Hey folks, thanks for tuning in! This month we’d like to share with you why we’re excited to be offering alternative high school P.E. credit here at Acro Enso. First off, we need to ask: why do teens dislike P.E. so much? Whether you remember these adolescent years or not, we all know how unique this phase of life is. Not only do teens need to deal with changing bodies and fragile egos, but they’re also wading through a world of dogma where they must decipher their own truths on what a healthy life is. When we throw these kids into a gymnasium and tell them it takes this many pushups and pull-ups to be a healthy individual, it’s no wonder we see such resistance. This one shoe fits all mentality is thickly laden in our education system and it does nothing to support the diverse individuals our children are.

Even as adults there are many of us who disfavor going to the gym to run another lap on the treadmill to meet that half hour goal of daily fitness.  At Acro Enso, we value a more personalized approach to fitness that encourages continuous growth, individual creativity and personal drive. By offering a range of activities like cyr wheel, acrobatics, juggling and more, our members and students are able to discover a way to a healthy life that truly serves their unique selves. This form of meaningful play has boosted my and my partner’s life both physically and mentally, and as parents, we’re eager to offer this to our children.

When we came across the opportunity to join the extended studies program of the Washoe County School District, we were quick to sign up in order to offer the youth of our community the same means to choose their own path to a healthy life. If you have a teenager or are one yourself that is interested in learning more about our program, we encourage you to stop by anytime to chat or to sample any of our classes. Check out our Class Schedule to see all that we offer. We’re sure we’ll have something you’ll enjoy doing.

Thanks for reading!

~ Namastizzle

Acro Enso.

Happy Tuesday everyone!! We hope the first few weeks of this new year have been treating you well and have brought you many new insights. If you’ve made a resolution this year to add more movement into your life, then this blog is made just for you! If not, keep reading anyways to learn how we celebrate and cherish the movement (a.k.a exercise) in our life here at Acro Enso. Too often in our culture we overshadow the glory of exercise, when we think we need to do it just to burn off last night’s dessert or because we have to for the sake of our health. If exercise is viewed as something we must endure, like a shot at the doctor’s office, it easily morphs into this burden of necessity; when in reality it could be quite the opposite. If approached in a genuine way, movement has the potential of being a desirable and celebrated part of your life.

At Acro Enso, we follow and encourage one simple rule that allows us to embrace and enjoy the glory of movement: If you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing, then do something different that is worth celebrating! If you wish to fully utilize the amazing tool of exercise to support your physical and mental well-being in the best way possible, then we suggest you seek out the kinds of movement that speak to your heart and unique individuality. If your motivation to exercise comes from a place of genuine passion it will no longer seem like a burden that you must endure; instead you will crave and celebrate the movement in your life because it makes you happy, and the health you gain from it will become a wonderful bonus.

At Acro Enso we’ll be offering a diverse range of fun disciplines for you to choose from to help you find your passion in movement. Join us this year to discover more ways that move you by trying classes like cyr wheel, juggling, acrobatics, dance, yoga, conditioning, martial arts, and more. Come and find your play at Acro Enso once we open our doors! For more information or if you have any questions please feel free to contact us at our website or visit our social media anytime. We hope you enjoyed this blog and we’re excited to play with you soon!

Namastizzle ~

Acro Enso.

What is a Sacred Spotter?
Let’s start by leading you through the colorful streets of Portland, Oregon to the largest convention center in the Pacific Northwest. Inside the main room you’re greeted by a warm breeze of try hard b.o. from hundreds of determined acrobats. Here at the Divine Play Festival - a three day long training event - is where Cyrus and I (Keisha) met up with Emily Montesinos (a Lift Certified Teacher). During the time we spent here with Emily, I learned about her project - The Sacred Spotter Movement - and now we’d like share this movement with you. For those who don’t know, a Sacred Spotter is a trusted person who is trained on the methods of beneficial spotting for individual or partner acrobatics.

Why Do We Need Sacred Spotters?
Emily shared her concerns with us that Sacred Spotters aren’t used or talked about enough in the growing acro community. It’s easy to see how this leads to unnecessary injuries, and gives our tribe a poor reputation of being unsafe. Cyrus and I experienced this issue  first hand at one of the advanced workshops of the festival. I’d fallen unexpectedly from a dynamic standing skill straight on to the knee of an unaware spotter. I was too injured from the hard fall to finish the workshop and after some recovery I was very hesitant of who my spot would be for the rest of the festival. It seemed that even some of the advanced acrobats lacked proper spotting experience.

