Photo: Suleika Bauer @ViolinOnFeet
Meet Eugene Butcher, a passionate movement artist and teacher whose journey into yoga began with quiet inspiration from his aunt. Over the years, Eugene’s path unfolded through Ashtanga and eventually led him to the dynamic and expressive world of AcroYoga as an art form. What began as simple curiosity has evolved into a deep creative devotion, one that now fuels his international teaching and artistic performances. In this interview, Eugene shares how yoga has shaped his personal philosophy, how Partner Yoga became his art form, and how he brings his PRO Squared Yoga Mat with him across the globe.
How did you [Eugene] find yoga, and what was your path from student to teacher?
I first encountered yoga through my aunt, she taught Iyengar. Though I never took class with her, the way she lived had a big influence. It was my first exposure to alternative health products, things I hadn’t questioned before. Thinking about it I’ve been a health freak most of my life, I question everything. She was always calm, patient, easy going and happy. Later, I explored various types of yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa fascinated me early on and the idea of a moving meditation, this would reemerge later as a significant theme on my journey.
What inspired you to practice AcroYoga, and how did you first encounter this practice?
It’s funny, the first time I saw AcroYoga, I thought “looks too easy, I’ll get bored.” The flyer’s role (usually female) looked interesting, creative, challenging ie developing agility, orientation, coordination, balance, strength, focus, trust and expression. Meanwhile the base (usually male) lay on their back, bending their arms and legs. Thirteen years later, I’m still completely obsessed exploring and developing this practice.
A youtube video helped change my perspective. It wasn’t an AcroYoga performance but a unique partner practice, created by yoga teacher, Philip Askew, and ballerina Lydia Walker. The harmony in their movement was mesmerising, another form of moving meditation. It made me wonder if AcroYoga might be a first step on a path to explore this kind of art form.
(Left) photo: @SophiaAshfordYoga at @AnahawDauin; (Right) photo: Laura Gibson @FlowWithLaura
For those new to the practice, could you explain what AcroYoga is and what distinguishes it from other yoga styles?
AcroYoga is a partner practice, a base, normally lying on their back supports a flyer. Often there’s a strong emphasis on play, connection and community resulting in much swapping of partners. From the beginning, I questioned the partner swapping from a learning perspective, it seemed counter intuitive. Wanting to test a hunch, I asked someone to help me conduct an experiment, we practiced together for approximately 8 sessions, over 2 weeks without swapping partners. The results were night and day different. Around this time a friend asked to me to perform AcroYoga on stage at my favourite festival, I said yes but admitted I needed to find a partner.
I agreed to teach someone AcroYoga who sounded keen to try. It went well and they enjoyed it. I mentioned the festival performance and asked if they were willing to practice every day. They said yes. Three weeks later we received a standing ovation after performing in the Saturday night show at Colourfest. Three months later, we filmed another sequence and posted the video online, and it went viral with 2000 likes in a week, which was a lot in 2014. Do You Yoga wrote an article saying,
“A dance and AcroYoga sequence choreographed and executed with devastating elegance and grace. Watching this video makes you realise that, more than ever, AcroYoga is a means of creativity, of self-expression, and an art form it itself: a celebration of what a union of two human bodies, minds, and spirits in moving meditation can achieve."
This was a full-circle moment, as years earlier I had dropped out of Central Saint Martins art college in my final year to do more yoga and martial arts and because I hadn’t found my creative medium I told myself I’d come back to art some day when I felt a stronger calling. Steve Jobs said, “We can only connect the dots looking back”.
What is the difference between Partner Yoga and AcroYoga ?
Partner Yoga incorporates AcroYoga as an art form. It’s aim if there is one, is creating movement that feels beautiful, a form of ahimsa maybe, because of this the methodology is different. In the last 10 years, I feel mainstream AcroYoga has become increasingly influenced by cheerleading and acrobatics with more high somersaults, flips, etc. Sometimes theses are super impressive skills bordering on circus-level, but I feel a strong pull to explore and create a different kind of art which involves bringing more yoga into the practice.
