Fitness is the new cool. That fitness enthusiasts are ditching conventional fitness equipments and gym for something more natural and innovative was visible this past Sunday as Delhi Rock celebrated the inaugural India chapter of International Flow Arts Day at Deer Park in Hauz Khas.
Flow arts include creative ways to stay healthy and fit by putting you in a kind of ‘flow’ or a ‘zone’. It is a classical form, increasingly adopted by people, which include poi training, parkour, slack lining, acroyoga and hula hooping.
The event was free for public and everybody was welcomed with open arms and vibrant smiles!
Considering that the majority of youth prefers gym, Anuraag Tiwari of Delhi Rock said, “It’s a great shame because it turns out that the gym is a place to get injured. People take unhealthy supplements, it’s very cosmetic. You don’t get any fresh air or sunshine in a gym. On the other hand, flow arts is much more fun. You interact, make friends, motivate each other and end up hanging out together. In the process, you evolve. I am not saying gym is a bad place, but this surely is better and more innovative.”
Anuraag said flow arts helped people learn life skills, communicating better and coordinating better. “It makes you grow. In gym, people are measuring physical quantity, they are chasing abs and size zero, whereas here, people are more accepting towards their body and just want to stay active and fit. These people (points towards people who joined the celebration), they don’t measure health and fitness by measuring the skin folds or flesh on their body. They are just happy people, who are having fun while trying to stay fit. They celebrate their bodies.”
A fun event
The event saw participants of all age groups sharing smiles with the people they just met. The teachers including Rajni Ramachandran and Eshna Kutty made it fun altogether by assisting and helping the new students in an interactive way.
“And I'd say acroyoga has dynamics of acrobatics, wisdom of yoga and it has a way of healing people. It is more like partner acrobatics, actually. It not only includes yogic postures but it also has energy and connection we share in acrobatics,” said Kanika Gupta, acroyoga instructor, who was a classical Yoga teacher before moving to acroyoga.
Celebration was further followed by workshops at Delhi Rock’s centre at Greater Kailash. Somil Mehta, poi teacher, said, “Poi is basically tethered weights attached to a rope or in a cloth, and they are used to generate a lot of symmetry. You can do this with fire, as well as LEDs. It’s basically a performing art, primarily done for entertainment and for toning your back, shoulders and arms. It is good for hand-eye coordination and is pretty portable.”
The celebration witnessed adults connecting with their inner child, twirling hoops, trying to maintain a balance on ropes and relishing every moment. Pleasantly surprised by the response, Anuraag said, “I didn't expect so many people to show up. It's a great response, considering we started planning the whole idea of celebrating this day just three weeks back. I think we should do such events and workshops more often.”