Support Your Sacred Spotter
Fortunately, Sacred Spotter education is spreading with the help of instructors like Emily and the rest of the teachers at the Lift School of Acrobatics lead by Aaron Lind, Christine Moonbeam and Eric Asay. We attended one of their immersions in Colorado this year and had great success not only because of their excellent teaching but also because of their comprehensive spotting instruction. At Acro Enso, conditioning classes will be available to anyone who would like to expand their experience in proper training in acrobatics. It is an honor to earn the title of a Sacred Spotter! Follow Emily on Instagram, @sacredspotter and use the hashtag #sacredspotter in your social media to support the movement of quality spotting in acrobatics. We’d like to thank the Lift School of Acrobatics for inspiring this post and their continued education in our community. Check them out at their website to learn more.

Thanks for reading and as we say in Reno, Namastizzle!

Acro Enso.

In life, there is a first for everything. A first breath, first step, first kiss. A first love, and a first loss. Right now, you are reading the very first blog post published by Acro Enso - which is another first. Acro Enso will be the first large scale movement arts studio in Reno with a focus on partner acrobatics, cyr wheel, and dance; and with a full offering which will include everything from yoga and general fitness to clowning and magic. Happiness is our first principle, and we hold the firm belief that meaningful play is a necessary foundation for a healthy, happy, and well-balanced life. We are also of the opinion that meaningful play is not limited to any particular age, body shape, experience, gender, or race. Whether you are young or old - new to movement or a seasoned pro - whether you like pink balloons, blue balloons, or no balloons - our mission here at Acro Enso is to provide a home, a community hub, and a safe container in which you can find connection in your own body and with others through meaningful play expressed in authentic movement.
 
Your first question might be: Why Acro Enso? What does this name mean? As in most things that we do, we chose this name with a very specific intention. In modern parlance, the word acro is most often associated with acroyoga, made popular by the organization which bears its name. If we dig further, it is not difficult to see that the word acro is derived from the word acrobatics, which elicits in most people thoughts of the circus. But what is this word, acrobatics, and where does it come from? Acrobatics is most commonly defined as something along the lines of individual or partner skills involving strength and dexterity, including body rotations, twists, flips, balances, jumps, and turns. This is actually the definition given by the National Institute of Circus Arts based out of Australia. Evidence of acrobatics throughout human history can be traced back to most ancient civilizations and cultures.

Looking back in time, there are the acrobatic women who danced during festivals in ancient Egypt, and the children of the Qin dynasty who performed balancing acts on high poles for the royal palaces. Even in the early Minoan civilization there are records of people practicing ceremonial bull leaping!! Acrobatic movement consequently is an umbrella term which ecompasses everything from horse vaulting to trapeze to cyr wheel to L-based and standing partner acrobatics likely going back as far as humanity itself, and is expressed through a multitude of traditions, philosophies, cultures, and forms. In its most basic form, acrobatics - which we will call acro - is the expression of humans playing with the physical world in a never-ending game of exploring and pushing limits. In other words, Acro is meaningful play.
 
And what is enso? As we state on our website, enso is Japanese for Circle. Historically, enso is the Zen meditation and spiritual practice of self realization, and symbolizes strength, elegance, enlightenment, harmony, and simplicity. Enso is the universe, in all its presence and absence, with the acknowledgement that form and void are interdependent of each other. Hence, enso is also nothing. Enso represents perfection through the beauty of imperfection. An open enso is said to allow for movement, development, and the perfection of all things. In practice, the enso is drawn in a single fluid stroke and is believed to reflect the mind when it is most free to let the spirit create through the physical body. Just as in life, once the enso is drawn, it does not change; and in its form, it evidences the character of its creator and the context of its creation. Enso is authentic movement. Put together, Acro Enso is meaningful play through authentic movement.
 
Welcome to the Acro Enso vision. We are so much looking forward to cultivating a connected and vibrant community centered around this idea of meaningful play through authentic movement. It is our wish that this first breath of life is the beginning of many first experiences, and that it is a gentle breeze which will nourish our dreams and allow them to take root and thrive.
 
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions, ideas, concerns, or desires you might have. We love to connect and communicate, and would love to hear from you!! We are looking forward to opening soon, and in the meantime, we encourage you to continue to explore your play and to live freely and happily.
 
In true Reno acro tradition, Namastizzle ~