Make Time to Hang Out!
If the thought of hanging from straps attached to a wall intimidates you, you aren’t alone! “I had assumed wall yoga was just for yogi pros, but I was totally wrong,” says Chelsey Hamilton for Health.com. “I kept seeing impressive images of yogis suspended in acrobatic poses. Although they seemed so graceful floating in midair, I was having a hard time picturing myself attempting these gravity-defying feats. I worried I wasn’t quite experienced enough.”
Ms. Hamilton’s concern didn’t last long . . . and neither should yours!
“The principle behind the Yoga Wall has been around for decades, originally designed by BKS Iyengar in the form of ropes attached to wall hooks to assist students in various yoga asana (poses),” notes The Great Yoga Wall. Today’s updated version consists of spring loaded sockets mounted in the wall that can receive adjustable straps that accommodate every height and body type.
The Great Yoga Wall notes the following benefits of practicing on the yoga wall where gravity can be appreciated and utilized:
Builds strength in both the large and small muscle groups
Aides in the ability to access various muscle groups in poses they are not yet able to achieve on the mat
Offers many therapeutic benefits helping individuals heal from athletic injuries, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, and Sciatica
Can be used as a work-out tool to aid competitive athletes in cross-training and preparation for competitions
Allows one to do hundreds of poses
Can help students work through fear, build confidence, etc., so that they are able to take what they’ve learned on the Yoga Wall, to their mats and into their daily lives
Uses specific postures and positioning, movement and breath, awareness to open the joints, connective tissue
Allows standing postures, forward and back bends, twists and inversions
Helps us feel great after doing yoga, because it is a balanced physical practice designed to open the spine in every direction
Just as a good yoga teacher can help you develop further in a yoga pose, so too can experiencing yoga in near weightless state by using the yoga wall! And an environment with a great yoga wall instructor (i.e., Sunrise Yoga Studio owner and director, Valerie Kiser) and an expanse of yoga wall together creates phenomenal opportunities for development in your yoga practice!
The Spirit of Yoga notes, “It is said in Yoga, that ‘you are only as old as your spine.’ Thus, as long as you have a healthy and flexible spine, your ability to participate in life is endless! To open the spine in every direction without compression = hang upside down and practice yoga!”
Come “hang” with us at Sunrise Yoga! We offer a Yoga Wall class on Tuesdays, 8:30-9:45 am. AND, we have a special Select Your Study session on Wednesday, October 3rd, 6:00-7:30 pm, that is a spinal sequence on the Yoga Wall!
Class size is limited. Level 1 and above. Register through the Sunrise Yoga app, online, or through the studio.