Hammock, silks or hoop: choosing your first aerial practice

Everyone who walks into an aerial studio for the first time asks the same question: which one should I start with? The honest answer is that any of them will do, but each asks something different of you in the first month, and that is what decides whether you stay.

Hammock: the gentle door

Aerial yoga on a hammock is where most people in India begin, and for good reason. The fabric is wide, it holds you like a sling, and the first class is mostly stretching, gentle inversions and a lot of laughing at how strange it feels to be upside down. You do not need upper body strength to enjoy it. If you are coming from yoga, from an office chair, or from an injury, start here.

Silks: the strength door

Silks ask for grip, shoulders and patience. Your first classes are climbs, foot locks and a lot of conditioning, and your hands will complain for two weeks. The reward is the most expressive apparatus of the three, and the one that scales furthest. If you already train, climb or dance, silks will feel like coming home.

Hoop: the shape door

The lyra is a steel circle, so there is nothing to wrap and nothing to slip. Beginners learn to mount, sit, and make the first shapes within a session, which is why hoop is so satisfying early on. It is harder on the skin: bruises behind the knees are a rite of passage. If you like clear, geometric progress, hoop is yours.

How to decide

• Take one class of each. Most studios offer a drop-in, and the directory shows who teaches what.
• Choose the one where the teacher explained the exits before the entries.
• Choose the one you were still thinking about two days later.

Whichever you pick, give it eight weeks. The first four are confusing on any apparatus; the second four are where it clicks.