Aerial Movement & Yoga Practice

What is yoga?

A union of body, mind & soul

Connection to the here & now

Yoga goes way back, as it is an old discipline from the country of India. Yoga is known to enhance the overall mood and health of the person doing it. Today, yoga is one of the popular pastime activities people are using. You can practice yoga with fitness attention. Daily practice can also make you stronger, fitter, and with a “better” body shape. But the real essence of yoga is way deeper.

Yoga is a profound, knowledgeable way of life. Part of this path is Pranayama techniques (breathing exercises), physical Asanas (poses in yoga), and meditation. All of that with most of the attention to quiet the mind and find inner peace. With asana practice, we learn to be connected to the present moment, while learning to feel our body and better understanding it.

The physical practice in yoga, Asana, is only one limb of 8 in the yoga philosophy. Yoga is a spiritual path that encourages us to gain a lifestyle of general peace of mind, living in kindness to others, eating healthy, taking care of the body, minding for nature and other surroundings around us. It is a powerful tool to get connected with your higher self and the universal soul. Yoga leads you to realize that you are much more than just your physical body, and at the same time- your physical body is your gift to walk on this earth, create your way, and experience life. So, it’s your responsibility to take care of it and keep it healthy and strong at any given time.

We look at yoga and Aerial movement as our initial step in achieving a new life for us. Most importantly, you can leave the worries of “Am I flexible enough”, both in yoga and aerial movement.

Yoga is not only about reaching a goal, such as being flexible, losing weight, or strengthening, but it is more about THE PROCESS and enjoying it. Doing yoga and aerial movement improves our flexibility with time and practice.
It may be challenging at first, but it will be worth it in the end.

Aerial movement

No limit on age or experience

Beginner friendly

You can be a very beginner or an advanced practitioner who wants to achieve higher goals or improve his Asanas performance. No matter what your current experience or skills is, the aerial moment will benefit you. First, this method is highly recommended for people who have never practice any movement before, due to the great support in the process.

As being said before, the Aerial Movement is not only suitable for yogis, but also for children of all ages, sports enthusiasts, dancers, football players, and all kinds of movement teachers. Beyond that, Aerial Movement is a recommended healing path for people who suffers from daily pain. Moreover, aerial practice can come even as therapy after injuries such as back injuries, shoulders, legs, and more. This method is already practicing as well as therapy and physiotherapy in Israel and in Vienna, by many professionals, therapists, and teachers of all styles.

In line with that, here are the impressive benefits of doing yoga or aerial movement. 

The benefits

Health booster & relaxation

Challenge

It allows us to feel the ZEN –
The definition of zen energy is feeling peaceful and relaxed. The practice of mind and body activities can reduce stress levels, thus helps us to relax. Yoga, as well as aerial movement, are great mind and body practices, that can help us to develop the sensation of Zen. With breathing techniques and body movements, our body will be achieving Zen, as well as our mind. Therefore at the end of the practice, we will be feeling light, calmed, and balanced.

It is super fun and relaxing at the same time –
If we desire fun and relaxation, aerial yoga or aerial movement is the perfect embodiment of both.
First, it is pure pleasure, because we get to fly :)
We perform moves while we are in mid-air, supported by the hammock, or even ground exercises with the help of the resistance straps. While exploring basic to complex movements with full support, we also achieve mental relaxation and inner balance. This achievement is the essence of the aerial movement method.

After all, it is also considered an exercise –
The aerial movement does not only relax us, but it also strengthens the body and can be used as a form of exercise. Since we are making many moves while practicing aerial movement, we are doing cardio and even losing some carbs in our bodies. While we practice asanas in the air, we are using all our core muscles and strengthening the overall muscular system, together with improving the balance in our body.

It is a brilliant mood and health booster –
The aerial movement certainly helps us to develop and improve our health and mood. We perform postures and stretches such as twisting and aerial stretching with full support, which allows us to go deeper and hold longer in each asana. All of these significantly stimulate the processes in our body and releasing good hormones. It also helps in terms of physical health as it keeps the body fit, flexible, and with good balance throughout the body.
All of that is true as well for daily yoga practice.

You can practice it anytime, anywhere –
Some of us prefer to have a teacher for guiding us through our practice, yet others prefer a self-practice at home, in their own time. You can practice yoga and aerial skills at any given time, and almost everywhere. All you need is a yoga mat or a hammock. It is indeed much easier to open a mat and practice yoga, but what if you had an aerial trapeze hanging in your living room? Wouldn’t it be just the dream?

More about The Althea – Aerial Movement and yoga trapeze for indoor and outdoor self-practice.

Did you know

Aerial Movement VS Aerial Yoga

Aerial hammock

The aerial movement method is a bit different from aerial yoga. First, the practice is with an aerial trapeze, a hammock with resistant straps. Second, the focus of the movement is on the transaction between the asanas and dynamic postures. This method focuses on free movement, learning the body needs with full support.

Aerial movement is a variant of yoga and self-healing that you might never hear of before. It is a unique technique of movement that allows the body deep stretches and free movement with the support of a hammock and additional resistance straps. The support of the hammock and the straps allow us to reach many points and muscles in the body, that we can not attain in a regular grounded practice, or without the support.

