My terror at trying new exercises has become somewhat of a recurring theme with this column. This week, however, I was quite blasé about heading off to my first Yoga Fly class at Pilates Station. After all, how hard can yoga be? It’s all stretching and being bendy, right? As a bendy person, I was quite unfazed.
Yoga Fly looks very impressive; it’s a combination of yoga and acrobatics that employs a hammock-like piece of material to support your body weight and allow you to “fly.” In fact, this variety of yoga is so beautiful to watch that it recently served a stint as the entertainment at Bed Supper Club.
The classes are small, due to the fact that the hammocks take up a good deal of space in the room and many participants need a lot of help from the instructor and her assistant to get into some of the more challenging positions. And there are some very challenging positions. Over the years, I have participated in almost every type of yoga (acro, ashtanga, iyengar, kundalini etc.), but none have been as challenging or as much fun as Yoga Fly.
The sport involves zero boring sun salutations (sorry yogis, they really are tedious) and in their place offers plenty of inversions (going upside down) that are supported by the strong and versatile hammock material.
Though some of the positions look complex, Peachy, our instructor, calmly talked us through every move while she hung upside down by way of demonstration. While there’s never any doubt where you should be moving to, getting there is another issue. For me, two main problems stood in the way of my completing the positions. Firstly, I was worried about the material not being strong enough to support my whole body weight. I was assured it absolutely was, but being a good 15kgs heavier than the rest of the class did concern me a little. The second problem was that my hammock kept wrapping itself up tight like a rope, which was painful on the hands and feet (especially when you’re gripping on for dear life, as I was). This was easily fixed, Peachy explained, if I just unwrapped the hammock a little. Simple!
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I was, undoubtedly, the worst in the class, mainly due to my lack of trust in the hammock. There were plenty of times throughout the class when I blurted out “Arrghghh! I’m swinging!,” “Peachy! How do I get down?” and “Help!” Despite my nerves, Yoga Fly was everything I look for in a class; it was hugely enjoyable, challenging both physically (my arms were holding up my body weight) and mentally (going upside down terrifies me). Plus, it looks super cool when you’re staring at yourself in the mirror hanging upside down.
The coolness of the class helps you to quickly get over any hesitancy you may have about flipping around using only the hammock for support. You desperately want a new Facebook profile picture of yourself hanging upside down, so you put all you have into conquering your terror. Peachy’s relentless enthusiasm helps as well. “You CAN do this!” she said encouragingly. I was surprised to find she was often right; most of the positions aren’t nearly as difficult as they look. She even stayed after class to play a little bit more and help the class’ attendees conquer those positions that had been giving them trouble.
While Fly isn’t a relaxing yoga class in the traditional sense, I certainly felt more upbeat after I’d finished. It was like an hour of playing – and who doesn’t want their workout to feel like that?
Difficulty Rating: 4/5 Beginners can get a lot out of Yoga Fly, but the stronger and braver you are, the better. Most of the positions are great for working your core and upper body and the fear factor also adds to the difficulty.
