Carmen Curtis, founder of AIReal Yoga®
As a UCLA gymnast and professional aerial performer, Carmen learned to move high above the ground. After the birth of her first child, she lowered her hammock toward the mat. With her feet grounded and some of her weight in the fabric, she could explore a familiar yoga pose in a different way.
Read Carmen’s interview with Wanderlust
What Carmen looks for when she teaches
Two students can make the same shape in Warrior III and feel entirely different things. Carmen watches the standing knee, the level of the hips, and how much weight goes into the hands. Sometimes keeping the back toes on the floor gives a student enough support to feel the standing leg work.
Carmen created the first 200-hour aerial yoga teacher training recognized by Yoga Alliance. It brings floor-based Hatha yoga and hammock practice into one program. She teaches students and teachers in Ventura and internationally.
“I am more than well equipped with the knowledge to move forward and share with my community.”
Amy L., AIReal Yoga teacher training, Massachusetts
Therapeutic Hammock Work
When I work with someone one on one, I start by asking where they feel supported. I might place their legs in a low hammock, add a bolster under the hips, and ask what changed. Their answer helps me decide whether to adjust the height, change the support, or stay right there.
Explore this individual work in a private lesson with Carmen in Ventura or online. For students and teachers who want to learn restorative class sequences with a low hammock and props, Carmen offers the AIReal Restore group immersion.
A yoga school for the mat and hammock
AIReal Yoga® became a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School (RYS 200) in August 2013, bringing Hatha yoga on the mat and yoga with the hammock into one foundational training. View the Yoga Alliance school record for AIReal Yoga Training Center at The Aerial Studio. The directory lists RYS 200 and August 2013 as the first registration date.
Today, AIReal 200 combines 150 hours of Hatha yoga with the full 50-hour AIReal Yoga® hammock specialty. Graduates who complete all requirements become eligible to apply separately for RYT 200 registration. The AIReal 50 specialty can also be studied on its own; it does not confer RYT 200 eligibility by itself.
Read the historical LA Yoga profile, April 2014, page 12. For the distinction between a school’s registration and a graduate’s application, see Yoga Alliance’s teacher-registration requirements.