Yoga has always promised balance and calm, but lately a new variation has been drawing curious beginners into studios lined with swaying hammocks. Aerial yoga takes familiar postures off the mat into mid-air, combining stretch, strength and playful suspension. It looks dramatic on Instagram, yet most people discover it’s easier and more engaging than they imagined.

When I sat down with Shreya, a first-timer who recently tried an aerial yoga workshop, she described the experience as “lighter than expected” both physically and mentally. Her impressions echo what early research on yoga’s effects on flexibility, core activation, and stress relief suggests (Psychophysiological Profile and Cardiac Autonomic Reactivity in Yoga Practitioners, 2022). That regular yoga practice significantly increased hamstring and spinal flexibility, improved deep core muscle recruitment, and reduced perceived stress scores within just eight weeks. Together, science and lived experience show why this gravity-defying practice is becoming the go-to way to stretch, strengthen and reset.

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A Beginner’s Leap

Shreya, who attended her first aerial yoga workshop recently, didn’t overthink it. “It was spontaneous,” she told me. She saw an Instagram ad for a nearby studio, signed up the same day, and arrived with no special preparation. This spontaneity is common; many beginners discover aerial yoga on social media and walk in, curious rather than confident.

That openness actually helps. Studios typically design entry-level sessions to ease people into the fabric and movements. Instructors offer hands-on guidance and verbal cues so newcomers can balance safely.

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Discovering Hidden Strength

When Shreya first stepped into the hammock, she expected it to feel unstable. Being petite, she worried she’d struggle to climb in. Yet once guided, she found herself balancing and holding positions far more easily than she imagined. “I didn’t realise how strong my core was until I had to hold myself up,” she said, surprised.

Her experience matches what exercise science suggests, that poses that involve suspension or instability recruit abdominal and stabilising muscles more intensely than ground-based versions (Anatomical Correlation of Core Muscle Activation in Different Yogic Postures, 2017). The fabric essentially turns each asana into a mild resistance-balance exercise.

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The After Glow

Many first-time workouts leave you sore. Shreya expected the same. Instead, she walked out feeling relaxed, “bouncy” and energised enough to head straight to a trampoline park with her friend. That lack of soreness is partly due to the hammock reducing joint compression and distributing weight evenly, making stretches safer and muscles less traumatised. You may still feel a mild ache in your arms, shoulders or grip muscles (they’re working harder than you think), but overall aerial yoga tends to be easier for the body to recover from than floor-based strength or high-impact training because it combines support with gentle traction and active engagement rather than heavy loading.

While traditional yoga has proven benefits for spinal mobility, aerial yoga appears to build on many of those, allowing deeper stretches and spinal decompression through supported inversions and suspension that reduce joint compression. This can make certain back‐flexibility gains easier or less painful. However, for people with spinal issues like herniated discs, spinal instability, or scoliosis, aerial yoga carries a higher risk; inversions or unsupported twists may aggravate existing damage, especially when alignment, strength, or experience are lacking.

Mental Lightness

Physical changes aren’t the only story. Shreya left feeling “relieved” and “light” as though her stress had been left behind in the studio. For a short time, every day worries simply disappeared. That mental lift is consistent with yoga, showing improvements in mood, anxiety and autonomic nervous system balance after regular practice. The novelty of being suspended, combined with mindful breathing, may enhance the effect.

Aerial yoga seems to add its own twist to that effect. The novelty of being suspended, combined with slow, mindful breathing, may heighten body awareness and emotional release. And because you literally can't balance in the hammock unless you’re truly focused on your body’s micro-adjustments, the practice gently forces you into the present moment, a state linked to lower rumination and better stress regulation.

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Beyond the First Class

Perhaps the biggest surprise for Shreya was not one spectacular pose but a shift in self-belief. She went in doubting her fitness level and left wanting to sign up for the studio’s multi-week courses with more advanced moves. In fact, the American Council on Exercise found that just six weeks of aerial yoga classes could reduce body fat percentage and improve blood pressure among sedentary adults.

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Thinking of Trying It Yourself?

Shreya’s advice to potential first-timers is simple: go for it. “You don’t need to be experienced. There were people older and heavier than me doing it beautifully,” she said. The hammocks are designed to hold you securely, and studios pad the floor for safety. Even if you’ve never done yoga before, you can start here.

Experts echo her tips. Wear fitted clothing so the fabric doesn’t twist, remove jewellery, and avoid inversions if you have glaucoma, uncontrolled high blood pressure or certain heart conditions. Otherwise, aerial yoga can be a safe, enjoyable entry point into both fitness and mindfulness.

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Aerial yoga isn’t just another boutique fitness fad. It’s a way to reintroduce yourself to your own body, to find strength where you didn’t expect it, to let go of stress you didn’t realise you were holding, and to enjoy movement in a completely new dimension. Talking to Shreya reminded me how powerful that first encounter can be: you walk in curious, maybe nervous, and you walk out a little taller, lighter and braver.

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