Doing Yoga Upside Down

My bestfriend has been bugging me to enrol in a yoga class with her for sometime now. I would only smile at her since I'm not really interested with the said activity. I hate activities that require bending and the likes since I'm not flexible at all. 

I came across an interesting article today regarding a new form of yoga that's making a buzz abroad: AntiGravity Yoga. I know that I'm not a yoga fan but this type of yoga is really a stand-out. In fact, it reminded me of Pink's outstanding performance some two years ago.

Who would think that combining yoga and acrobatics would make a good workout?

While nursing an injury in India, world-renowned gymnast Christopher Harrison got into yoga and realized that  combining it with acrobatics can be a promising body workout since both practices allow people to stretch their body.

White sheets are important for
this kind of yoga. Credit here

AntiGravity Yoga, a fusion of yoga, pilates, dance, calisthenics, and acrobatics, is currently making waves abroad since Harrison started it in 2007. This workout is a perfect mix of promoting flexibility and aligning the body without overstressing the joints or compressing the spinal column. Unlike traditional yoga classes where participants are grounded on the floor (since they either sit or stand on the mat), students in this class are hanging upside down in the air through a silk hammock suspended three feet above the floor.  The idea of a hammock supporting your body is quite scary but people who are into it actually see it as their “security blanket,” literally speaking, because it primarily supports the spinal column and hips enabling them to freely stretch or bend their bodies. An added “security” feature is that this cloth sheet can hold as heavy as 1,000 lbs so you don’t need to worry that it might tear down or collapse while you’re doing simple to the more complex poses in the air.

Antigravity Yoga will make your
 world upside down. Credit here

Proponents of this practice believe that AntiGravity Yoga is very important especially to athletes because it makes them more flexible and faster. People can freely do inverted poses in the air since a cloth supports their back so stretching and bending their bodies will not be a problem and instead, encourage them more to explore their body’s flexibility. Hanging upside down decompresses the spinal column and creates more open spaces in our spine. The movements involved in this regimen also aims to promote joint mobility to make the spine more flexible.   Joint mobility and spine flexibility make a person faster. Chances of neck or back compression while doing difficult yoga poses are also lessened since the hammock acts as the body’s support system.

So the next time you see a person supported by a white cloth and turned upside down while suspended in the air just like what Pink did in the 2010 Emmy Awards, keep in mind that doing this “stunt” can actually do some good in your body.