{"id":52734,"date":"2016-04-27T15:27:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T19:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=52734"},"modified":"2016-07-01T16:01:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T20:01:15","slug":"when-slacking-becomes-hard-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/ko\/journal\/when-slacking-becomes-hard-work\/","title":{"rendered":"When Slacking Becomes Hard Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slacklining is just one activity you can try at a Wanderlust Festival. Join us this summer<\/a>!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The crossover between sports and yoga is ever-expanding, from swimmers to professional football <\/a>and basketball players<\/a>, equestrians<\/a>, scuba divers<\/a>, surfers<\/a>,\u00a0endurance runners<\/a>, champion boxers<\/a>, and\u00a0rock climbers<\/a>… there’s no shortage of athletes who turn to asana\u00a0to improve their performance. So it’s no wonder the practice found a home among Dan Norgard and Sam Salwei, two climbers turned compadres, who created YogaSlackers<\/a>, a yoga-meets-slacklining hybrid that’s not just for those hacky sack hippies who set up camp\u00a0at your local park\u2014but for anyone who enjoys the thrill of a good challenge.<\/p>\n

Norgard and Salwei created their version of yoga slacklining to initially improve their rock climbing prowess. But when they brought their avant-garde practice to a Yoga Journal conference in Colorado over ten years ago, they didn’t expect such an\u00a0overwhelming positive reaction. Everyone wanted to know where they could practice yoga slacklining in other parts of the country and beyond, and thus, YogaSlackers was born.<\/p>\n

While yoga helps anchor us to the present moment, the added challenge of having the ground literally pulled out from under your feet is what makes yoga slacklining so exhilarating. Imagine a balancing pose like Dancer (Natarajasana), without the earth to ground you. Once you set foot on the slack line, you’ve no choice but to focus solely on the experience you’re having in the moment\u2014a key component to meditation. If anything, it’s less of a challenge to keep the mind from wandering when you’re practicing yoga on a tight rope! “You\u2019re either 100\u00a0percent\u00a0on the line, or you\u2019re not on the line anymore, \u201c\u00a0Salwei says.<\/p>\n

Yoga slacklining is about working with yourself only, without distraction. These guys might make it look easy in the video below but trust us\u2014it’s even harder than it looks. Here’s a short clip from YogaSlackers practicing at Wanderlust Vermont in 2013. Happy slacking!<\/p>\n