I Manage My Anxiety By Hanging in the Air

After studying dance for most of my life, several years ago I ran away and joined the circus.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration… but I did start taking recreation classes at a local circus school, as a way of trying to support my Generalized Anxiety Disorder. 

In circus class, I learned to work my way up into the air with several apparatuses: aerial silks (two long pieces of strong fabric rigged from a very high ceiling), lyra (a metal hoop, again, rigged from a very high ceiling), and my favorite, the aerial sling (a loop of very strong fabric–you guessed it, rigged from a very high ceiling). Over the years, I began to master these different apparatuses, spending more and more time hanging in the air.

Was it difficult? Absolutely. Did I struggle? All the time. Was I sore? Every day. Did I feel considerably less anxious when class was over? A thousand times yes… which is why I soon parlayed these circus school classes into a regular aerial yoga class. 

Here’s how aerial yoga helps me manage my anxiety, recenter myself, and reclaim my energy. 

Aerial Yoga Gets Me Out of My Head

As a type-A Capricorn rising with anxiety, my mind is where I spend most of my time. But what I like about aerial yoga is it rips me out of my head to put me square inside my body. Even when I’m not suspended in the air, I am partnered with a piece of fabric that twists up easily and may not do exactly what I want. If I’m not focusing on the moves (even standard yoga poses are more challenging when your bent leg is threaded through a loop of fabric) I could get hurt. Aerial yoga requires deep physical focus, which is essential to managing my anxiety, one hour at a time.

What I like about aerial yoga is it rips me out of my head to put me square inside my body.

Aerial Yoga Gives Me Endorphins

As one of my favorite movie heroines, Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods, chirps: “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy!” Aerial yoga’s challenges generate a constant stream of endorphins (along with sweat, soreness, and the triumph that comes with a good workout.) 

Whether I’m doing an aerial version of “pigeon pose”–hanging upside down with one leg bent in front of the fabric and the other dangling behind me–or threading my feet through the fabric loop, holding on tight, and arching my back (like you see in the photo), the endorphins will be flowing, guaranteed. 

By the end of class savasana, which can be taken while lying entirely inside the fabric loop, my pent-up anxiety has dissipated, and I’m more relaxed on my walk home.

Aerial Yoga Lets Me Prioritize Myself

“You have the right to rest, and rest well,” one of my aerial yoga teachers likes to say. This may seem obvious, but it’s something my anxious self needs to hear. If someone doesn’t remind me to prioritize myself, I might not remember to do it myself. Prioritizing myself is a major tenet of my anxiety management. I have to stay on top of my own brain, or it might overtake me. 

There are days when I feel like I don’t have time for an aerial yoga class. Where I feel those 50 minutes could be better spent answering endless emails, checking in on family and friends, or lying in bed. (The latter is especially tempting on weekend mornings.) But I make myself get up, turn my phone to Do Not Disturb, and put on my workout clothes, knowing that prioritizing myself is essential to my mental health. Once I’m at the studio, hanging upside down in the air, I’m glad I took that step to manage my anxiety.

I never thought that hanging in the air at various locations throughout the city would be a crucial part of my mental health management.

Conclusion

When I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder many years ago, I never thought that hanging in the air at various locations throughout the city would be a crucial part of my mental health management. Of course, I also take my meds, hydrate and prioritize sleep and good nutrition, but aerial yoga has been—surprisingly—essential. Through aerial yoga, I get out of myown brain, remember to relax, and put myself first. And that’s nothing but a balm for my anxiety, one 50-minute class at a time.

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