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If you search #aerialhammocking on Instagram, you’ll receive thousands of results. Born in New York, aerial hammocking is now practiced all over the world and is taking the web by storm. And now it has made come to Iowa.

Aerial hammocking can have many different definitions. I thought it would be something like a combination of spinning and tricks performed high up in the air. However, after attending a class, I found it’s not as complicated as it looks.

Aerial utilizes hanging silk hammocks to work, tone and stretch the whole body. There are certain stretches that are uncomfortable to do on the ground because the floor pushes against the participant’s body.

Monica Reed-Tremmel at Club B-FIT Fitness Studio said that in aerial hammocking, the fabric supports you in a way that releases that tension.

When first entering the Club, it’s hard not to notice the vibrant purple, red and blue fabrics hanging throughout the room. Full of strong, encouraging women, Club B-FIT is a safe place to step out of your comfort zone.

Kids might be more content with hanging upside down, but for adults it can be uncomfortable. Club B-FIT’s classes take you through simple hanging exercises and help you adjust to trusting the fabric you’re working with.

Before I attended an aerial hammocking class, I thought the room would be full of lean women who could do flips and tricks right off the bat. Thankfully, I found myself mistaken. Women of all sizes and shapes took their places next to their hammocks; all seemed mesmerized by the colorful fabric at their sides.

The class started with some minor stretching that consisted of placing a foot in the hammock and swinging it side to side. The women grew comfortable with the fabric; it was time to start trusting it. Reed-Tremmel dangled upside down effortlessly, as the fabric rested on her upper thighs.

At first, not a single person did the exercise perfectly. Everyone was wobbly and shaky, but they eventually figured it out. Throughout the entire class, I watched every single woman grow out of the beginner stage. It was encouraging to see women who couldn’t hang upside down an hour before performing tricks at the end of the class.

Afterwards, Reed-Tremmel explained to me the difference between floor yoga and aerial yoga.

“As far as working your muscles out, the biggest difference is that with ground yoga, you’re always pushing; there’s no pulling.”

Reed-Tremmel said she used to lift weights nearly every day, but was never able to do a pullup until she started doing aerial work.

“When you use the fabric, you have to pull against it,” she said. “It helps you develop all the pulling muscles in the upper body.”

I couldn’t leave Club B-FIT without trying the hammocks out for myself. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that aerial hammocking helps you learn about your body and how to place trust in something outside of yourself. Patience is important; you won’t get it right on the first try.

Aerial hammocking classes are beneficial to both your physical and mental health. They help with flexibility, work diverse muscle groups and can even help improve circulation. Aerial work can help develop trusting attitudes and increased body confidence.

Reed-Tremmel, along with the rest of the staff at Club B-FIT, want women to walk out after a session feeling confident in their own skin and ready to face the rest of their day. Of course, at the end of all Club B-FIT’s classes, women are encouraged to snap the perfect Instagram photo before they leave.

Reed-Tremmel said she encourages those who haven’t done aerial hammocking to give it a try.

“Come join us at Club B-FIT. We have a very solid program, we’re very safety aware, and we are very supportive of our students. We recognize that they’re going to come out of their comfort zones, and we’re here for them.”