Moody Lyra

It's been a rough weekend, emotionally. Lyra class on Saturday was a good time, but I didn't bother with video. I made myself go to practice time today, even though the last thing I wanted to do was move or leave the house. It wasn't earth shattering, didn't improve my mood much, but I got it done. And worked on a small sequence.

one day

Browsing beginner lyra routines online...came across this. Not so beginner but stunningly beautiful. hashtagseriousgoals

Pike Arrow

I got it, pike arrow. I mean, DIB level. I have a feeling I know what's coming next, once I can demonstrate competency with this. And I think it's called tofu. And I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it.

I may even send this video to my teacher. We were working on it in our last private lesson, but it did not go well. Tonight was MUCH better.

Momentum

Second private lesson yesterday with lyra. I enjoy private lessons. I get all the attention. Really, it's how it should be with more things in life. No one to compare myself to except what I could do before. And when I show progress, someone is excited for me.

I also stayed for an hour of practice time after. This was a bit rough, physically...two hours of lyra. But it beats sitting in traffic, since my lesson ended right during traffic.

I didn't get any video other than this. And it was her suggestion. Working on momentum, to get seated from knee cinch. I'm getting better, but I can see that I seem to be stopping the swing.

Later, we tried the swing into seated. She told me to try to look at the wall behind me, that's how big the swing should be. And I got much higher. Made a joke about name that tune, I can get to seated in two pulls. She, of course, can do it in one. Usually I can do three; if I'm tired, it takes four. I would LOVE to do it in two regularly. I don't feel as scared that I'll swing myself right out of the hoop. I may work on this a bit in my own practice time. This will help me get to seated without looking like it takes a ton of effort.

DIBAF

I enjoy lyra class. As I keep seeing the same students, we get friendlier with each other. And I've always been the class talker, since grade school. We cut up a lot while we're waiting for our turn or during breaks. Me and two other students were working on our inverted straddle. Both of them struggled to do it. Me? I did it badly. But I did it. And one of them coined the acronym, DIB level. Doing it badly. But it sounds cool.

Yea, I'm at DIB level. What level are you?

Then after four rounds of that, where one student didn't get it once (I know those feels), and the other did it one time out of the four, she told me I was DIBA. And I came back with, DIBAF.

SO FUNNY! I'm DIB as fuck.

See, after the physical exertion of lyra, my brain goes to mush. And humor like that hits my funny bone.

Stronger

Progress. I'm making progress. In just a short three months, I've gotten considerably stronger and braver with lyra. Yea, I get hung up a lot on straddle. But I remember when I couldn't really let go with one arm very well on poses, like delilah. When cross leg mermaid felt hella awkward. Now my side mount is super fluid, no more wild swinging and spinning. I'm sure I'm still hopping a bit, but way more is coming from strength, and that's something to be proud of.

I re-structured my practice time a bit. Hoop warmup followed by sequence work (so that I'm not too tired) then end with mounting and dismounting practice. At the very end, work on hard moves on the low hoop. It worked a lot better last night with that format. And I'm quite pleased with my sequence. It's slow but controlled. (and sorries about the awkward camera angle, it's the best my camera can do)

Satarah

My teacher never ceases to amaze me!

Back Arrow

Bit of variation on arrow, called back arrow. And bent arrow, where I bend my knees. (I propped up the camera portrait style, which is why there are black bars on the side.)

I also worked on pike arrow. (basically folding at the waist, legs going the other way than in this video. That will need some work. I struggled to hold that position.)

Practice Time

Practice time! It was a little intimidating. The only hoop student practicing next to an intermediate silks class. I had to convince my brain over and over that they weren't laughing at me.

I got there a bit early, to do my off-hoops warmup. Then got about a full hour of hoop work. Made sure to stretch and cool down after. I'm pooped! This time slot will work nicely on Mondays and Thursdays.

Straddle is still clunky. Tried to mount with Ball; that wasn't happening. Worked on some newer moves on the lower hoop. Then spent the last bit, practicing this little sequence...

Sunny Hoops

Positively beautiful day. I just had to get outside and hoop. Working on some more twin sequences. Also have been practicing this bit of choreo...

Single Hip Hang

Lyra tired is a wonderful tired. Great class today. Now that I can straddle, albeit badly, there's nothing I can't do. I will smooth this out. I will go far in lyra. It's a beautiful sport. I can't believe I've finally found my thing. Two things, really. I found hoop dance. That changed my life. And now aerial hoops. The similarity stops at the shape. They are very different sports. But both wonderful and challenging and amazing.

A cool and scary thing. Single hip hang. I suppose single hip hang itself is not so scary. But getting into it can be. But I dids it. With my (bad) straddle. Sorry not sorry. I'd rather do it badly than not at all.

And some double elbow hang spins. Those are always fun. I changed to portrait style video so everything could be seen.

And I'm so glad I don't have class tomorrow. I'll miss seeing Katie and my Sunday friends, but I need a day of rest. I'm going to practice time on Monday night, instead. I love private track!

Private Track

My unicorn! It's almost here. I had a private lesson yesterday. I know, I was planning to wait until I mastered inverted straddle before going private. But it's a better schedule and better for me. Why the hell not?

It was magic! I loved having all the attention. I got to work on moves I wanted to, like gazelle and arrow. Also candlestick. Then she worked with me to improve on them, some transition moves, it was fun. Then at the end, worked a bit on straddle dismount. I get into position, thinking this will just be same old, same old. My legs flip back just about into correct position, and I gasped. I looked up at her, and my legs fell down. hehe. I tried it again and yep, got into position. Wow! So I tried quickly to actually mount from standing. I kicked up, didn't go so well, one foot almost braced the hoop. I tried once more, and although it wasn't pretty, I did it. My legs went back and then braced against the hoop. I've seen other students do it that way as they're learning.

I'd rather do it badly than not be able to do it at all!

So, private track is fun. Each month, I get two private lessons. And all the practice time I want during scheduled "practice times." They have a couple hours each on Monday and Thursday nights. Then I'll go to group class on Saturday. And voila! Three times per week! Not to mention, during the practice times, I can just work on what I know. Put little sequences together. I'll bring my good camera that sits on its own, the storage cubbies are right next to my favorite hoop.

I wish I had some video of last night's straddle. But soon, I'll get some. Monday.

LED goals

May the Fourth be with you...