Can you describe some of the core poses or movements in Partner Yoga?
The core movement in Partner Yoga is the transition from AcroYoga to twin yoga, partners disconnecting and practicing yoga has the benefit of getting the base out of the L-base position and off their backs, where 99% of AcroYoga is practiced. This posture change is important from a health perspective, and also opens up a whole world of creative possibilities. These transitions between AcroYoga and Yoga can be simple or an opportunity to find more creative, graceful solutions.
Photo: Suleika Bauer @ViolinOnFeet; photographer @TilmanKoeneke
How do you encourage students to embrace the journey of self-discovery and growth that AcroYoga offers?
The main thing I ask students, is to take it slow, be patient and enjoy the moment. “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” The less expectations people have, the more they’ll enjoy it. The more they enjoy it, the more they’ll practice, the more they practice the easier it gets. The easier it gets the more beautiful it starts to feel and look.
How can the principles and teachings of AcroYoga extend beyond the yoga mat and into everyday life?
Learning AcroYoga depends very much on our ability and willingness to communicate, and be patient with our partner and ourselves. AcroYoga is fun and technical, listening to our partner in as many ways as possible while communicating our needs patiently helps a lot. Maybe not bad habits to extend beyond the mat.
For readers interested in delving deeper into AcroYoga, what advice or resources would you recommend?
“You must be so strong.” If I had a penny for every time I heard this, it’s the biggest misconception. Sure, strength would feature in a top-10 list of factors, but ahead of strength would be: communication, alignment, technique, patience, body awareness, caution, calm.
For beginners, I recommend they find someone else who’s new to learn and progress with together. The best partners are not always those who can already do it, but someone you will enjoy practicing regularly with, “repetition is the “
Curious about where to begin? Follow along to Eugene's online training resources here. Use code: Manduka to start for free!
Photo: @LauraLouiseYoga at @AshiyanaYoga
Do you have any tips for balancing your personal practice and teaching?
Personally I put creating art first! If I put teaching first the art might not happen. While I love teaching it’s the creative process that lights me up. I’m also lucky because when I’m creating art and putting it out into the world, it’s the best promotion I can do because people who resonate with it might want to learn.
When I had a full time AcroYoga studio in London, yoga teachers would often tell me they’d love to attend a daytime class. They’d often say, “how about 11.30am on Tuesdays for 45 minutes?” I’d reply that we didn’t have a class at exactly that time, “why then?” I’d ask. “Because thats the only free time I have each week.” I lost count how many times I heard something like this. Each time it broke my heart that yoga teachers were working so hard with so little time for themselves. I hope things have changed.
What’s your approach or philosophy to teaching?
“Repetition is the mother of skill”. Repeating skills with a consistent partner as soon as possible for as long as possible.
Ahimsa, listen to your body and your partners. Prioritise what feels good, and later what feels beautiful. Surprise, surprise when it feels good it also seems to look good. Focus on how if feels, pretty comes later but is never our priority.
Patience and trust build through mindful, careful practice and communication. This develops into a flowstate and eventually the feeling of a moving meditation, where two people move as one.
You travel all over the world to share the practice– how do you connect with yoga communities in different countries?
When I visit yoga studios while traveling I often teach group workshops which are a fun way to discover the basics. I also coach 1-to-1 private sessions, by basing the student myself they can bypass the patient learning curve and experience almost more of what the practice can feel like. If they have a yoga practice I can usually get them doing a Partner Yoga Infinity Flow (half AcroYoga, half twin yoga) in their first session. There are many videos where I’ve coached someone to do this. (*Note: in case anyone is wondering “isn’t that swapping partners?” When I coach someone 1-to-1, I’m not practicing or trying to learn a skill. I’m coaching skills I’ve usually done a thousand times, so they can learn, a big difference.)
You’ve taken your PRO Squared yoga mat everywhere—what makes it your go-to companion for AcroYoga practice wherever you are in the world?
