A Baltimore gym is using aerial yoga to promote community wellness and fitness in the new year.
Aerial yoga is a practice that blends strength, stretching and mindfulness while suspended in fabric silks. For many who practice it, the experience is not just physical; it is deeply personal.
WJZ's Nicky Zizaza explored an aerial yoga class at Equilibrium Baltimore as part of Health Watch: Fitness Remix 2026.
Aerial yoga takes traditional yoga poses and adapts them using soft fabric hammocks that support the body. The silks allow participants to stretch deeper, build strength and explore balance with less pressure on the joints.
At Equilibrium Baltimore, movement meets community as students step into the air and learn to trust their bodies in a new way.
Instructor Faith begins each class with intention, encouraging students to slow down and check in with themselves.
"So today to start our class, I would like you to ask yourself, what do I need?" she tells the group as the fabric rustles and the room fills with steady breaths.
The practice challenges the body while calming the mind. Participants flow through movements that require focus, control and trust, sometimes lifting completely off the ground.
"Take your normal yoga practice and put it in fabric and put it in the air," said De'Jonnae Boyd Moreno, owner of Equilibrium Baltimore.
Boyd Moreno says aerial yoga combines stretching, conditioning and meditation, along with playful moments that surprise first timers.
"It's basically stretch, it's movement, it's helping you put together fluid movement, restoring your body," she said. "We also do a bit of meditation, conditioning and we flip."
Despite common assumptions, aerial yoga is not limited by age or body type.
"When people tell me, 'Oh, I'm a little too old for that,' I'm like, you are definitely not," Boyd Moreno said. "Age really doesn't matter here. We have folks as young as six years old in class sometimes, and my grandmother has come."
She also pushes back on the idea that aerial yoga is only for women.
"It's really for anyone," she said. "A lot of people think aerial yoga is for women, and it's literally not. It's for anyone who wants to stretch or try a nontraditional movement option."
For Boyd Moreno, this space grew out of something much deeper than fitness.
She says aerial yoga helped her heal after being carjacked at gunpoint in Baltimore while a baby was in her car. The experience left her afraid to leave her home for weeks.
"It was me reclaiming my mental health," she said. "It was me healing from the trauma but also building community."
What began as a personal path to recovery eventually became Equilibrium Baltimore, a space centered on inclusion, movement and belonging.
"Ten years ago, I had no clue that I would ever take any type of aerial arts class, let alone own a space that would foster community," she said.
Boyd Moreno emphasizes that everybody is welcome no matter size, age or experience level.
"No matter what size you are, if it's the biggest size you've ever been or the smallest size you've ever been, you're welcome into this space," she said. "Your body can do incredible things."
Sometimes, aerial yoga reveals that strength in unexpected ways.
"When you're up there flipping over, you're like, 'Whoa, I didn't realize I could do that,'" Boyd Moreno said.
Aerial yoga combines strength, flexibility and mindfulness, and classes can be modified for all levels. As with any new workout, experts recommend checking with a doctor before trying it.