Posts Tagged ‘power yoga’
Power Yoga: A Fitness Approach to Yoga
‘Power Yoga’ is just a generalized description of a more athletic approach to yoga that focuses on developing flexibility and strength. Commonly offered in gyms and fitness centers, it’s a much sought after form of yoga that popular with students who are looking for a more fitness based approach for their workouts without the chanting and the meditation that goes along with other hatha yoga approaches.
Modeled somewhat after the Ashtanga style of yoga, power yoga is not so stringently limited to a defined series of poses.
The goal of power yoga is to help participants work their entire body, develop core strength, build muscle and lose excess fat. Other benefits of a good power yoga workout include improved circulation, increased energy levels and vitality, and weight loss.
As you might imagine, power yoga classes can be incredibly intense. Core classes focus on developing your body’s core strength and on building long, supple muscles and increasing flexibility. Progressive classes provide a more challenging practice with more explosive moves and asana sequences that flow quickly from one pose to the next at a steady pace that gets your heart pumping and the sweat flowing.
Thos who want to become power yoga teachers must complete the typical 200 hour certification program which lasts for nine weeks. Some students choose a particular teacher whose approach they ascribe to and study under that teacher before striking out on their own.
In most major cities that have yoga studios you can find power yoga classes. Often, when a teacher is popular, there will be long lines to get into his or her classes. For those who do not have access to a studio that offers power yoga, there are many DVD programs that provide a graduated approach to power yoga beginning with the basics all the way up to a high-powered advanced class.
The Internet also has many web sites where you can gain access to free yoga videos, and asana sequences that you can follow at your individual pace.
On the forefront of the power yoga phenomenon is Baron Baptiste, a yoga teacher who has developed a power yoga along with a personal development philosophy. Baptiste power yoga seeks to guide students to access their inner potential and learn to develop and use their personal power.
Another popular power yoga guru is Bryan Kest, who has been teaching Yoga for 21 years. Kest studied Yoga in India with the famous K. Pattabhi Jois, the yogi who developed the Ashtanga style of Yoga. Bryan Kest’s power yoga helps students to create a high level of energy within themselves, and to foster healing and personal growth.
While power yoga’s goal is to produce fast results by offering a high-energy, fast-paced, rigorously intensive workout, it’s up to each participant to be in tune with their body and their particular limitations. Students need to be mindful and deliberate even as they plunge into this exciting and exhilarating workout.
