Aerial Art House is a small independent Circus Arts and Fitness Centre located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Established in June 2017, it has been operated by CirqArt C.I.C. since March 2019. Our centre was founded to address the need for an inclusive and supportive community environment that offers affordable physical exercise opportunities in the Restalrig area. At Aerial Art House, our primary goal is to assist and uplift vulnerable individuals within the local community, promoting their physical and mental well-being. In addition to providing a wide range of circus arts and fitness classes, we strive to foster connections and build strong bonds among participants and their communities. As proponents of the Social Circus movement, we harness the power of circus arts to create a positive social impact. Our approach aims to empower individuals, helping them find balance, coordination, and a renewed sense of purpose in their lives. Through the medium of circus arts, we also facilitate the formation of supportive networks within the community. We are dedicated to nurturing a welcoming and inclusive environment at Aerial Art House, where individuals can grow, learn, and thrive physically and mentally. Healing through the Art of Circus
Circus offers a range of activities that have a regulating and healing effect on our lower brain. These activities, which include patterned, repetitive, somatosensory, and relational elements, contribute to overall regulation and influence how we organise, understand, and interpret our internal system as we navigate through the world.
Engaging in circus arts presents a unique opportunity to expand our window of tolerance. By providing safe and progressive environments, the circus allows us to practice shifting between different states. In the circus setting, we often encounter activities that may initially evoke fear or seem beyond our reach, triggering physiological and emotional responses. However, as we gradually develop mastery over these skills within a supportive and secure context, we experience regulation and a return to a state of calm, both physiologically and emotionally. This process offers our bodies an opportunity to "practice" safely transitioning between states, ultimately broadening our window of tolerance.
One remarkable aspect of the circus is the inherent enjoyment and fun it brings. This enjoyment makes the process of learning and personal growth satisfying and reinforcing, which may not always be the case when we venture outside our "nervous system comfort zone." The pleasure derived from circus activities enables us to tolerate and overcome the discomfort we may encounter as we push ourselves beyond our current tolerance limits.
Do you live in the Restalrig/Lochend/Craigentinny? Enjoy all the benefits!
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
If you live in Restalrig, Lochend or Craigentinny, and want to be involved in projects that will benefit your community, we want to listen to your views! Become a member for £0 and help us make the world a better place, little by little
What are the benefits of being a member?
Get adults and kids classes discount at Aerial Art House
Take part in free activities
Have your say at our monthly meetings where we decide what activities and event are needed in our area
Get discount on studio hire for private parties or events
Receive accurate news and information about the events and activities we run at Aerial Art House direct to your inbox through our monthly newsletter
Show your support for the community
Have the chance to volunteer! Gain new skills, meet other people and make good friends!
Participate to special events and help organise them
It is FREE to be an active member of the community!
What is the plan? We are currently working on a few things and we need your help and advice to make them happen! All the activities will be free of charge for our members!
To hold regular open stage nights, where circus and visual artists can share their work with the community
To hold film screenings at Aerial Art House (daytime for kids and their parents, evenings for over 16s only). Members will have a final say on the cinema programme
To restart the Flying Family club – A time for parents and their 0 to 5-year-old kids to meet other families, play, chat, drink coffee or tea and maybe even try some circus equipment like aerial hammocks or trapeze
To start free classes such as yoga, aerial yoga and circus fitness, for community members
Circus provides patterned, repetitive, somatosensory, and relational activity that is regulating and healing for our lower brain. In turn, having a regulated lower brain impacts our overall regulation and the way that we organize, understand, and interpret our internal system as we move through the world
Circus provides us with a unique opportunity to expand our window of tolerance by providing us with safe and progressive opportunities to practice shifting between states. In circus, we’re faced with the physiological and emotional impact (arousal) of encountering activities that can feel scary or initially out of reach. As we ultimately find mastery of these skills within a safe and supportive context, we experience regulation and a physiological and emotional return to calm. This provides our bodies with an opportunity to “practice” moving between states in a safe way, and ultimately expands our window of tolerance.
Circus is fun, which makes this process of learning and growth satisfying and reinforcing in a way that isn’t always inherent when we’re doing work to move outside of our “nervous system comfort zone.” This enjoyment allows us to tolerate pushing through the uncomfortable states that we may encounter as we move ourselves beyond our current window of tolerance.
