Aerial Yoga!

Aerial yoga combines traditional asana (the physical postures of yoga) and yoga philosophies with the aerial arts. Silk fabrics and/or ropes are hung from above to aid practitioners in forming shapes.

You can be fully supported by the silks — even lying down entirely, like in a hammock — or wrap the silks around particular body parts, keeping other parts on the floor.

Hanging fully or suspending individual body parts is believed to create traction and open your body more gently and intuitively than when you’re on the floor. The silks and ropes can also be helpful for balance.

While many aerial yoga classes have an acrobatic element, a growing number of classes and teachers are also using the aerial silks much more therapeutically.

The versatility and support of the fabric allow people to access new movements. It can also reduce the load on wrists and knees, which can sometimes limit mobility in a floor-based practice.”

For people with knee issues, getting to the floor can be challenging. 

The practice of yoga with props is largely credited to B.K.S. Iyengar (1918–2014), who developed the Iyengar type of yoga.

In addition to using the blocks, straps, blankets, and rope walls you may see at many studios, Iyengar would hang his students from the ceiling in yoga swings (1).

The original swings were not like the colorful silk hammocks we see today. They were often made solely of ropes and would be padded with yoga mats or blankets.

Antigravity yoga, as it was originally called, began to gain traction in the late 1990s. The first yoga swing, a collection of silk harnesses connected to handles and foot holdings, was purportedly created in the U.K. in 2001 (1).

The yoga hammock — which is one long piece of fabric — and the style name “aerial yoga” started appearing around 2011. Today, aerial yoga studios and aerial yoga-trained teachers can be found around the globe.

A combination of the arts and athletics, aerial yoga offers several physical and psychological benefits:

• Improved flexibility, stability, and balance. A 2019 study observed that aerial athletes have exceptional flexibility, balance, and strength (2Trusted Source).
• Traction and joint decompression. Hanging upside down and inverting are said to decompress the joints, which can compress over time due to gravity and age.
• Reduced risk factors for heart disease. While research on this style of yoga is limited, the most-cited study, conducted in 2016 by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), found significant reduction in the risk factors associated with cardiovascular heart disease (3).
• Low to moderate intensity. The same ACE-commissioned study found that 50 minutes of aerial yoga can burn upwards of 300 calories, making it a form of low to moderate intensity exercise (3).
• Improved mental health. A small study noted significant improvements in depression and stress levels when people practiced aerial arts for the love of movement. This seems to bode particularly well for aerial yoga, which applies yogic philosophies and is often less competitive and more accessible than a circus-based or formal acrobatics class (4).

• Listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, take a break or ask for assistance.
• Communicate. The rope and sling placement can be key during this practice, but only you know how something feels. If something is painful or uncomfortable, ask your teacher to help you find the perfect placement.
• Go easy. Salomon reminds students that “a little goes a long way” in aerial yoga and to start slowly as you get used to the style.
• Trust. Trust the contraption, trust your teacher, but most importantly, trust yourself.
• Have fun. Some of the shapes may feel out of reach at first, especially if you’re brand-new to yoga. You may get tangled, and you may get confused, but if you remember that you’re there to have fun, none of that will matter!