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There is nothing like using your partner as your foundation, support and method of balance to help build trust and encourage team work within a relationship. There is also nothing like toppling head over feet onto your partner to inspire some deep, authentic belly laughs:

After watching people on Santa Monica Beach nail pose after pose, like the one above, Drew and I decided that it was time for us to take our relationship to the next level, so we signed up for the Friday night All Levels AcroYoga class at The Raven in Silver Lake!:

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This beautiful, open-air studio was filled with a friendly and charming bunch who were eager to welcome us to this fascinating, fun and difficult practice. We all started in a circle, introduced ourselves and after a few partner yoga stretches, the fun began:

Drew and I were twirled, tossed and flipped in midair by people we had met a fresh 5 minutes prior! These seasoned AcroYogis helped us open our minds and awakened muscles we didn’t even know we had!

Once class was finished, we stayed to participate in the Friday night Jam. A Jam is an open practice where AcroYogis share their skills with each other without formal instruction, it’s a great way to build community and Acro-confidence by connecting with many different people and trying out all sorts of new things. We were a bit hesitant at first, but with a few basic techniques down, Drew and I were ready to smear that Jam all over the place!:

It became clear that the most important skill to have for this was listening. How well can you listen to your breath, your partner’s breath and the cues your partner is giving you? You have to keep a clear mind and trust, because if you don’t, you won’t know how to support each other and you both will fall. Soon enough, as in any good relationship, you’ll begin to understand what your partner needs without them having to tell you and your relationship will turn into a strong and beautiful.

In addition to the Friday night class at The Raven (which was awesome!) Drew and I were lucky enough to be invited to Tari‘s Elegant Acro in the Hills. Tari is part of a small handful of ever-growing Certified AcroYoga Teachers in the World and is also the only resident male AcroYoga teacher in LA and one of only five AcroYoga teachers in all of Los Angeles! Tari hosts LA’s largest, secret Jam, which is invitation only, every Thursday night in his beautiful Hollywood home. With a trampoline, slack line, multiple gymnastic rings, aerial silks, outdoor climbing ropes, multiple poles, handstand canes, dance studio, 2 fuzzy cats and more… it really is as amazing as it sounds! With Tari’s guidance we were able to deepen our practice, learn poses we would have never been able to master in a group class, made new (extremely skilled) friends and had a total blast doing it!

If you want in on all the fun, please contact Tari Mannello via FaceBook or email him at tari@tari.tv for approval 🙂

AcroYoga not only gave us a entirely new way to play, but it taught us how to support and strengthen each other as a whole and have fun in the process!

“Meet people without fear, and play.”