Over the past few years, my interest in yoga has increased greatly since I discovered how useful it is to relieve stress and tension. As a former chronic stressor, yoga has taught me a lot about letting things go and how to really focus and tune into my body. It’s taught me to be in the moment as well as how to enjoy exercise without constantly having to push my body to fatigue and exhaustion. More recently, I’ve heard of a new form of yoga called aerial yoga which allows one to perform poses while suspended in the air in a soft, fabric hammock attached to the ceiling. An interesting article, titled We Tried It: AntiGravity Aerial Yoga, about Huffington Post writer Carolyn Gregoire’s first aerial yoga experience, really helped to explain more
…show more content…
It’s described how the silk-like hammock creates support which can help to “ease pressure, create space in your joints, decrease compression in your spine, and help you find more mobility” (Macklin, 2015). This assist from gravity is very useful for beginner yogis. The article goes on to discuss how differently the body is used as more core and upper body is developed through pulling movements. The founder of Unnata Aerial Yoga describes how the hammock can be helpful when getting into the one-legged king pigeon pose by the way it assists in lengthening the spine and avoiding knee pressure (Macklin, 2015). Lastly, the article mentioned how enjoyable the practice is overall and laughter is also encouraged along with breathing …show more content…
I noticed it was mentioned in the Huffington Post article that the instructor demonstrated the techniques beforehand to get a feel for what was to come. Modified versions were also included in the class taken by Gregoire which is crucial for dealing with a range of individuals. However, I feel like the word “aerial” can be slightly misleading especially for beginner yogis. Many may be hesitant to attempt this practice because they envision gymnasts suspended several feet in the air spinning around when that is not what this is at all. Although aerial yoga could evolved into more than just a fad, I imagine it would be difficult to attract yogis at lower levels. Beginners especially could benefit the most from the hammock’s support and alignment assistance.
Overall, reading through both of these articles made me more confident in suggesting this format for yoga beginners. Both articles, each from a different perspective, had many similarities in the description of this practice being fun and restorative. This definitely proved to me that I was misled in the difficulty of aerial yoga, and I am eager to incorporate it into my
It’s described how the silk-like hammock creates support which can help to “ease pressure, create space in your joints, decrease compression in your spine, and help you find more mobility” (Macklin, 2015). This assist from gravity is very useful for beginner yogis. The article goes on to discuss how differently the body is used as more core and upper body is developed through pulling movements. The founder of Unnata Aerial Yoga describes how the hammock can be helpful when getting into the one-legged king pigeon pose by the way it assists in lengthening the spine and avoiding knee pressure (Macklin, 2015). Lastly, the article mentioned how enjoyable the practice is overall and laughter is also encouraged along with breathing …show more content…
I noticed it was mentioned in the Huffington Post article that the instructor demonstrated the techniques beforehand to get a feel for what was to come. Modified versions were also included in the class taken by Gregoire which is crucial for dealing with a range of individuals. However, I feel like the word “aerial” can be slightly misleading especially for beginner yogis. Many may be hesitant to attempt this practice because they envision gymnasts suspended several feet in the air spinning around when that is not what this is at all. Although aerial yoga could evolved into more than just a fad, I imagine it would be difficult to attract yogis at lower levels. Beginners especially could benefit the most from the hammock’s support and alignment assistance.
Overall, reading through both of these articles made me more confident in suggesting this format for yoga beginners. Both articles, each from a different perspective, had many similarities in the description of this practice being fun and restorative. This definitely proved to me that I was misled in the difficulty of aerial yoga, and I am eager to incorporate it into my