Fitness

Six Reasons to try Aerial Yoga

Yoga is known for stretching, relaxation, and meditation. But introducing aerial yoga into your routine could help you get even more benefits—both physically and emotionally.

It lowers stress, relieves anxiety, reduces inflammation and can even help reduce chronic pain. There's no doubt yoga is a magic practice - bringing together the mind and body to optimize both mental and physical health.

Its myriad of benefits mean that the ancient practice is constantly being reimagined and reinvented in unique ways. Which brings us to aerial yoga also known as suspension training or zero-gravity yoga. Incorporating yoga, pilates and aerial acrobatics, the class involves using a hammock-like apparatus to work against gravity.

Combining yoga with calisthenics and aerial moves, aerial yoga is a slower workout, requiring more concentration and effort due to the gravitational pull. Every movement is performed fully, meaning your whole body will benefit.

Aerial yoga exercises help towards strengthening the core muscles, including the back, stomach and pelvis to improve all-round physical strength. The more muscle you build, the better your body performs in burning fat.

Although there's very little research undertaken on proving the benefits of aerial yoga with back pain, if we look into physiotherapy anti-gravity stretches we can see that these stretches are used to improve conditions such as scoliosis and muscle spasms. Applying force to the spine separates the vertebrae, relieving pressure on discs and ligaments. The same occurs during aerial yoga exercises. It gives you the ability to hang freely, while decompressing and lengthening your spine.

This overall body stretching exercise reaches muscles and parts of the body that regular exercise may not be able to. Being suspended from a hammock in an upside-down position will inevitably use muscles which are not implemented during standard non-gravity-defying workouts. More freedom is given to our muscles, as the Hammock supports and assists to manipulate the body into positions we normally struggle to reach.

As part of our blood recycling process, our heart pumps to release oxygenated blood around the body and brings back deoxygenated blood. By turning upside-down, the blood rushes to our heart which rejuvenates circulation and is less taxing on the heart. (Please always consult a medical professional if you have blood circulation problems such as low or high blood pressure).

When you first attempt this class, you'll be overwhelmed with adrenaline due to topsy-turvy positions you've never experienced before. Being upside-down increases adrenaline and produces hormones such as serotonin, dopamine and good old endorphins, improving our all-round happiness. Holmes Place aerial yoga classes are available to bring this experience to you - book up today to see how this unique and rewarding exercise can improve your flexibility and fitness while having heaps of fun.

Ready to discover even more benefits? Give it a try!