The aeroyoga (or aerial yoga) is a practice of yoga that combines traditional poses with suspended movements, using a special swing or hammock. This variant of yoga merges elements of yoga, Pilates, and aerial arts, providing a unique experience that allows working the body comprehensively while enjoying the sensation of “floating” (some people say it’s like doing yoga in suspension).
Christopher Harrison was the inventor of Aeroyoga in 1991 in New York City.
Aeroyoga Features
One of its main features is the weightlessness sensation, which allows for movements and postures with less physical effort, relieving pressure on the joints and facilitating deep stretches.
This makes it an ideal practice for people of different experience levels, as the support of the hammock helps maintain balance and perfect body alignment.
In addition, it promotes comprehensive body work by combining strength, flexibility, and coordination. Thanks to the suspension, the deep core muscles are constantly activated, improving stability and strengthening the abdomen and back.
Mentally, it offers a relaxing and therapeutic approach, helping to reduce stress and increase focus through the connection between breathing and movement.
What do you need to practice Aeroyoga?
- A certified yoga swing or hammock.
- Enough space to move freely.
- Instructions from a qualified instructor, especially at the beginning, to ensure proper alignment and safety.
Your unique approach allows to perform challenging movements safely, thanks to the support of the hammock, while the suspension promotes a feeling of freedom and lightness.
In addition, this practice is ideal for people seeking to improve their posture, relieve muscle tension, and experience a deeper connection with their body from an innovative perspective.
Aeroyoga compared to traditional Yoga
Both practices have their own benefits, and although aerial yoga is complementary to conventional yoga, the former helps you deepen the postures.
By using the silk hammock, you will be able to reach certain points that are normally more difficult to reach when practicing traditional yoga.
And although it is always assumed that due to the fact that this practice has been suspended it is more difficult, in a way it can actually improve your elasticity and make some movements easier than in conventional yoga.
About the hammock
Think of the hammock as a swing that supports your hips for twists and back twists.
This is not your normal hammock; it is a special hammock that can support up to 300 kg. It includes support chains, a fabric strap, a silk hammock, and carabiners.
The strings must be hung from the ceiling no less than one meter from the ground, and the hammock must be adjusted to the user’s height.
Benefits of Aeroyoga
There are no scientific studies about its practice (yet), everything that is known is based on the experiences shared by the practitioners, but they do report multiple benefits.
According to those shared experiences, the body benefits by improving its flexibility, strengthening the joints and muscles, and decompressing the spine when hanging from the hammock. Just like traditional yoga, aerial yoga is also a support on an emotional and psychological level.
- You will improve your yoga postures: Deepen your poses because you have the support of the hammock, it allows you to stretch further and reach points that you normally wouldn’t access by doing it on a mat.
- You will get those inverted positions right: As we all know, inverted positions can be more difficult for some than for others, so practicing this aerial yoga can help improve handstands and headstands, as it becomes easier thanks to the support of the swing.
- You will strengthen the upper body and core: You may also experience improvement in upper body and core strength by holding your arms, shoulders, and abs in the silk hammock for support.
Aero yoga classes: what are they like?
The aeroyoga classes really started to gain popularity in the form of yoga a few years ago (since then they have branched out to include hybrids, including aerial bars) and began to attract both beginners and committed yogis.
The essentials: Get into a suspended sling hammock, which is hung from the ceiling and supports your entire body weight. You can manipulate the fabric in such a way to maintain positions and perform tricks.
These are the 7 ways in which Aeroyoga will take you to the next level:
- It has no impact No matter if you suffer from knee problems or not, doing some low-impact exercises is great for your body, Aeroyoga is suitable for the joints.
- Traditional yoga poses become easier. Have you been practicing your headstand or forearm position in yoga? Forget about kicking against the wall and consider aerial yoga for this; silk wraps around your body help you in certain uncomfortable poses like inversions, giving you the experience of how a pose should feel. In other words, taking a few aerial lessons can also improve your game in your daily yoga classes.
- It is an excellent abdominal training. The advantage of starting your routine is that you are losing your stabilization point; you are instantly starting to engage your core without even noticing it. It is one of the most successful abdominal exercises.
- No skills are needed. The ACE study topics serve as an example: 16 randomly selected women, aged 18 to 45, have shown that they can attend air training in quite cold conditions and still manage to master things.
- Counts as cardio. ACE researchers assumed there would be a full-body strengthening effect. Study participants increased their muscle mass and decreased their body fat overall. But scientists were surprised at how cardio-intensive this type of yoga turned out to be. At the beginning of the research, they did not expect the physiological response to aerial yoga to be similar to that of other more conventional aerobic exercises, such as cycling and swimming.
- You will leave feeling calm. A study shows that mind-body exercise can relieve stress, and AeroYoga is no exception. Many classes end lying in Savasana, wrapped in a hammock while you sway slowly from side to side.
- You will start doing tricks. It’s very fun to play the acrobat for an hour. Suddenly, you are doing gymnastics tricks that you wouldn’t normally try without the silk support suspension. It’s so entertaining and you will enjoy it so much that you will keep practicing.
The Aeroyoga classes will be fun, they will help you improve your flexibility, strengthen your core muscles, and enhance your traditional yoga practices while safely reaching points you normally wouldn’t reach on a mat.
