This is part of our Yoga Style Guide series, exploring diverse practices and the teachers who bring them to life. Whether you're deepening your current practice or discovering something new, these guides are here to inform and inspire. This edition features teacher Jackie Pommier.
Aerial yoga is a creative and empowering take on traditional yoga, using a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling to support and elevate the practice. While it shares the foundations of breath, flow, and mindfulness with mat-based yoga, aerial introduces new dimensions of movement, play, and strength.
We asked Jackie Pommier, RYT-500 and instructor at Libre Aerial Fitness in Miami, to explain the appeal:
"For those who know and love mat-based yoga practices, think of aerial yoga as another level of Vinyasa," Jackie says. "Sharing many of the same foundational principles of breath, movement, and mindfulness practiced on the mat, aerial’s suspension-based movements—performed with the aid of an aerial ‘silk’ or ‘hammock’—provide both an extra level of challenge and support."
Aerial yoga allows gravity to work in your favor. Poses can be modified for beginners or intensified for advanced practitioners. Many classes begin on the mat and build up to supported inversions in the hammock, offering unique, zero-compression options for shoulder stand, wheel, or handstand. This not only eases pressure on the spine and joints but also supports deeper flexibility and core engagement.
At studios like Libre, aerial yoga is more than a physical workout. It becomes a practice in confidence, surrender, and community. Curious to try? Look for beginner classes that focus on foundational movements and breathwork. No previous experience required—just a willingness to explore.
Jackie is an RYT 500-hour certified yoga instructor with expertise in gentle therapeutics, restorative yoga, yin, vinyasa, and power yoga. She is also a certified Aerial instructor, Pilates instructor, and Sculpt instructor, offering students of all levels a well-rounded, movement-based approach to wellness. Find her on Instagram @jpyoga.miami.
