If you want to take your yoga practice to new heights, check out one of the many New York City yoga studios offering ariel yoga! This was on my “to-do” list for 2018, and before I tried it, I have to admit I was curious as to how accessible it would be to someone who does not, in fact, have circus experience. I headed to Midtown’s Om Factory to check out an arial yoga class.
To my surprise, it was actually not that difficult or even scary at all. Granted, it’s MUCH more guided than your typical mat class, for obvious safety reasons. If you don’t listen to what the instructor is saying, step-by-step, you can actually get pretty injured, twirling around in all that silk, literally hovering 6+ feet off the ground. However, as long as your directional listening skills are on point, you’ll be totally fine.
I loved how light ariel yoga makes you feel, and the amazing cocoon feeling of laying in the little silk nest in Savasana. It was truly relaxing, almost like being in a hammock beachside. The only con I had was that the silk wraps smelled quite a bit like body odor, to the point it was distracting me from really getting into the flow of the arial yoga class.
This could have been totally circumstantial, we were at the last ariel yoga class of the night, so there were a lot of people who were swinging around in those wraps before us. But I do wonder how often they get washed? Worth asking the front desk what the cleaning schedule is, and then attending class the first morning after they’ve been laundered!
While arial yoga certainly won’t take the place of my regular yoga practice, it was a really fun experience, and if you’re into yoga (even just a little bit!) or want to have a fun night out with friends that differs from the bar scene, I would totally recommend it! Plus, there’s lots of fun camera opportunities)
Arial Yoga Classes in NYC
In case you’re interested in trying out an ariel yoga class, here’s where to find them in New York:
- The Yoga Room — Astoria, Queens
from $22 per class - And Yoga — Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
from $22 per class - Studio Anya — Flatiron, Manhattan
from $24 per class - Om Factory — Midtown West and Flatiron, Manhattan
from $25 per class - Sacred Sound Yoga — Greenwich Village, Manhattan
from $25 per class - Christopher Harrison’s AntiGravity Lab — Midtown West, Manhattan
from $30 for three classes - Yoga Pole Studio — Downtown Brooklyn
from $200 per month for unlimited classes
And, if you’re looking for a great book to get you inspired to have a regular yoga practice, I just finished the book Yoga Mind and so recommend it. It gives you an actionable thing to do every day for thirty days, and by the end you have a pretty amazing foundation.
Also, take a look at WBTW’s Wellness section for more great healthy reading.
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
