Teacher, acrobat, model: is AcroYoga superstar Chelsey Korus the ultimate yoga babe? She tells Ruby Warrington about working out her adolescent “stuff” on the mat, and how her practise is “everything you need to work on as a human being.” Portraits: Thomas Giddings. Styling: Alexandra Bickerdike. Hair & makeup: Robin Watson Hamilton. All sweatshirts: The Numinous.
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“DMTY” sweatshirt, The Numinous
What was your first intro to yoga?
A Sarah Ivanhoe Crunch yoga DVD, practised in my basement aged 15. At the end she would say; ‘the light in me, meets the light in you, Namaste.’ And I was like, ‘what? that is WEIRD!!! What does it mean?’ I started going into the city and taking classes and soon developed this love affair with yoga.
What made you fall in love with it?
It was the first time I learned that my mind is a muscle like any other, and that my thoughts weren’t ‘me.’ So it became the first time I let myself off the hook about being human, to feel things and let them pass by me without a heated reaction – and know that if I did react, it didn’t make me weak. Learning this at the age of 17, my mind just exploded. I started teaching aged 18.
You have a twin sister, did she get into it too?
Not at ALL and she still isn’t – nobody in my family is. Eleven years ago they weren’t doing yoga in gyms, it was a really spiritual thing – people didn’t wear Lululemon, they wore harem pants and didn’t shave their armpits. I think that’s also why it was so fascinating to me – I knew nothing about this world. I came from the suburbs!
Coming to this so young, do you ever feel like you ‘missed out’ on the regular 20-something stuff?
That was never mine. Some people need to go through all that stuff to become the person they are, but I had a different path. I’ve always been an old soul, and I feel like I had a broader view on things at a younger age than a lot of people. Sure I had my ways of figuring all that adolescent stuff out, it just didn’t look like everybody else’s.
“Vinyasa” sweatshirt, The Numinous
What’s your advice for somebody who finds themself on a spiritual path young, when maybe their peers are into something different?
If you feel like it’s your calling then trust that. If you’re going off the beaten path it’s going to feel awkward and people will question you, that’s just how humans deal! But keep going, because the more you trust yourself, the more clear it will become that that’s where you’re supposed to be. But don’t give up before that clarity comes, because there’s always a little bit of bitter before the sweet.
When did you discover you were so extra-specially bendy?
My mom isn’t sporty at all, but she’s always been able to do the splits. So the way my femur sits in my pelvis is just hereditary. I just AM flexible. But, saying that, we are good at what we practise.
There are some awesome images and videos of you online. Do you think it’s fair when people say yoga selfies are narcissistic?
It definitely goes through my mind, and there’s always this filter there where you check your intention – you have to ask yourself; ‘why am I doing this, and what am I saying with it?’ We’re still human beings and yes we want to look good. But if it’s so another woman can look at it and go ‘wow, I wanna be able to do this,’ or so my family can look at it and see what I’m doing, that’s when to press send.
Matt Giordano has been your AcroYoga partner forever. What makes him the perfect fit?
Firstly, the way our two bodies are made is pretty similar – we’re similar in stature but he’s a man, so he’s stronger. And he’s got very large feet, so he’s a good anchor! But we always just had this chemistry.
Have you guys ever dated?
No, we had a little thing right in the beginning to see what it was but he is like my brother. We realised really quickly that…’you are family.’
You work with loads of hunky guys, you must get hit on all the time! How do you manage the boy-on-girl tension?
It is easy for the line to get blurred! So you have to be very strict about boundaries and be totally professional from the get-go. I’ve spoken to cheerleaders to who have the same issues – you’re putting your life in this guys hands, literally, and it’s easy for it all to get twisted. You just have to keep your intention and your line of communication clear so things don’t get out of control.
Which must be so important when there’s so much trust involved in the practise…
It’s ALL trust, which is why Matt and I were able to excel from the beginning because that’s just something I could do with him. I just trusted him. But I also trusted myself. Yes, there’s an element of letting go, and just being like ‘you’re gonna catch me and it’s gonna be great’ – but also it’s like, ‘I am strong enough, and if this goes down I will know what to do. My body is smart and it’s primal and it knows how to find the ground.’
Amazing life lessons in general…
It’s everything you need to work on as a human being. Trusting yourself and others; letting go but not losing yourself.
“Chakra” sweatshirt, The Numinous
How do you get into the zone? What’s the conversation you have with your body when you’re just not feeling it?
My mantra – especially the morning of our shoot because I had just gotten off a plane – is; ‘I will open.’ It’s like – I WILL. With every movement it’s the same; ‘I will open…I will.’ But I’ve been doing this long enough that if my body talks to me in a certain tone, I know to give it this kind of movement. Like a salve.
What role does diet play in your life?
Because I’m always travelling and never have a typical day, my food is kind of the only routine in my life, which can get really boring!
So what’s on the menu?
My typical thing is a Vitamix smoothie in the morning with lots and lots of ginger in it, which is my secret weapon for my immune system. My body LOVES it. I add some protein in the form of nuts, and maybe some granola, and that’s my breakfast. Then it stays pretty green, pretty fish and vegetably from there on in! But it also depends what climate I land in. As soon as I land I usually have some kind of soup to ground me, and I’m usually dehydrated so a lot of liquids. Again it’s about asking my body; ‘what do you need?’
Do you have any food rules?
I was a raw vegan for three to four years, but after a while I felt like the balance had tipped in the other direction, like I couldn’t break out of it. So I added in fish and cooked vegetables.
What sign are you?
I’m a Libra – all about balance baby! And as a twin, I even balance out another human. It’s also very clear to me when things are out of balance, or at least when that shift is happening, so I need to pull back.
“Prana” sweatshirt, The Numinous
How’s that reflected in your practise?
In my teaching, I can also see when other people are out of balance – and as a teacher you have to be able to get out of your own head and your own way and dive into somebody else’s situation, and lead them to the best of their ability.
In what other ways do you use your body?
In one week I will do marshal arts, acrobatics, ballet, Pilates, yoga, running, swimming, surfing, AcroYoga…and that’s a lot of practises, but there will be an element of those things in every single week of my life. I need a lot of different outlets – but having said that, all of it is yoga to me. It’s just not called that.
And can you really love every minute, when you’re really exerting yourself physically? You’re a human being, so you still feel the pain of that right?
In a really tough barre class or something, my mantra will be – ‘you will not suffer your life.’ Of course I want to be like, ‘man this sucks so bad!’ but I’m like; ‘No. Your two options are to either quit, or to stay in it with no suffering.’
Which again can cross over into every aspect of life…
Yes. In the end, we get onto the mat so we can go into a painful situation and be like; ‘I chose not to suffer this, because I don’t suffer my life. Because I don’t do that.’ I have options and I am not a victim.
Chelseykorus.com
@chelseykorus
