“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”
Rumi
As we all know, the practice of yoga is thousand years old, but aerial yoga is a revived concept. It is practising yoga using the ‘swing’. So, One World News brings to you a new perspective to see the world around and hang out in a healthy way. In this context, we interacted with Julie Swart, a professional acrobatic performer and yoga teacher from New York who discussed this new form of yoga and its health benefits, along with other important factors.
What is Aerial Yoga?
Aerial Yoga is a fun, challenging workout routine combining aspects of yoga, Pilates, aerial arts and strength training. Aerial Yoga is designed to increase strength, mobility, balance and flexibility. Besides all these benefits, you will also have a great time while doing it! Aerial Yoga is a total mind and body workout for those who want to combine fitness with FUN.
How is it different from other Yoga exercises?
The Aerial yoga workout focuses around a low-lying soft fabric ‘trapeze’ (called a ‘sling’ or ‘hammock’) which is suspended from the ceiling to the practitioner’s hip height. Aerial Yoga makes use of the hammock to distribute the body weight between the floor and the fabric, allowing a variety of strength-building, flexibility and core strength moves. The hammock assists in particular with challenging yoga poses, supporting the body’s weight during poses. This in turn allows the body to lengthen as it holds a pose, which allows the practitioner to focus on alignment and uses gravity to deepen the stretch. The hammock gives the practitioner the opportunity to attempt and master poses they wouldn’t have done before.
How did this trend begin?
Unnata Aerial Yoga was launched in New York City in the USA in 2006. Aerial Yoga was then brought to South Africa in 2010 after I (Julie Swart) went to New York to be trained and certified as an Unnata Aerial Yoga teacher. Aerial Yoga’s popularity has since really spread around the world while I trained instructors from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and fellow South Africans.
Tell us something about the course.
In this course, the training takes place over a 5 day period. It will include lectures covering both theories and the practical application of the Aerial Yoga foundation poses.
Pour some light on the aerial yoga exercises and its health benefits.
We have a variety of different series that we include in a typical 60 minute class. One example of this would be the ‘Back Straddle Series’. The Back Straddle series separates ribs from the pelvis, which in turn lengthens and decompresses the spine. It can be used to help invert the student and inversions in yoga have a number of benefits, including:
• Decompression of joints and spine while aligning the vertebrae without the strain that gravity causes.
• The practitioner can hold inversions longer and correctly with the support of the sling.
Another example of this would be the ‘Ribs Hang Series’. This series can be used in a number of ways including:
• Teaching a student to breathe into the back ribs
• To stabilize the shoulder blades together and down the spine
• To lengthen the waist and aid in strengthening the core
• To assist in opening the chest in backbends.
Who all can perform these exercises?
Aerial Yoga is open to all ages, from young to old. Aerial Yoga gives everyone an opportunity to look at the world from a totally different perspective and to have a bit of fun. It will turn everyone’s world upside down, literally and figuratively. Each class is designed for most levels of fitness, with modifications offered for different levels of strength and flexibility.
Does the high swing exercise lead to any health problems?
If you have any pre-existing medical conditions that prevent you from inverting such as pregnancy, glaucoma, a heart condition, sinus problems, high blood pressure etc. then this may not be for you. If you have an injury or medical condition, it is best to check with your doctor first.
The hammock can press into the skin which takes a bit of time to adjust to. We encourage the students to wear t-shirts and leggings covering the armpits and knees. As well as offering padding to help soften the pressure of the hammock on the skin.
Aerial Yoga has attracted some of the famous celebrities towards itself like actress Gwyneth Paltrow and comedian Laura Prangley and is widely practised in different parts of the world.
• Photo Courtesy : www.aerialyoga.com/press-buzz/image-gallery-downloads/
Are you too associated with Aerial Yoga and want to share your experience with us? Write to us at info@oneworldnews.in
