Health & Fitness

AirStretch Studio – AirYoga in Bahrain

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AirYoga (aerial yoga, yoga trapeze or yoga in hammocks) has survived the initial ‘trend’ stage and established itself as an effective and fun exercise.

Habibti Magazine recently joined a class at AirStretch Studio to experience the ‘ins and outs’ as well as the ‘ups and downs’ of the exercise.

AirStretch is an intimate boutique studio, located in Galali, Muharraq.
The studio is integrated with eight rigs, from which special hammocks hang. These hammocks were specially sourced by AirStretch Studio, to provide manueverabilty, comfort and support – each hammock can comfortably hold around 200kg.

The owner of AirStretch Studio, Viola is a former professional acrobat, qualified choreographer, teacher of Ballet and AirYoga instructor; she also has the patience of a saint – which is extremely helpful. She is very quickly able to put you at ease and works at your pace.

When you arrive, the instructor adjusts each person’s hammock to his or her height. You can be bare foot or wear grip / yoga socks.
Clothing should be t-shirt and leggings for women, and T-shirt and long jogging pants for men.

The calm ambience, beautiful soft music and Violas expertise, ensures you are completely at ease and comfortable, with all nervousness left at the door.

The session starts with breathing exercise and gentle warm up, slowly moving up to different exercises. For those familiar with Yoga or Pilates will definitely recognise some exercises. After stretching, moving and strengthening, there is a wind down and relaxation time.

Sessions are run either in small groups, in pairs or privately and advance booking is mandatory.

After our session, we have a chat with Viola to find out more about Air Yoga.

Origins of Aerial Yoga began in New York in 1991 with a team of acrobatic dancers. The performers found that being suspended upside down was easing backache and reducing injury, and so it became an integral part of their personal physiotherapy.

But it wasn’t until Christopher Harrison rigged a sling for his ageing mother that he realised inversion could benefit everyone, and began his teaching others about its benefits.

Since then, there have been many variations to the original aerial sling, like a different type of fabric, adding of handles to increase range of motions as well as safety. Varying schools have different names for AirYoga, however all of them encompass fitness techniques that are safe for men and women of all ages, body types and fitness levels. Numerous movements have been developed over time to increase the range of benefits of a full-body exercise

AirYoga focuses on stretching, core strength, posture and balance, the same principles of Pilates and Yoga and some basic elements of acrobatics. Air yoga however takes it one notch higher by integrating inverted postures with zero-compression and low-impact movements to relieve joint and spine pressure.

There are many benefits of AirYoga, to name a few;

  • Core strengthening
    Many of the movements are based on control and posture, which makes it a killer workout for your core.
  • Total body workout
    The movements activate every part of the body to move and stretch.
  • Improves flexibility
    Aerial yoga helps you move freely by counteracting gravity. Being suspended in the air releases tension in the bones and muscles and increases flexibility specifically in the spine and shoulders.
  • Good for the organs
    By hanging freely, not only do you give the spine the chance to lengthen, but you also give ‘space’ to your organs that are otherwise bunched up on top of one another.
  • Anti-aging
    Inversion improves blood circulation, thereby combating aging and its symptoms. It detoxifies the circulatory and lymphatic systems, which delays the onset of cardiovascular issues.
  • The end of your comfort zone
    It is a brilliant way to push your self-imposed limitations and see what your body is capable of, once you let your mind be free
  • Meet new friends
    Its also a great way to meet like minded people, especially at AirStretch Studio, as classes run in small intimate groups.

AirStretch Studio provides airyoga, stretching and recently introduced BARRE classes to the schedule.

For more information:

Instagram: @airstretchbh
Facebook: airstretchbh
Phone number: 00973 34655966

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