Flying Yoga

I am suspended five feet in the air above a wooden floor. The only thing holding me up are my legs, wrapped around a hammock- come-trapeze contraption suspended from the gym ceiling. If you thought yoga was all about meditation and serenity then think again. This is ‘antigravity yoga” nicknamed “Wings” at Crunch gym in Midtown Manhattan.

Serenity this is not. My about-to-give-way-at-any-moment legs are shaking and my stomach is lurching into my throat. Usually whenever I do yoga (not very often, I’m more of a boxing girl if you’re interested), I’m easily bored and lack the patience required to stick with it to see results. However this is New York where everything, including exercise, is always on overdrive. And Wings, which claims to be twice as effective at toning the body as a regular yoga class, has naturally taken the city by storm. The only problem? My fear of heights.

The key to this new turbo-charged workout is the Antigravity Hammock, a kind of swing or soft trapeze, which works against gravity, meaning that you have to work even harder to hold those poses. Sir Isaac Newton might be turning in this grave, although probably not quite as wildly as me on my hammock.

I mention my extreme fear of heights to the instructor, Nancy (even running down flights of stairs makes me edgy). “Well, Wings is very scary,” she admits cheerily whilst doing some sort of upside down manoeuvre using, as far as I can tell, just her big toe. This does nothing to assuage my fears. “The trick is to stay calm and if you feel you can’t move, then don’t start scrabbling around, just ask for help.”
I perch nervously on the swing and attempt to copy some of my class mates. Floating backwards and forwards I visualise myself like an Olympic acrobat, it’s not too difficult - perhaps I’ve found my true calling. Next it’s time to try the first exercise. Lying horizontally with my stomach on the swing, I start to move backwards and forwards. It’s still scary, but surprisingly easy and I’m feeling quite confident when Nancy demonstrates the next move – each foot in either side of the hammock, standing up, 5ft above the ground. The other 12 women in the room effortlessly copy her - I freeze - and it takes much encouragement and a whole heap of embarrassment before I can make it to standing up position. Although reassured that the hammock can still support my weight, the moment I lose focus I start to wobble around. This is terrifying. “You have to concentrate the whole time during Wings,” Nancy explains. “Otherwise it’s potentially very dangerous!” You’re not kidding.
This being New York, the second most litigious city in the country after Los Angeles, I ask myself if the Wings set up, without mats, is wise. “Have you had any accidents with Wings?” I ask. Satisfied by the safety record (sort of) I decide that I should put my fears aside and really put my all into this class.
Nancy assists me into a backward body flip. As soon as I’ve managed it once, I do it again – with the help of long-suffering Nancy – and I really do seem to be losing my fear of flying, as long as I don’t look down.
So what does Wings do for the body? “It elongates the muscles, and uses the body as weights for resistance training,” says Nancy. “It also helps you deal with fear in all areas in your life.” She may be onto something there. I consider myself pretty fit, but over the next few days I feel muscles, especially in my arms, I have never felt before and those stairs don’t seem quite so daunting after all.

Flying Yoga at Crunch Gym New York

www.crunchgym.com

$28, with gym membership

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