Yoga leaving yoga mat: aerial yoga makes difficult postures possible

In my yoga practice, the inverted posture has always been difficult for me. When I first tried aerial yoga this week, I was surprised to find that those challengeable postures became easier to do. And aerial yoga is also gaining popularity in Newcastle.

Aerial yoga, also named anti-gravity yoga, is a hybrid type of yoga developed about ten years ago combining tradition yoga postures, dance and pilates with the use of a hammock. This novel type of yoga offers similar benefits as traditional yoga, and the hammocks provide a greater range of movement and better stretching assistances. This is the reason why some challenging postures are easier to achieve when doing aerial yoga.

Rita al Sarai, a 21-year-old student at Northumbria University, has experience in pole dance practice and has recently become fascinated with aerial yoga. She strongly recommends that people should try it, as she said:

“This is a amazing different kind of sport,

“It makes people exercise in different parts of the body, even some parts we don’t normally use, and it can especially strengthen our core muscles.

“Meanwhile, it is really fun to practice aerial yoga, which is also a good way to relive stress.”

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Due to the novel practice form and physical shaping benefits, aerial yoga has become more and more popular. In Newcastle, many organizations have begun to set up this type of yoga practice courses, not only including yoga studios but also dancing studios, and the average cost of each class is about ten pounds. Those kind of classes usually need to be booked long in advance to attend because of the popularity of aerial yoga nowadays.

As for me, the previous yoga practice experience has given me a certain practice basis. With the help of the hammock, I quickly achieved some difficult postures. But for beginners, aerial yoga is more challenging than many other exercises.

Emily Graham, an aerial yoga instructor, said that not everyone is suitable for practicing aerial yoga. If someone suffers from vertigo, heart disease, hypertension and other physical problems, it would be better to consult with doctors before trying this this form of yoga.

“There are safety risks in hanging upside of aerial yoga, and it is necessary for beginners to concentrate during practice. A well-trained instructor is crucial as well, to ensure that trainees’ performance do not exceed the limits of the hammock.” Emily emphasized.

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