Aerial Yoga - The New Exciting Fitness Methodology

Aerial Yoga, also known as Air Yoga and even referred to as Anti-gravity yoga, adapted from traditional yoga and therefore shared a lot of similarities. However, there’s a big difference. In traditional yoga, you are mostly on the floor and a mat; here, you’ll be flying in the air. Your body weight will be supported by a hammock.

Learned yoga practitioners and newbies, it is a great option for you to try this.

Table of Content

What is Aerial Yoga?

Is Aerial Yoga Any Good?

Can Beginners Dive into Aerial Yoga?

Tips to Know Before Your Air Yoga Class

Will Hanging in Aerial Yoga Help Me Lose Weight?

Physical Benefits of Aerial Yoga

Conclusion

What is Aerial Yoga?

Use of silk hammock or sling suspended from the ceiling is taken to do the same yoga moves or poses in aerial yoga. This silk hammock provides you support along with improving the flexibility and range of motions. Mainly, the hammock also takes the pressure off certain body parts like the head and shoulders. This relaxation allows you to do more challenging poses like handstands with simplicity. The posters and pictures you see of aerial yoga show that the person is fully in the air, but many aerial yoga poses only require you to take your foot or leg off the ground.

Is Aerial Yoga Any Good?

The good thing about air yoga is that it does not have any age barriers. It can take up to 1,000kgs with a high load capacity. The poses and movements performed in aerial yoga ensure that every part of your body moves and stretches. This tones the muscles strengthen and lubricates the joints.

As compared to on-ground yoga, the hammock makes it easier to perform yoga postures. Aerial movements release the tension from your bones and muscles, thereby increasing flexibility and also deepening your practice. Yes, it is a fun workout, and in addition to that, aerial yoga provides you with some serious benefits right from building strength to increasing spinal and shoulder flexibility and allowing your spine to lengthen through the hanging motion. You can find more benefits of aerial yoga moving forward in this article.

Can Beginners Dive into Aerial Yoga?

First things first, newbies. Are you planning to sign up for an aerial yoga class near you? Or setting up your own aerial yoga swing? Well, to get started with anti-gravity yoga, you will need at least one of those.

If you are doing it for the first time, it is advised to have an experienced instructor to help and guide you at first. They can teach you the techniques before you fly on your own. For this, you can either join aerial yoga classes or ask a personal trainer at your place, whichever works fine for you. Practising aerial yoga at home can give you the freedom to create your perfect workout routine that suits and fits your lifestyle.

Tips to Know Before Your Air Yoga Class

Fun and a transformative experience are how we can describe the aerial yoga classes to be for you in case you are new here. Not to scare you, but the practice can be a bit challenging at first, and your body might need some time to get into it. But on the plus side, you don’t need to have any prior yoga experience to sign up for an aerial yoga class. Although being well versed in traditional floor yoga beforehand can work to your advantage. We have curated some tips for you to remember before you air to your first air yoga class:

Trust The Sling: The silk hammock can hold up to 1,000kgs. So irrespective of your shape, size, or ability, you can fully enjoy being suspended in the air doing aerial yoga.
Wear The Right Gear: Before walking in, make sure you have your yoga pants: the tight ones, fellas, not the loose pants or shorts. Of course, you’ll need a tight-fitting workout shirt too. It is advised to wear something that ideally covers the underarms if you have sensitive skin as the slings can sometimes cause chafing. It is also suggested to bring a tank top and a long sleeve shirt with you to wear for some of the moves.
Do Not Binge Eat Beforehand: Aerial yoga is no special case; it is advised to avoid eating any large or heavy meal for at least an hour before any workout class. But it is also said not to do it empty stomach that you faint. Such a small snack like a banana or black coffee should be fine.
Leave Your Jewels at Home: Your long earrings or fancy bandana may get snagged in the slings easily, so it’s best to be jewellery-free during your aerial yoga practice.
Just Relax: No one is pushing you to do a level 10 pose on your first day. There can be difficult moves that can intimidate you. Just remember to breathe through the poses and go at your own pace.
Speak Up: If you need a helping hand or you’re uncomfortable in a particular pose, you should not be ashamed or afraid to ask for help from your instructor. They are there for you only, and they just want you to enjoy yourself during the class.
Modify When Necessary: When we say that air yoga is okay for all, it is because it can be modified from person to person. This is what makes aerial yoga accessible to anyone. Enter the class with an open mind and also try to have open communication with your instructor. Then only you’ll be able to enjoy and make the moves correctly.

Will Hanging in Aerial Yoga Help Me Lose Weight?

