Power Yoga
When yoga was first introduced to the western world, not many people were interested. That’s mainly because yoga was very much a spiritual practice, tied in with the meditation and mysticism of eastern religions like Hindu. There just wasn’t much to interest westerners, and yoga teachers were a bit worried, because if they couldn’t attract anybody to learn how to do yoga, then they would be out of a job. But then they hit upon the idea to make it more meaningful and applicable to the standard westerner’s life. Americans, despite evidence to the contrary, are obsessed with being fit, and they’re always looking for that one magic bullet, the one thing that will help them shed pounds, gain balance, and become well-rounded, attractive human beings. Diets won’t do all that, and most exercise is difficult to fit in their daily lives. But, the good yoga instructors reasoned, perhaps they could make traditional yoga more attractive. And that was how the system of power yoga was developed.
Power yoga is mainly based on Ashtanga style of practice. It came into favor in the mid-nineties, and it does not follow a set of poses. Different poses can be incorporated or dropped as it becomes necessary, and so power yoga classes are different across the country. Besides establishing that they are all mainly in the Ashtanga style, it is difficult to provide any other sort of defining ideal. The most important part of power yoga is that there is a minimal amount of chanting and meditation, coupled with quite a strenuous workout. This is appealing to people who are already fit.
Related Information:
Power yoga is a high-gear secularized system of yoga.
Power yoga is in the Ashtanga tradition with a minimum amount of meditation.