Intro to Aerial Yoga

Aerial Yoga, popularly known as Anti-Gravity Yoga, is actually a combination of traditional yoga, Pilates, and acrobatics. It is a form of yoga in which students use yoga swings or hammocks to execute postures which are not possible on yoga mats.

This yoga style is said to be beneficial for people who have back pains or who spend a lot of time in the same position. It decompresses your body and loosens up the sore muscles due to prolonged sitting.

Apart from its physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits, Aerial yoga is also found to be beneficial in stretching your body, improving circulation and digestion, lifting your mood, and so on. It strengthens your core, arms, and leg muscles so that you can support your body in the air.

Short History

This form of yoga practice is actually originated from New York. Christopher Harrison, who was a dancer and had knowledge about acrobatics, was the creator of this yoga style in 2007. Christopher is also a former dancer and gymnast. Since 2007, this yoga form has gained a lot of popularity all over the world.

However, you can easily find that Aerial Yoga was first originated in 1990 when the New York Marathon had hired Christopher to perform for their closing performance. And so, Harrison created a fitness routine using the techniques for his performance and officially created aerial yoga practice in 2007.

He then licensed his concept to numerous fitness centres all over the world. And that is how we all came across this beautiful yoga style, Aerial yoga.

Practice

 This yoga style uses silky hammock contraption which is suspended from the ceiling along with some traditional yoga postures. This can be practiced by all levels of yoga students but it is important that you go slow and avoid rushing through the postures. One major benefit of joining an aerial yoga class is that it usually has a small class size, under 10 people, because everyone needs special attention while holding postures and transitioning between them.

In Aerial Yoga, students keep the hammock close to the ground so that it can act as a swing for supporting their hips when they do backward or forward bends. The hammock is usually kept close to the ground, about a meter away from the floor.

There are many styles of aerial yoga available for people to choose from, depending on their purpose. There are traditional flow-based classes for improving your alignment where the hammock is set at the height of your hips. Then there are also restorative classes in which the hammock is placed nearer to the ground for providing support and lift.

Aerial yoga is usually ideal for people who find it hard to practice yoga postures on the ground. So, this yoga form makes it easy for people to bend without putting too much strain on their body.

Course & Difficulty Level

Aerial Yoga involves many aspects of gymnastics, dance, and Pilates and is a lot of fun. So, people with a level of yoga experiences can practice this yoga style. This yoga form will require you to stretch and sustain your poses for a long time but unless you have a balance issue of fear of heights, there is nothing to worry about really.

Everyone can start practicing this yoga except for people who suffer from physical illnesses. A pregnant woman can practice this yoga form too until she is in her first trimester, after that she needs to consult with her doctor in order to continue.

This is not a tough yoga form and is actually beneficial for people who find it hard to hold traditional poses on the ground. But yes, you need to be careful and not exert yourself and take it slow for a while.

Aasanas (Poses)

A few typical poses that are included in an aerial yoga practice are as follows:

• Child’s Pose
• Triangle Pose
• Chandelier
• Swan Pose
• Tree Pose
• Floating Goddess Pose
• Standard Inversion Pose

Differences from other yoga styles

The major difference between aerial yoga and other forms of yoga is that this yoga form helps you to sustain a challenging pose for a long time without creating pressure on your joints. Also, you often invert yourself or go upside down in this yoga style which may seem scary at first but feels completely normal after a while.

While it is difficult to practice inversion poses on the ground, aerial yoga actually helps you in keeping this poses for a long time without much discomfort.

Also, since you use hammock or swing in this yoga practice, it is much more fun and entertaining than other yoga styles. It is a great way to learn how you can keep a posture for a long time and increase your core and flexibility at the same time.

Also, the inversions performed during this yoga practice are free from gravity unlike Hatha yoga or Kundalini yoga. So, you can actually feel your neck, arms, and legs feeling relaxed while you stay inverted.

Aerial Yoga impact on health

Pros

• Due to the practice of yoga postures, while being suspended on the hammock, you can easily execute the posture without compressing your spine or putting pressure on your joint muscles.
• It can heal chronic back pain too
• It helps you in building your core muscles
• It makes you feel weightless and as if you were flying which can be a lot of fun
• Inversion is easier with this yoga form. As a result, your head gets a lot of blood rush which is beneficial for your thyroid and pituitary glands.
• You get stretched to your fullest height in every class which is great for people who are short and wished to be taller.

Cons

• People suffering from high/low blood pressure, heart diseases, arthritis, glaucoma, etc. should avoid practicing this yoga form.
• It could make you dizzy if you hang upside down for a long time.
• You might feel scared of heights and might stumble too much if you aren’t good at balancing.

Not advisable for people recovering from a surgery or presently pregnant.

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