The New Year brings new commitments to health and wellness. The Oxford Community Center’s quest to enrich lives led them to try the latest trend in exercise, Aerial fabrics. Aerial fabric exercise is also referred to as aerial contortion, aerial ribbons, aerial silks, aerial ribbon and is an exercise when the fabric is used to wrap, spiral, swing, fall or suspend their bodies in and out of a variety of positions. The main tricks in aerial silks are climbs, wraps and drops which have become all the rage in exercise classes.
Aerial fabric classes are not just a great way to have fun and learn new skills, but they also provide a range of unexpected health benefits. Your figure, your health and your mood can be improved through regular participation in aerial activities. The top three benefits are listed below.
1. Strengthened Muscles. Aerial exercises make your body work more intensively because gravity is working harder on your body than usual. Aerial activities look very graceful and effortless but they allow significant energy expenditure. Aerial silks are especially great for improving upper body strength – it’s one of the best ab workouts around. Great news is that aerial silk workouts count as cardio too while providing strength-building benefits. This makes aerial silks a great form of exercise to improve upper body strength and to aid weight loss.
2. Greater Flexibility with Zero-impact. Aerial classes are the perfect way to increase the range of movements possible although being easy on the joints. As your body weight is taken off the ground, injury to the joints are less likely than weight bearing exercise such as running. So, if you have knee or back problems adding such a low-impact workout will work great for you. When you have freedom of movement, you can move your body into new positions to provide stretching that goes beyond the muscles to tendons and ligaments, helping to prevent injuries. This can result in a deeper and more fulfilling stretch than traditional gym workouts offer.
3. Better Focus and Stress Relief. Aerial silks put you in some challenging situations, so you are likely to concentrate harder. The joy of knowing that you did something new and amazing makes you feel good about yourself, increase your self-confidence and self-esteem. Aerial silk classes are one of the best mind-body activities that reduce stress – after a class you’ll walk away feeling Zen. Aerial silks instill a sense of freedom as you sail through the air and at the same time you receive an adrenaline rush from this.
You will be excited to find a form of exercise that is so playful! Aerial silk classes will make you feel free and creative while increasing your strength, improving your body and boosting your self-esteem.
Kerianne Hinerman is an aerial artist with years of experience teaching. She will be offering a six week Beginner Aerial Fabric Workshop on Tuesdays at 10:00 am starting January 29th. This one hour beginning aerial fabric workshop is designed to introduce you to movement with, in, and around the fabric. Aerial fabric is soft and suspends you in a very gentle, forgiving way. The class will focus on stretching, strengthening, and full body awareness. Each session will begin with a warm up including stretching and upper body/abdominal strengthening followed by basic aerial work that includes knot work, swinging, floating, and learning various poses, all assisted and performed low to the ground. The beginning aerial fabric class will accommodate people that have the desire to get a gentle full-body workout and stretch.
Try something new! This class is designed to include all ages, abilities, body types, and lifestyles. Anyone can do it! You won’t believe that getting some exercise could be so much fun!
Workshop runs for six weeks on Tuesdays (1/29 – 3/5) from 10:00-11:00 am. Cost is $120 per participant with a maximum of six participants.
OCC invites the public to come to a free open house with Kerianne to see her demonstrate and answer any questions you may have about the aerial fabric exercise. The free open house is Friday, January 25th at 10:00 AM.
OCC offers free and low cost programs throughout the year thanks to the generous annual fund donors and events. 63% of all events are offered for free. The money raised by the health programs goes directly towards serving our greater community with new educational programs, after school activities for kids, national speakers, concerts and more. To reserve your spot, visit oxfordcc.org or call 410-226-5904. The OCC is a non-profit organization focused on education and enrichment.
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