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Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy sent me this nice note about free yoga by the Floating Pool.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and Equinox Fitness, Brooklyn Heights are pleased to announce WAKE UP AND WIND DOWN BEACH YOGA at Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach. The free yoga classes will be held Tuesdays at 9:00 am, Wednesdays at 7:00 pm, and Thursdays at 9:00am through August 30. Mats will be provided, and no reservations are necessary.

Check out the website for info on yoga, the pool, soccer and how to get there.

I really liked the idea that there was someone out there crazy enough to try to run all of Brooklyn. Sadly, that person is moving to Iowa. Perhaps there's someone out there who wants to skate all of Brooklyn? Any takers?

May the best borough win, and by best borough, I mean Brooklyn, of course. Fellow blogger Zeebahtronic is a Gotham Girls Roller Derby girl and asked me to get the word out about her next match:

The next bout on Saturday, July 14th, between the Brooklyn Bombshells and Queens of Pain promises to be another thrilling installment in the exciting 2007 GGRD season and you don't want to miss it! Queens has been the dominating champions for the past two seasons, but is hungry to dish out some punishment after losing to the Bronx Gridlock at the season opener (118-107). Brooklyn is fresh from their win against the Manhattan Mayhem two weeks ago (86-66). The last time Queens and Brooklyn met on the track, the Bombshells ended the 'Pain's undefeated record - can they sink them again? Come see the battle!

CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK - NAT HOLMAN GYM 138 St. & Convent Ave. - (Upper Columbia University neighborhood) 1 train to 137th St. City College A, C or D train to 145th St. at St. Nicholas Ave. M18 bus to Convent Ave. at 138th St. Doors @ 6:30 PM, Whistle @ 8:30 PM GA: $19.75 advance, $23 @ door VIP: $29.75 (advance only) Tickets available online at www.gothamgirlsrollerderby.com More info on the Gotham Girls Hotline - 646-405-9803 Alcohol prohibited - metal detectors will be in use.

All you crazies can check out the Gotham Girls injury photoblog!

So this is only tangentially related to Brooklyn, but remember how the demise of roller-skating in New York was greatly reported? Last night, I walked by the old Roxy and heard the thump-thump of skating beats. According to the skate-lovers/door-watchers sitting outside, the Roxy is now 515 and you can skate there every Wednesday and Friday.

I somehow missed the news that Brooklyn's (and the city's, as far as I can tell) last roller rink is closing on April 23 (just one month away).  Empire Roller Rink's closing (see NY1, Curbed) will follow on the heels of the Roxy, which closed two weekends ago. I guess roller rinks are a losing proposition even in cities where real estate isn't sky high, much less New York.

So this has nothing to do with Brooklyn, but when you catch a bunch of bike messengers playing bike polo, I think it deserves a post, whether it's LES or Bed-Stuy (and in this case it was LES).

So Brooklyn Yoga finally canceled its 7:30 a.m. classes, which makes me sad because I loved those classes. The only other nearby early morning option I know of is Area Yoga, but they're currently not on my best list because I had a spa treatment there the other day, and the spa couldn't provide me a receipt for my insurance. Normally, I go to Cornerstone Healing (hands down the best massage in the neighborhood), but Cornerstone was booked, so I decided to try Area. Not the best massage I've ever gotten, though not the worst, but when I asked for a receipt, they claimed the only receipt they could possibly give me was a credit card receipt. So I asked, "You can't handwrite me a receipt on an invoice?" Nope. They don't have them. And they've never been asked for a receipt before, ever. I am the only crazy person who ever needed a receipt. Uhuh. Hard to believe that a company that owns no less than eight locations in Brooklyn can't scare up a receipt that someone needs for their insurance.

OK, now I've got that off my chest ... is their yoga any good?

UPDATE: The owner of Area contacted me and offered a printed, itemized receipt. She also offered several free yoga classes to make up for the inconvenience. I'll report back on the classes!

The photo above is of me flipping to dismount. The rest of the photos are of members of my group. You can click them to enlarge, but there is no visible fear on our faces :)

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Normally, precocious seven year olds don't calm my nerves, but the three impatiently waiting for my morning trapeze class to begin did have a soothing effect. After all, if children half my size and with only a quarter of my life experience could do it, then so could I, I confidently thought to myself.

I was the first of our group to climb the ladder. I do not like heights. I am not deathly afraid of heights, but I am afraid, and I do not seek them out--I respect them. And so, I followed my rule of thumb on the way up: Do not look down. Of course, one does have to look down when standing with all 10 toes hanging off the platform, hands outstretched on a metal bar, body tilted at a 65 degree angle over empty space. An instructor grasps everyone's belt as they  hold this position and then commands "hep," which means "jump!"

And I was off, and it did feel a bit like flying, but there's little time to comprehend. Someone on the ground is yelling commands, and I moved through knees on the bar, hands off the bar, reaching for an invisible catch, hands back on the bar, knees off the bar, and then a quick leg thrust ending (if I did it right) with a flip dismount onto the bouncy net below. You'll notice that I did not scream or pee my pants, but I could see how either of those two reactions would be possible.

Once on the ground? Exhilaration. My muscles quivered a bit, my head spun, but I had done it, conquered some fear, managed to keep my wits while sailing through space, and landed in one piece. And so I repeated the experience, in turn, perhaps five more times before the test: the catch.

For the catch from an instructor on an opposing swinging bar, all the moves must be precise. You must jump when "hep" is called, you must move to knees around the bar quickly, and you must reach with all your might when you arc for the third time. On my first try, we missed (I'm sure I missed, but, hey, there were two of us). On the second, the instructor's grasp met my outstretched arms and he pulled me off the bar as we both swung off his bar and strength. Quite a feeling and definitely worth it.

For more info: Go to Trapeze School of New York. Classes range from $47-$65, with a one-time registration fee of $22. You only have to pay one registration fee if you pay for multiple people, however. When we went, they still had the tent around the rig, but when it gets warmer, you get to fly through the sky with the city as a backdrop.

So, I'm going trapezing this morning at the Trapeze School of New York. Not something I get to say often--actually this is the first time I've ever said that. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of heights? And yet, there's something exhilarating about the idea of swinging through the air on a bar. Will I have to ask someone to push me off that 23-foot platform for the first time (they say they won't on the website)? Will I scream the first time I fly through the air? Yesterday someone asked me if they made you wear helmets. I said no and mumbled something about a safety harness. Wish me luck!