Best Yoga Swing Poses to Improve Balance and Flexibility

While body balance is something that we rarely think about, it forms the foundation of almost all our physical engagements. Unfortunately, most yogis tend to overlook the importance of balancing poses.

This shouldn’t be the case. Incorporating some balancing poses in your yoga swing workouts comes with numerous benefits.

 

How do these yoga swing poses help?

First, these poses will help to improve your body’s overall alignment, posture, mental focus as well as muscular engagement. And when your entire body is balanced and the muscles are aligned, you will find it easier to tackle almost all the physical activities that come your way.

Furthermore, cultivating better balance and flexibility will set the foundation for advanced and more challenging yoga swing poses.

Improving your balance and flexibility through aerial yoga poses will help you to recover faster, boost your coordination and enhance your training technique in other athletic pursuits.

Also, enhancing your overall balance will help to prevent injuries.

 

So, how do you improve your balance and flexibility through aerial yoga?

Well, here are some effective yoga swing poses that you can use..

 

Mountain Pose Raised Arms

The mountain pose raised arms is one of the foundational aerial yoga poses offered in most studios.

Practicing this beginner-level pose with strong muscular engagement and optimal focus will help to create better body balance.

Considering that you will be doing this pose using aerial yoga hammocks, it will help you to strengthen the hip and core muscles, leading to better control while building greater stability.

The mountain pose also helps to stretch the abdomen, chest, back muscles, quadriceps as well as upper legs.

This constant but gentle stretching will open up the shoulders, spine, neck and back, thus strengthening these areas and enhancing your overall flexibility.

Also, doing this pose at the end of your workout will help you to feel relaxed, grounded and at ease.

 

Balancing Table Pose

The majority of aerial fitness teachers tend to focus a lot on one leg standing poses like the tree pose or the dancer pose, both of which we will cover shortly.

The problem is, such poses are not beginner-friendly. Fortunately, you can still build body balance as a beginner, using basic yoga swing poses such as the balancing table pose.

When properly executed, the balancing table pose can go a long way in enhancing your balance and flexibility, and it can also be done by yogis with sensitive wrists or knees.

 

First, it will help to build your lumbar spine stability, which is a vital aspect of body balance and may relieve back pain. A stable and strong spine will help you to efficiently perform your daily activities.

This includes walking, carrying heavy loads, as well as generally maintaining a straight and upright posture.

While the balancing table pose or the Dandayamana Bharmanasana may appear easy or basic, it requires adequate motor control over your lower back muscles and abdominal muscles to stay stable.

Second, this pose will engage, strengthen and stabilize the muscles in your forearms and wrists. And as you may be aware, these muscles are highly essential whenever you are undertaking advanced yoga poses that may require stability and balance.

 

Tree Pose Aerial

The tree pose is one of the most popular balance-building poses in antigravity yoga. And as much as the tree pose is an advanced level pose, using yoga hammocks or yoga swings makes it accessible to beginners.

It engages the legs, upper and lower back, legs and the entire body, thus helping to improve posture. It will also strengthen your legs and feet, especially the calves, ankles, hamstrings and inner thighs.

The tree pose aerial yoga pose will also open up your hips, thus providing relief against sciatic pain while strengthening your glutes.

Another benefit of incorporating this pose into your yoga swing workout sessions is that it helps to keep you feeling grounded, and according to aerial fitness experts, can also help to boost the confidence with which you tackle challenging situations.

 

Dancer Pose Aerial

The dancer pose is designed to give aerial yoga students a better understanding of their bodies and help with balance and flexibility.

When done using yoga hammocks, it combines an inversion and a backbend, resulting in numerous benefits, such as helping to stretch and strengthen your upper and lower body, easing shoulder pain, back pain, as well as stiffness that is usually experienced from prolonged standing or sitting.

And as you may probably know, the muscles in these areas play a vital role in body balance.

Considering it combines an inversion with a backbend, this pose will help to reduce muscle tension and decompress the spine.

Once the spine is decompressed and the tension in the muscles is released, you’ll enjoy better flexibility and greater range of motion.

Overall, this pose opens the hips and enables you to use utilize your leg muscles effectively, enhancing balance and stability.

 

Side Plank Pose

Aerial yoga poses that focus on the core are vital when it comes to building balance and stability. And the side plank is one of such poses.

Regardless of the variation you opt for, this pose will help to strengthen and stabilize your body’s midsection as well as leg and back muscles, arms, wrists and shoulders, which will, in turn, help you to undertake other challenging workouts.

When you do this pose at the beginning of your suspension yoga session, it will help to wake up your abdominal muscles, resulting in enhanced balance, strength and stability throughout the session.

 

Chair Pose Aerial

As its name suggests, the chair pose is a yoga swing pose, performed in a sitting position. Designed for all levels, this aero yoga pose requires balancing, stretching and strength.

It helps to lengthen, stretch and elongate the back, and opens the chest.

The chair pose also helps to build strength in the quads, which are among the most important support muscles for the knees, thus improving your balance.

As you sit on your yoga hammock, this pose will also help to gently stretch your tendons, thus increasing your ankles’ range and flexibility. It stretches and lengthens the side of your body while opening up your shoulders, resulting in improved posture.

 

Half Moon Pose

Also known as Ardha Chandrasana in Sanskrit, this pose features two opposing movements. The leg on the ground is pulling you downwards while the raised arms are extending your body upwards.

These two opposing forces work together to balance and suspend your body, leading to better coordination.

The half-moon pose will help you to open your hips and develop strong legs, which will go a long way in improving your overall balance.

 

Warrior III Pose

The warrior III is an intermediate-level yoga swing workout, which targets the core and the legs.

When doing this pose, you will be balancing on one leg while holding the other leg parallel to the ground.

It helps to strengthen the legs, build core strength and improve your overall balance. This pose targets the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, calves and thigh muscles.

You will also be using your abdominal and back muscles to support and stabilize your torso and the other leg.

When done consistently, this pose will result in improved balance and flexibility, which will, in turn, lead to better posture.

 

Improve Balance and Flexibility

Any person, regardless of their fitness levels or age, can learn and master better balance.

The most important thing is to start slow, take your time and listen to your body. With time, you will eventually enhance your body’s balance, flexibility and stability.

And besides the physical benefits, balance training through aerial yoga will improve your ability to concentrate while increasing your resilience when facing various challenges in your life.