S
ince I am involved in natural
health, people assume certain
things about me. They assume
I do yoga and meditate all day
long. They assume I really
really enjoy the music I play during
my massages; they assume I’m
vegetarian and that I don’t drink wine
or swear. Those things could not be
farther from the truth. I’m a
practical carnivore, I meditate in my
own way, I’m not a fan of yoga, I do
drink wine and if you want to hear
me swear, put on a Steeler game. So
when a client asked me what I did to
relax and I rattled off a list, including
things like scuba diving, hip hop,
swimming with sharks, zip lining,
spelunking, repelling, and skydiving,
she asked m e what in the world was
left on my bucket list. I told her
I didn’t believe in bucket lists, that
if there were things you wanted to
do and it was possible, you should
go do them as soon as possible.
She asked me what was left that I
hadn’t gotten to yet and I answered,
flying trapeze. The moment the
words came out of my mouth, I
thought, “Oh, I better get on it.”
So as she was getting dressed after
her massage, I was on the computer,
trying to find a place where I could
do flying trapeze. I discovered it at
a school in Santa Monica, California.
That night, I went home and
announced to my husband that I was
going to take a weekend away, part
of which included doing flying
trapeze. And I did, and from that
moment on I was hooked.
you, and then drops you gently into a
net. That very pedestrian description
cannot even begin to explain the joy,
exultation, exuberance and thrill felt
when your hands met his. You swung
for a moment and fell 12 or 15 feet
into the net with a bounce.
Having grown up as a dancer and still
dancing three or four days a week
here in Santa Barbara, I consider
myself pretty athletic. But I was
surprised at the number of people
who came up to me and asked how
long I worked there. They said I
looked like a natural and were so
impressed it was my first class. This
was especially when they discovered
that I undertook this physical
challenge at the ripe old age of 43.
Being the Type A driven person that
I am, I knew I had to go farther. So
I went back…again and again. It’s
been almost 2 years for me. And I’ve
worked through 15 or 20 tricks,
which included an emergency visit to
urgent care, after landing wrong in
the net and practically ripping off my
little toe. I don’t recommend that.
But I digress. The thing that I love so
much about trapeze is it’s not only a
physical challenge. It does take a lot
of hand strength, shoulder strength
and core strength. It also takes
strength of character to climb the
30-foot ladder to stand at the top,
accept the bar and trust that you
can let go and fly through the air.
This is the strongest and most fit
I’ve ever been. And I find it to be a
My school’s tagline is, “Forget fear,
worry about the addiction.” It
couldn’t be further from the truth.
The second I climbed that ladder and
grabbed onto that very heavy bar,
I knew this was something that was
going to be part of my life. The very
first class (now looking back) is quite
simple. You do a knee hang from the
bar like you would’ve from any jungle
gym as a kid. You reach your arms
forward, towards a strapping young
man with his shirt off who catches
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