Bending the rules
<p>Focused in her pose, Aneeta Barlow is instructed by Steve Seiver at Balance Studio in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday, April 15th. Classes are offered in Coeur d’Alene every Tuesday at 6 p.m..</p>
<p>Steve Seiver demonstrates a pose with partner Kim Sherwood at Balance Studio in Coeur d’Alene. The duo has previously been featured on USA Today.</p>
<p>The acroyoga class at Balance Studio in Coeur d’Alene learns from Steve Seiver and partner Kim Sherwood the technique to a balancing pose Tuesday, April 15. Acroyoga combines acrobatics, yoga, and benefits a variety of aspects such as balance and trust.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - You might have recently seen Kim Sherwood and Steve Seiver around town on sunny days.
They're good friends - he helps her therapeutically stretch, she'll balance on his shoulders in a prayer pose.
That's what friends are for.
"We have a very good acro-chemistry," Sherwood said.
The Coeur d'Alene duo is extremely active and they are bringing the exciting practice of AcroYoga to the forefront.
It's an exotic combination of acrobatics, stretches and yoga mixed with a fair amount of trust and confidence, "so it's this beautiful blend of all those," Sherwood said. "You can AcroYoga as active or as passive as you want, but there still is, no matter what you try to do, an element of physical."
Sherwood, 41, and Seiver, 35, gave a demonstration on a recent Sunday afternoon on the lawn of McEuen Park, showing how it is almost like a dance between two people.
"We like to spin it differently," Seiver said. "Change levels, elevate, come up, come down from the ground."
"It's fun, it's challenging, there's a lot of body awareness, there's a lot of being present and in the moment," Sherwood said. "My big thing is letting go of fear and trusting, that's why it's probably the best for me. In yoga, you're supposed to be doing that, and there is a lot of trust that goes on when you have a partner. Communication is big."
The AcroYoga trend is sweeping the nation, but Sherwood said she discovered it about three years ago while living in Scottsdale, Ariz. Seiver said it's just taking time to become popular.
"Tons of people just come up and ask questions," he said. "It's something you don't see around here. Kind of like, most anything in the Northwest is so far behind on what's trending and what's cool, and so when people see stuff around here, you know, I think we're really on the ground level of getting this stuff up and coming."
Acroyoga is the very thing that brought Seiver and Sherwood together in the first place about a year ago.
"When I moved here, there was no one doing it, zero people doing it," she said. "I randomly ran into him. He came into a class that didn't exist. I just happened to be there with my mom and he walked in and was like, 'I'm ready for class' and I'm like, 'There's no class,' and as he walked out, my mom's like, 'You could acro with him!'"
She literally ran down the street yelling "Hey, you!" because she didn't know his name.
"I'm like, 'Have you ever heard of acroyoga?' and he said, 'Nope,'" she said. "I said, 'Do you want to try?' and he said, 'Yep,' and we started the next day."
Acroyoga can be done individually, but more commonly is done with three people in different positions: "base," "flyer" and spotter. The base is the person on the ground and serves as support for the flyer, who gets lifted into the air by the base. The spotter keeps an eye on the others to ensure their safety.
"I'm pretty strong and so is he," Sherwood said. "This has tapped into muscles I didn't know existed. Inside core muscles, stabilizer muscles, back muscles. It's just strengthened my body in ways I didn't know."
Seiver and Sherwood's impeccable physical shape allow them to practice acroyoga on their own; combined, they have more than 40 years of fitness experience. Sherwood has taught gymnastics and is a full-time yoga instructor who teaches handstand and balance workshops while Seiver conducts calisthenics workshops and works as a personal trainer. They both spend several hours each week being active.
"You name it, and between the two of us, we've probably done it," Seiver said.
However, Seiver and Sherwood said acroyoga can be for anyone - any age, any gender, any body type.
"A lot of people see the (poses) and the knee-jerk reaction is, 'That's awesome, but I could never do it,'" Seiver said. "Literally anybody can come and find something they can do."
Seiver and Sherwood teach acroyoga Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Balance Studio, located in the rear of the Coeur d'Alene Paddle Board Company at 512 E. Sherman Avenue. It's $12 to drop in or participants can choose a monthly program. They also teach classes in Spokane on Fridays and conduct workshops in Sandpoint. They sometimes practice in City Park and invite others to join them.
"It builds community. We want to build an acroyoga community," Sherwood said. "We want to spread this through the Northwest."
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