About The Founder Carmen Curtis
Hailed as a master teacher who guides with great empathy, and compassion. When you learn with us you learn directly from teacher’s teacher Carmen Curtis as she passes on the lessons learned from over 25 years in professional gymnastics, cirque, and aerial performance.
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 dance captain 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 aerial experience with the holistic wellness of her yoga practice, and in 2009 AIReal was born. Carmen was one of the original creators of aerial yoga, using the hammock as prop and the first to create a aerial yoga teacher training program recognized by the Yoga Alliance. Today, Carmen and her team dedicate themselves to spreading this practice and its health benefits worldwide.
From the Founder
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 20 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. It is my honor to share this journey with you.
Carmen
Founder, AIReal Yoga
A testament to the masterful-blending of athlete, art and yoga, Carmen, who is deeply influenced by the teachings of Shiva Rae, Gurmukh and Bryan Kest, has garnered a reputation as the go-to guide for self-love and healing through yoga and the aerial arts.
Follow her journey @carmencurtis1
a safer practice and most of all personal exploration
and growth through this expansive training”
– Carmen Curtis