＂Aerial Yoga＂ is becoming the new favorite of gymnasiums, and there are many hidden safety hazards.
Located in a yoga studio in the North Second District of Tiantongyuan, the hammock of aerial yoga is installed in the most conspicuous position. Photo/Reporter Zhao Tingting
Sitting gracefully on a rope like a little dragon girl, doing difficult tossing and turning in the air … … Recently, taking photos of yoga in the air has become a new favorite in the circle of friends.
Many yoga studios and gyms have set up aerial yoga programs to attract tourists. However, a multi-party investigation by Beijing Youth Daily reporter found that,
Aerial yoga challenges not only courage, but also strength and skill, which is not suitable for everyone to practice. Behind the beautiful aerial yoga, there are many hidden security risks.
phenomenon
Aerial yoga becomes a sales gimmick
Yoga has always been a gimmick used by many gyms to attract female members. Recently, this stunt has an upgraded version — — Aerial yoga is becoming the new favorite of gymnasiums, frequently appearing in brochures to attract members. When the reporter of Beiqing Daily consulted a number of gymnasiums about fitness programs, many gymnasiums recommended aerial yoga programs.
"The most popular thing now is aerial yoga, which is better than ordinary yoga and especially suitable for weight loss and exercise." When the salesperson of a gym in Wangjing promoted the membership card to the reporter of Beiqing Daily, he always introduced aerial yoga as a key project. The salesperson said that aerial yoga, also known as anti-gravity yoga, is a form of hatha yoga using hammocks, which has multiple effects such as efficient relaxation, healing and slimming.
For professional yoga studios, aerial yoga is the "master of Hua Dan", and it is the first choice for those who come to experience it. In a yoga studio in the North Second District of Tiantongyuan, the hammock of aerial yoga is installed in the most conspicuous position, and the residents passing by can see the hammock hanging from the large French window. The person in charge of the yoga studio has always stressed to customers that aerial yoga has many advantages that traditional yoga does not have: "You can become more flexible when practicing in the air, and you can do many movements and postures that are not easy to do in the air. Most importantly, doing aerial yoga can resist gravity, relieve stress and delay aging. "
According to a survey by the reporter of Beiqing Daily, in terms of cost, aerial yoga is also synonymous with high fees. Not only is the price of aerial yoga more than twice that of ground yoga, but the fees of gymnasiums and yoga halls with aerial yoga programs have increased significantly, and they have shown a trend of upward adjustment year after year. For example, a professional yoga studio near the North Fourth Ring Road has attracted many nearby residents to apply for cards because of aerial yoga, and its annual card fee has increased from 7,000 yuan in the previous year to nearly 10,000 yuan today. Comparatively speaking, the cost of annual cards for gymnasiums and yoga studios without aerial projects is much lower.
survey
The coach qualification is chaotic, and it only takes one month for a member to become a coach.
The reporter of Beiqing Daily consulted a number of yoga instructor training institutions. For zero-based students, as long as they pay tuition fees, they can get the yoga instructor certificate issued by the training institutions in the shortest month and the longest three months. For aerial yoga instructors, it is basically aimed at those who have a foundation, but the training period is only four or five days.
A senior yoga teacher admitted to the reporter of Beiqing Daily that there are many training institutions for yoga instructors at present, but what is recognized when looking for a job is basically the teaching and training certificates issued by two relatively famous training institutions. "But in the process of job hunting, quite a few yoga studios actually don’t look at where they graduated, but only at the effect of the actual trial class. Therefore, there are indeed ‘ Crash coach ’ 。”
"There is no unified assessment standard in China. Many yoga instructors are upgraded to aerial yoga instructors after training with experienced teachers for a while." A yoga instructor revealed. A training institution that claims that "you can become an aerial yoga instructor after four or five days of training and provide 30 days of paid internship" said that this is an upgrading class and must have a certain foundation. When the reporter of Beiqing Daily asked him if he had practiced yoga for one year, he got a positive answer.
Many yoga practitioners also clearly feel the difference in the teaching level of coaches. A practitioner spoke out. There was once a student who only practiced a few classes and went out for training for a month before becoming a coach.
According to a survey conducted by the reporter of Beiqing Daily, the yoga teaching and training certificates held by most yoga instructors are issued by the training institutions themselves. There are even many institutions that spend money to join or order various foreign qualification certificates, including the certificate of "National Yoga Alliance" and the certificate of international registered coaches directly certified by the Hong Kong Sports Association, so as to enhance the reputation of training institutions and expand the attraction of enrollment.
