Aerial Yoga’s roots were planted in Illinois during the early 2000s when local yoga teachers and fitness innovators began taking silk hammocks into their classes. By drawing inspiration from circus arts and traditional yoga, they wanted to create a practice that felt both playful and healing.
Aerial Yoga Illinois
The aerial yoga hammocks were designed to support the body in new ways by helping students stretch deeper, move with freedom, and even flip upside down without strain. What began as a fresh experiment in Chicago’s studios soon spread across Illinois, attracting people of all ages who were curious about yoga with a twist.
Aerial yoga in Illinois quickly became loved not just for its creativity but also for its unique benefits. It builds strength, improves balance, releases stress from the back, and increases confidence. More than exercise, it’s an uplifting experience that combines mindfulness with the joy of movement by leaving students feeling lighter in body, mind, and spirit.
So, let’s check out the studios for Aerial Yoga Illinois –
Rise Aerial Fitness
About –
Rise Aerial Fitness was founded by Nadja Lalvani, a certified yoga teacher with a clear purpose to show that movement can be medicine. She wanted to create a safe space that went beyond the idea of just “working out” and instead focused on how movement makes people feel stronger, calmer, more confident, and alive.
With this vision, Rise opened its doors as a wellness space where fitness and joy come together. The studio offers a mix of aerial yoga, barre, Pilates, yoga, and HIIT gym by giving students many ways to strengthen and balance.
Their signature aerial classes use hammocks to support the body by making it easier to stretch deeply, flip, and flow while reducing pressure on the joints. This unique practice not only builds strength but also brings a sense of play and freedom.
Rise has grown into more than just a studio; it’s a supportive community where people come to recharge, connect, and rise!
Aerial Yoga Offerings –
- Aerial Flow – This is a class, mixing grounded, floating, and inverted poses with the aerial hammock supporting many movements. It’s structured like a Vinyasa yoga class linking breath to movement.
- Aerial Foundations – It’s an introductory class for those new to aerial hammock practice, where you’re taught alignment and muscle activation to balance safely on the hammock.
- Aerial Fit+Flow – This combines aerial flow with ground-based fitness into a full-body workout. It starts with 10-15 min of aerial flow warm-up, then moves into 20 min non-aerial strength/endurance work (bodyweight, light weights, etc.), and finishes with another 10-15 min aerial flow plus cool down.
- Aerial CORE – It’s a 30-minute high-energy class focused on core muscle work using aerial hammocks, which includes gravity-defying crunches, planks, and dynamic movements off the ground.
Website – https://www.riseaerialfitness.com/
Ahh Yoga
About –
Ahh Yoga in Springfield is more than a studio, it’s a community built on warmth and welcome. The heart behind it is Betsy Link, a Springfield native who has been part of the fitness world since 2002. After completing her first 200-hour Hatha training in 2006, Betsy went on to study Vinyasa Flow and Yoga Sculpt, by combining movement with mindfulness.
In 2016, Betsy became the owner of Ahh Yoga with a vision to create a space where everyone from beginners to seasoned yogis could feel at home. The studio brings together a team of passionate teachers who provide classes for all ages and styles, including aerial yoga and youth classes.
Ahh Yoga starts with building strength, finding calm, and sharing a community where everyone belongs!
Aerial Yoga Offerings –
- Foundations of Aerial Yoga – This 75-minute course is suitable for beginners and open to all levels, introducing aerial yoga through basic poses and alignment.
- Drop-in Aerial Yoga Classes – This is a mixed-level flow class that ties together aerial hammock movement, strength postures, and breath work.
Website – https://ahhyoga.net/
River Bend Yoga
About –
River Bend Yoga was established in 2014 by Vicky Delaney, who first found yoga while healing from back surgery. What started as a way to rebuild strength soon turned into a deep love for the practice. In 2012, she completed her yoga teacher training and two years later, built a space where others could experience the same healing and joy.
Her dream was not just about movement, but about community. River Bend Yoga became a warm and welcoming place where people of all ages and levels could stretch, breathe, and grow. Over the years, the studio has grown by adding more classes, aerial yoga, teacher training, and even a bigger space to fit the growing community.
At its heart, River Bend Yoga is about connection with yourself, others, and the simple joy of practicing together!
