Johannesburg - With lithe bodies suspended in graceful animation, it looks easy and inviting. But be warned, the new anti-gravity yoga trend sweeping health studios across the world requires a level of fitness that enables you to flip upside down and hold yourself there for a respectable chunk of time. Which isn’t quite as easy as it looks.
I tried anti-gravity yoga at the new Virgin Active Classic club in Sandton, the only fitness club in South Africa offering it to date, and although I managed to swing head down for a few seconds, holding my body weight with my legs wrapped around the silk hammock, I quickly defaulted back to the “womb” position, in which you loll about in a foetal position.
Anti-gravity yoga was invented by aerial performer Christopher Harrison, a former gymnast and Broadway choreographer (also co-founder of Cirque du Soleil).
A silk hammock is hung from the ceiling from two overhead points and you are suspended into various yoga postures.
My first thought was: “Is this strip of silk going to hold my weight?” But I am assured that each hammock can actually support up to 970kg, and as for the hardware that attaches the hammocks to the ceiling, it’s all mountain-climbing rated.
Traditional yoga poses such as “downward dog” and “cat-cow” are accomplished in mid-air, as well as new moves like “the awesome possum” and “the chandelier”.
And although they’re done in suspension, these exercises are said to be just as taxing on your muscles, especially your core (tummy) muscles, so with consistent practice, you can get rock-hard abs.
According to Harrison, hanging upside down also refreshes the body’s systems, helps blood flow, and allows people to try inverted postures such as the headstand and handstand. “The weightless alignment is an excellent muscle strengthener and releases pressure from compressed joints,” he says. In other words, your knees, ankles, neck and back are spared the stress of gravity. And this decompression of the spine and joints leaves the body feeling stretched and taller.
Although Harrison says his soft trapeze yoga doesn’t discriminate against the physically challenged, having experienced it myself I would qualify that with a caution that if you’re uncomfortable doing a headstand on terra firma, doing it with your legs wrapped around fabric cords to harness your weight is no walk in the park.
And if you’re a on the heavy side, the strip of hammock across your butt acting as a fulcrum as you flip over can cut into you a bit.
If you’re reasonably fit, on the other hand, this is a fun addition to the training options out there, and adds a whole new dimension to yoga.
It is also good for your back, says Harrison. “Reversing gravity by hanging upside down allows the spine to fall into correct alignment. This process of realigning the vertebrae not only relieves back tension, but also improves our posture,” he says.
Another hammock-based yoga is aerial yoga, which was brought to South Africa by Carly Bowden and Julie Swart, who travelled to New York in 2010 to be trained as Unnata Aerial Yoga teachers.
“There is very little difference between aerial yoga and antigravity yoga, except that we try to mimic traditional yoga so as not to focus just on the hammock,” says Bowden.
Like anti-gravity yoga, aerial yoga makes use of the fabric sling to distribute the body’s weight between the floor and the sling, allowing a variety of strength-building, flexibility and core strength moves. “The sling allows the body to lengthen as it holds a pose, and allows the practitioner to focus on alignment and use gravity to deepen the stretch,” explains Bowden.
Again, the aerial yoga classes, which are offered at the Vertical Vixen studio in Northriding, Joburg, are designed for most levels of fitness, with modifications offered for different levels of strength and flexibility. Bowden agrees, though, that suspension training does require strength and endurance.
“Being suspended is also a foreign concept, but you quickly get used to it,” says Bowden. “Some people get anxious about the blood rush to the head, but your blood vessels get stronger as you build up endurance. And inverted poses can be held longer, building confidence that bringing you closer to perfecting these challenging poses on the floor.”
Anti-gravity yoga and aerial yoga classes have proliferated throughout the US and UK, with Mariah Carey being one of its celebrity converts.
Bowden says her classes are popular with the under-45s “who like to be pushed hard”, and she is now looking at other Joburg venues where aerial yoga can be taught.
To do anti-gravity yoga at the new Virgin Active Classic, you need to be a member, which is R800 a month if you’re with Discovery and R1 600 a month if you’re not.
CONTACTS
l Virgin Active Classic – Visit www.virginactive.co.za or call 011 783 8410.
l Aerial Yoga at Vertical Vixen Studio, Northriding Square, Northriding – visit www.aerialyoga.co.za. Classes are on weekends. A five-class card is R420 and 10-class card is R700. Call Carly on 084 233 5351. - The Star