Anti-Gravity yoga takes off in Australia

Yogis are hanging from ceilings in the latest twist on the time-honored exercise
yoga Suspended in midair, but are they defying gravity

There's yoga inheated rooms, naked yoga, dog yoga and now, in the same vein as Cirque du Soleil, there's Anti-Gravity yoga.
The latest yoga craze to hit Australian shores sees students contorting and inverting while suspended from the ceiling in a type of fabric hammock.
The new style was created by former gymnast and Broadway dancer Christopher Harrison; Flight Skool owner Iain Wisdom launched Australia’s first airborne yoga studio in Brisbane, with a second due to open in Sydney’s inner city suburb Redfern this month.
Already, the gravity defying classes are attracting a steady stream of yoga teachers and students bored with traditional yoga methods, as well as curious novices. During the 90-minute workout, even complete beginners will use the trapeze like hammocks to bend, twist and invert their bodies.
"Some people find it really daunting -- the prospect of being suspended that way," said Wisdom. "But when they realise they can do it, it's quite empowering for people."
As to what benefits the practice brings, Wisdom said it’s the same as traditional yoga, but allows students to reach spinal decompressions and muscular challenges they wouldn’t otherwise achieve on the mat.
“Essentially it's a suspension technique,” he explained. “It hails from the aerial arts and it's a fusion of aerial art, calisthenics, Pilates and gymnastics, all within the constructs of yoga. We look to decompress the spine through inversions, using the fabric to create very fluid movements in a very supportive way.”
Made from tough, tightly woven fabric, the hammocks are bolted to the ceiling, but there's no need for heavier yogis to worry. The fabric has been rigorously tested and can withstand the weight of a 400-kilo person.
However, the swinging sensation and upside-down moves can have a less pleasant side effect.
“About one in 20 people gets an experience akin to motion sickness,” said Wisdom. “We work with something called a drifting point -- like when you're on a boat and you feel a bit nauseated, you focus on something stationary, like the horizon.”
This means no Anti-Gravity yoga after a night out guzzling cocktails, and a perhaps a rethink if your legs wobble at the thought of heights.
“Very, very occasionally we get people who suffer from extreme form of vertigo so this technique won't be good for them,” added Wisdom. “All the same rules apply. You shouldn’t have anything to eat a couple of hours before, that's preferable. Light snacking is OK, but not a full meal.”
House of Yoga (Opening in September) www.houseofyoga.com.au 

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Assets Increase Incidence of Marriage

A new study published in the American Journal of Sociology indicates that the incidence of marriage drops when people have no personal wealth such as a car or financial assets.
The study shows that in the past few decades Americans are getting married when they are older and may forego marriage altogether. Statistics in the study indicate that between 1970 and 2000 the median age of first marriage rose by four years and the percentage of unmarrieds increased from 5 percent to 10 percent.
Daniel Schneider of Princeton University, the study author, said “What is perhaps most striking is the increasing stratification in marriage by race and education. From 1980 to 2000, the percentage of white women who had been married by ages 25 to 29 had dropped by 13 percentage points to 68 percent, but the drop was far larger for blacks, dropping 25 points to just 38 percent.”
Schneider thinks that this gap may be the difference in income and employment status. Studies show that having a good job and income are important in determining who becomes married. Therefore the gaps between blacks and whites may be because blacks typically have less education than whites decreasing their chances for gainful employment, thus they may hold off longer getting married increasing the gaps in marriage rates.
Schneider says, “In all, I find evidence to support the argument that wealth is an important prerequisite of marriage, especially for men. What people own, not just what they earn or know, shapes entrance into marriage and so may perpetuate disadvantage across generations.”
Schneider believes the inequality in marriage rates makes a strong argument for social programs designed to help people build assets. He says, “Contrary to concerns that such programs are unlikely to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the poor because these individuals are unlikely to accumulate significant savings, I argue that even small amounts of wealth may help disadvantaged men and women meet the economic standard of marriage.”

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