You’ve booked bootcamps, cycling classes, and spent hours at the barre, but can you say the same for aerial fitness? While just as Instagrammable as the aforementioned wellness crazes, aerial fitness is one workout that few can say they’ve actually tried. Hey, we get it: Hanging upside-down can seem nearly impossible (not to mention scary). But, it turns out, the benefits of doing so make it well worth stepping (er, swinging) outside your comfort zone.

What Is Aerial Yoga?

Aerial fitness (also called aerial hammock or aerial yoga) is a type of airborne fitness that is practiced in a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling to support your body weight, instead of stretched out across a mat laying on the floor. Classes typically involve yoga, Pilates, dance, and more, which is why most instructors prefer the term aerial fitness or aerial hammock over aerial yoga.

The Benefits of Aerial Fitness

• Deepens stretches

• Relieves joint pressure and spinal compression that floor workouts can trigger

• Releases tension

• Increases balance and proprioception (bodily awareness)

• Enhances core strength

• Improves breath awareness

• Easier access to inverted postures

• Releases endorphins

As you can see, there are myriad benefits of aerial fitness. While all of these offer positive additions to your daily routine, possibly the most notable is the fact that hanging suspended in the air somehow offers a sense of safety that’s hard to match.