11 Expert Instructors Reveal Their Love Of Aerial Yoga

With the rise in popularity of Aerial Yoga and swing yoga classes, it’s no wonder that studios are popping up everywhere..

But have you ever wondered what is to love about aerial yoga, or why so many yoga instructors are choosing to do and teach aerial yoga classes?!

We wanted to know too, so we decided to ask 11 expert teachers from all around the world who use our equipment to reveal their love of aerial yoga and share their favorite poses!

Here are their answers, many of which have had to be translated into English :)

 

The Inside Scoop..

 

Ivy Vesaas @ Ingebjoergvesaas, Norway

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

I love the swings invitation to PLAY!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

Addicted to inversions and love it as a prop for my students also in regular yoga classes.

 

 

Kung Nang @ Iceberg Sportsclub, Thailand

(Watch full special guest interview here!)

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

Swing Yoga is an exercise that improves me physically and mentally. Also, Swing yoga makes me excited and feels challenging every time when I practice and teach it!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

“Swan pose” it requires many muscle groups, especially the back muscles. Swan pose is one of the most favorite pose for my clients because most of them tend to have a backache due to working in the office for a long time. Moreover, every time when I practice this Swan pose, it makes me look like Natalie Portman, an actress in the Black Swan!

 

 

Felicia Schmid @ Asanas & MORE, United States

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

What I LOVE most about the Yoga Swing is how it heals back injuries with efficiency and ease.  Inversion therapy creates 1 – 2mm of space between the discs. I have been utilizing the yoga swing for my own recovery from 3 herniations, 2 slipped discs, a torn hamstring and pelvic floor instability. I had to relearn how to walk again with my left leg and foot. I have a dropped foot that I was told I would never have full use again.

I have about 90-95% use now. It is an AMAZING yoga therapy tool for both the student and yoga therapist alike.

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

Traction Jackson is my favorite pose because it is an inversion (inversion therapy) and helps to re-align the spine with softness and ease. I always get solar and lunar energy when hanging upside down in this pose; meaning I can do it during the day to gain energy and insight or at night to decompress from the day to prepare my body and mind for bed.

It is a great way to re-calibrate the autonomic nervous system.

 

 

Rula Al Ghoul, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

Aerial yoga is very gentle on the joints which makes the practice more accessible and safe. Practicing on the swing allows you to explore different moves and shapes that you can’t do on the mat. And most of all it’s so much fun!

What is your favourite aerial pose and why?

Inversions: Incorporating inversions into our practice while on the earth can be challenging. But with Aerial Yoga, and being firmly secured in the yoga hammock, you can invert your body and hang from the sky, making handstands much more doable. With little to no effort, your fears of holding your body upside down disappear as the fabric does the work for you.

Savasana: Savasana in Aerial Yoga is suspended, meaning you are in a cocoon of fabric! The feeling of weightlessness promotes a different sensation than resting on the earth. Being in a protected shell feels amazing, especially while gently swaying in motion.

 

 

Sissy Gonzalez @ Yoga Aereo, Mexico

(Watch full special guest interview here!)

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

Aerial yoga is not just a pose or an acrobatic way to do yoga. Aerial is to release your self of fears and loose limits.

I work it for disabilities and oldies and people who say I don’t do yoga because I’m stiff or I’m not elastic, but when you work with your swing and I mean Gravotonics one, you feel very safe and comfortable and like kids says – You get a super power!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

Traction I mean inversions but playing with time, as a physiotherapist I work a lot with aerial as a support and in the inversion you feel how you loose the fuzz and get space in your spine, mental and physical benefits are in the swing and when you sing a mantra in the inversion is power and trip for the same price.

I developed my training with the swings 12 years ago… And I love it!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Marc Cross @ Hang Out Yoga, London

(Watch full special guest interview here!)

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

In some ways it is like a mat based practice but having a very quiet teacher there to grab hold of to support you when you need it with the device itself. The best way to love it is to get into the adventurous playful child like space in your mind and see where you can go with that.

Trust your body and the wonderful things it can do and what I love seeing is students surprise themselves and realise they can do more than they thought they could.

Instant confidence builder and pick-me up as well as the most natural of medications as the body is being used to make the mind feel good. Our bodies are the most wonderful gift we have and the equipment allows us to realise its full potential as the hominids we are!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

It changes actually to how I feel like on the day. It may be I want to do stuff that mobilizes my shoulders and other days I may want to work at stretching out my calves. That’s the best thing about this equipment is how adaptable it is to your needs.

