Bow Flow is great for developing posterior strength and flexibility.
Although in yoga the bow is commonly held as a static posture, I prefer it as a flow, as I find the more dynamic movement allows the spine and hips to warm and turn gooey (for those who don’t know, I am a certified yoga teacher, but am currently only teaching aerial).
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1. Lie on your belly and connect hands to ankles.
2. Pull hands and ankles away from each other to extend your hips and lift your chest. Try to balance out the lift in the lower body and the upper body (keep in mind the upper body has further to go).
3. Release to the ground with control.
4. Repeat–you may notice a little more depth with each rep.
5. On your final rep you might like to explore rocking with your breath.
Drills are great for giving us the opportunity to practice simple movements and sink our awareness more deeply into the body. You can focus more clearly on sensation when you repeat the motion and don’t have too much else to think about.
This body awareness helps us develop intuition in our movement disciplines (I believe my yoga background was a major asset when I began learning aerial, though there was and is much much more to learn).
In other words, don’t rush through your warm-ups and don’t skip your drills just because they are repetitive. They are the lead-up to your aerial work–they prime your brain and body for training.
Want to start connecting the dots of your practice? Check out The Aerialist’s Workbook in my store for a guided series of 10 assignments to structure your training and meet your goals. I recently learned people sell stuff like this for $60+. Well, it’s $20 for now because accessibility is cool. Link in Bio.
