Yoga means union in the language of Sanskrit, which is a language of India, where yoga originated. Yoga is actually the union of the mind, body and soul and is a philosophy in itself.
Power yoga is a form of yoga that is based on a choreographed sequence of poses known as asana during which process, the joints in the body unwind, muscles get relaxed and the energy gets moved. When a person performs power yoga, he tends to build strength and flexibility and is able to focus better and consequently the tension in the mind and body is released.
Ashtanga yoga is a rigorous form of yoga that is practiced in the eastern part of the globe and hence Beryl Bender Birch and Bryan Kest of the United States have developed a new form of yoga called the power yoga which is performed more rapidly and subtly, where it is possible to easily switch over from seating positions to sun salutations and head stands.
Power yoga classes do not follow a specific sequence and are choreographed and developed by the teacher. The main objective of power yoga is to offer a lot of stretching practices and a good aerobic workout. Also, the duration of power yoga is lesser as against ashtanga yoga which may last for one and a half hours. Power yoga lays emphasis on physical benefits like weight loss and better conditioning of the muscles and general strength of the body without giving more stress on the spiritual or meditative aspects of yoga.
However, in a power yoga class, five to ten minutes may be set apart for meditation. Power yoga is begun with three to six sun salutations that warms up the body and prepare for deeper poses and concludes with at least five minutes of meditation, commonly in corpse pose or a seated pose. This is the most important part of power yoga practice that enables to incorporate all the subtle changes made during the practice.
Basically, power yoga follows a particular sequence like sun salutation, warrior pose, balancing pose and then the triangle pose. Then come the floor practices and the seated postures and finally the savasana or meditation. Although, yoga series ought to be performed in a particular order for each routine, power yoga allows a person to either skip the entire series or focus on particular physical or emotional needs. Such is the flexibility of power yoga.
The benefits of power yoga are innumerable. Apart from being a great form of exercise for everyone, it improves joint movement, increases muscle strength, promotes stamina, maintains good posture, and ultimately warms the body. But the most obvious and ultimate benefit of power yoga is its ability in focusing mentally and improving concentration and to help to find the inner strength of everyone and relieve the stress because power yoga helps to alleviate mental stress and thus relieve aches and pains in the body caused due to muscle stress and tension.
Lesley Lyon
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/power-yoga-benefits-670597.html
Does power yoga have similar benefits to cardio exercise?
I injured my knee earlier this summer and have since been unable to do any of my previous cardio workouts because they tend to injure it further. I can’t do swimming because I don’t have easy access to a pool and everything else (elliptical included) is too hard on my knee so will power yoga work? I’ve been trying to lose weight and have done a rather intense power yoga workout about three times already in addition to my pilates workouts and I want to know if this will give me some of the benefits of cardio? I sweat quite a bit during the workout and I want to be sure that I am getting a fair amount of moderate cardio.
I think the only reliable way to know if you are getting ‘a fair amount of moderate cardio’ would be to monitor your heart rate.
Whether power yoga is vigorous enough for you depends mostly on your current level of fitness and ability, and, the duration and effort level of your sessions.
You can buy heart rate monitors having just the basic functions starting as low as around $40 (http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=1965/st=page/sortby=priceA/page=2/start=24 ).
As far as what your target heart rate should be, here’s a page of suggested rates from The American Heart Association site: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4736.
A lot of additional info can be found on web also. Just search by "target heart rate".
Many books have been published also. I reccomend any of the fitness/nutrition books by author Covert Bailey: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Covert%20Bailey .
Good luck.
Namaste’,
dwb
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Yes, why not! Yoga or power yoga is very nice and effective way to strength your heart and develop your endurance.
You just need to be consistent and go on!
By, the way here is a free yoga relaxation e-course for you, to discover more: http://www.yoga-health-beauty-energy.com/
All the best,
Chaker
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