AIReal 200

A 200 hour yoga and AIReal yoga teacher training registered with the Yoga Alliance

Two curricula in one

Building on a foundation of traditional Hatha Yoga, students learn how to teach traditional floor based yoga in their first 150 hours. In the second 50 hours — our AIReal 50 module — we begin to incorporate the hammock as a prop for our floor based exercises, and move into postures in the hammock.

A whole training method for your whole being

Students come to us from many different walks of life — whether they be longtime yogis, beginning students, or simply seekers and searchers looking for their next knowledge boost, the AIReal 200 becomes a doorway to so much more than a yoga practice. A full immersion in the practice, method, and technique of both floor based and aerial yoga, this training is also a journey in self-exploration, inviting you to explore movement and thought, synthesizing the two in the hammock and on the mat.

Where other 200 hour trainings are bound to the confines of just floor based yoga, this practice goes beyond two dimensions by incorporating the use of the hammock as both a prop to deepen the practice, and a vehicle to translate the postures beyond the confines of gravity.

The first aerial yoga method certified by the Yoga Alliance, this training was developed through over 25 years of experience in the professional gymnastics, aerial performance, and yoga worlds. Join AIReal founder Carmen Curtis as she passes on her expertise and gives you an insight into how to build, structure, and expand your own yoga practice, on the floor and in the air.

calming photo in an orange grove of aireal yoga posture with founder

What makes AIReal 200 different?

When you spend your time in the hammock, you see the world a little differently.

We try to carry that principle into our training as well. The AIReal 200 is everything you need to become a practicing yoga instructor plus the added benefit of 50 hours of specialization in teaching and practicing aerial yoga. For those looking to make a business out of this, that means you walk out the door of your training with a unique specialization that will set you apart in both a studio setting and private instruction. Or if you’re simply a student looking to push yourself, you gain two separate practices that you can weave into your daily life with relative ease and to maximum effect.

Add into the equation that you are learning from the premiere aerial yoga instructor in the world today, and you can see that this is so much more than a certification and a rote set of sequences. This is an intensive, in-depth study with a top performer who can pass on the methods and principles behind both this practice and her success in formulating it.

Hatha Yoga

Physical Benefits

  • Builds Flexibility and Mobility
  • Builds Strength and Core Stability
  • Develops Balance and Proprioception
  • Helps to Maintain Healthy Joints
  • Stimulates The Immune System
  • May Reduce Inflammation and Inflammatory Disease
  • Improves Sleep Quality
  • Helps Develop Discipline and Self Control
  • Decreases Anxiety and Stress
  • Helps Prepare The Body For Meditation

AIReal 50

Physical Benefits

  • Relieves compression in the spine
  • Challenges your central nervous system,
    mental capacity + proprioception
  • Increases pull strength + core stability
  • Help heal + strengthen back injuries
  • Improve blood circulation + lung capacity
    — slowing the effects of aging
  • Improved stability, balance + functional mobility
  • With the hammock’s support yoga can be made more accessible to those with less flexibility
  • Used differently, the hammock can increase the challenge and deepen you yoga postures

Mental Benefits

  • Decrease depression
  • Increase and regulate serotonin production
  • Raise levels of neurotransmitters
  • Emit a lasting sense of calm
  • Promote mindfulness
  • Increase awareness
  • Lower cortisol

Mental Benefits

  • AIReal Yoga creates new neural connections
  • Stimulates the pineal gland -—
    increasing your calm + improving your sleep
  • Increases production of feel good chemicals
    like endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin + dopamine
  • Builds + reinforces self-confidence
  • Greater focus + concentration
  • Improves recall memory + retention
  • More mindfulness, gratitude + joy
  • The hammock can be used for restorative and meditation therapy
  • The hammock offers the security of practicing safe inversions

Train With Us

AIReal 200 | Two trainings in one

Learn about your teacher

Following a National Championship gymnastics career at UCLA, Carmen was ready for new challenges. After a transition from the rigors of gymnastics to the equally rigorous world of aerial performance, she thrived in her new arena and her passion for gravity-defying practice grew.

