My First Aerial Yoga Experience

{Image via Purenergy Studio | Graphics added by Nicole Raudonis} 

The following post is sponsored by ClassPass.
As always,all opinions are my own. For more information see my disclosures here.

I want to preface this post by saying that I unfortunately didn’t take any photos during my first aerial yoga experience. All photos in this post are owned by Purenergy Studio.

As I’ve said in the past, I get pitched products and services a lot. Most of the time I politely say no because the brand doesn’t fit within the my own brand. I would never promote a brand that I’m not passionate about. However, once in a while I’m made aware of a brand that really stands out. So who am I talking about? Let me introduce you to ClassPass.

ClassPass is monthly membership to the best fitness classes in a bunch of different cities, including Philly, Atlanta, Dallas, NYC, San Diego and many more. There are thousands of classes available to members, including cycling, pilates, yoga, strength training, dance, martial arts, and more. For $79 – $99 a month (price varies by city), members get unlimited classes to studios in the ClassPass network. ClassPass just launched in Philadelphia and the nearby suburbs, so I was super excited to try it out.

I searched on the ClassPass website for participating studios in my area and came across Purenergy Studio in Paoli, PA. After looking at the different classes they offered, I chose aerial yoga! I was super intrigued. I’d heard about aerial yoga from reading fitness articles and blogs, but I never knew of a studio close by that offered it. Signing up was seamless and in no time at all, I received confirmation of my class registration in my email inbox. 

{Image via Purenergy Studio}

Thoughts on my first aerial yoga experience

My old roommate Bridgett joined me for two classes on Sunday morning – aerial yoga fundamentals and the regular aerial yoga class. I’m glad we took the fundamental class before the regular aerial yoga class, because otherwise we’d be lost. The instructor walked through each pose with us and showed us how to get into and out of it. Some poses were easier than others.

Let’s start with what I liked. I loved that aerial yoga really takes the pressure off of your legs in some positions, such as down dog. Instead of both feet planted on the floor, your in the same position, but on the hammock. The hammock is rolled up under your hipbones and your hands are on the ground, but your feet don’t touch. They’re suspended about 6-8 inches off the floor. The hammock really allowed me to focus on lengthening my arms and planting my hands into the floor to get a nice stretch. Another thing I liked about aerial yoga was the Savasana at the end of class. Instead of being on the floor, we surrounded ourselves in the hammock kind of like a cocoon (see image below). It was super relaxing and felt nice on my neck after a long class. 

{Image via Purenergy Studio}

Now on to the things I didn’t like. The biggest thing to get used to when doing aerial yoga is the discomfort of the hammock itself. Depending on the pose you’re in, the hammock can definitely dig into your hipbones or ankles. I’m sure if I practiced regularly, my body would get used to it, but for a first-timer it was a bit distracting. Another thing that was a bit distracting was the fact that unlike regular yoga, it didn’t seem to flow very well. However, that might also be due to the fact that I’m a newbie. Maybe classes designed for more seasoned aerial yogis move more seamless from pose to pose. The final thing that was a bit distracting to me was this massive migraine I had. I woke up feeling fine on Sunday, but I had a terrible migraine all day Saturday. I think being upside down for a lot of the poses really brought back that migraine. So within 5 minutes of the first class I was in terrible pain. I drank a lot of water when I got home and within a few hours I started feeling better. 

In conclusion, I’m very happy I took the plunge and registered for aerial yoga. I love trying different types of yoga and visiting new studios. But with that said, I’m not sure if I’ll be taking another aerial yoga class anytime soon. It was hard to relax and hanging upside down is definitely not for me. With the frequent migraines I’ve been having, I should have known better. If you don’t suffer from migraines, I suggest you try aerial yoga at least once. It’s a really unique feeling and it does feel pretty nice being suspended in the air. It’s sort of like you’re flying! 

If you’re interested in trying new classes at studios in your area, make sure to sign up for ClassPass!

Talk to Me

Have you ever tried Aerial Yoga? What were your thoughts?
What’s your favorite type of yoga to practice?