Tarah Awai | Health Is Not Just Physical
What got you involved in the sport, and who were the people who helped you get into the sport?
I used to be a gymnast in college, so after college I was looking for something to do to stay active. I actually started with yoga. That actually helped go through an identity crisis now that I wasn't a gymnast. As far as the acrobatics goes, one day I was riding my bike in downtown Houston just exploring and I saw handstand canes. I saw them on instagram and I've seen people do handstands on them. Obviously, I knew how to do handstands. I thought I'd stick around because either someone was going to do something awesome, or they were going to let me play. It was actually a free circus class downtown. That is how I got into acrobatics. The acroyoga community has a lot of overlap. That is where I met the slackliners. My husband and I do that now as well. I also partner acrobatics with my husband. The community is super welcoming and always want to have more people.
What has been your biggest achievement to date, and what is your ultimate goal?
I had been struggling with mental illness for a long time. A lot of it was stemming from gymnastics. It led to eating disorders, anxiety and OCD. One of my biggest achievements was determining that this was actually stemming from eating habits. I was vegan for ten years and it was causing a lot of the mental illnesses. When you dig yourself a hole that deep with anxiety and depression, it can be really hard to get out of. I got myself out of that. Even though in gymnastics I won nationals in bars, but I still think climbing out of that hole was a bigger achievement.
Who has been your biggest role model outside the gym, and who is your biggest in?
I feel like everyone is a role model. You can learn something from anyone. For example, I got my creativity from my mother, resilience from my father. You can learn things from random people on instagram. I learn things from my own students. I think inside and outside the gym, everyone is a role model for me.
Would you prefer to be a base or top?
I like basing because I am only 5'1 so I look very small. People aren't expecting me to base so when I can keep up with good people, it's fun for me to break those stereotypes. It's fun to life people over my head, men over my head.
How do you find time to balance work, the gym, etc?
Balance is something that has been a work in progress for me. I am a teacher and part of what I do is come up with balance. Most people work 40 hours a week, I teach 40 hours a week. The grading, planning and everything else has to happen outside of my work day. My work day is spent inside the classroom teaching. Stepping away and teaching in an online setting gives me a lot of flexibility. As breaks during the day I will do conditioning. I have alarms on my phone that will tell me when it's time to do some squats, pullups, and yoga. I will do yoga and conditioning breaks throughout the day. I still have a to-do list with an agenda throughout the week. I make time to workout, I make time to rest and I make time to work. I do that by making lists. I schedule in my play times as well.
What does your diet consist of and what is your favorite cheat meal?
I was vegan for ten years. I went vegan the day I started college. When I was younger I just ate what I thought was well. When I was in college I was paleo while doing gymnastics. I still avoid nuts, dairy and sugar because they trigger mental illness for me. The whole premise behind paleo is that a lot of foods cause inflammation. For me it was causing inflammation in the brain which was manifesting as mental disorders. Those certain foods trigger auto-immune responses.
For people starting out in the sport, what are some tips you would give?
As far as starting out in acro, I would say is find a community and go to jams. Jams are just social gatherings where they aren't an official class. You could also pay for classes as that may help. Honestly though, just by having fun and playing with people you can learn from a variety of people. I felt at the beginning I felt pressured to only have a specific partner but feel free to try several. In all honesty, just keep showing up to jams and keep playing. You can also go on Facebook and find a community on there too. As for slack lining, the same sort of thing but also be persistent. Most people think they're going to go up there and cross the line on the first day. You aren't going to be successful but just keep at it.
What defines health and healthy to you?
Health is not just physical for me anymore. I used to think it was what my body could do and what my diet consists of. It doesn't matter to me what my body can do for me if my body is brain dead.
What is a motto you live by? What was an obstacle you faced and how did you overcome it?
The first thing that comes to mind is when I tore my ACL. When I say I tore my ACL, I mean I tore my LCL, PCL and meniscus. It was so bad that they use my knee as a study. I am still part of the study because they want to see how my knee works ten, twenty, thirty years down the line. That happened in my senior year as I was getting scouted for scholarships. I mentally knew I was going to do gymnastics again even if it was going to be very different. In my mind I was 100% convinced I was going to be better than before I got injured. I had to be creative with my routines because of my knee. I had to be more creative after the surgery, and my routine after the surgery actually had way more point value. It was way harder and way more difficult and I would've never known if I hadn't torn my ACL.