Spiritual Trapeze: Oct 14 2007

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Oct 14 2007:
Hmm, was this a good idea? Doing it so soon right after the hike? Which was strenuous?

Stretching helped, but still sore from the hike, and knowing from Richard that obedience was all that was required, drove all the way to Sonoma, meeting & picking up a really nice fellow first-timer on the way.

Saw the instructors, and they were all muscular & well-built. Was it really not strenuous, and just about obedience that Richard had told me about? And then it struck me. The experienced flying trapeze artists had a look of calm peace in their eyes. The calm that I would expect from a Yogi after years of meditation. And the energy they radiated was calm, Sattvic and powerful.

Based on my movie-watching experience, I noted that Merek, our primary instructor, had chiseled features that would be considered exceedingly handsome in American culture. Good looks were shared by all the instructors, including our elderly muscular helper. Or was it just the positive aura I had experienced?

There was one practice session on the ground trapeze. There were jokes about identifying the 'analytical engineer', control issues & commitment issues. Or were they just half-jokes, and half-a quick deep insight into the human nature?

I turned out to be the only guy in the group. And I volunteered to go first, it all sounded easy. And as it turned out, I was the most scared. At the top, when I had to hold the trapeze, I simply froze. And felt fear. Fear that I hadn't felt as far as my memory would carry me. And I started bargaining, asking to be let off this time, asking to go later etc. After a lot of help, I finally jumped. Once I jumped, there was no fear, only an exhilaration just to be swinging through the air. And being obedient was the last thing on my mind then.

Future jumps were easier, but the fear of jumping remained unconquered in this session. Our elderly instructor commented that he could psycho-analyze a person just on the trapeze. I told him it was probably true. An unfamiliar environment facing our fears, probably reveals some of the raw aspects of our nature, that can be caught quickly by an experienced trapezer.

Some of us moved on to the next lesson, and got caught by the instructors; others were getting back in shape, and my muscles, sore from the hike, felt a lot better.

In summary, I believe that the flying trapeze is not just fun, it is also a spiritual experience, and if you haven't tried it, you must. It is also a good body workout, esp the Abs and upper body muscles, and you feel it the subsequent days. And with regular practice, maybe one can gain the 'calm' serenity of the others, I don't think it is mere coincidence.

Capped off driving through beautiful Sonoma, seeing the grapes hanging on the vines, visited a winery for the first time realizing there were so many types of grapes, soaking in the fall colors, a nice book on travel getaways, including romantic ones :), a nice early dinner at the 'Mayan' Mexican restaurant and a wonderful chocolate Sundae at some 'Cow' ice-cream parlor. With some interesting chit-chat.

If just one different outdoors experience was so enlightening, how could the others be? I signed up for an annual membership. I plan to be back again at the trapeze, for another attempt to try & conquer my fear. After I try other different activities.