The mat is perfect for the two main forms of Partner Yoga , AcroYoga as an art form and the TwinFlow Yoga practice. This is where the partners break the physical contact of AcroYoga and transition to a synchronised yoga practice, usually side by side on the mat. The PRO Squared is big enough that we have plenty of space, it also creates a useful visual and physical frame for that TwinFlow Yoga practice. This helps with orientation, spacing and the overall flow.
I’ve taken the PRO Squared mat to South East Asia for the last 2 years. I’ve used it in about 10 different countries now. Goa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bali, Philippines, never regretted the effort of lugging it around. It’s a highlight of every trip when the PRO mat has gone through rehab and I can roll it out and get creative..
What role does your mat play in creating a sense of safety and trust when introducing new partners to AcroYoga?
When I’m working with someone new, my number one priority is them feeling safe. Nothing else comes to close. I know they’re safe, but it’s about them feeling it and recognising it. Some people respond differently its a hard floor surface, if it’s hard surface like tiles, so having a big mat helps especially one as thick as the PRO Squared.
Can you share a memorable place or moment where you unrolled the PRO Squared and felt especially connected to the practice and surroundings?
A rooftop on my first trip to Mysore. I’d wanted to go for years when I was practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. I also gave the mat it’s first hose down on that rooftop and hung it to dry in the sun, while it went through rehab from being rolled and folded for the train journey from Goa.
Photo: @MejomiYoga at @LumeriaYoga
What’s the most unexpected or unique location you’ve practiced AcroYoga with your mat?
Yes, my first time using the pro mat in Ubud and Bali, in a beautiful Lumeria yoga. I did a collaboration with a yoga teacher called Michelle, it was her first time doing AcroYoga but she picked it up with ease and had some super creative ideas for the Twin Flow element of the Infinity flow we filmed. The video is still pinned on my Instagram.
How do you care for and transport your PRO Squared mat while traveling, especially considering its size and weight? Any tips for fellow traveling AcroYogis?
This mat is intended for a home or studio, it’s too big to travel with and weighs 12 kg, but I don’t care, I take it anyway. When I fly, I roll it, fold it, strap it, and put it in a backpack so it can go as normal checked-in luggage. The first time I did I was flying to Goa, on arrival I carefully unpacked the mat to discover the mat was pretty much destroyed. Yep, I had destroyed this beautiful mat on my first trip.
I was mortified. It had deep creases, from being folded so tight for so long, and it was totally deformed. “Omg, what have I done?” I posted some pics in my Instagram stories and had yogi friends around the world responding with heartbreak emojis and tears. “What have you done!? You've killed this beautiful mat.” I think some of them thought long and hard about unfollowing me. Thankfully, none of them did, at least not that I know of. Wait!
I kept it unfolded for the next 10 days, the creases gradually faded and it regained it’s shape. On my next trip, I laid a line of clothes inside before rolling it, which prevented the creases from getting so deep. Yogi friends were still horrified when I posted more pics, but I think they were still traumatised from the first experience.
If your PRO Squared could talk, what stories would it tell about your AcroYoga journey around the world?
Probably the weird looks we’ve got from locals in Bali, Philippines and Sri Lanka where I need to take the PRO mat to a yoga shala but want to avoid folding or creasing it. At 2 metres long it’s interesting to carry on a scooter. I tend to lie it the length of the bike and sit on it. These countries are used to seeing far more crazy things on scooters. But still, people would turn their heads, maybe because the mats hanging over the front of the handle bars and I’m sitting so high up. Maybe because it’s a traveler being random on a scooter.
Connect
- Website: www.partner.yoga
- Instagram: @acroyogacoach
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Upcoming events/retreats/special initiatives:
- Eugene's new book is coming out soon: AcroYoga as an Art Form
- Partner Yoga retreats and teacher trainings in Bali, UK, Philippines, and Online
- Regular teaching soon in Bali, Indonesia!
