Best Aerial Yoga Books

A good aerial yoga book won’t teach you to fly on its own. What it will do is remind you how a pose was set up, give you the cue you half-remember from class, and help you plan what to practice next. For teachers, the right manual is a ready-made library of progressions.

I’ve practiced aerial yoga since 2008 and taught it for years, and the books I point students towards have three things in common: clear photos of each stage of a pose, honest notes on safety and set-up, and a writer who has actually taught in a hammock. Pretty pictures matter far less than knowing where your hands go and what to do if a wrap feels wrong.

Aerial yoga is a small niche, and several of the best books are self-published. Every book below was on sale new when I checked in November 2026, and I’ve noted where you can buy each one.

Aerial yoga books compared

Details come from each publisher’s or author’s own listing, or from booksellers where the author has no site, checked in November 2026. Page counts are as listed.

How we picked and checked these books

I looked for the things I want from any teaching resource, and the things I’ve seen go wrong when students learn from poor ones.

• Who wrote it. Authors who teach aerial yoga or treat aerialists, and who say so openly.
• How poses are taught. Step-by-step instructions and photos of each stage, not just the finished shape.
• Safety. Notes on set-up, warming up and when to back off.
• Availability. Every book had to be on sale new, from the publisher, the author or a current bookseller.

I checked authors, editions, formats and descriptions on publisher and author sites, Goodreads and booksellers in November 2026. I haven’t read every page of every book for this guide, so I describe each one by what its author and publisher say it covers, plus reader feedback where there’s enough of it. I left out books I couldn’t find on sale new. This guide is independent. Some links are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. No author or publisher paid to be included.

1. Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts: best for understanding your body

Emily Scherb is a physical therapist who specializes in treating and educating circus performers, and this is her illustrated guide to the anatomy and biomechanics behind aerial training. It isn’t a book of aerial yoga poses. It’s the book that explains why your teacher keeps nagging you about your shoulders.

North Atlantic Books describes it as covering how to hang with correct form, how to progress to pull-ups and inversions, and the idea of proximal stability, along with warm-ups, conditioning, how to structure a training session, caring for injuries and basic self first aid. It’s written for every aerial discipline, including trapeze and silks, but the sections on hanging and inverting apply just as much in a hammock.

I’d recommend it to anyone who trains regularly or teaches. Research on circus artists has found higher injury rates in aerial disciplines than in ground-based acrobatics,¹ and understanding how your body takes load is one of the best ways to progress safely.

• Author: Emily Scherb
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books, August 2018
• Format: paperback (listed at 208 pages) and ebook

2. The Aerial Yoga Manual, Volume 1: best step-by-step manual

Rebekah Leach is an aerial dancer based in Castle Rock, Colorado, and the founder of AerialWorks and its Born to Fly curriculum. Alongside these two yoga volumes, she has written step-by-step manuals for aerial fabric, hoop, sling and rope.

Volume 1, now in its third edition, covers the basics of a first course in aerial yoga. It walks through pigeon, bow, frog, plank and more than 40 other moves, using the fabric as an assisting tool, both with your feet on the ground and fully suspended. There are over 300 photos. The spiral binding is a practical touch: the book lies open next to your hammock, so you can check a step without letting go.

Where to buy it: Leach sells the printed manual from her own site, AerialDancing.com (shipping to the US and Canada only), along with a digital download that works anywhere. Outside North America, she points buyers to Lulu, which prints on demand. A German translation is also available on Lulu.

• Author: Rebekah Leach (AerialWorks)
• Edition: third edition, self-published
• Format: spiral-bound print, or digital download

3. The Aerial Yoga Manual, Volume 2: best for moving past the basics

Volume 2 is the second, more advanced book in Leach’s aerial yoga series. It covers more than 50 moves, including handstands, back arch poses and planks, with detailed descriptions and photos at every step. It’s now in its second edition.

Work through Volume 1 first, or have a few months of classes behind you. The moves here assume you’re comfortable upside down and know how to get out of a wrap. It’s sold the same way as Volume 1: from AerialDancing.com in print or as a download, and through Lulu internationally. The author’s shop lists this volume as a paperback.

4. Aerial Yoga for Anyone: best all-round photo guide

Katja Broadbent’s book is a full-color guide to the basics of aerial yoga, with more than 100 moves over 160 pages. Each move comes with a clear description and photos, and there are motivational quotes scattered through it.

It’s a good choice if you want one well-presented book to keep by your hammock, and it’s easy to buy new from Firetoys in the US, UK and Europe. It doesn’t go as deep into teaching progressions as Leach’s manuals, so teachers may want it alongside one of those rather than instead of them.

5. The Book of Flight: best for teachers planning classes

Gillian Watt has been teaching aerial yoga to students and yoga teachers since 2007, and The Book of Flight draws on her Aerial Steps teacher training course. It has more than 300 detailed pictures and step-by-step instructions on how to use the hammock to support each pose.

