by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Do some yoga for a time, and you’ll start to bliss out on the connection between your mind and body. Lots of things can put you “in the zone” of flow (Vinyasa) - music, art, dance, sports - but the ultimate challenge of one-pointed focus could be the art of slacklining. Here’s the official definition from Slackline Express:

“Slacklining is the act of having an unbelievable amount of fun walking and doing tricks on a piece of webbing pulled tight between two points, also used as a form of meditation, physical and mental training.”

Slacklining originated in the sport of rock climbing but quickly made it’s way into the yoga world. One of my yoga friends, a graduate student, invited me to try slacklining in his backyard, where he and his roommates took breaks from studying. He said it helped him refocus and de-stress. I was immediately drawn to the meditative challenge and even though my first attempts were quite uneventful, the next thing I knew, I had one rigged up at home in our community shared space. I’ve yet to take even a few steps on my own, but I’m determined to keep at it.

I made a new slackline friend yesterday when I was bicycling downtown. Here’s Brian Taylor making this stuff look really easy (it’s not). But he did totally re-inspire my own efforts with some experiential tips. It seems that my 15 minute attempts to practice on my line were bound to be futile since he recommends sticking with it for up to one hour in each session. Brian also showed me how to get up on the line with a big hop rather than trying to step up slowly.

Why does this feel post-worthy to me? Because, like the steadily increasing interest in yoga and other meditative arts, it shows yet another cultural shift towards more authentic pleasures, those that help us remember the joy of a steady, quiet mind and a connection to the body - something in full contrast to the distraction of television, video games or Monster Truck Pull. And like all things that clear the mind rather than clutter it, allows space to study the self and grow.

Tags: community, health, people, yoga

This entry was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Green Misc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.