I published a post about three years ago when I first met this amazing artist, performer, dancer, acrobat, and yoga instructor, Michelle Dortignac, having been introduced to another fabulous way to bend, shape, lift and work the body with Aerial Yoga. Her practice and business has expanded greatly and as I still practice yoga, I remain a student of finding the gentle way to release to the pull of gravity with suspension and aerial yoga.
As with most of my teachers, (of every discipline) she kept telling me too slow down find and “quiet the breath” as the work enveloped me with utter joy! I got so carried away with the freedom of body movement, I gobbled up the first 30-45 minutes like a glutton. Toward the end of the 90 minutes, I kinda got her point and “let go to release” my body to the gravity pull and my breath actually did slow down and went inside.
The next two days I felt my body, particularly the lines of my torso, in a way I have not experienced in sometime. It was GREAAAAAT!
Using a soft trapeze, Aerial Yoga combines basic yoga postures with the miracles of gravity. The result is a new practice that encourages proper alignment by strengthening shoulder and core ab muscles and increasing shoulder and spinal flexibility—all without strain or pain. Like partner yoga or any other type of assist, the hammock-like aerial apparatus counteracts the affects of gravity, which is a great way to relieve compression and elongate your spine.
She says in a current May 2012 article published in American Fitness, “some people think that this practice aims to replace traditional yoga. Rather, it’s trying to enhance a traditional practice, she clarified. Most people are surprised to find we practice floor yoga asanas in class in addition to using the hammock prop. The air and the floor are not mutually exclusive – they are complements to teach other. Yin and Yang. To have a fully enriched yoga practice we need both.”
Suffice to say, I signed up for a workshop in June to open up my chakras; looks as if she is performing in a few Aerial Art shows in the city over Memorial Day weekend and teaching at the Nantucket Yoga festival in July. All these details can be found easily from her blog.
Guess you can tell, I love the release I get from Hot Yoga, TRX Suspension as well as Aerial Yoga. huh? Keeps me giddy.
Just sharing some more good, healthy and need I say, “uplifting” ways to enjoy your life and body.
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Gina Jackson, is a classically trained Pilates Teacher and has been teaching along the Gold Coast of Hudson and Bergen County, NJ for the past fifteen+ years.
Certified by Power Pilates of New York, Gina has trained with Master Teachers Bob Liekens, Susan Moran and Brett Howard; loved workshop training with Cary Regan and Blossom Leilani-Crawford and has particularly enjoyed listening to the personal stories as told by Pilates Elders, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel.
An active teacher and blogger, Gina manages a private personal training business supporting a myriad of clients, teaching all to honor their health, strength and life with the principles of Pilates at its core.