Lack of security, lack of protection when doing difficult poses.
Ms. Yao is a yoga enthusiast and has recently started to contact aerial yoga. After several exercises, she obviously felt that aerial yoga was dangerous. "My upper limb strength is weak. I need to use upper limb strength to do a lot of movements in the hammock, and I feel very hard. Once my arm was boring and I almost fell from it. Fortunately, I grabbed the hammock at once. " Ms. Yao said that every time she does a handstand, she will be afraid.
The reporter of Beiqing Daily also found the same problem as Ms. Yao when she experienced in the yoga studio. For students who have no foundation, the coach also encouraged them to do difficult poses such as handstand. After the trainees managed to do handstand with the help of the coach, the coach could not always accompany them. If you are not careful, you may fall directly from the hammock. From time to time, some of the other students who are practicing will fall from the hammock while doing asana.
The hammock materials in different yoga studios are different, and the load-bearing capacity is also worrying. The reporter of Beiqing Daily found on the Internet that the materials of aerial yoga hammocks are varied, and the prices vary widely. Some can be bought in 5 yuan, and some are more than 3,500 yuan. During the experience, the reporter of Beiqing Daily also found that hammocks in some yoga studios had holes due to high usage rate. "When I was still practicing in the air, I looked up and saw a nail fixed on the hammock fall off outside, which scared me to change a hammock quickly." Some yoga members said.
A coach also admitted that aerial yoga does have certain dangers, but it is impossible to take care of every student in class, and only focus on those who come to class for the first time.
The sanitary condition is worrying. The yoga mat hammock is not thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
Yoga mats and hammocks are indispensable AIDS for aerial yoga. In the investigation, the reporter of Beiqing Daily found that for these two assistive devices, aerial yoga training will sometimes be directly attached to the face and sometimes stepped on with the feet, and the appliances used each time are not fixed, and their sanitary conditions are worrying.
Zhou Fei, who has been practicing yoga for one year, recently bought a yoga towel and laid it on the yoga mat provided by the museum during training. "This will be more hygienic." She said that human-shaped marks can often be seen on the mats in the museum. "It is definitely not cleaned. There is a lot of sweating in summer, and many people take turns using a mat. What bacteria, fungi, dust mites and the like are really afraid of being infected with tinea corporis and athlete’s foot. "
The reporter of Beiqing Daily found that many yoga studios can only wipe the mats with a sponge mop for several times, and sometimes they are rolled up before they are dry, which is more likely to breed bacteria. Some even don’t change new mats during two classes.
For the cleaning of hammocks, it is troublesome to clean and dry because it is necessary to climb high to unlock the lock and the pavement is wide, so many yoga studios only clean it once a month or even several months. It’s okay in winter, but in summer, it’s knotted immediately after being soaked in sweat, and when it’s opened again, the taste can be imagined. "I have to step on the hammock and do all kinds of actions on it. If I don’t clean it in time, I really have a knot when I do the actions." Zhou Fei is more obsessed with the hygiene of yoga mats and hammocks all summer.
An insider who has done cleaning in many gyms told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that many gyms will require cleaning to clean the mats after each yoga or other exercises. But sometimes the interval between two classes is short, and there are many cushions, so it is impossible to clean them at all. In addition, few people will check whether the mat is clean or not, so the cleaning staff will often be lazy, and they will not do a comprehensive cleaning unless they are too dirty to look down.
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Aerial yoga is difficult, not for everyone.
Wang Yanhua, who graduated from Beijing Sport University and is currently engaged in yoga and aerobics teaching in a university, told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that most people who are engaged in yoga coaching are students who graduated from the Institute of Physical Education or Dance Academy. Because their majors are close, textual research is relatively easy. However, if ordinary people have a certain yoga foundation, textual research is not difficult.
"Aerial yoga is not a sport suitable for everyone." Wang Yanhua said that if students have health problems such as blood pressure and blood sugar, aerial yoga is not recommended. In addition, people with high intraocular pressure are not suitable for practicing aerial yoga. "Forward bending or handstand will increase intraocular pressure. There are many movements in aerial yoga, and people with high intraocular pressure are prone to danger." Even if you are in good health, it is not recommended to practice aerial yoga directly if your upper limbs are weak. "Aerial yoga has high requirements for upper limb strength. Women with weak strength suggest that ground yoga should be practiced first, and after a certain foundation, it can be used as a challenge and then try aerial yoga. "
This edition/reporter Xie Li Zhao Tingting