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There a many different forms of yoga to practice. Hatha, Iyengar, Kundalini, Bikram and more. And there are even hybrid versions that you will find along the way. Laughing yoga, naked yoga (this is an actual class in NYC), chocolate and yoga, kid’s yoga, prenatal yoga, etc. I recently experienced my first Antigravity yoga class at Yoga Works in my neighborhood on the Upper West Side.

If you are not familiar with the concept an Antigravity Yoga, you are basically doing various yoga poses in a very secure hammock that is suspended from the ceiling. I was hooked immediately after my first class. For me the idea of being upside down scares the wits out of me. And it should. People aren’t supposed to be upside down! But the benefits of physically hanging upside down are phenomenal.

What excited me the most is that I can be in an inversion and not have to rely on my own strength to keep me in a handstand for instance. With the help of the hammock, I am able to wrap my legs around the hammock, drop my hands to the floor and push up into the handstand! Voila! All of those pesky yoga inversions become instantly doable in the hammock.

My class today was taught by Christopher Harrison, founder and artistic director of Antigravity Inc. He is a former Broadway Dancer and world class competitive gymnastics specialists. Harrison has worked with Broadway Shows including the show Nine. Jane Krakowski won a Tony for her performance in that show in which she shimmied her way down a Harrison designed hammock and then back up again all while singing “A Call from the Vatican”. He has also worked with Mariah Carey, P Diddy, Kanye West, Brittany Spears, Pink and many others making himself the go-to man for all things aerial performance related.

The real benefit of my class this morning was how I felt after it ended. I felt like I was walking three feet off the ground. It’s the same feeling you have when you spend a lot of time doing a pranayama or breathing practice. Simply put, I felt high as a kite! That 75 minute class gave me a physical shift in perspective and ultimately a mental shift as well. But don’t misunderstand me. It was a serious physical work out too. Harrison threw in some grueling abdominal work along the way in between the Spiderman and sky diver poses.

No wonder kids on the playground seem so carefree and happy. More than likely they’ve spent some time upside down on the monkey bars or doing cartwheels. Being physically upside down really does clear out the junk in your head. It’s easy to leave your crazy thoughts behind when you are suspended upside down from a hammock. I was physically forced to be present and in the moment. Not once did I think about e-mail, to-do lists, bills to be paid or phone calls to be returned. Those moments are few and far between!

Antigravity Yoga is contraindicated for those who have had spinal surgery or who have glaucoma or blood pressure issues.

You can keep up with D.J.’s adventures in the Big Apple by following her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook at D.J. Cunningham Duckworth. She also blogs and is a feature writer for New York Family magazine.