Swinging through Yoga without Gravity

Anti-gravity, or Aerial, Yoga is a way of stretching, extending, folding, twisting, and inverting with the support of a 10-foot-wide silk hammock suspended from the ceiling. Strikingly new and New World, it was conceived in 1991 by gymnast and dancer Christopher Harrison, who later launched it in 2007. It combines yoga with dance and gymnastics, resulting in a novel hybrid that engages the mind and the body in challenging and delightful ways.

Think of the hammock as a multipurpose prop. It’s sometimes a barre, as when supporting leg extensions; sometimes a spotter, as when providing safety with inversions; and sometimes an opposable surface that enables expansive stretches. Sometimes it’s a swing — just for fun.

Although a gymnast developed Anti-gravity Yoga, it’s practiced by people of all ages and body types.

Getting the unique experience of yoga in a hammock

Anti-gravity Yoga could just as well be called Yoga in a Cocoon. In certain positions, you find yourself safely nestled within the soft confines of the silk hammock. According to Kimberley Simonetti, Los Angeles-based Aerial Yoga teacher and yoga therapist, the physical sensation of being enveloped and contained within the hammock makes this form of practice comforting and even therapeutic for children with autism and adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

You find some notable differences when experiencing familiar postures with the hammock. For instance, in traditional yoga practice, warrior poses tend to be grounding. When you do them leaning into the bunched-up cloth of the hammock, extension becomes more dominant, and balance is challenged in surprising ways. The often-heard instruction in a mat-based yoga class — to feel each foot supported by all four corners — takes on new relevance when practicing with the hammock. Without the strong pull of gravity, you need a greater awareness to stand firmly.

Laying out the benefits of yoga in the hammock

Many reasons draw people to practice Aerial Yoga. Here are just a couple:

The “yum” factor: Practicing yoga in a hammock has an element of deliciousness. With the support of the soft, smooth cloth, the body can stretch more deeply and enjoy greater release with both extension and flexion (folding). Some may find that the gentle give of the fabric makes a seated forward bend a more accessible and rewarding experience than the classic version, which is a challenging posture for many.
The fear factor: Aerial Yoga is also a way to develop trust, first in the hammock and then in yourself. If you’re a person who saunters to the end of the diving board and goes head first into the pool without hesitation, feel free to skip this paragraph. But if you’re someone who walks gingerly to the end of the board and then thinks twice or even three times before diving (or heading back down the ladder), practicing Anti-gravity Yoga with a teacher you trust may be a liberating experience for you.

Knowing intellectually that the hammock can hold up to 1,000 pounds isn’t enough for everyone to automatically feel free to flip and invert using the hammock for support and leverage. These acts may look effortless, and with practice, they may become so. But many people can take up to 10 or 12 classes to develop the confidence to figuratively let go and flip. ( Warning: Figuratively is the key word here; do not let go of the cloth.)

Selecting an Aerial Yoga teacher and your class gear

Decide what kind of experience you want in the practice and choose your teacher accordingly. Because Aerial Yoga is a hybrid style of practice, teachers may come to it through backgrounds in Pilates, pole and other aerial forms of practice, or traditional yoga.

Unlike conventional yoga practiced on a mat with the teacher in clear view, you can’t always see what’s beyond the cloth when you’re in the hammock, which means the instructor, other students, and your own reflection (if you’re in a mirrored room) are out of view for some of the positions. Thus, the teacher’s ability to clearly articulate precise instructions is particularly important for the students’ safety. Your ability to listen and follow directions is equally important. Listening carefully and following the instructions given — where to grasp the fabric, how tautly to pull it, how many handfuls of fabric to grab, and so on — is what keeps you safe.

Although you may equate hammocks with naptime, don’t zone out during practice. Inattention and lack of focus may lead you to tumble out of the hammock. That’s not a huge problem, because beginners’ hammocks are close to the floor, but it’s still one you want to avoid.

Be comfortable in setting your own limits. If you’re an adventurous sort, go for it. But if you tend to be more cautious, take your time and allow your sense of trust to grow. Regardless of the form of practice, any good teacher will respect your limits while encouraging you to find your own individual edge.

One way to make your practice a little more comfortable is to put some forethought into your workout clothes. The last thing you want to worry about is inadvertently giving the class an eyeful while you’re twisting and turning. Here are a few tips:

Close-fitting tops are important for modesty because you’re upside-down at some points.
Cotton or cotton blends are preferable to synthetics because synthetics may be slippery and make staying in position difficult.
Sticky gloves help your grip.
Leave the valuable jewelry at home; you’ll be asked to remove your jewelry before getting into the hammock to avoid damaging the fabric, so don’t bring anything you don’t want to let out of your sight.

What’s SUP? Floating through Yoga on a Stand Up Paddleboard

SUP is short for stand up paddleboarding. Not surprisingly, it began in Hawaii as an offshoot of surfing. Initially used as a way to get farther out into the ocean to catch the waves, it’s now practiced on bodies of water of all sorts, including lakes, rivers, and canals, and in the ocean, parallel to the shore on the other side of the breakers. SUP Yoga, then, is the global phenomenon of yoga practice on a board atop the water.

Before you can even think about practicing yoga on a paddleboard, you have to have the necessary swimming skills and confidence in the water so you don’t panic if you fall in at a distance from the shore. Have a life jacket or equivalent safety device within reach, if not already on you. You can also get waistbands with safety features that can be activated should the need arise.

Understanding the physical requirements of SUP Yoga

Not unlike many beautiful and graceful things in life, stand up paddleboarding is more challenging than it looks. Those with skill make it look simple, but it actually requires a fair amount of core, thigh, and upper body strength. Strong thighs help you move from kneeling to standing quickly without losing your balance. Your core helps you balance after you’re standing, and your upper body strength helps you hoist yourself back up onto the board after you fall off.

Even if you don’t fall off, safety concerns require that all boarders know how to get back on safely. But expect to fall. Enjoy the fall. It’s freeing and fun!

As with yoga postures on the mat, your forward steady gaze helps you maintain balance as you bring yourself to standing and navigate the waters.

Starting out with SUP Yoga

Begin in still water, such as in a swimming pool, until you can negotiate the board. Starting with stillness helps you notice where you’re already strong and where you want to develop further before taking your SUP Yoga practice onto moving water. When you add the elements of underwater currents and wind, it’s a whole other game.

You can also get accustomed to the board by doing your yoga practice on the board while it’s on the sand. It’s a different sensation from practicing on the mat.

Sweating with Hot Yoga

One of the beautiful things about yoga is its great variety in ways to practice. Hot Yoga, though definitely on the mat, is an out-of-the-box variation that is many practitioners swear by. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s the variety some folks want to brew every time.

Despite its popular image, Hot Yoga practitioners come in all sizes and ages. If it strikes your fancy, don’t hesitate just because you don’t think you’re magazine cover material.

Getting at the how and why of Hot Yoga

Besides being trendy, Hot Yoga is literally hot. The thermostat is set to maintain a temperature range of 104 to 109 degrees Fahrenheit, and a set level of humidity is piped in. Feel free to contact the studio where you intend to practice Hot Yoga to find out the temperature used at that location.

Why the heat? Various explanations detail why heat is an essential element in this style of yoga.

Standardizing body heat: The heat in the room substitutes for the heat that the body itself would eventually generate though rigorous practice. This internally heated state may be more available to some practitioners than others, especially those who are less fit and more reserved in their practice. Hence, the hot practice environment.
Recreating a traditional environment: The heated practice space mimics the heated physical environment of southern India, replicating as much as possible what some consider to be the ideal practice environment.
Making the body malleable: In anatomical terms, the heat allows the superficial soft tissue structures to warm up quickly, allowing greater flexibility and a greater range of motion.

Bikram Choudhury, the originator of Hot Yoga as a distinct style, offers this explanation: “Yoga changes the construction of the body from the inside out, from bones to skin and from fingertips to toes. So before you change it, you have to heat it up to soften it, because a warm body is a flexible body. Then you can reshape your body any way you want.”

Theories abound as to why Hot Yoga is beneficial to health. Among them are that the heat is thought to

Lubricate the tendons and ligaments, allowing greater range of motion and flexibility and making you less prone to injury
Improve muscle tone and strength
Exercise the heart as a muscle by increasing blood circulation
Speed up metabolic processes of vital organs and glands and help the body eliminate toxins
Facilitate fat loss by activating fat stores
Boost the immune system

Hot Yoga: Not necessarily a weight-loss cure-all

A July 2014 Time magazine article described the science behind the health claims by Bikram and other forms of Hot Yoga as surprisingly scant. Reporting on a study conducted by Dr. Brian L Tracy, an exercise scientist at Colorado State University, the article indicates that results were positive but weaker than expected. A group of sedentary individuals took 24 Bikram sessions over a period of eight weeks. At the end of the eight-week study period, subjects had much-improved balance and modest improvements in strength and muscle control, but only a slight drop in body weight. One possible explanation for the disappointing results in weight loss is that the intensity of the heat and complexity of the postures make practitioners think the exercise is more intense than it really is.

Comparing Bikram and other Hot Yoga classes

Bikram Yoga, developed and trademarked by Bikram Choudhury, is the first and most commonly known variety of Hot Yoga. Its trademarked sequence of 26 postures draws from a much broader range of classical Hatha Yoga postures. In each class, Bikram-trained and certified instructors follow the same script without any variation. It’s a routine you can count on being the same each time, regardless of where you take a class.

If variety is the spice of your life, Bikram Yoga and other Hot Yoga varieties that offer unvarying routines may not be appealing. However, for some, having all outside factors held constant is a way to observe and mark progress over time.

In order to offer Bikram classes, a studio must be franchised and follow the Bikram formula to the last detail, including what teachers say and what kind of carpet is on the floor. The legal issues surrounding Bikram Choudhury’s trademarking of his sequence has raised concerns about the legitimacy of claiming ownership of a piece of India’s cultural heritage. Other studios offering Hot Yoga take the essence of practicing in a heated room and offer what they feel are improvements to the practice and environment.

These classes use a different selection of postures. Other differences you may find include the following:

Freedom from the exact Bikram teacher’s script.
A different type of flooring. Bikram specifies that a certain kind of carpet be used for slip resistance, which is important when you’re dripping with perspiration. Other Hot Yoga classes deal with the need to create traction in other ways.
Different types of air circulation systems.

The postures in Bikram and other Hot Yoga classes that draw on a set sequence are taught in their full expression of the pose. In other words, the emphasis in this style is on getting into and holding relatively advanced postures rather than approaching a posture in a step-wise fashion with modifications and even different forms for practitioners at different levels of skill, flexibility, and strength. This emphasis represents a fundamental philosophical difference from the style and approach more generally advocated in yoga classes today and from that presented in Yoga For Dummies by Larry Payne and Georg Feuerstein (Wiley). Instead of being an inward experience, the classes pay a lot of attention to what the pose looks like.

Preparing for a Hot Yoga class

A bit of forethought is helpful when practicing in the superheated environment. Here are some things to put on your to-do list prior to your Hot Yoga practice:

Bring a large towel, a washcloth or two, and ample water in addition to your yoga mat.
Dress lightly — lighter than you think. In some areas, people even wear swimsuits. You won’t be sorry. (If you’re unsure about what to wear, check with the studio to see what attire is recommended.)
Prepare your digestive system by not eating for one to three hours before class and eating only lightly at the meal prior to that period.
Keep yourself well hydrated, both before and during class. Don’t arrive at the class in a dehydrated state. When you’re sweating profusely and expelling body toxins, you run the risk of upsetting your electrolyte balance. Dehydration and loss of electrolytes can result in feelings of nausea, dizziness, headache, and muscle cramping.

At Bikram classes, you are allowed to drink water and rest only at specified times. However, you’re in charge of your body, what you choose to do, and when you choose to rest. So pace yourself and take a break when you need to. If you go to a Bikram class, or any yoga class for that matter, and get dizzy, nauseated, or otherwise hurt, take care of yourself, regardless of what the instructor says. You always have the choice to leave and not return for another class if the teacher objects. As with any extreme sport, you can gain a lot with an attitude of good sense and a modicum of caution.

Yoga off the Mat, in the Heat, and outside the Box