At the OM Factory’s Union Square and Fashion District studios, you can find yourself in a 75 minute class aerial yoga class, suspended over your yoga mat in a soft fabric hammock hanging from the ceiling. Aerial yoga is a fusion of classical yoga asanas, like downward facing down, warrior one, warrior three, and triangle pose, and aerial acrobatics. The OM Factory stresses that you don’t have to be a circus star, a lifelong yogi, or natural born acrobat to come play. Aerial yoga is for anyone interesting in switching up his or her workout routine.
Classes are small, innovative, and entertaining. You can learn how to downward facing dog, invert with the support of the hammock, and use the long pieces of fabric to deepen your stretches. It may appear that aerial yoga is super fun and makes for some great Instagram pictures, but it is actually a really good work out. Seasoned yogis will appreciate the unique hip openers that the hammock allows them to achieve. The aerial yogi's own body weight can act as much or as little of a calistetic tool, depending on the placement of the fabric, as the aerial yogi wants it to be. Work out buffs will love the pull ups, dips, and hangs that the instructor encourages. Attendees of all fitness levels can benefit from the upper body and core workout that aerial yoga offers, and, trust me, attendees of all fitness levels will wake up with sore muscles the next day.
Before you flip, fly, and flow, here are a few things that they don't tell you:
- The placement of the fabric is extremely important. Take the time to learn to place it correctly, over your hip flexors for forward folds, and over your sacrum for inversions, so that you don't lose your lunch and you can avoid injury and discomfort.
- The fabric can pinch your skin. Aerial yoga instructors will tell you that the more flexible and warmed up the muscle is, the more comfortable the fabric is around your body. Try to relax and tense your muscles accordingly, and be patient with yourself when you are learning any new skill.
- If the fabric is too uncomfortable around your body, use a yoga blanket for extra padding and support.
- You can progress very quickly with aerial yoga. At the end of your first class, you can find yourself flipping, flying, and inverting.
- Don't skimp on shavasana. This is the best part of the class. The instructor shows you how to go from a shoulder stand into a supine position inside the hammock. Shavasana inside the suspended hammock gives a restful, cocoon-like experience: a perfect finish to a class that makes you feel like you are somewhere between swinging at the playground and at Cirque de Soleil.
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