What makes it useful for teachers is the structure. The first chapter is aimed at beginners, later chapters include easy options, and there are six complete class plans. If you’re new to teaching, having tested sequences to start from saves a lot of guesswork. Our guide to online aerial yoga teacher training covers the next step.

6. Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga: best for inclusive teaching

This is the newest book here, published in April 2026 by Singing Dragon, an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Jo Stewart is a Melbourne-based teacher who has taught yoga since 2005 and aerial yoga since 2011, and the foreword is by Jivana Heyman.

Its angle is the hammock as a supportive tool that makes yoga open to more people. The publisher says it includes more than 250 photos of postures, modifications for larger bodies, older adults, pregnancy and conditions such as EDS, plus guidance on installing a hammock and sequencing. The language is trauma-informed, and the book includes accounts from people with anxiety, depression and neurodivergence. If you teach mixed groups, this fills a real gap.

7. Aerial Physique FIT: best for conditioning

Jill Franklin founded Aerial Physique, a Los Angeles aerial studio that runs teacher trainings, and this is her conditioning manual. Its full title promises the strength of a cirque performer, the legs of a ballet dancer and the abs of a Pilates pro, which tells you the tone.

It’s a training book for the floor rather than the fabric. The contents run through a core program, a lower body program, an upper body program and a stretching program, over about 158 pages. In my experience, students who do some strength work between sessions find inversions and climbs come much more easily, so this pairs well with any of the pose books above.

8. Beginner’s Guide to Aerial Silk: best for moving on to silks

A lot of aerial yoga students eventually want to try silks. Jill Franklin’s beginner book takes you through the fundamentals: how to climb, wrap, invert and spiral your body. It’s a budget-friendly starting point, and Franklin has a follow-up Intermediate Guide when you’re ready.

Silks are a different discipline from a low-hanging yoga hammock. You climb higher, there’s no sling to sit in, and the rigging needs more height and a higher rating. Take classes first, and read our guide to the best aerial silks for beginners before you buy fabric.

A pocket reference you’ll come across

Emily Griffith’s The Quick Guide to Aerial Yoga Poses (2018) appears on a lot of lists. It’s short, at 28 pages, and covers more than 50 poses, each with a description, a muscle focus and a level, plus a notes section for your own cues. It’s a paperback, and you can check the price on Amazon. Reviews are mixed: some readers like it as a quick reference, while others say it’s too thin for a beginner. Treat it as a reminder sheet for poses you’ve already learned in class, not a teaching manual.

How to choose an aerial yoga book

Which book is best for a complete beginner?

Start with The Aerial Yoga Manual, Volume 1, or Aerial Yoga for Anyone. Both take you through beginner poses step by step with plenty of photos. Pick Leach’s manual if you want more detail on each stage, and Broadbent’s if you want a broader, easier-to-buy reference. Add Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts once you’re practicing regularly.

Print or ebook?

Print, if you’ll use it during practice. A book that lies flat beside your hammock is far easier to glance at than a phone screen, and photos of hand and foot positions are hard to read on a small display. Ebooks and downloads are handy for planning sessions or classes, and they’re the quickest way to get a self-published manual if you live outside North America.

What should a good aerial yoga manual include?

Photos of each stage of a pose, not just the final shape. Clear notes on where the fabric sits, where your hands go and how to come out safely. When I’m teaching, the exit is the part students forget, so a book that explains how to get out of a wrap is worth more than one with beautiful photos and no instructions.

Which books suit teachers?

The Book of Flight for class plans, Leach’s two volumes for progressions, Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga for adapting to different bodies, and Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts for understanding injuries. Together they cover most of what a new teacher needs to look up between trainings.

Questions people ask about learning aerial yoga from books

Can you learn aerial yoga from a book?

Not safely on your own. Learning yoga without supervision has been linked to a higher risk of injury,² and in a hammock a teacher can spot mistakes in wraps and grips that a photo never will. Take some classes first, then use a book to remember and refine what you’ve learned. Our beginner’s guide to aerial yoga explains how to start.

Is there anything I should check before trying inversions from a book?

Yes. Going upside down raises pressure in your head and eyes.³ If you have high or low blood pressure, glaucoma or another eye condition, heart disease, or you’re pregnant, talk to your doctor before you try inversions. People with health conditions should also tell their yoga teacher about their needs.² Read more in our guide to whether aerial yoga is safe.

Do aerial yoga books make good gifts?

They do, especially for someone who has just started classes. Aerial Yoga for Anyone is easy to order and a nice book to look through. For teachers, The Book of Flight or Eight Limbs of Aerial Yoga are more useful. See our aerial yoga gift ideas for more.

Once you’ve got a book, our list of essential aerial yoga poses is a good place to put it to use.

Sources

1. Greenspan S and Stuckey MI, “Untangling risk factors including discipline-specific exposure for injuries in preprofessional and professional circus artists in the USA”, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2023. ↩︎
2. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), “Yoga: Effectiveness and Safety”. This covers yoga in general, not aerial yoga. ↩︎
3. Cleveland Clinic, “Inversion Tables Might Flip the Script on Back Pain”, 2025. ↩︎