VOA标准英语2012--AntiGravity Yoga Gains Popularity

 

AntiGravity Yoga Gains Popularity

At first glance, students hanging upside down on hammocks made of silk cloth hanging from the ceiling seems more like acrobatics¹ than yoga.

“When I first saw people hanging upside down from hammocks and calling it yoga I thought they were crazy," said Marie Bice. "But it ended up being a lot of fun and just swinging it felt very playful.”

That’s student Marie Bice. She says AntiGravity Yoga is not all play. It’s also hard work, with benefits.

“I don’t have a lot of flexibility² in my back and doing this work has really helped my back with that," she said.

Instructor³ Heather Blair says hanging upside down helps the body in a way that regular yoga does not offer.

“You actually have spinal⁴ decompression so when you’re upside down your vertebrae actually open up so the space in between the vertebrae opens naturally and gently," said Blair.

Student Chris Meierhans has done traditional forms of yoga. But this is his first AntiGravity class.

“I would like to increase flexibility," said Meierhans. "Of course, I’m a guy, a runner, so my hamstrings are very tight.”

Blair says when Belief Fitness Studio first started offering AntiGravity classes over a year ago, people became interested very quickly.

“You literally⁵ can be of any fitness level," she said. "You can have injuries. It doesn’t matter how old you are - anyone can take the class. So it’s been a huge draw for us.”

Dancer, choreographer⁶, gymnast and creator of AntiGravity Yoga, Christopher Harrison:

"I created it so even my mother can do it," said Harrison.

Harrison first created this form of yoga for athletes, then modified it and started teaching it to the public in the United States in 2009. Since then, it has gained international attention. Several countries, including China, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil, now offer AntiGravity Yoga classes. 

“AntiGravity Yoga is a combination of pilates, a little bit of yoga, aerial arts and suspension training so it’s not just yoga," she said.

The fusion⁷ of stretch and strengthening exercises allows students to achieve movements that traditional yoga does not have - from flying while suspended on the hammock, to using the hammock to hang like a bat. It is also more of a cardio-vascular workout than first time student Chris Meierhans expected.

“I had no idea that it was that much work," he said.

But creator Christopher Harrison says the yoga philosophy is still at the core of this workout.

“You can expect still to be studying yoga because it is a practice of awareness⁸, of body, mind and spirit," he said.

Like traditional yoga, each class ends with meditation⁹. But in AntiGravity Yoga, meditating¹⁰ means resting in the air while cocooned¹¹ in a hammock. 

1 acrobatics   

n.杂技

参考例句：

• Acrobatics is hard to learn but beautiful to watch.杂技不好学，但很好看。
• We watched a performance which included a puppet show and acrobatics.我们观看了一场演出，内容有木偶和杂技。

2 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

3 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

4 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

7 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

10 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 cocooned   

v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The doctors cocooned the patient in blankets. 医生们将病人紧包在毯子里。 来自辞典例句
• I cocooned in my own kingdom. 我完全沉迷在我自己的王国中。 来自辞典例句