Soon she was working with international performers and recording artists like Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga. Shortly after she was named lead performer and choreographer for Le Reve at the Wynn in Las Vegas, one of the most successful cirque troupe performances of the last ten years.

As her family grew, she wanted to combine her professional experience with the holistic wellness of her yoga practice, and AIReal was born. Today, Carmen and her team dedicate themselves to spreading this practice and its health benefits worldwide.

Since its start, AIReal yoga has been synonymous with best practices in the aerial yoga space. When we first came to the world of aerial yoga, there was little that met our exacting standards and nothing that came close to what we knew the experience could be. So we developed our own method that would hold up to our lofty expectations and allow us to access the freedom and weightlessness we knew was possible.

Our practice blends the mental and physical, leaving you feeling elevated inside and out. When you spend your time hanging upside down, you’ll start to realize that most things are a matter of perspective. Where other methods can be just a flex for your body, this practice yields countless benefits for both body and mind.

A career path, a vocation, a calling.

Wondering if this training is right for you? Don’t take our word for it, here’s what some of our former students are saying:

“If I could share one life changing recommendation for anyone it would be to go to watch Carmen Curtis hanging from the Banyan tree. This is the video that changed my life. To see the founder compassionately sharing with the world what AIReal Yoga is to her was the moment that awakened something in me more than the desire to practice yoga in such a unique way, it awakened a yearning for love, freedom, support and flight… because who doesn’t want to fly?!

From the beginning stages of my 50 HR AIReal Yoga Teacher Training, they were attentive, polite, and made sure I felt comfortable financially and mentally. During the training Carmen was thorough, organized, smart, funny, personable and taught with the highest level of compassion for all humanity.

The AIReal Yoga Tribe has created a positive network of support, where you feel like someone is there for you, to guide you, support you, love you, teach you and to help you fly to your highest potential, just like the hammock!

The tribe has made the experience amazing, but the real change comes from your self-practice with the hammock and the healthy relationship it builds between the asana or yoga poses and the practitioner.

The practice will support your body to help assist, stretch, guide, or challenge you in ways you have never imagined, helping you reach new heights tailored to your fitness ability. It’s hard to explain how a yoga prop could be life changing, so I will share with you how AIReal Yoga has changed my life.

In the past year the AIReal Yoga practice has helped me lose 35 plus pounds, improve mobility, rehab injuries, strengthen my mental and physical well being. The sense of community, unconditional love, support, freedom has also opened my heart and my mind to a place where I didn’t think existed.

AIReal Yoga has changed my life and transformed the person I am today and for that I will always believe in this practice and continue to share, “love in the air!”

Are you ready to take flight and change your life?”

Shayna

AIReal 200 Teacher Training Member

“Like a lot of my college classmates I bounced around from one job to another after school, searching for a fit. No matter where I landed though, I had a major case of imposter syndrome. The stuffy business clothes weren’t me and neither were the corporate speak emails. I wanted freedom, I wanted agency, I wanted something that spoke to the unique passions of my soul.

And I found it in the AIReal 200. The class was so much more than simple postures, it immersed me in the history, founding and thought process behind yoga. Plus, it pushed me personally to reevaluate a lot of things beyond the mat. It was intense but SO rewarding.

Fast forward a year and a half and I have my own stable of clients that I work with personally and for the first time in my life I wake up with purpose and a calling. I’ve been able to specialize beyond just “aerial yoga”, using the hammock as a healing tool for a lot of my older and more physically challenged clients, incorporating a lot of the therapeutic touch elements I learned in the training. It’s been an incredible gift for me but more importantly for them.

Don’t wait, just do it.”

Angie

AIReal 200 Teacher Training Member

A Journey into the self.

This practice is so much more than simple movement. It’s about preparing yourself personally to teach others, and that is a sacred charge. In this course we work inside-out helping you to work from within yourself to refine not only your physical practice but your mental landscape as well.

