Flying Yoga: Aerial Yoga at Om Factory

Last week, I saw Juliette post a photo on Facebook of her at an aerial yoga class.

I’ve been wanting to try one for awhile, and we’d been trying to get together, so I asked if I could go to a class with her. Even if she said no, I was going to show up, so…she obliged and we went today to the Om Factory‘s Union Square location. I used to live down the street from their Fashion District location but only ever went to Beatles Yoga there.

Oh, don’t mind me. Just hanging out.

The studio was gorgeous and well-lit.

I appreciated all the flying references…and was also terrified when I saw all this silk hanging from the ceiling.

It was a lot of fun, but also a lot to get used to. For example, once you start leaning back into poses like the instructor’s doing in this photo, the silk can kind of dig into you. In some poses, this was completely uncomfortable; in others, it was tolerable. For those poses where the silk was at our hips and we were bending over it (i.e. downward dog), I put a blanket over my hips because they were kind of tender.

The class started off with some basic heart openers and standing postures without the hammock to get us to focus before turning that focus to the hammock. The first time we did a swing, I looked at Juliette and just started giggling. We were just going to swing? From this thing hanging from the ceiling? Well, okay…

But it was so much fun. The swinging was completely freeing and relaxing. We also did several inversions, which reminded me a bit of my trapeze experience in a much lower-risk situation.

The class ended with savasana all stretched out in the hammock. Let me repeat SAVASANA IN A HAMMOCK. I don’t know if I have ever been that relaxed.

Overall, I loved the class, but I will say that the pressure of the silk holding your body can sometimes be uncomfortable; in the inversions, all the blood rushing to my face was also a bit uncomfortable.

The class was $20, which is not at all unreasonable for NYC, and for such a fun class. i doubt I’d do it regularly because I wouldn’t want to ruin the novelty factor, but it seems like a really fun class to do every once in a while when you really want to mix thing up.

What’s the craziest fitness/yoga class you’ve ever taken?

Two side notes:

1. A huge congrats to my buddy Anne for launching her nutrition business today! I’ve been reading her blog since she began this whole process years ago, and I’m proud to call her a real-life good friend of mine now, so I couldn’t be more happy for her! If you are considering nutrition counseling, consider her!

2. Happy 35th anniversary to my parents! They’ve certainly had their ups and downs, like any other couple, but I hope for a strong marriage like theirs one day.

And for my future husband to have a Ron Burgundy-style mustache, obviously.