Aerial yoga uses an aerial hammock as a support to explore yoga poses, to strengthen, stretch and, most importantly, have fun. These classes use a low hammock that is ideal for a relaxed and stress-free class. The hammock provides a unique and fun take on traditional yoga, allows students to deepen or hold and access postures that would have previously been inaccessible, and provides a few fun poses where we can explore and fly.
The aerial yoga silk takes the form of a soft hammock that can be used both bunched up and spread out. These strong pieces of fabric can be used as a support, aiding practitioners to find balance and more control in traditional yoga poses. It can also be used to level up some traditional yoga poses, such as the plank, where the use of the silk makes the pose a bit more demanding. Aerial yoga is a form of yoga that draws on circus arts to provide different levels to the usual stretches, strengthening and balancing poses.
Spread out to its full extension, the aerial hammock provides a protective nook, allowing aerial yoga practitioners to find a deep sense of relaxation. We can use the aerial hammock to support a traditional corpse pose, or half lotus pose, and feel how the silks work with the body to provide support along with a gentle sway.
One key part of most aerial yoga is the inversion sequence. Numerous studies have shown that inversion can aid health, ease stress and support relaxation. However, in most traditional yoga classes, full inversions are only accessible to very experienced yogis in the form of handstands, headstands etc. The aerial hammock makes the inversions accessible, supported and extremely nourishing.
In my aerial yoga classes in Otley, I like to work with a low hammock so we can easily reach down and feel the ground beneath us, experiencing a combination of the fun of flying and the safety of the ground, making these aerial yoga classes in Yorkshire more accessible than standard aerial yoga where the hammock is set at a higher level.
Working from a low height in aerial yoga also actually allows us to work towards more ambitious poses and challenges as we are starting from a safe low base. Rolling up may take us slightly higher up, but this still won’t be scarily high. (More ambitious poses are also always suggested as options.)
In these aerial yoga workshops in Leeds, we seek calm and a moment of relaxation, while working to build strength and overcome physical challenges. The classes are divided into two types that support a range of movement abilities. The Aerial Yoga Workshops are fitness-focused while also building flexibility and strength. The Deep Stretch Aerial Yoga Workshops are more accessible, and a good place to begin if you're feeling nervous; in these slower sessions we use the aerial hammock to slowly build flexibility and find deep release.
To book onto my aerial yoga Leeds classes book here. For more information about these Yorkshire aerial yoga workshops in Otley, get in touch.
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