The business of yoga

When we asked AIReal instructors “why” they had three common themes that kept coming up: financial freedom, living their passion, and the supportive community. If you’re someone looking to take the next step towards leading others, this training is everything you’ll need to get started. As teachers ourselves, we’ve designed this curriculum to optimize your success and give you the tools you need to create a lasting connection with your students.

This is one of the only programs with an entire module focused on the business of yoga, providing you valuable resources and insights compiled over 25 years in the industry. Learn how to build and grow your own business, seek out advantageous benefits, how to market yourself effectively, and more tools for owning your professional yoga journey.

Yoga that meets you where you’re at.

Even though some of our participants may come with goals of financial independence, for others this is more about personal enrichment. And we celebrate that.

The beauty of this practice is that it meets where you’re at, mining your intentions and aligning your experience so you can find the things you seek. It’s not always about getting somewhere, but being in the experience, finding full immersion, and the support and safety that an intentional community provides.

(Families, kids, teens, adults. A lifelong journey and addition to your functionality. Seniors and teens= communal)

(Spotting device – AIReal component- social distanced practice that allows you to go deep on your own and compensate for not having a spotter. Self- driven practice, self-work)

Train With Us

AIReal 200 | Two trainings in one

Your Hatha module curriculum includes:

  • The AIReal Hatha Module
  • AIReal 50 Module
  • 2 downloadable detailed manuals featuring in-depth descriptions, visual walkthroughs, and explanation of poses
  • Ready to use lesson plans and sequences in a range of styles
  • Progressions and modifications for working with all levels of experience and expertise
  • Teacher insights gained from over 25 years of hands on work with students
  • Training in proper safety methods and hammock rigging
  • Access to our Teachers Only private Facebook group— a supportive international community of like-minded instructors, practitioners, and studio owners
  • Special access and pricing for live events and further continued education opportunities
  • Certification from the Yoga Alliance — including contact and non-contact hours
  • One year free access to our AIReal Online Digital Class Membership

Asana techniques, training and teaching methods:

Learn in detail how to teach yoga poses compassionately and systematically. We will go into great detail when discussing postures as you will learn functional anatomy, alignment principles, energetic actions, risks, benefits, preparatory poses, warm ups, reset poses, counter poses, variations, modifications, progressions, hands on adjustments, integrations of props, sun salutations, standing poses, balancing poses, backbends, twists, arm balances, Inversions, core refinement, and hip openers.

Asana techniques, training and teaching methods:

Historical context
Hatha Yoga Postures
Complete sequencing (asana, pranayama, meditation)
Anatomical and alignment principles plus contraindications

Pranayama and Subtle Body:

Effects of pranayama on anatomy and subtle body
Complete sequencing of pranayama, including alternatives and adaptations
Koshas, 8 Limbs, chakras, mudras, mantras, and chanting

Yoga Anatomy and Physiology:

Functional anatomy and biomechanics to help you teach students in a meaningful, safe and effective way. Learn about the skeletal structure, bones, joints, muscles, connective tissues, movement terms, spine, hips and shoulders. Anatomical and alignment principles to set up safe yoga postures.

Anatomy:

Skeletal system
Major bones
Types of joints
Major muscles involved in asana
Types of muscle contraction

Physiology:

Nervous system, incl. ‘fight, flight, freeze’ stress response, overall mind-body connection
Cardiovascular/circulatory, endocrine, digestive systems as they relate to yoga practice
Respiratory system, incl. muscles that affect breathing, involuntary vs voluntary breath, how air enters and leaves body

Biomechanics:

Types of joint movements
Joint stabilization
Safe movement as it pertains to balancing, stretching, awareness, and physical limitations
Contraindications, misalignments, adaptations

Yoga Humanities:

Types of joint movements
Joint stabilization
Safe movement as it pertains to balancing, stretching, awareness, and physical limitations
Contraindications, misalignments, adaptations

Yoga History:

Term ‘yoga’, lineage, styles, and methodology
Dates and key ideas such as the Vedas, Vedanta, Hatha, Colonial, Modern

