Aerial Yoga is Nauseatingly Fun

I meant to post about my first experience trying aerial yoga last week but that one blissful hour of fun and laughter was the only one I had that wasn’t spent hunched over a computer lesson planning.

Cat and I went in to Core Elements nervous and not knowing what to expect. Would everyone else be old pros and showing us up with Cirque du Soliel tricks? But almost everyone in class was a newbie which meant a lot of laughter and a fun and positive environment.

At the beginning of class, our instructor Yvonne warned of the potential for motion sickness. I hadn’t even considered that (I get motion sickness so easily) but for the entire class I felt fine! Or so I thought…

The poses we were trying to do weren’t overly complicated and 8-year-old gymnast Rachel was delighting in it. The silks were actually a lot easier to use than I thought because it’s a hammock  and not two separate silks like I was expecting.

We ended class in savasana in the cocoon and that’s where I began to feel dizzy. The instructor was going around asking people if they wanted a push to rock more and very emphatically I told her “Oh no!”

After class, I was feeling it. Cat and I went to Pennyhouse for lunch and a gab session and I felt a little better after eating. But a few hours later, I was still feeling like I was rocking a bit and I had to keep food in my stomach to keep the nausea at bay.

Despite this end effect, Cat and I had so much fun at class last Saturday that we immediately signed up for a two hour workshop the following weekend.

This time, we were the “experienced” ones along with one other gal, everyone else was newbies. Because we had more time, we did a lot more stretching with the silks and it felt amazing! I told Cat that if we did our long run first and then came to do this with our muscles warm but tight we could really stretch them out.

Having learned from my last experience, I did not close my eyes while hanging on the silks at anytime and I always made sure it wasn’t rocking before attempting anything.

Cat and I were trying a different partner pose and when we were very unsuccessful we started cracking up. I snorted and everyone in class started to laugh. Cat had tears in her eyes. That’s what I love so much about this class, it’s fun and playful.

I LOVE hot yoga and will always be a huge fan, but it’s typically a pretty serious environment. The environment at Core Elements is all about fun and enjoying yourself which is JUST what I need as I wrap up a grueling six week practicum.

When it was time for savasana, I was already feeling light nausea so I opted to lay on the floor on my mat and keep my palms down to help ground myself. I’m really glad I did because I didn’t feel sick for nearly as long as the previous week.

Like anything else, I know with regular attendance I would get used to it. When I lived in Seattle I managed to get used to reading on a city bus.

I highly suggest everyone go and try a class with a girlfriend or two. It is so much fun and a lot of laughs. And you can go out to eat after together to talk about it and settle your stomachs. 😉

Any experienced aerialists out there have tips for keeping nausea at bay?

Have you tried aerial yoga? What did you think?