How to Become an Aerial Yoga Instructor

I’d been practicing aerial yoga for five years when I qualified as a yoga teacher in 2013. Today I’m self-employed and teach aerial yoga, and the question I get asked most after class is “How do I do what you do?”

The honest answer is that a weekend certificate isn’t enough. Teaching people to hang upside down from fabric means you need solid yoga teaching skills, aerial-specific training, first aid, the right insurance, and enough rigging knowledge to spot a problem before anyone climbs in. This guide walks you through each step. If you’re mainly comparing online courses, our roundup of aerial yoga teacher training online covers those in detail.

Step 1: Do you need to be a yoga teacher first?

Not always, but I’d strongly recommend it. Some aerial trainings accept complete beginners. Others only take qualified yoga teachers. Either way, the skills you learn on a full yoga teacher training are the ones you’ll lean on most: reading bodies, cueing clearly, adapting poses, sequencing a class and knowing when someone shouldn’t be doing a pose at all.

The hammock doesn’t replace any of that. It adds height, inversions and equipment on top of it. In my experience, the teachers who come to aerial with a strong mat background pick up the hammock far faster, because they’re only learning one new thing at a time.

What is a 200-hour training and RYT 200?

The most common starting point is a 200-hour yoga teacher training. In the US, many teachers then register with Yoga Alliance as an RYT 200 (Registered Yoga Teacher). According to Yoga Alliance’s standards:

• You need to complete a 200-hour training with a Registered Yoga School (RYS 200).
• There are no teaching-hour requirements for RYT 200.
• You can’t combine several shorter trainings to make up the 200 hours.
• It’s a membership. To keep it, you agree to its Ethical Commitment, complete continuing education hours and pay annual dues.¹

Before you book a 200-hour course, check the school in Yoga Alliance’s directory if you want to register afterwards. Some studios and gyms look for it when hiring.

Outside the US, other membership bodies do a similar job. In the UK and Ireland, for example, many teachers join YogaPros (formerly Yoga Alliance Professionals), which also arranges member insurance. Pick the body your local studios and insurers recognize.

Step 2: Take an aerial yoga teacher training

This is where you learn the hammock itself: how to get students in and out safely, how to spot, which wraps and grips to teach, how to cue inversions and what to do when someone panics upside down. Courses vary enormously in length, style and entry requirements, so here are three well-established options, with facts taken from each provider’s own website.

AntiGravity Fitness

AntiGravity runs its trainings in person and virtually. Every route starts with the 24-hour AntiGravity Fundamentals training, which makes you a Certified AntiGravity Instructor (CAGI) once you pass the final practicum and test. Its FAQ says there are no specific prerequisites, and that previous yoga or fitness certification helps but isn’t required.

From there, Aerial Yoga 1 and Aerial Yoga 2 are two-day, 16-hour courses. Certification lasts two years from your last training, so you’ll need to keep training to stay certified. AntiGravity also says other companies’ aerial certifications don’t count toward its own.

Unnata Aerial Yoga

Unnata, founded by Michelle Dortignac, takes the opposite approach. Its aerial yoga teacher training is only open to certified yoga instructors, and everyone on the course has already done a 200-hour training. It’s an immersive course of at least eight days, and Unnata recommends taking several of its classes, or having some hammock experience, before you go.

Aerial Yoga Academy (online, through Uplift Active)

If you need to study from home, the Aerial Yoga Academy, founded by Monique Gharios, offers a self-paced 250-hour online aerial yoga teacher training. Uplift Active, which sells it as an affiliate partner, says students typically finish in three to six months, that no previous aerial or yoga experience is required, and that the course is registered with World Yoga Alliance. That’s a different organization from Yoga Alliance, and an aerial course doesn’t count toward an RYT 200.

To pass, you answer a written exam and film yourself teaching a 30-minute class for assessment. Uplift Active also lists optional two-day in-person workshops at partner studios to finish the training, which I’d take if you can. Our guide to online aerial yoga teacher training goes through its syllabus and other online options.

How to choose an aerial yoga teacher training

Whatever course you look at, these are the questions I’d ask before paying:

• How much time will I spend in a hammock with a trainer watching? You can learn theory from videos. You can’t learn spotting that way.
• Does it include a live or filmed teaching assessment? Some insurers check this. YogaPros, for example, says teacher training courses must include a live assessment for its member insurance.²
• Is there a rigging module? You should come away knowing how a hammock is hung, what hardware it needs and how to check it.
• How are contraindications covered? A good course spends real time on who shouldn’t invert and how to adapt a class for them.
• Does the certificate expire? Some last for life, and some need renewing every couple of years.
• Will my insurer accept it? Ask before you book, not after.

Step 3: Get first aid and CPR training

Please don’t skip this one. When you teach aerial, you’re responsible for people who are upside down, sometimes for the first time in years. Most sessions go smoothly, but you need to know what to do if a student feels faint, falls awkwardly or gets tangled and panics.

Take a recognized first aid and CPR course and keep it current. In the US, the American Red Cross runs first aid and CPR classes. In the UK, St John Ambulance is one of the best-known providers. Studios and insurers often ask to see a current certificate.

Alongside that, build a health check into every class. Inversions raise the pressure in your head, and Cleveland Clinic lists high or low blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma and other eye diseases, and pregnancy among the conditions to discuss with a doctor first.³ NCCIH also advises that pregnant women, older adults and people with health conditions talk to their health care provider and their yoga teacher about their needs.⁴ Ask before class, every class, and offer a non-inverted option. Our guide to aerial yoga safety lists the main warning signs.

