Aerial Yoga. Yes, It's True.

Spring has sprung in Sydney, and while it was never bitterly cold this winter, it's quite nice now to be outside and enjoy all the city has to offer.  As I have mentioned, Sydney is built for its temperate climate. With the cafes, beautiful beaches, and amazing areas to hike and walk, it's certainly the type of place where it's more fun to be outside than inside.


Last weekend, to take advantage of a beautiful Sunday, my friends (Carly and Tyler) and I walked from our neighborhood of Potts Point to Bondi Beach. The walk was great - about 6 km with a few hills. Once we got to the beach, we met up with our friends Tim and Amanda. A big storm was brewing, so we HAD to get frozen yogurt and wait it out. Yummy!


Later, while it thundered and poured rain, I was reading a magazine and came across something completely new to me - aerial or anti-gravity yoga. I googled it, studied up and decided I had to try it. I absolutely love yoga, so this really piqued my interest. And, I am all about stepping outside my comfort zone and trying new things while here (and hopefully when I move home too!). Aerial yoga was founded several years ago by Christopher Harrison, a former professional dancer and performance artist, in NYC. It's essentially a combination of pilates and yoga, with moves done while suspended in the air by a large silk hammock. It uses the benefits of yoga with the compression of gravity to allow your body and its own weight to work for itself.


Until last month, there was only one studio in all of Australia that offered this type of yoga....until last month! As luck would have it, the second studio in the country offering aerial yoga opened in late September in Redfern, a cute village in Sydney only 4 subway stops from my 'hood. I called and signed up for a workshop that took place today at House of Yoga Redfern.


Wow, what a great and cool experience! The studio is just beautiful. It has wide open rooms, overlooks a park and had nice cool breezes flowing through it. The workshop was 2.5 hours long. for the first hour, we learned the core fundamental moves and became acclimated to moving in the hammock. The last 60-90 minutes were spent going through more new moves and an hour long class led by our awesome instructor, Holly. WHAT A WORKOUT! I even surprised myself with what I could do and was instantly hooked. The hammock really allows you to get deep in the movements but also fully supports you while you flip and twist. At the end, you cocoon yourself in the hammock and lay motionless, suspended in the air. Unreal. Here are a few snaps of the studio. Maybe next time I can ask someone to snap a photo of me while I hang upside down!

The aerial yoga studio 

My hammock

I can't wait to go again. I am glad I took the chance to try something new today. It was really fun.


Until next time
xoxo


p.s. The 'Hoos won today! Wahoowa! I hear my eldest nephew Jack went to the game with my parents. So fun....I was sad to not be there with them.


p.s.s. Spring is here - the days are getting longer, the weather warmer and flip flops have replaced my black J Crew flats as my daily footwear for my walk to work. However, since there is no Thanksgiving here, there is no built-in indicator in the calendar to signal when it's acceptable to start focusing on the Christmas holiday. It's in full swing here and it's only early November. Proof is below....I am sure I will get a small tree, but at the same time am buying my absolute favorite flowers (peonies) too, which are only available in the springtime. Seems so strange to me!

Christmas is Coming! This was the new display at my neighborhood florist this weekend.

While it is strange for it be getting warmer while Christmas is approaching, I am taking advantage of peonies, my favorite flower, being available due to the springtime weather.