A new form of yoga has arrived in Armidale, turning the practice on its head as classes flip upside down in harnesses and swing through the air. 

Yoga instructor Gretta Free has brought the aerial form, known officially as AntiGravity yoga to the city and said the reception to classes had been enthusiastic.

“People are a bit excited and nervous the first class but after they do a few classes they realise it’s quite achievable and we work at the student’s pace, so it’s not extreme,” she said. 

“A lot of people think it’s extreme, hanging around in a piece of fabric.”

The form of yoga was invented by aerial performer Christopher Harrison in 2007 in New York. It has found a niche in yoga studios in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne and now Armidale. 

It fuses traditional yoga poses with acrobatic-style movements and has been praised as being good for core strength, flexibility and back issues.  

Critics of the practice have cast doubt on some of the purported benefits, while some more traditional yoga institutes deny that it can actually be categorised as yoga. 

However, celebrity endorsements have seen its popularity grow in the United States and Britain, with Australia starting to get on the bandwagon. 

Ms Free said everything she did in the classes was safe and using the harness actually made certain yoga poses easier. 

“It allows you to be in correct posture and be supported at the same time,” she said. 

“The way that the class is designed they’d have to be fooling around to hurt themselves basically. “