Aerial Yoga Offerings –
- Aerial Yoga for Beginners – It teaches the basics of aerial yoga using a hammock or silk. You can expect a moderately hard warm-up, detailed instruction for basic poses, and a sampling of intermediate poses.
- Aerial Yoga (Intermediate) – This is designed for those who already have some aerial experience or have completed beginner classes. It includes intermediate poses, warm-ups, and more challenging movements.
- Aerial Yoga Fit – It’s a more fitness-oriented aerial class aimed at building strength using aerial silk slings.
- Aerial Yoga Party – This is a private and special event offering for groups like birthday parties, girls’ and friends nights out, and corporate team building.
Website – https://riverbendyoga.net/
Air Fit Now
About –
In 2013, Shama Patel traded her fast-paced career as a lawyer for something that lifted both body and spirit. She opened the first AIR® Aerial Fitness studio in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, with the dream of making fitness more fun, creative, and empowering.
Instead of sticking to mats and machines, she introduced aerial hammocks which are soft fabric swings that let people stretch, flip, and fly while building strength and balance. What started as a single studio quickly turned into a growing movement, reaching communities far beyond Chicago.
The vision was to create classes that challenge the core, improve flexibility, and bring joy back into working out. Today, AIR® is more than a workout, it’s an experience that helps people feel stronger, lighter, and happier inside!
Aerial Yoga Offerings –
- Intro to AIR – This is a 50-minute beginner class of aero-fitness / aerial yoga fusion) using hammocks which focuses on basic alignment, foundational movements, and learning how to balance safely in the hammock.
- AIR® Foundation – It’s another 50-minute class for beginners or those building up basics that is focused on alignment, muscle activation, and conditioning (includes elements of Pilates, ballet, HIIT) using the aerial hammock.
- AIR® Core – This 30-minute ab/foundational strength class with aerial hammocks focuses on abs (upper, lower), obliques, and lower back for better form and functional core strength.
- AIR Flow – The studio offers a 50-minute mixed-level aerial yoga class which combines breath-linked movement, power poses, hammock-assisted stretches, and creative transitions.
- AIR® (Intermediate & Advanced Levels) – This is a 50-minute intense aerial fitness training including conditioning, Pilates, ballet, HIIT with aerial hammock work.
Website – https://www.airfitnow.com/
Chicago Aerial Arts
About –
Chicago Aerial Arts is the largest aerial arts and circus studio in the Chicago area built to give everyone from beginners to advanced students—a space to soar. It’s nestled in a spacious warehouse in Irving Park, where the studio spreads over 7,000 square feet, full of aerial silks, trapeze, and hammocks for all kinds of aerial fun.
The studio was started to make aerial arts accessible and exciting for everyone. Here, students can explore movement with ease, strength, and creativity through classes for kids, teens, and adults. Beyond regular classes, Chicago Aerial Arts also offers teacher training, photo shoots, aerial retreats, and intensives by helping people turn their passion into performance.
At its heart, the studio is a place where people play, challenge themselves, and grow. Every swing, flip, and stretch is not limited to lifting just the body, but confidence and joy too!
Aerial Yoga Offerings –
- Adult Aerial Hammock – Aerial Hammock, also known as Aerial Sling is a loop of fabric offering endless possibilities. The class is focused on sequencing and choreography that is revisited over time by allowing students to build upon their skills progressively.
- Adult Aerial Silks – It involves two lengths of fabric secured from the ceiling, where students use graceful techniques to climb and maneuver the silks. The class concentrates on fabric theory information, climbs, inversions, conditioning, and aerial choreography/flow, with each session building upon previous sequences.
- Kids Camps (Ages 6–15) – The Winter Circus and Aerial camp includes daily aerial and circus arts workshops, games, crafts, and a welcome gift for each child.
Website – https://chicagoaerialarts.net/
Final Words
Aerial yoga in Illinois transforms movement into an exciting journey by combining strength, flexibility, and playful exploration in the air. Kids and teens find balance, coordination, and confidence through circus-inspired flexible stretches, while adults build core strength and mental calm with every pose.
Each session encourages focus, body awareness, and a sense of lightness by turning practice into more than exercise, it becomes a source to enjoy and for self-discovery. From gentle suspended hammock stretches to dynamic aerial flows, students of all ages can rise, stretch, and soar. Illinois has grown into a lively aerial hub, inspiring everyone to lift their body and spirit!