Step 4: Get aerial yoga insurance

You’ll need professional liability insurance before you teach, and this is where many new aerial teachers get caught out. A standard yoga teacher policy often doesn’t cover aerial yoga.

Aerial yoga insurance in the US

Check the exclusions list on any policy. Insurance Canopy, for instance, lists aerial yoga among the styles its yoga teacher insurance won’t cover.⁵ Yoga Alliance includes insurance among its member discounts,¹ but don’t assume a discounted policy includes aerial work. Ask the insurer in writing whether aerial yoga is covered, and whether there are conditions such as hammock height or the type of equipment.

Aerial yoga insurance in the UK

It’s the same story in the UK. The YogaPros member policy, arranged through Balens, covers yoga and meditation but not aerial yoga, which needs extra cover under a separate multi-therapy policy. Cover also depends on you holding a suitable qualification for what you teach.² Whichever insurer you use, send them your aerial certificate and get confirmation before your first class.

Two more things to check wherever you are: whether the venue’s own insurance covers its rigging, and who is responsible for inspecting it. If you bring your own hammock or frame, that responsibility is probably yours.

Step 5: Learn enough rigging to check every set-up

You don’t need to be a professional rigger to teach aerial yoga. In a studio, a qualified person should install the fixing points. But you do need to understand what’s holding your students up, because you’re the one who checks it before class.

I kept a freestanding aerial frame in the studio where I danced and taught, and I regularly put frames up, took them down and safety-checked them. That routine taught me more about teaching safely than any manual. Before every session, I’d look at:

• Every carabiner: gate closed and locked, loaded the right way, with no wear, cracks or burrs.
• The daisy chains or straps: no fraying, and both sides set to the same height.
• The fabric: no tears, snags or thin patches, especially where it meets the hardware.
• The fixing point or frame: no movement, cracks or loose bolts, and for a frame, level feet and secure pins.

You should also understand working load limits and why moving in a hammock puts more force through the rigging than hanging still. Our guides to aerial rigging, aerial yoga weight limits and freestanding aerial yoga stands are a good place to start.

Step 6: Find work as an aerial yoga teacher

Aerial teaching jobs are fewer than mat yoga jobs, because each class needs a rigged space. Here’s how I’d approach it:

• Keep teaching mat yoga. It’s steadier work, it keeps your cueing sharp, and mat students are often your first aerial students.
• Start where the rigging already exists. Aerial and circus studios, pole studios and some gyms already have rigging points. Offer to assist or cover classes first.
• Offer small groups and private sessions. A freestanding frame lets you teach one-to-one or in small groups without a permanent studio.
• Run workshops. Taster sessions, restorative aerial evenings and retreats bring in new students. Our list of aerial yoga retreats shows how others do it.
• Keep class sizes to your rigging points. One hammock per student, and never more students than you can watch at once.

If you’re kitting out your own space, our picks of the best aerial yoga hammocks and swings and our guide to aerial yoga equipment cover what you’ll need.

What I’d tell anyone starting out

From my own teaching, these are the things I wish every new aerial teacher knew:

• Practice a lot more than you teach at first. You need to know how every wrap feels from the inside before you can cue it well.
• Teach the exits before the entries. Every student should know how to come out of an inversion before they go into one.
• Cue from where students can see you. Upside down, people lose their sense of left and right. Short, simple cues work best.
• Watch, don’t demonstrate the whole class. If you’re in your own hammock, you can’t see who’s struggling.
• Keep learning. Unlike yoga in general, aerial yoga has very little research behind it, so stay curious and keep your claims modest. Our guide to the health benefits of aerial yoga sums up what the evidence actually says.

If you’re still deciding whether to specialize, it helps to understand how aerial yoga differs from regular yoga, both for you and your future students.

Questions people ask about aerial yoga teacher training

Can you get an aerial yoga certification online?

Yes. Some trainings, such as the Aerial Yoga Academy, are mostly or fully online, and AntiGravity offers virtual options too. Online study works well for theory, sequencing and anatomy. Try to add some in-person time, though, because spotting and hands-on adjustments are hard to learn on a screen, and some insurers want a live assessment.

How long does it take to become an aerial yoga instructor?

It depends on your route. AntiGravity’s Fundamentals training is 24 hours, Unnata’s course runs for at least eight days, and Uplift Active says most Aerial Yoga Academy students finish in three to six months. Add a 200-hour yoga training if you don’t have one, plus time to practice and build confidence before you teach your first class.

Can I teach aerial yoga without being a yoga teacher?

Some aerial courses, including AntiGravity Fundamentals and the Aerial Yoga Academy, don’t require a yoga teaching qualification. Unnata does. Whatever the course allows, check what your insurer and the studios you want to work for expect, because many look for a full yoga teacher training as well.

Do I need insurance to teach aerial yoga?

You should have it, and most studios and venues will ask for proof. Make sure the policy names aerial yoga, because many standard yoga policies exclude it. In the UK, the YogaPros member policy needs a separate add-on for aerial work, and in the US, some yoga teacher policies exclude aerial yoga altogether.

Sources

1. Yoga Alliance, “Standards for Registered Yoga Teachers”, 2024. ↩︎
2. YogaPros Help Centre, “What techniques am I insured to practice?”, August 2026. This covers the YogaPros member policy arranged through Balens. ↩︎
3. Cleveland Clinic, “Inversion Tables Might Flip the Script on Back Pain”, 2025. ↩︎
4. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), “Yoga: Effectiveness and Safety”. This covers yoga in general, not aerial yoga. ↩︎
5. Insurance Canopy, “Covered Yoga Styles”. ↩︎