SALT LAKE CITY Some people at Westminster College are seeing the world upside down and flying through the air, all while getting a good workout.

Thats because they are practicing AntiGravity Yoga.

Its a fusion fitness technique derived from aerial arts, Pilates, calisthenics and dance. Students use silk hammocks, suspended from the ceiling like a swing or trapeze, to perform zero-compression inversions and stretches.

This suspension fitness program was created by Broadway aerial choreographer Christopher Harrison in 2008, and Westminster College is the only school in the world to launch an AntiGravity Yoga program.

Tamer Begum, Harrisons nephew and a Westminster senior, brought the program to the school last fall after discovering it a year ago when his uncle was in town for teacher training. After taking the class and studying with several yoga instructors, he was hooked and felt he had to bring it back to Westminster. Within three months, Begum said they had 150 students come into the studio.

Begum said the classes can help those who suffer from back and neck pain.

The majority of the students that come to class find that by hanging upside down, utilizing the hammocks to do zero-compression inversions, it actually helps decrease their acute and chronic back pain much more significantly than they would find in a regular yoga class, he said.

A lot of people think yoga classes are only for those who are young and in good shape, he said. But thats not the case with AntiGravity Yoga. Begum wants people who are not currently active or maybe a little overweight or a little uncomfortable to come to the group classes.

I love those people because after every single class the students feel like they are successful with their practice, he said. They leave (saying), Oh, you know, that was fun, actually.' 'I did a flip my first practice,' or, 'That was a great leg stretch.

He also found people who are older can benefit from the class as well. He said they like it because they are able to hold onto an apparatus for support when they are doing more challenging yoga poses, and they dont need a block or strap like in regular yoga.

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AntiGravity Yoga at Westminster College brings new dimension to yoga practice