If you happen to feel stuck in your upward standing position, hopelessly grounded in your rubber slippers from morning to night, and somehow dream that you could fly, spin or somersault through thin air, stop by at Auroville's Youth Centre one of these days and take a ride in the gyroscope.

The gyroscope

Designed and built by one of Auroville's youth, Himal (originally from Nepal), with funds from various Aurovilians, the gyroscope is an amazing yet simple structure made of three big steel rings which are pivoting within each other with ball bearings. The entire structure is placed on a sturdy stand a couple of feet above ground level. The rider's feet are strapped in boots fixed on the inner ring and he holds himself with handles above the head or at the waist.

Rolling, rocking, spinning, twirling

Now, once you are left hanging in the gyroscope, the slightest shift in your body's centre of gravity will send you rolling, rocking, spinning, twirling head-over-tail and all over again. Unless you keep quiet and still in one position this crazy machine will fling you all over space, sending your brain straight to cosmic consciousness and the perception of infinite dimensions..

Ultimate fun in bodybuilding

But you can also ride the gyroscope carefully and methodically, slowly moving your body to enjoy yoga-like postures and stretching, trying to consciously control your spins and invent new rocking patterns, or you can throw yourself wildly in any direction you can possibly manage with your body's physical strength!
This toy is the ultimate fun in bodybuilding that will develop muscles you didn't even know you had. A 15-minute ride will leave you sore from head to toes if you are not trained, and your subtle body will keep spinning for days, giving you that pleasant feeling of 'out of the body' experiences each time you lay down..

Olivier (an enthusiast Gyrorider)