Instructor Robin Retherford runs through a quick checklist of warnings for about 15 students who stand before white, hanging cloths that look like mutant sized cocoons from an X Files episode.
Don't take this class, she cautions, if you have high blood pressure, glaucoma or, she laughs, if you've recently had Botox injections. 'This is South Beach,' she jokes. Inversions might not be a good idea.
Otherwise, Antigravity Yoga Wings is a boon for yoga enthusiasts since it incorporates many familiar asanas but gives you greater movement. For example, to execute a downward facing dog, the hammock wraps around your pelvis and pulls your hips up and back to lengthen the legs.
For headstands and hanging back bends there is support from the fabric. But, as Steinhauser notes, 'as you get stronger you're not just hanging in the hammock.'
Using the hammock takes some getting used to as your body presses on the fabric and can initially feel uncomfortable, especially if you're carrying extra weight around the middle. (The hammocks are reputed to hold 1,000 pounds, whew, we're within range.)
One skill calls for you to remove one leg at a time from the support while inverted. It's a cool, choreographed move.
Note: you might feel a bit dizzy after the 60 minute class. That's normal.
FUN FACTOR
Both instructors urge everyone to smile during the course. I've never felt compelled to smile like some goofy exercise bunny on an '80s fitness videotape. But Antigravity Yoga had me grinning. The freedom of soaring in the air, that sense of accomplishment, the feeling of growing strength, it all proved infectious.
TO DO IT
Where: Crunch Fitness, 1259 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305 674 8222; www.crunch.com
When: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7 p.m. Thursday, 4 p.m. Sunday. (Another instructor coaches at 10 a.m. Wednesday).
Cost: $24 day pass (includes use of gym). Crunch also hosts The AntiGravity Yoga Workshop on July 12, with 45-minute sessions at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. These sessions are free.
By miamiherald.com
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