For most people the main benefit is the ability to do passive full body inversions turning your body upside down and just wrapping the legs around the equipment to keep you in place without the sort of muscle strength and engagement that would be recruited for similar types inversions done in a mat based class.

For example handstand or shoulder stand in mat based classes are generally regarded as difficult poses for most students but with aerial yoga if you set the equipment up correctly these type of active inversions can also be practice by a lot more students.

Passive inversions too almost always unless you’re really panicking and stressing out allow for diaphragmatic breathing that stimulates the vagus nerve and calms the nervous system tapping into the parasympathetic.

These inversions also create traction in the spine which is a fancy word for saying space. If you think most of your life you’ve had gravity pushing down on your spine taking away that space coupled with a desk-slash-smartphone lifestyle of hunching over a screen and as time goes on many people experience back pain and other issues.

What this equipment does is turn gravity upside down and have it there as your friend and it also helps righting bad posture by the various poses and mobilizing exercises available in the practice.

 

 

Keity Garcia @ Soul Yoga, New Zealand

(Watch full special guest interview here!)

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

Different point of view (literally). I also love the freedom and challenges that the prop provides to my body and mind during my practice.

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

It’s difficult to say only one pose, so I’ll say poses: Embryo, inverted cobra, bird of paradise, firefly, plow and sun salutation with one-leg crow.

 

 

Suzi Curtis @ Fitness With Suzi, U.A.E

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

What I love about aerial yoga is that anyone can do it. It gives you the freedom to use your body in a more relaxed state, less pressure on the joints as the hammock takes away the weight from your body in particular poses.

You don’t need to be flexible, you just need to be brave enough to give it a try.

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

My favourite aerial pose is “Superman” because it takes you back to your childhood and that freedom of flying and letting go. My students of all ages love this too. I have a 78 year old client who won’t leave the class unless she’s done this pose. She believes it’s helping her to stay young!

 

 

Vanessa Schwan @ Lotus Licht, Germany

What do you love most about aerial yoga?
The synergy of strength and anti-gravity – floating and powering up at the same time!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?
Inversions that include core training. It’s much more fun than functional training on the floor, it tickles my brain and gives me a workout that doesn’t feel like one.

 

 

Sasha Warner @ DharamsalaTC, United States

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

I love teaching kids aerial yoga because the children are always so eager to get into the hammock!

They WANT to do yoga! The hammock is a great prop for incorporating/introducing yoga poses, breath work, and mindfulness to a younger audience. Children are always learning by moving. The hammock can be a useful tool for kids seeking vestibular input! I’ve noticed kids seem more focused after aerial yoga!

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

INVERSIONS of course! Life seems better upside down! Being upside down is a child like behavior that, as adults, we shy away from. I always feel renewed and a sense of playfulness after an inversion. The giggles I hear in the room can be contagious!!

 

 

Sarie Soekiman @ Alive Yoga Studio, Indonesia

What do you love most about aerial yoga?

Aerial Swing is very helpful for doing yoga poses that are generally difficult to do independently…

Able to hold yoga poses for longer periods of time, while controlling your breath and paying close attention to the details of the body’s muscles. Yoga therapy (improves posture, improves blood circulation, strengthens muscles, etc.)

What is your favorite aerial pose and why?

Adhomuka Svanasasa with the Yoga Swing makes me more able to feel every detail of the muscles of my body from the soles of my feet to the palms of my hands working actively. The hamstrings, spine, upper arms become easier to extend, because the hips are supported by the swing.

Blood flow also moves very gently to the head area. The effect of the pose, the body relaxes like it’s been massaged, the face area, the head is fresher.

 

 

That’s A Wrap!

So there you have it!

11 amazing teachers share their love of aerial yoga for us and as you can see, they are extremely passionate!

And everyone seems to LOVE Aerial Yoga Inversions!!!!

 

There are so many benefits that were mentioned, many that are shared with traditional mat yoga such as…

• Supportive in hard poses
• Decompress your spine and stretch hamstrings and other stubborn areas
• Mobilizes your entire body
• Functional training and build core strength – improves posture
• Can be challenging and energizing or calming to the nervous system and completely relaxing

 

But also some benefits that are rarely spoken about, like…

• Opening you mind and even provides a workout to the mind
• Release fears and limits
• Amazing motivation for kids as well as learning through movement, focus and mindfulness
• Great for adults to get in touch with their inner-child and have fun too!

 

If you’ve been considering to get started with swing yoga classes then now’s the time to find a good studio near you and give it a go.. If you happen to live near any of these studios with the teachers featured above, then definitely get in touch with them today!

All the best with your practice!!