In brief, the aerial movement practice carries a few aspects of importance:

· It is helping to release pain and can aid in healing injuries.
· It develops our flexibility and general balance.
· It strengthens our immune system and improves blood circulation.
· It strengthens the overall body and reduces mental stress.

How does it work?

Self-Healing tool & pain relief props

Endless exercises

The Althea, a distinct design of aerial yoga swing, provides endless possibilities & ideas for practice –
The support of the hammock and the resistance straps allow us to focus on our body sensations and flow. We can stretch our muscles according to our body needs at each moment. While practicing aerial yoga or aerial movement, we discover the wonder of our bodies. We learn our capacity and can improve it much faster, considering that this aerial practice is fully supported. We face fears and challenges through a wonderful aerial experience and incredible fun. The movement is very dynamic, so we can use it to our benefit and reach deeper to any stretch or posture.

Support for any condition – body & mind –
The aerial movement, different from aerial yoga, is a method of freestyle movement. It is concerning more than performing Asanas in particular. That means that even if you feel low energy, sick, or injured. Even if your body is missing a strength, you can easily practice aerial movement! It is a highly recommended practice also when you and your body are in those low moments. Most likely, it will be the right solution for you even before any other methods of movement. The support eliminates your body weight from the practice, or even use it for your benefit. Either way, you would feel that you invest less effort than you actually are investing.

Get an aerial trapeze for self-practice –
You can get yourself an aerial swing, which is only a hammock. But you can also get yourself an aerial trapeze, a hammock that’s combined with resistance straps. You can hang it at home, outside on a tree, a metal or wooden structure. It’s always there for you. You can even take it with you for long travels. In this way, you can keep your motion free and your body painless, even on long journeys and many hours of driving. You can always find a place, everywhere you go, to hang the Aerial trapeze to keep your practice.

Get inspired by videos or join an online aerial class –
As of today, the aerial movement method is guided by Efi Love Light in Vienna, Austria. Efi is part of the developers of this method, and since 2018 she is also traveling around the world teaching it. During the summer, Efi travels with her workshops among healing areas at European festivals. Occasionally, during the winter mostly, she is back in India to Goa, Rishikesh, or Dharamsala. There she also offers her classes and unparalleled anti-gravity and aerial art workshops. Wherever she goes – The aerial swing is coming with her :)

Efi produces and sells global The Althea, her distinct design of aerial trapeze –
It is a unique anti-gravity trapeze with additional pillows and fabric cradles. Efi is also offering her consistent guidance and support. She is operating a Facebook page & a Facebook group as well, especially for inspiration for self aerial practice, yoga, and meditation practices. In this group, she also regularly updates her sessions and travel schedules.

It's all about support

The Althea - Aerial Yoga Trapeze

Yoga daily practice

How you can know that Aerial Movement is the right practice for you?
Have you ever felt tiredness or heaviness in your body –
That your body has limited motion at some moments, such as mornings? How about after a long day at the office, or a long drive while traveling? Most of us experience those sensations many times in our lives, sometimes even daily. But most important to know and understand is that we don’t have to live like this. We don’t need to wait until the energy and the body strength will naturally come back. We can create this process slowly from within us, by practicing movement, gentle and slow, especially in those moments of weakness. The best and maybe even the easier way to do that is by allowing the body to move with support.

It is constantly there for you –
Imagine that, you are after a long day at work. It is cold outside and rainy, the body is stiff and maybe even sore. All you want when you get home is to lie down on the couch and let your body rest while you may be watching some Netflix series. Of course, you can also do that. But what if you had something to hold you for a few minutes, right before you lie down and rest, or even during your time-out, you stretch your muscles and run your blood, warm your body and bring it to contentment and free motion again? You can simply hang on the hammock, or rest on the straps and let your body move a little, without your body weight. With a few minutes of daily practice, you can achieve peacefulness in the overall body and mind, even without investing too much effort into it. The best part is, you don’t have to leave the house for this incredible sense! You can hang the hammock in your home. It can be in your kitchen, above your bed, or even in front of the TV. It is always reachable for you to relax.

Your life & your body are in your hands –
Keeping daily practice of aerial movement can bring your body to overall health, improve your blood circulation and reduce daily stress. You can feel a big difference in your life also only with a short daily practice. Even after a one-time aerial movement session, you can experience an easement on your muscles and mind.

Get to know Efi

Aerial & Yoga teacher

Natural self-healing master

Efi is a self-healing coach dedicated to helping women find harmony with their bodies and take control of their health – in a natural way.
She is an internationally certified yoga teacher, aerial instructor and is part of the development team for self-healing with the Althea Hammock.
She is a meditation and breathing facilitator as well, and her soothing voice guides you during each of her sessions, whether they are in-person classes or online yoga classes.
Efi is also a songwriter, composer and singer, specializing in harmonies and sound healing. So every session with Efi also includes a beautiful closing mantra that she sings to you during your Shavasana, helping you relax completely and let go.

Efi’s story began with daily pain and spinal issues that “couldn’t be resolved” before she discovered the way to move with The Althea. The rest of her self-healing journey led her to become a master of natural healing methods, natural symtopm reducers, as well as Ayurvedic practice and yoga therapy.

If you would like to read more about her amazing work – visit here