Power Yoga

Ask five different yogis to sit down and give you an all inclusive definition of power yoga and you will probably end up with about five different answers, some of which may actually contradict one another. There is the school of MTV power yoga which is nothing more than the ragtag team of Madonna fans who will chant the mantras she included in one of her songs and who therefore perceive that they have the gospel knowledge of core power yoga. Following are the Portland power yoga fanatics who claim that power yoga exercises are little more than vinyasa poses and thus anyone skilled in this discipline automatically also qualifies for a power yoga teacher certification.

Those who delight in name dropping will most likely regale you with the moniker “Baptiste power yoga” which is referring to Baron Baptiste, power yoga master of his own making who certifies the only set of teachers who may claim to practice the Baptiste power yoga. Then there are Bryan Kest, power yoga guru who studied under Pattabhi Jois, and his cohort, Beryl Birch.

Much like the American fondness for power walking, a whole new set of fitness aficionados has embraced power yoga positions in general and the power yoga workout in particular as a wonderful way of gaining strength, increasing flexibility with the help of progressive power yoga exercises, and of course feeling one with the cosmos and the earth’s power. Yoga aficionados in search of free power yoga exercises will look to the ‘Net to help them understand what sets apart this form of yoga from the tried and true hatha practice, and to their surprise they might find that power yoga seems to incorporate a little bit of everything.

Interestingly, the average power yoga video is not purchased by the person longing to become fit, but instead by the fitness buff that is already in good physical shape and is simply looking for a new way to remain fit and push them even further. Thus, power yoga is not the kind of exercise that the faint of heart engage in. Furthermore, if you are new to the entire fitness movement, and you believe that power yoga is a slow way of gaining some flexibility, think again! This style of yoga offers extreme workouts and in order to stay with the rest of the class you will need to be on top of your game.