Friday Night Turned Upside Down
By Lisa Biagiotti, Philip Caulfield,
Kenan Davis & Elizabeth R. Stark

Hanging upside down, balancing in midair, acrobatic poses and massaging strangers are all part of Jake Brenner’s Friday night plans. He's not a bat, a circus performer or a masseuse, he's an AcroYogi.

For the past six months, Brenner, 27, has spent Friday evenings with a growing community of more than 25 regular practitioners who use their bodies to "fly" at Om Factory, a holistic wellness and yoga center in the Fashion District.

"It's about meeting a bunch of people, trying new things and playing safe and responsibly," said Brenner, a marketing director.

From clowns and trapeze artists to business analysts and advertising executives, AcroYoga is attracting more practitioners with its playful and therapeutic atmosphere. AcroYoga blends partner yoga, acrobatics and Thai massage.

"This is my second time ever," said Jules Bertrand, 38, an advertising executive who came to one Friday night session with a friend. "I think everybody is talking to everybody and the classes are getting bigger. It's so much fun — it's flying."

Unlike regular yoga classes that focus on one breath and one body, AcroYoga takes the practice off the mat and into the air in what looks like a highly skilled Romper Room party.

"It ignites the child in us because we are present," said Jenny Sauer-Klein, a co-founder of AcroYoga who lives in San Francisco. "To physically be lifted in the air is a sensation we haven't had since we were children. It automatically makes people smile.”

Along with the child-like giddiness comes fear because the flier is often positioned upside down on someone else’s feet. Safety and support are priority in the classes, where the operative word is “down” — a signal for the base to ease the flier to the floor.