Health Benefits Of Aerial Yoga

If you’ve just started aerial yoga, or you’re thinking of starting then you’ll be pleased to know that there are dozens of health benefits of aerial yoga and reading this article is just the first step of the journey!

All forms of exercise have tangible health benefits, but aerial yoga is a unique full-body workout that helps you lose weight, gain strength, improve your flexibility and gain the ability to defy gravity! 

Continue reading to find out how aerial yoga can benefit your lifestyle.

What Are The Main Health Benefits Of Aerial Yoga?

Aerial yoga is a low-medium impact form of exercise, where you will be suspended from the ceiling or a freestanding aerial frame (rigging) in a large hammock or swing. Using this apparatus, you’ll perform inversions and poses using the swing as your support.

Although it’s a full-body workout, it is not reserved for the naturally athletic, strong and bendy yoga types. Aerial yoga is for everyone, it’s gentle and easy to get into and doesn’t require you to have superhuman strength in order to get the maximum benefits from the impressive aerial positions.

These are just a few of the main benefits you’ll enjoy.

Increased Strength

Aerial yoga is a complete full body workout. In particular, you’ll work your hips, back, upper body, core and thighs.

It involves repeatedly holding your own body weight for extended periods of time, inverting your body in ways not possible without the yoga swing or hammock.

This may sound impossible if you’ve never tried it before, but with some determination, you will gain strength incredibly quickly. You will start to notice an improvement in your strength almost instantly.After a few sessions, you’ll notice a difference in your day-to-day strength.

You’ll feel naturally and gradually stronger after each session.

Better Flexibility

Another one of the great health benefits of aerial yoga is that it massively increases your flexibility. The importance of flexibility is often overlooked when working out. Being flexible makes you healthier in many ways; it reduces your risk of muscle injury and minimizes muscle soreness.

Many yoga enthusiasts, both aerialists and those who stay grounded will chase their dream of being able to do box splits – why? Because they look and feel amazing, that’s why! Flexibility is important!

Increased Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular health is no important, having a healthy heart lowers the risk of heart disease, strokes and heart attacks. You should aim to perform cardio workouts for at least 20 minutes, 3 times per week.

Aerial Yoga is very effective for improving cardiovascular health. With aerial yoga, all of your muscles are being worked. In inverted positions, the blood is flowing to all of them in a different way, improving circulation and blood flow making this is a great cardiovascular workout.

If your job involves you sitting down at a desk using a computer for long periods of time, then it’s even more important for you to increase your heart rate by exercising 3-4 times per week.

Ease Back Pain

All forms of Yoga and Pilates can provide effective back pain relief. If you’re recovering from an injury, or you’re susceptible to an aching back then physical therapy is a much better course of action than painkillers.

Gentle forms of exercise, such as aerial yoga is a great place to start. You should always consult with a medical professional before entering into a new fitness or workout regime.

Healthier Sleep

One of the little-known health benefits of aerial yoga is that aerialists enjoy better sleep.

Getting enough sleep is equally as important as exercise and eating a healthy diet. Sadly, not many people get enough sleep because they find it too difficult. Work, money, technology, and lack of exercise are often to blame.

If you ensure that you exercise every day, with time you’ll start to notice your sleeping patterns improving and you’ll feel more refreshed after waking up too.

A regular aerial yoga workout will help with your sleep routine, ensuring that you get a decent sleep every time you hit the sack.

Weight Loss

Most forms of exercise will help you trim the excess fat. I’m sure many people feel as if they could lose a few pounds. Well, aerial yoga is a perfect and unique way to do it!

By inverting your body, you’re increasing your heart rate, burning calories and fat. You’ll be burning calories faster than usual because you’re engaging multiple muscle groups at the same time.

Full-body workouts, such as aerial yoga are the most effective form of exercise for weight loss.

Body Confidence

With weight loss, comes better body confidence. After a few aerial yoga sessions, you’ll have a noticeable change in your body. You’ll be stronger, your muscles will feel firmer and you’ll be less fatigued. With this, comes increased body confidence.

You’ll soon start to be able to wear those clothes which cling to parts of your body you’d never dream of showing off before. That really is a wonderful feeling and with a regular aerial workout, you’ll feel more body confident in no time!

Reduced Stress And Anxiety

Alongside this new found body confidence, the endorphins released by exercise will reduce your overall stress levels.

If you do have a stressful day, a relaxing aerial yoga workout is a great way to relieve stress! This is because adrenaline builds up when we get stressed. A good workout session using aerial equipment will work every muscle in your body – such a perfect way to release all of that extra pent-up adrenaline.

You’ll definitely be in a calmer state of mind after your aerial workout.

Related: 6 Ways to Clear Your Mind TODAY

Improved Coordination And Rhythm

When you first start practising aerial yoga, you might feel like you’re all arms and legs. But after a short while, you’ll be graceful inverting your body like it’s second nature!

Don’t worry if you feel clumsy, ungrateful or as if you have ‘two left feet’. Your natural rhythm and style will come with practice.

If in doubt, point your toes! That’s a sure fire way to make any inverted pose look more elegant!

Healthier Joints And Bones

As we get older, our bones start to lose mineral density, especially for women. The risk of women getting osteoporosis gets higher the older we get, due to oestrogen depletion, so it’s vital that we keep our bones and joints healthy.

Aerial yoga strengthens muscles, joints and the connecting tissue that holds them all together. During an aerial session, you’ll put less stress on your joints than you would if you were jogging, cycling or doing an aerobics class. However, it’s always important to gradually warm-up before your session and cool down properly afterwards to reduce the risk of injury.

During some more advanced and adventurous aerial yoga tricks, there’s a lot of pressure on your core, so take extra care to build up your strength gradually!

Related: 4 Aerial Yoga Poses for a Stronger & More Flexible Spine

Feel Motivated to try Other Sports

Many aerialists fall so in love with dance, aerial and acrobatics, they move on to try other things where they can put their new-found strength to good use:

• Yoga and Pilates
• Aerial Hoop
• Silks and Ropes
• Trapeze
• Gymnastics
• Ballet
• Break dancing
• Burlesque
• Cheer-leading
• Pole Dancing for Fitness
• Contemporary Dance
• Team sports
• Athletics

The possibilities are (almost) endless!

Have you discovered any health benefits of aerial yoga not mentioned here? Don’t forget to share this article with your family and friends so they can benefit too!

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