How to Use Aerial Yoga to Reduce Anxiety During a Pandemic
Aerial Yoga can be used as a tool to reduce the mounting anxiety that the constant closures and uncertainty of the pandemic has brought to so many of us. Here’s 5 ways that aerial yoga can help reduce your anxiety.
January 2022. The energy of a new year and the endless possibilities ahead, goals have been set and the positivity meter is high, or is it?
If you are entering the New Year with trepidation and anxiety of what 2022 may hold you are not alone. It has been a long and relentless pandemic where a new pandemic is emerging, the mental health damage the relentless restrictions and lockdowns have brought to our society. The isolation and lack of connection with others lingers on through the arrival of omicron. Fear and uncertainty continue to lie below the surface.
If you find yourself short of breath, addicted to scrolling fear-catching headlines and stuck in your head, it might be time for a nervous system reset and to develop healthier habits. Stress and anxiety have been prevalent in our glorified busy lives pre-pandemic but it's important now more than ever to seek out ways to control these emotions.
Yoga has been an ancient practice used traditionally to heal and connect to oneself. Although yoga has evolved over the years its principles have remained the same. I have found myself turning more and more to yoga as a coping mechanism throughout this pandemic to relieve anxious thoughts and keep myself away from my phone.
Aerial yoga is the practice of using traditional yoga postures with the support of the aerial hammock to elevate and support the practice. Through allowing the aerial hammock to assist us with sinking deeper into poses while feeling supported, aerial yoga can have a healing effect on our mental health especially with anxiety and depression. Here are 5 benefits of practicing aerial yoga for relieving anxiety.
Breath
Focusing on the breath during aerial yoga postures slows and deepens our breathing sending signals to the brain to calm the mind. This helps us to slow our heart rate, deliver more oxygen around our body and triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to come into play. This can help us relax our mind and slow the racing thoughts of anxiety.
2. Calm the Nervous System
Many of us operate our day to day lives in the fight or flight response stimulated by states of constant fear, stress and anxiety. Over time this chronically deregulates our nervous system. Aerial yoga can help assist us with re-regulating our nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest response. This brings more calming energy back into the body and helps rebalance our state of homeostasis. If you are feeling anxious you may be spending too much time in the sympathetic nervous system response and need to bring some parasympathetic nervous system vibes back into your life.
3. Inversions
An inversion a day keeps you sane. No but really I can’t overestimate how important inversions are and recommend incorporating them as a daily practice in your life. Stress and anxiety often present themselves in muscle pain, tightness and headaches.The aerial hammock is the perfect prop to help you create space in your spine, realign your body and relieve tension and pressure, especially lower back pain. When we flip upside down neurotransmitters are released from our brain which helps control depression, anxiety, anger and frustration and can bring more positive mood and leave us feeling calmer.
4. Improve Digestive Function
The gut is intimately connected with our brain and is often referred to as the second brain. It is constantly sending signals back and forth and is sensitive to our emotions especially if you are feeling anxious. Aerial yoga can help alleviate digestive complaints such as constipation and indigestion. The gravitational pull of being upside down helps to naturally cleanse the internal organs bringing fresh blood, oxygen and nutrients to the digestive system.
5. Lymph System Detoxification
Our lymphatic system is responsible for flushing out toxins, waste removal, maintaining fluid levels in our body and our immune system. Anxiety can compromise the immune system. Inversions can assist us by stimulating the lymph system with more rapid circulation of the lymphatic fluid. This aids us in flushing out the system, detoxifying and revitalizing.
These 5 benefits of aerial yoga for anxiety may not be the first thing you think of when taking an aerial yoga class but the practice is working much deeper than the surface level benefits.
You may not be able to physically join us at our studio in Whistler or a studio near you due to closures, proximity or maybe you just mentally don’t feel up to in person classes right now. Our Treeline Online aerial yoga online classes are a great fit for you if you want to practice aerial yoga from home. You can follow along with our online library of aerial yoga classes with a variety of styles and durations to fit your needs. New classes are added every week so there’s always something new to try. We offer a free one week trial to see if it's a good fit for your needs. You can also check out our Youtube channel Treeline Aerial to find free online aerial yoga videos there.
We hope to see you in the skies from the comfort of your home!
Namaste