Wednesdays @ 9.30am
Pricing: Pay What You Feel
A new collaboration and a merge of like minds.
What is Reflex?
Reflex is a quirky wellness class for busy minds. Balance Meditation using tightwire, stacking cylinders and walking globes, coordination choreo using blocks, hoops, balls, sticks & diabolos and mindful movement that pushes our comfort zone boundaries.
Reflex is a motivational wellbeing moment. Physical action is the name of the game, and the byproduct is the mind. Reflex lies between fear and relief. The most innovative class we have ever created! Come and be part of it.
Where did the idea come from?
The idea for Reflex has been with me for a few years.
It has always fascinated me how much of the mind is transformed when learning anything circus and how much of my own mentality has changed over the years.
These skills have made me embrace fear, pick things up easier, be quicker off the mark and have helped me to navigate the barriers that have stepped in my way.
I was recently having these conversations with Ellis Grover, a very talented hirewire walker and together we learned that we shared a similar mentality, for similar reasons.
I met Ellis Grover on Barricade with No Fit State back in 2012 (I was working on a separate project with director Orit Azaz who was directing Barricade at that time). Over the years myself and Ellis have worked together every now and then but 2022 was the year we connected again and started a new conversation and very quickly REFLEX was born.
Watch this and have a think about if you did something so outside of your comfort zone, what impact do you think that would have on your life.
This is Ellis.
From the get go, I always noticed how the world spoke about circus in everyday conversations, using metaphors galore.
Ellis also shared this observation too.
One word, with so many meanings. It goes on… even inside of circus.
I once received a letter from an insurance company enquiring if ‘my company was like a circus and if I needed help organizing things’.
Made me laugh, and of course I sent a letter back.
For me, the term Reflex lies between fear and relief.
It is those moments I have been pushed to fail, dangerously fail but someone believed I could.
I trained in a very traditional format of circus, and sometimes I was absolutely bullied into stepping outside of my zone.
Those early days have really shaped who I am.
Here I am digging into the archives of my past touring life…
A mini me in ‘06…
Ellis said it so well…
“Its our reflexes that save us. The instinctual autopilots of our internal systems. The incredible catch that we wish someone saw. The arm we reach out when we see a car last minute. The thrust of our arms and legs when we are about to tip backwards on our chairs. The spidey sense we cant explain. Working faster than the mind itself, it’s these reflexes that ultimately keep us safe, and keep others safe. These reflexes are our instinct.”
I just want to pick up the line the thrust of our arms and legs when we are about to tip backwards on our chairs. We’ve all done it. It happens in a split second. The relief that shoots the fear down so instantly. Just imagine if we can draw that out into our life and use it to make the changes we want to make.
“The Physical Act is the aim of the game, the byproduct is the mind”
Ellis Grover
Now that I live in one place and do not tour it’s important for me to always reflect on how much of a lifestyle circus remains to me. It’s very difficult to put this across in words, and until it is felt it is not known.
I feel proud of how my energy has influenced MASH and how the magic of touring life seems to have infected the walls at CircusMASH.
It’s an escape room where no one wants to escape. An escape from life, giving our community a weekly opportunity to charge their beliefs in themselves.
Circus is a world, it’s not just a show. We’re inviting you to participate in a something that you will resonate with. It is for everyone and I am so excited to bring this new class to Birmingham. I really do want to help others find this feeling I have that motivates me every day.
So… What happens in a Reflex Class?
The class is split into three sections and is an all over body and mind workout. This class is bursting with flavor. The structure of the class is created as we go depending on the group that attends on the day.
Meditative Balance.
Balance happens when the mind is still, when we allow ourselves to feel the balance and try not to interrupt the natural plan of our body aligning itself.
Working with tightwire, cylinder stacking and walking globe your mind will be challenged whilst your body listens, finding a new state of meditation.
Coordination Choreo.
We choreograph slick routines to the best tunes going using hoops, sticks, blocs, diabolos & balls. Along the way we’ll make your brain and your hands partners in crime.
This is not dance… it is next generation dance coordination!
No skills needed, just a big smile and a willing mind.
Mindful Movement.
This is where we get in tune with our mind and learn about ourselves, our boundaries and what we need to kindly allow ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone. What we’re scared of and what we have to do to challenge our barriers… through movement.
In Crossfit or Yoga, we don’t only gain muscle or flexibility, we gain a strength of mind too. Whether that’s in endurance, managing pain, or developing discipline. The physical action is the aim of the game, the by product is the mind.
Reflex works in the same fashion, with trainings in throwing, catching, balance, coordination, and body awareness we help sharpen the mind to be ready for anything life throws at us (and have a great time doing it!)
We’re often told to step outside of our comfort zone, but those are just words.
We often say to friends, we’d like to try something different, but those are just words.
Another word that also lies between fear and relief is action.
Our space is an absolutely supportive environment and we welcome absolutely everyone.
Do let us know in advance if you have any access needs and we will do everything we can.
Some more thoughts from Ellis…
Can we train our reflex? And what affects on our lives would this training have?
To sharpen our reflexes benefits our focus. Focus is a key part of daily life, whether the task at hand is completing an assignment, making a coffee whilst listening for the next order or just crossing the road, its our awareness and focus that is in the drivers seat. If we can be fully aware of our surroundings and have focus on the task at hand, its our reflex that does the work.
This also applies to our social life!
When was the last time you ran through a conversation in your mind after you got home but in this scenario you were the wittiest one in the room?
Once we sit in a relaxed space we can be as funny and as witty as we like, but in the moment we aren’t sharp?
Sharpening our reflexes physically trains the brain to think faster, and sharper and could land you the laughs you’re looking for.
Safety. God forbid we never have to end up in a life threatening situation, but they do happen, and more often than not its our fast paced thinking, our spidey senses, that get us to safety.
When was the last time you watched people on TV thank the person who thought fast and stepped into the leading role in a dangerous situation?
This was someone using a fine tuned instinct, trusting their focus, trusting their reflex. This isn’t just in major situations either, this could be slipping on ice, this could be falling into water, this could be gaining your balance whilst stepping onto a canal boat. It’s our reflexes that have our backs.
