogini, trapeze-artist, dancer, vegan and adventurer who tells an inspiring story of overcoming fear to become a trapeze-artist after a series of career setbacks and distressing life events. Her biggest fear for the longest time was a fear of heights and taking up trapeze many years ago helped her overcome this fear. She artfully uses trapeze as a metaphor for overcoming fear and things that limit us from achieving a more fulfilling life.

For as long as Lynn can remember, fear was omnipresent, and not just her fear of heights. Fear of failure was also a constant hindrance. Taking up trapeze was the ultimate way of challenging these deep-seated fears — climbing a ladder to a platform over 20 feet in the air then swinging on a trapeze at 25 mph, that takes some courage! Courage she didn’t know she had — in the end, her fears were shown to be an illusion. Her fears are not completely gone; instead of being ruled by fear, she developed a healthy relationship with it.

This book is not a how-to manual on learning trapeze or a recommendation to take up trapeze. Rather, Lynn’s aim is to encourage you to take up enriching, meaningful activities that challenge you physically and/or mentally. In other words, endeavors that take you out of your comfort zone, that involve learning new skills that put you in the “zone” or in a state of “flow”(as described by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi). It’s obvious that Lynn is in the “zone” when doing trapeze, or dance or yoga for that matter.

As both a joggler and unicyclist I can relate very well to Lynn Brazz’s story. In a way her book is a celebration of circus arts and how they can lead to a more fulfilling life. There are many sentences in this book where you could substitute “trapeze” with “unicycling” or “joggling” and it would make perfect sense. Unicycling also helped me overcome some of my fear, though that wasn’t the original reason I took up unicycling and joggling. There’s a kind of magic in circus arts, whether it’s trapeze, unicycling or juggling that’s difficult to find elsewhere.

It’s an understatement to say that trapeze is a great way to exercise. It goes far beyond that and Lynn Braz explains in her book how learning trapeze has influenced many other areas of her life for the better. After deciding she wasn’t going to be ruled by fear, she eventually traveled alone to Kashmir, then and now a volatile region that’s contested by India and Pakistan. I’ll definitely reread parts of this book whenever I struggle with learning new unicycling or juggling skills since her advice has relevance for doing anything challenging. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for inspiration to overcome their fears or discover hidden talents.

 

 

 

 

 

Kids and acrobatics

Acroyoga pose called Hangle Dangle. Source: Earl McGehee

I don’t have any kids of my own, but if I did, I would take their physical education as seriously as their intellectual development. After all, active kids are not only healthy kids, they generally tend to do better in school. This is why athletics are so important for kids and adults alike.

In order to get more kids interested in fitness, we should broaden what we consider to be athletics. The focus in schools is often on boring old calisthenics, team sports or track, and I think this is very limiting. I believe widening the scope of athletics to include acrobatics can help kids find the fitness activity that is right for them. It can also accommodate children who are not inclined to play team sports for whatever reason. If kids aren’t having fun with what they’re doing, they won’t stick to it. Many people don’t see acrobatics as athletic, but I do. How are the abilities of trapeze artists, tight-rope walkers, or jugglers not athletic?

What is probably the biggest stumbling block to wider acceptance of acrobatics as athletics is acrobatics close association with the circus. This association is unfortunate since the world of acrobatics offers so many fun ways to stay fit that can either be the mainstay of you or your child’s athletic routine, or a supplement to it. And before anyone mentions it, I am not recommending you or your kids take up acrobatic daredevilry.

Juggling is arguably the best gateway to this world, and it’s a safe(unless you juggle chainsaws), fun athletic activity in and of itself. It’s definitely a step forward that more schools are including juggling and acrobatics in their physical education programs. Acroyoga is another excellent way to practice acrobatics. Not surprisingly, juggling and/or acrobatics is linked with improved academic scores. The more options kids have when it comes to athletics, the better.