COMMUNIT Y
Acro Yoga in Indy
Acro Yoga, is a playful union between
two or more people who incorporate
elements of physical acrobatics into
dance-like motions and intricate poses.
The Indianapolis Acro Yoga scene began to blossom in 2011, when Jessalyn
Oxford started building a community
of likeminded individuals who were
not only interested in mindfulness and
yoga, but also these combined arts of
human interaction.
Oxford, along with her friends Brandon
Rutten, Paula Berbeco and Jason Coleman, trained in local parks and private
homes to hone her skills in Acro Yoga.
They worked together weekly, and the
group eventually outgrew the capacity
of private sessions, so they began to host
Sunday “jam sessions.” The Acro Yoga
Community blossomed from there.
Oxford continued her acro education
by traveling to national workshops. The
Community garnered media attention
from outlets such as Indy Star and USA
Today. That was the perfect storm! Her
workshops evolved into demos and performances at athletic stores and local
studios. With all the media attention,
the Acro Yoga Community were asked
in 2013 to perform at Indy’s annual
12
Monumental Yoga event, which they
have done every year since.
In March of 2015, business partners
Kimberly Hart and Ron Hopkins decided to take one of Oxford’s workshops. They were impressed and knew
Acro Yoga was something they would
pursue passionately. Oxford later decided to leave Indianapolis to pursue
her acro passion full time, so Indy was in
need of new leadership of the Acro Yoga
Community. The Community has since
flourished around Hart and Hopkins.
Hart has practiced Yoga passionately for
six years. She is a very accomplished,
dedicated and mindful Yogini who obtained her yoga teacher certification
through YogaWorks in Los Angeles in
2015. Hart fosters the development of
the Indy acro scene in her teaching at
Lifetime Fitness, attending and setting
up local Acro Yoga jams, festivals, workshops, and private teaching sessions
throughout the Central Indiana area, as
well as during her national travels nationally.
Since his introduction to Acro Yoga in
March of 2015, Hopkins has been busy
learning, practicing, and teaching acro
By Nichol Kirby
yoga. His background in community
enrichment as well as his involvement
in charitable organizations, makes him
the perfect teammate for Hart in assuring that the Acro Yoga Community in
Indianapolis stays on its feet.
Hopkins is on the Board of Mighty Lotus, which is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization working with Indianapolis
Public Schools to bring yoga to students.
He is tasked with arranging the Monumental Yoga Pre-Party and organizing
performers for Monumental Yoga 2016,
which will take place on June 17 and
June 21, respectively.
Hart and Hopkins not only foster the
development of Acro Yoga, but they are
also encouraging of all the flow arts, such
as poi, fire spinning, fan work, slackline,
juggling, hooping and more. They are
focused on building a united flow arts
community. For information on current
Acro Yoga and flow jams, please refer
to the Facebook page for “Ebb & Flow–
Indy.” Current jam locations are the
War Memorial on the Canal downtown,
Broadway United Methodist Church,
Broad Ripple Park, and the annual summer solstice event, Monumental Yoga. ■
INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE I