Aerial yoga, a fusion between traditional yoga and the aerial arts, offers an innovative, comprehensive, and exciting practice for all.
Aerial yoga utilizes a fabric hammock suspended from the ceiling to partially, and sometimes fully, support the body in traditional and unique yoga postures.
The fabric hammock, both yielding and malleable, can accommodate bodies of all sizes, shapes, and fitness levels. Aerial yoga benefits the novice and experienced, the athletic and the sedentary, the young and the old. It works in partnership with gravity to calm the nervous system, strengthen muscles, and improve flexibility.
The support of the hammock allows for spinal decompression while also promoting the general health of bone and ligament tissue. In addition to the myriad of health benefits, aerial yoga is playful and fun. The soft fabric hammock "takes our yoga into the air," says Jayne Dean, owner of Connecticut Aerial Yoga in Hartford.
“As with traditional yoga the focus is still on connecting to yourself, softening areas of tension, going inside, and connecting to your body.”
Participants use a hammock and are suspended just a few feet off the mat, providing greater movement during yoga practice and allowing even beginners to float, flip and stretch with ease and grace. The hammock allows participants to access more advanced yoga postures, such as handstands and inversions.
“With aerial yoga you have your own hammock for the entire class. It’s adjusted to your height which allows you to customize your practice for your own body and how much effort you want to do. We Also offer a low hammock class, where the hammock is set about a foot off the floor and accessing the hammock is just a step away. Some people can get dizzy when they go upside down and the low hammock allows for grounded inversions and more stability in the yoga postures.
Low hammock aerial yoga is also a great option for anyone who has physical limitations, though it’s not necessarily easy, it can be quite challenging but you can scale it to make it accessible to a wider range of people."
A licensed marriage and family therapist and licensed alcohol and drug counselor, Jayne opened Connecticut Aerial Yoga in 2013. She was already a certified yoga instructor and pursued additional certification in aerial yoga after learning about it. “I’m a former gymnast so I was naturally drawn to learning and teaching aerial yoga.”
She also teaches a sling acrobats class, a more physically-demanding practice in which participants perform acrobatic skills using the hammock.
Aerial yoga, Jayne says, has numerous physical benefits, particularly for certain back ailments.“It’s great for decompressing the spine, creating spaces between your discs, you’ll leave class feeling longer. It’s weight-bearing for the upper body, it’s good for bone health and aging bodies. It’s also just fun and freeing and very accessible for beginners. It’s just great for overall fitness and improving the mind-body connection.”
Connecticut Aerial Yoga, LLC
Studio Location
The 224 EcoSpace
224 Farmington Ave.,
Hartford
www.ctaerialyoga.com
860-233-4830 Ext. 6
“I’m a former gymnast so I was naturally drawn to learning and teaching aerial yoga.”
