These days there are so many classes out there using the terms “aerial” and “yoga” that it’s hard to tell what you’re getting, exactly. Unnata yoga has always been a true yoga class at its core, and we use the aerial component to compliment the yoga in the class.
The Ingredients of an Unnata Aerial Yoga Class
The Unnata method uses the hammock to inform a traditional hatha yoga practice. Thus, the Unnata method has two categories of ingredients at its core that create the conditions for an authentic Yogic experience:
Unnata teachers have strong beliefs in what responsibilities we have to our students. As teachers of aerial yoga, we have unique responsibilities that yoga teachers who teach without a hammock do not need to follow, and unique responsibilities to yoga tradition that many aerial yoga teachers are not concerned with.
Can you remember your first yoga class ever? And how maybe it wasn’t at all like you thought it would be? I remember having a preconception that yoga would be easy and peaceful, and I was surprised that my first class was quite challenging both physically and mentally. My beginner’s mind didn’t care that the practice was different than I expected, and a world of possibilities opened up as I realized that there was a whole world I knew nothing about but wanted very much to learn. This was the start of my passion for yoga and even now, years later as my practice continues, it’s always a spark of beginner’s mind that keeps me engaged and wanting to learn more.
Everybody has a unique way of being. A way of talking, a way of walking, a tilt of the head, or a facial expression reveals a thought or emotion. During a conversation, some people are quiet, some constantly interject, some speak at a slow pace, and others barely breathe while talking.
After graduating from the Unnata Aerial Yoga teacher training course, on an annual basis Unnata teachers have the choice to renew their license to teach Unnata Aerial Yoga. The Unnata license is not just calling oneself an “Unnata” aerial yoga teacher, and it’s not simply so that a teacher can keep using the “Unnata” logo, although those are definitely important parts. Maintaining an Unnata license is linked to a membership with an entire community of teachers and of their vast knowledge and various practices that all the Unnata teachers are devoted to developing. Maintaining an Unnata membership is keeping one’s teaching and personal practice relevant and safe, amongst other things.
Rock. Paper. Scissors. Let’s play a simple game that can teach us how to balance the three Ayurvedic doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha). But first, what is Ayurveda? And what are the doshas?
Sometimes it seems that yoga’s the vanilla ice cream of the body/mind/spirit crowd—people can’t help themselves from sprinkling on their favorite toppings and swirling extras into the basic flavor. How else to perceive AcroYoga, Yogilates, and Cy-Yo, if not as the yogic versions of fudge ripple?
