Udara’s Aerial Yoga Teacher Training in September 2021

Guest post from Handwal Waluyo, participant of the training

From 19.-26. September 2021 Udara held a 50 hours Aerial yoga teacher training at the beautiful Baruna shala on the 3rd floor with ocean view. Let’s hear from Handwal, one of the participants of the training, how he experienced the week.

My name is Handwal, I am a yoga practitioner and teacher from Bali. During the teacher training with the aerial yoga hammocks, we could develop plenty of skills and we went on a deep dive within ourselves. We never know what kind of talents we have until we start exploring them. Aerial yoga can be a tool to discover your hidden talents!

With Aerial yoga movements, we can bring back memories of a happy childhood as we play around with the hammock, swing and sway above the mat, climb higher and challenge ourselves, how brave we can be high up above the ground. In that sense, this experience really recalled my happy childhood.

As we grow up, things change… Perhaps we become afraid of heights and lose our courage to try new things in a playful way like we used to do as a child. With Aerial yoga, you can heal those blockages! You are not only playing around with the silk hammock, but there are many more benefits from this practice, such as reconnecting to yourself with the hammock as a prop and helping you to conquer your fears.

Some people might think first that Aerial yoga is just designed for the ladies, who want to look pretty in their body covered with beautiful hammock fabric – but there is much more to it! Aerial yoga has built my muscles and made me much stronger. All of the Aerial yoga techniques how we lift our body, use our core and our legs are absolutely needed as a foundation and require a good understanding of our body. The integrated muscle movements are super powerful. After joining this training, I now know that it requires guts, consistency, and commitment for the practice to create a beautiful Aerial flow. The personal benefits that I got from this training are, that I feel taller, stronger, more flexible and am able to enjoy much more freedom that comes with flying.

Martina is a passionate and humble teacher, who lead the first amazing batch of aerial yoga students through the training with lots of patience and kindness. It might sound like an intense training, but it was also super fun. We spent the whole day at Udara from morning to the evening. Our day began with a healthy nutritious breakfast that gave us enough energy for the day. But even as the day was filled with lots of program, it did not feel stressful at all. The space and the group provided us with gorgeous uplifting vibrations.

For me, the best moments were during sunset time, when all the efforts of the practice fell away.  During the moments when the sun went down over the ocean, I knew that I was in the right spot at the right time. Magnificent! Practicing in the shala of Udara felt like being in the middle of nature, feeling the ocean breeze and seeing the Indian Ocean in front of us. I felt very connected to the elements. As a secret insider tip, I tell you: Use the hammocks in the first row to get the best view and bring your camera along to take some nice pictures.

 After joining this Aerial yoga teacher training with Martina and the Udara team recently, I am more confident to perform and to demonstrate how to do Aerial yoga poses smoothly and safely. I learned how to look after members in the class, help them expand and do poses on their own, how to encourage participants when they find challenges and to guide them from easier to more advanced practices. The manual and additional video tutorials really enriched the training and helped me to continue studying. I still do my self-practice and love creating Aerial sequences to combine and link poses together creatively.

These were the best moments I experienced during this teacher training in which the teachers shared all their skills and knowledge. It was a successful journey for body, mind and spirit. Thank you Martina, Merta and the team for always sharing and supporting us!

Would you like to be part of the next training group? Check out our page for more details on the upcoming Aerial yoga teacher trainings here.