Philosophy:

Definition of yoga and key terms
Relationship between asana, pranayama, meditation
Familiarity w/ major yogic texts (i.e., Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads)
Self-reflection on how philosophy relates to practice

Ethics:

Awareness of Yoga Sutras, yogic ethical precepts
Relationship to Yoga Alliance Ethical Commitment including Scope of Practice, Code of Conduct, and Equity Position Statement
Comprehension of and responsibility to increase equity in yoga
Accountability measures
Self-reflection on how yoga ethics relate to practice and teaching

Learn about yoga history and philosophy to inspire and offer insights for teaching yoga. We dive into the ethics of teaching, including emotional and physical safe space for practicing and self transformation.

Professional Essentials:

Teaching methodology:

Sequencing
Pace
Environment
Cueing (verbal, visual, physical)
Class management

Professional Development:

Yoga-related professional organizations, including the Yoga Alliance credentialing process
Ethical Commitment, including Scope of Practice, Code of Conduct and Equity Position Statement
Lifetime of learning and continuing education
General professionalism, including timeliness, consistency, cleanliness
Marketing and promotion
Liability insurance, waivers, invoicing

Practicum:

Knowledge
Skills
Practice
Observation

Your AIReal 50 module curriculum includes:

  • 148 Training videos, featuring nearly 25 hours of content and 25 hours of practice
  • Full range aerial yoga training, from postures to how to cue and lead a class in the hammock
  • Progressions and modifications for working with all levels of experience and expertise
  • Teacher insights gained from over 25 years of hands on work with students
  • Training in proper safety methods and hammock rigging from Master Rigger, Gregg Curtis

Train With Us

AIReal 200 | Two trainings in one

Learn from other thought leaders

As you work through the training you will get to interact with different thought leaders and teachers around their unique specialties. Your additional instructors are:

Carmen Curtis – E-RYT 500, YACEP, AIReal Yoga™ Founder and Creator
Gregg Curtis – Rigging and Safety expert from Cirque Du Soleil
Lea Kraemer E-RYT 500 – Yoga History and Philosophy
Geoff Helms L.Ac, Dipl.OM, C.P.T, RTY 200 – Anatomy and Physiology
Paula Fortunato E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, CMT – Restorative Yoga and Yoga Therapy

A letter from Carmen Curtis, Founder, AIReal Yoga

Hi,

When I started AIReal Yoga, I expected it to be something that filled a need for me and some close friends, I could never imagine that 15 years later I would have traveled all around the world, working with some of the top performing artists and yogis of our day, with incredible friends and community spanning the globe. From South Korea, to New York, to Belgium and Austria, this practice has given my family the chance to travel the globe and all while doing so from the comfort of our hammocks.

Sure this won’t be the same for everybody and all our paths are different. Whether you come to AIReal to de-stress, to increase your fitness, to connect or to simply have fun, I can tell you honestly that there is no better practice that gives you such a sense of freedom.

I have spent decades of my life creating and perfecting this practice and these teachings in the hopes of supporting others on their own journeys of self-discovery. I look forward to sharing this next step in your life’s journey with you.

xoxo
Carmen

Founder, AIReal Yoga

What happens when I finish my AIReal 200 training?

When you complete your AIReal 200 training with us you will receive your Yoga Alliance accreditation as a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher and accreditation as specialist in AIReal Yoga. Our past AIReal 200 students now teach in far reaching places from Belgium to El Salvador, from Portugal to Costa Rica, Italy to Australia, Canada to Saudi Arabia, and Mexico to Japan.

This journey is lifelong. When we share the lessons of our experiences, we’re all better for it. Whether you want to continue your own personal journey of self-growth or whether you want to specialize further, our AIReal yoga community is with you every step of the way.

 

“Come and enjoy greater health, better alignment,
a safer practice and most of all personal exploration
and growth through this expansive training”
– Carmen Curtis

Train With Us

AIReal 200 | Two trainings in one
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