I had my last Anti-Gravity Yoga session last Wednesday.

It does get easier. Less apprehension doing inversions, less disorientation…

I actually really like it. I wouldn’t make it my main workout, but it would be a good supplement to do – maybe once a week, one every two weeks, once a month? It is rather pricey.

Apart from the price, the only thing off-putting about it is that it has this one pose called… Wait for it… “Chillax”.

ACK!

Groan.

I loathe that word.

And now that I think about it, I’m not too crazy about the word “chill” either. Think about it. In what context would it be acceptable to use either word? Even just saying, “I’m chilling in my room,” sounds like I’m trying too hard to be cool. And if anyone told me to “chill” or, worse, “chillax”, I’d probably want to bury an axe in their head. (Chillax on that, asshole!)

And this is why I am not a yogini.

Ommmmm…

So, yeah, getting into “Chillax” is nauseating for me.

“Chillax” is similar to this, but with the arms down, like you’re just hanging out on the hammock… (Internet file photo.)

Yesterday, since I was in Makati, I thought I’d try FTX Gym’s Fly Yoga. At P650/session, it is a lot cheaper than Beyond Yoga’s Anti-Gravity Yoga. But, while the concepts are similar, there are notable differences in execution. For instance, Anti-Gravity Yoga will start off with the hammock at the hip bone, while Fly Yoga will have the hammock a lot higher than that. (The instructor had hers around the bra line.) And I’m not sure if it was because the class was composed of mostly beginners, but I found Fly Yoga to be a lot easier than Anti-Gravity Yoga. We did a lot of static stretches, with the hammock coming into play to deepen the poses, much like Iyengar uses straps and blocks to aid in alignment.

We did a lot of stretches like this in Fly Yoga, although this is a photo from Anti-Gravity Yoga. (Internet file photo.)

I’m pretty sure they’re the same banana, with one tweaked to avoid copyright infringement and all that.

Having said that, I preferred Anti-Gravity Yoga, probably because they got us doing tricky inversions from the get-go. Maybe FTX’s Fly Yoga’s instructor (- gorgeous woman that she is) treated us with kid gloves because some of the other newbies were already freaking out doing simple inversions. (You’d think this is where an annoying “Chillax” might come in handy. – Er, still no.)

I still found it interesting and it did challenge my upper body strength when we had to pull ourselves from the floor to a standing position up the hammock but, based on that one session, I’d say Fly Yoga was a little too “lite” for my tastes. I didn’t even break a sweat. It’s something I would like to do after working out with weights, to stretch and cool down.

Fly Yoga Checklist:

• Fitted top that won’t roll up when you’re hanging upside down
• A T-shirt over it to avoid chafing your armpits
• Tight shorts or leggings
• Water bottle