The only thing you really need to know about Aerial Yoga is how much fun it is! Channel your inner P!nk as you swing through the air, rise and fall with grace and flow on a sash that feels as if it was made for you. Ok, so it was more like “how did I get so tangled up in this thing?” and “wow, it’s hard pulling your entire body weight off the ground!” but it was still an absolute blast.

Seldom do cow town dwellers such as myself get a chance to do something as cutting edge as aerial yoga. Luckily for me, my SIL is in the middle of her 300 hour yoga teacher training and wants to try as many different types of yoga as possible. When aerial yoga presented itself, she knew she could count on me to do it with her.

When I first walked into the studio, I was compelled to touch the hanging fabric and play around with it. It must have been what my three year-old self felt like the first time I saw a swing — you’re just drawn to it and want to play. Keeping an open and playful mind also helps tremendously.

This is my playful face…or maybe my scared face? Tough to tell.

The instructor first adjusted the height for each of us, according to where the fabric hit our hip bones in a downward dog. Picture that for a moment. It was interesting to say the least and one of the many head rushes I would endue in the coming two hours.

Next, we doused our hands with rosin to prevent them from slipping. I added some a few times throughout class as it helped tremendously when trying to pull my body off the ground!

My SIL had no issue with this…

I was inverted…

Using the fabric as an assist with yoga postures was amazingly beneficial since my hamstring and hip tightness is astonishing. We used it for bridges (by putting our feet in the bottom), in our hands during kneeling hip extensions and for balance in dancer pose and so many other moves. It’s like a yoga block on steroids.

We also had a lot of fun trying to defy gravity and see just how strong our upper body is. I was transported back to my days as a gymnast except 30 years of age and abuse got it in the way. I was still able to flip myself over without too much shaking so I’ll call that a win.

After 90 minutes of playing and pulling and stretching, we were allowed to use the fabric as it was intended — as a hammock, and lay there for another 30 minutes of guided meditation. #nightnight

Overall it was a fantastic experience and I would definitely do it again. My biceps and upper body in general were pretty sore the next day which made my long swim that much more interesting. It was good knowing (and feeling) that I used different muscles and just moving my body in a different way was very cool. And, of course the nap…I mean, meditation, was just what I needed.

For the locals:

Aloft Aerial Fitness is in Mansfield on route 32 near UCONN and has a variety of class days and times. Let me know if you want me to come with you for support.

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Have you ever done aerial yoga? Tell me about it. If not, would you?

When was the last time doing something fitness oriented made you feel like a kid?