The silk route to music & movement

CHENNAI: Serenity proliferates the dance room where artiste Chrysolin Gracy sings, How are you breathing on the other side of the planet as she strums the guitar. Those sitting around her sing along, humming the Tamil lines that follow: Sirake viriththu paranthen. She sets her instrument aside and grabs the aerial silk, spinning and swinging to the beat. Moving, breathing, and emulating her life mantra ‘Just be’, the artiste creates her own tranquil environment by fusing aerial yoga and music.

Invention of a new life
As a girl who had always wished for a pair of wings and did everything to acquire that feeling of levitation, Chrysolin fell in love with aerial yoga six years ago. She describes her introduction to aerial silk as “heavenly”. She recalls, “I was never able to sit down and meditate quietly but that changed when I attended an aerial yoga session in Bengaluru. For the first time, I felt like there was a sudden pause to my overflowing thoughts of anxiety. My body was busy holding on to the silk and my mind was concentrating on not falling. I closed my eyes and breathed and I felt alive like I hadn’t experienced before.”  

Chrysolin pursued her passion and completed the aerial yoga teacher training programme at the Adiyar Yoga Institute in Coimbatore in 2019 with her Korean instructor. When everyone considered aerial yoga as a money-making business, for her it was so much more. “To me, aerial yoga is more than just a physical activity; it is an artistic creation which feeds my spirit. A lot of people had a notion that this is the newest thing in the market to make money. So when I started looking out for studios, I couldn’t afford any and was left clueless. That’s when I met Dr Kavitha Moahan, founder and director of Aum Yoga School. She gave me space to learn and help others learn. Rather than doing something for business, she motivated me to curate an immersive experience for the practitioners,” she shares.

Pursuit of happiness 
Chrysolin is also a self-taught jazz artiste who writes her own music — something that speaks to her soul. Speaking about combining music and yoga, Chrysolin says, “It was a random thought to play a song that I have written while training my students. They found it relaxing which inspired me to work on that too.” She has curated her sessions into different categories — aerial yoga, fitness, aerial arts and dance. Her focus is now on updating her syllabus that combines music and yoga.

“ I wanted to create a fusion of jazz blues with Tamil lyrics that convey a message of hope and then choreograph it with aerial yoga. I want everyone to be able to connect with themselves while they are involved in the process.” opines Chrysolin.

Aerial yoga, according to her, is the best way to relax and handle your emotions and seems to serve other benefits as well. “It improves your flexibility, concentration and teaches you to be mindful. People with skin problems often find relief after venturing into aerial yoga as a lot of the poses increases blood flow and clears your skin,” she explains.

Chrysolin wears many a hat — that of a journalist, social worker, graphic designer, horse rider, trumpet artiste and more. She continues her work with the orphanage Love and Grace Mission, Coimbatore, to empower street children and aspires to work with juvenile homes soon. 

Chrysolin Gracy conducts classes on Thursdays at Tattva Studios, ECR; Saturdays and Sundays at Aum Yoga Studio, Anna Nagar. For details, call 8667202325.

A Student to teacher
 Chrysolin pursued her passion and completed the aerial yoga teacher training programme at the Adiyar Yoga Institute in Coimbatore in 2018