Aerial Yoga at Zuja Wellness

I tried the coolest thing ever last night- Aeriel Yoga. I heard a few months ago that a new studio, Zuja Wellness, had opened in Portland and was offering Aerial Yoga. As a former gymnast and current yogi, I can't think of much that sounds more fun than upside down yoga. I tried unsuccessfully to convince friends to come with me, so finally I just sucked it up and went alone.

 I got excited as soon as I walked in. This was not an ordinary yoga class!

I lucked out because there were only 2 of us there last night, so I got tons of individual attention. At first I was a little nervous that my fabric would come untied, or that I'd fall off, but I quickly overcame that. We started with some traditional yoga moves, but with an aerial twist.

In the warrior series for example we had one foot supported in the fabric. It made it a little easier than traditional yoga because your legs weren't supporting all your weight, but also made it harder because it required more balance and made the stretch a lot deeper.

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I really loved how deeply I could get into all the poses. I usually feel a little crunched during side angle pose at a regular class, but I didn't at all last night.

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Some poses felt completely different, like downdog. Usually I feel downdog in my super tight hamstrings, but last night it was all about my hip flexors.The fabric pushed against them and really forced them to release. It was one of those hurts so good feelings.

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We also did some really challenging strength work, like pushups with our legs elevated in the fabric and standing straight body extensions. Every pose takes a lot of core strength so my abs were fried by the end of class. My arms also felt way more tired than they do after a regular class.

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 Once I mastered the basics it was on to the fun stuff. Like flying!

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 And this super cool pose. I felt very Cirque du Soleil. We started by wrapping our legs in the fabric, then pulled up into a straddle, and then literally dropped down into this pose. Not only did it look bad ass, but it really stretched out my quads.

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 At the end, even savasana had a twist. We made a little cacoon out of our fabrics and chilled inside. It was super comforting and relaxing to just be hanging in my own little bubble.

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I am so glad I finally got up my courage and went because I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Oh good, another expensive hobby!

What fun new things have you tried lately??