Aerial Yoga is a unique and fun activity to try with friends, however it has deep health benefits that keeps bringing back regular aerial yogis for more…
1. Full body workout
When performing aerial yoga, you are forced to use every muscle which allows movements for everything including ligaments and joints. With most sports and physical disciplines, there is always the problem of switching between upper and lower body workouts, but with aerial yoga, you utilize them both at the same time. You will be able to tone and work muscles in your upper and lower body as well, and your entire body will move and stretch.
In fact, a study performed by the American Council on Exercise shows aerial yoga rivals the effectiveness of aerobic exercise. During a 50-minute aerial yoga session, you have the potential melt away 320 calories. After six weeks, your risk of cardiovascular disease will be significantly lower.
2. Core muscles enhancement
A benefit of taking your yoga practice off the ground is that you lose your point of stability; you’ll start to engage your core immediately without even realizing it.
Aerial Yoga exercises help towards strengthening the core muscles, including the back, stomach and pelvis to improve all-round physical strength. he look of a killer six pack is pretty impressive, but having deep core strength is more important than popping the abdominals. A strong core not only cares for back health, it is back health and holistic health. The muscles surrounding your spine support and protect the vertebral column, and keeping these muscles conditioned and flexible, prevents aches and pains caused by knots and tension. By removing the stability of the ground, the core is required to work harder and in places that may be ignored during standard floor work ab drills. The aerial hammock allows for a variety of poses that intensify core activation and development. This allows you to improve your skills with other sports, too.
3. Easier acces to inverted poses
Been working on your headstand or forearm stand in yoga? Forget kicking up against a wall and consider this: “The silk wraps around your body and supports you in certain difficult poses like inversions, giving you the experience of how a pose should feel. In other words, taking a few aerial classes might raise your game in your regular yoga classes as well.
Inversions can be difficult for many people to master, but are more doable with the assistance of a hammock. One of the best ways to use the hammock is for inversions because it is fairly easy to go upside-down with the hammock, and it can be done with no pressure on the head, neck, or rest of the spine. For some students, this is preferable over the floor version.
4. Spine decompression
All day long, your vertebrae sit stacked, being pulled down into each other by gravity. This is why flipping yourself upside down and allowing your spine to be free of that pressure can help you feel lengthened and relaxed. Hanging like a bat in the aerial hammock allows the vertebrae of our spine to gently decompress. This is done by letting gravity gently pull apart the vertebrae and the discs between them, causing fresh synovial fluid, oxygen and other nutrients to flood in and nourish them.
Although there’s very little research undertaken on proving the benefits of Aerial Yoga with back pain, if we look into physiotherapy anti-gravity stretches we can see that these stretches are used to improve conditions such as scoliosis and muscle spasms. Applying force to the spine separates the vertebrae, relieving pressure on discs and ligaments.
5. Flexibility improvement
The practice of aerial yoga lengthens your ligaments and relaxes your muscles, as being suspended in the air releases tension in your body and allows you to perform new moves at a range you did not know you were capable of. Spinal and shoulder flexibility are increased the most, and you become able to move more freely and with less effort.
6. Low-impact exercise
Aerial yoga is an excellent option for those who want to move their bodies, but experience joint issues, thanks to low-impact nature. Hammock support body weight partly and allows you to create space in the body without compressing the joints. There are even joint-relief-focused aerial yoga classes that specifically target joint pressure and pain.
7. Circulation enhancement and lymphatic movement
Everyone can appreciate the feeling of putting your feet up after a hard day’s work. This is because the fluid in our bodies can become trapped and stagnant in our lower limbs from being upright for lengthy periods of time. Thanks gravity…! While our blood is pushed around our body from the continual pumping of our heart, our lymphatic fluid is not. Our lymphatic system is directly related to our immune system and requires movement to circulate. This can be in the form of massage or physical movement. By changing the way our body is positioned, for example raising our legs above our heads in a supported and suspended inversion, we’re able to move our lymphatic fluid around our body and help deliver fresh blood to our organs and muscles.
8. Stress relief
Don’t underestimate the stress relief that stems from participating in aerial yoga classes. If you happen to be going through a rough time or experiencing anxiety attacks, aerial yoga will help put your mind at ease. It gives you an opportunity to meditate and focus on positive thoughts (while hanging upside-down!). Beyond just stress relief, the pros of being inverted include increased balance, more energy, and better focus. When you’re inverted, blood flows to your brain and provides oxygen it needs for brain function.
When talking about yoga, the spiritual aspect should never be overlooked. Aerial yoga undeniably offers an uplifting spiritual experience and takes the mind away from everyday life problems, leading it to an extraordinary place. When your mind returns to the present moment and your body to its balanced position, something will be changed, and not only your ability to perform impressive yoga poses.
The meditative state promoted by yoga helps you to combat stress throughout the day, thus allowing you to rebuild your emotional system and increase your creativity. Practicing aerial yoga regularly enhances your mood and simply allows you to enjoy life more. Anxiety, depression, and mood swings will be a thing of the past once you start exercising upside down at your aerial yoga class.
Research shows that mind-body activities can reduce stress, and aerial yoga is no exception. Many classes end with you lying in savasana, cocooned in a hammock as you gently swing from side to side. Talk about blissing out!
Some describe the feeling as being in a cocoon, which can be especially comforting for healing trauma.
9. Mood booster
When you first attempt this class, you’ll be overwhelmed with adrenaline due to topsy-turvy positions you’ve never experienced before. Being upside-down increases adrenaline and produces hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and good old endorphins, improving our all-round happiness.
10. Improvement od focus and prioperception
When you try a new type of exercise, your mind learns something new. With aerial yoga, focus is improved because you are probably not used to the yoga exercises you will be completing. This way, you become more aware of your body posture and even gain a new perspective on other aspects of life.
Inversions (being upside down) increases blood flow to the brain providing it with more oxygen which: makes it work faster and more effectively, boosts mental focus, increases memory, improves mental focus, and increases clarity of thoughts. Sport fortifies your neural connections and boosts your memory power – aerial yoga will make your smarter and enable you to maintain your brain capacity unaltered for a longer time.
11. Empowerment
I thnk everyone should try the experience of hanging upside down at least once in their lifetime. Children find the idea of inverse poses very fun, and adults should give it a try as well. It’s worth to step (er, swing) outside your comfort zone.
The feeling of conquering a challenge is empowerment. Trying something new can be a challenge, and trying something out of the ordinary can be an even bigger challenge. The realm of aerial yoga provides challenges for every level. From conquering the fear of lifting your feet off the ground for the first time, to completing your first drop. Every challenge delivers a little rush of adrenalin, followed by release of endorphins and the desire to high five yourself.
