Which is which! Yoga Trapeze, Swing Yoga, Suspension Yoga, Aerial Yoga, Silk Classes?
Over here, I've observed that it's normally called Swing Yoga. I've also attended Aerial Yoga Classes and Silk Classes thinking they were the same, but much to my delight and pain, the latter two (in my humble opinion) are more complicated than a Yoga Trapeze / Swing Yoga Class.
You would know what class you stumble upon by the equipment the class uses. if you see just a long silk fabric attached all the way up to ceiling that loops the same way as the main sling of the Yoga Trapeze (Swing Yoga); and there's a reason why it goes all the way up there, cause in some poses you are supposed to be up there - well, you are in an Aerial Yoga Class or perhaps a Silk Class. Perhaps there's also a difference between these two, so before anyone gets angry with me, I am no expert in these areas so let me just not venture there.
One thing I can say based on attending these classes is that either way, they were a lot of fun and it gives you a taste of being an acrobat !
Now you would know you're in a Yoga Trapeze (Swing Yoga) class when you see the handles on both sides of the trapeze, which gives you more alignment and more stability.
Let me add more to your confusion, if you google "Suspension Yoga", you'd find it also synonymous to Yoga Trapeze / Swing Yoga.
I also learned in my Teaching Certification that I should not use Swing Yoga next to Yoga Trapeze, so now that we have established that we are talking about the same, let me just follow the instructions from here on. All these classes, whatever they are called in your local yoga studios, achieve balance, strength and flexibility with the help of the straps and the fabric.
Two Main Parts of the Yoga Trapeze
1. Straps (2 pieces)
On either side of your Yoga Trapeze, you will find two Straps which has 3 types of handles (lowest handles, middle handles and highest handles)
2. Fabric (1 piece)
That's your Yoga Trapeze, so when you hang both ends of the fabric, it forms a U-shape. And that U-shape part of the fabric is called the "Main Sling"
Yoga Trapeze Sub-Parts
1. Handles
Can be High Handles, Mid Handles, Low Handles - you wont' miss them.
2. Rig
When you want to hold on to something, sometimes you just hold on to either sides of the fabric, sometimes you hold on to the straps, or at times you hold on to low, mid, high handles, right? So when you hold on to both fabric and straps, that's called the "Rig"
3. Carabiners
That's the hook you will find at the end of the two main parts above (nope, not sub parts!), cause you need to hook them to a daisy chain / rope that's mounted up the ceiling or looped somewhere high (like a tree, or a gazebo).