If you are trying to lose weight and you turned to aerial yoga for help, then you won’t disappoint, mate. Aerial yoga is a great way to shed those extra stubborn kgs! Aero yoga or Aerial yoga may be relatively a new concept, but it has swiped the world off its feet, literally. Fitness enthusiasts and couch potatoes both have taken a keen interest in this new fitness trend.

Losing weight is a difficult journey, and most of us have taken that trip. Frankly, millions of people are struggling with it right now. You are not alone! The best thing about Aero yoga is that it is a fusion of cardio and strength training. The poses and inversions are done to encourage your blood to flow to all the muscles in your body. At the same time, you are engaging several muscles at once, which burns more calories than cardio.

This makes aerial yoga the perfect formula not only for the existing zealous fitness people but also those who are new to this. The ratio of cardio: strength is perfect for someone who wants to take their yoga workouts to the next level (it can be level 2 or 12).

Seeing the world upside down and hanging from the air sounds scary and adventurous. And even though it sounds difficult, the technique is quite simple. With an experienced instructor by your side, you will soon be holding your body upside down from the silk hammock, feeling that rush of exhilaration!

Aerial yoga is a full-blown body workout, so during that 1-hour class, all your muscles will be working. If you calculate it, this means that you can burn approximately 400 calories in a single session. To spice things up, you can combine mat yoga, treadmill, or any other cardio and strength training to ensure that you get a holistic workout within your weekly routine.

Physical Benefits of Aerial Yoga

Increase Full-Body Flexibility and Strength: The silk hammock allows you to go deeper into the stretches and poses of yoga. Being suspended and hanging in the air gives you more space to move. In a way, this also means that you can do poses in hanging yoga that you can’t do on floor mat yoga. This full-body type of movement in aerial yoga strengthens all muscles and enhances flexibility.
Alleviate Back and Neck Pressure: Sitting and standing all day long can cause back pain. It also allows gravity to weigh down the spine but is suspended from the ceiling, and being upside down in certain aerial yoga moves can help lengthen and decompress the spine. Because of the hammock’s support, the pressure on your joint is far less. Aerial yoga doesn’t strain the spine, so back pain sufferers where you at.
Promote Circulation: Because of the poses done above the ground level and breathing done through the movements, aerial yoga is great for promoting circulation throughout the body as well as improving your digestion.
Improve Core Strength: Your core is engaged throughout the different poses to maintain stability. It is important to keep the abdominal muscles engaged throughout the practice.
Boost Confidence and Mood: Beginners can do the air yoga poses with ease, irrespective of them being advanced yoga poses. The support by the silk sling boosts confidence during the practice and provides a sense of accomplishment.
Helps with Breathing: Anti-gravity yoga allows you to breathe deeply without any restriction. When you are up, hanging in the air, you’ll be able to relax freely. Aerial yoga enables you to comfortably do any pose. With time, you can even expect to improve your lung capacity.
Stress Relief: Seeing the world upside down eases all the tension of the day. Aerial yoga puts your mind at peace and also allows you to meditate and focus on positive thoughts. In addition to stress relief, the pros of hanging yoga include increased balance, more energy, and better focus. When you’re inverted and suspended in the air, blood flows to your brain and provides the oxygen it needs for brain functioning.
Shed the Extra Kgs: Aerial yoga offers more than just peace and relaxation. To stay in control in the silk hammocks improves your balance that helps the body burn calories. You change your positions in a way that traditional yoga doesn’t allow you to, and this stability in the air strengthens your core. A study also showed that approximately after six weeks of aerial yoga can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease significantly.
Low-Impact Exercise: You use the silk slings, gravity, and suspension in aerial yoga that allows you to create space in your body without compressing your joints. So because of its low or zero-impact nature, aerial yoga is an excellent option for those who specifically want to target joint pressure and pain.

Conclusion

Fun fact: Aerial yoga even makes you tall. How do you ask? Well, by decompressing the spinal column and aligning the body from head to toe, air yoga boosts the production of the growth hormone that increases your height. Aerial yoga provides you with numerous health benefits along with the element of fun, which makes this workout class an attractive fitness option.

If you want to experiment with things, Aerial yoga is a great platform for that. Stretch, twist, pull and fly in ways that work for your body. Jokes aside, do ensure that you practice aerial yoga or any other new exercise under the guidance of a certified yoga teacher, especially if you’re a beginner to this form of exercise.

You may also like:-

Improve the Sleep Quality by Yoga Nidra Meditation.
Ashtanga Yoga Postures & Sequences You Should Know About.
How to Practice for Nadi Shodhan Pranayama?