It's sort of like "advanced level" yoga. Twinkle is right, you really need to be in good shape to try this.

Basically, Power Yoga is a vigorous, fitness-based approach to regular yoga, started by some yoga teachers who were looking for a way to make Ashtanga yoga more accessible to students in the West. Traditionally, yogic asanas(positions) should be done according to the age, the flexibility, the mental and physical state of the body, the diet that the person follows together with his/her lifestyle. But here, somebody has designed a set of asanas and given it a name. And that’s been branded as power yoga.

Unfortunately Alex, thats what the western world has made Yoga to be. Traditionally, there are many different types of yoga, but not the ones you say. The basic formas are :

Bhakti (devotional) Yoga which focuses on devotion, attachment and love for God.
Karma (action or deed)Yoga means action or deed, and the result of that action. By practicing karma, people try to do those actions that bring the most amounts of good and the least amount of evil. The history of karma yoga dates back to before 800 BC, when yoga referred more to life disciplines and paths.
Ashtanga (8 limbs) yoga where the 8 limbs of life are
Yama (principles or moral code);
Niyama (personal disciplines);
Asana (ashtanga yoga postures)
Pranayama (yoga breathing);
Prayahara (withdrawal of senses);
Dharana (concentration on objects);
Dhyan (meditation);
Samadhi (salvation).

Jnana yoga is yoga that focuses on knowledge. There are seven stages to Jnana, involving study, self-realization, desire, protection of the mind, developing indifference to objects, letting the world appear like a dream, non-attachment to the world, bliss and knowledge of truth.

And finally, Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga is one of the most popular forms of yoga in the western world. It is the use of yoga postures or asana. Many people practice hatha yoga solely for its physical benefit. However, the aim of hatha yoga is meant to be to condition the body, so that the mind can be prepared for its spiritual path. It is thought that when the body is in good physical condition, then the mind is freer to concentrate on spiritual matters. The dance yoga/ power yoga etc are all versions of this.

There's a whole line of equipment in Pilates that doesn't exist in yoga, so it provides a different angle. You're doing exercises with the assistance and resistance of springs and pulleys. The springs may assist you or they may make an exercise more difficult, depending on the exercise. There's definitely a mind-body connection and a very similar fluidity in both.

Any celebrity follower for this power yoga?

For those of us who don't have time to do "real" yoga...

1. Arm stretches: Sit straight on your chair with both feet touching the floor. Raise your right arm and grip the right wrist with your left hand. As you inhale, slowly stretch your right arm upwards, as far as you can reach. Exhale as you start to lower your arm. Repeat for the left arm, with your right hand gripping the left wrist.

2. Neck relaxing stretches: Assume the same straight sitting position on your chair. Hold the left side of your head (about an inch above your left ear) with two fingers of your right hand. Inhale as you push your head to the right slowly. Tip back your head to the center slowly, exhaling as you do so. Repeat the exercise for the left side, with two fingers of your left hand on the right side of your head, pushing it to the left.

3. Trunk twists: Sit firmly on your chair with feet flat on the floor, your back straight and not touching the chair's back rest. Grip the right side of your armrest with both hands, and slowly twist your body to the right, inhaling as you do so. Exhale as you slowly undo the twist and return to the center. Repeat the exercise for the left side.

It all depends upon your mental frame of mind. If you are habituated to gym, then you can opt for Pilates. However, if you want to combine breathing, stretching and silencing of the mind, yoga is preferable. Well, the choice is yours. If time is not a constraint, you can combine both yoga and pilates for maximum advantage.

arlene - 25 August 2008 07:02 AM

Naked Yoga??? You mean every one in the class works out naked?

Where does one join this?

Thanks for the valuable information Meera !!

sounds good to me, Ricky. Thank you. I'd like to add that it also helps me to move my neck looking down with my cchin reaching for my chest and then slowly tilting my head back. This works really well, when I have been sitting on my seat and staring at papers, with my neck bent, for too long.

This is great! I badly need this, work is so stressful, i can do that without leaving my chair! It seems i won't look ridiculous if i can convince all my co workers to do the same. Is this a trend? Anyways, it will surely make a difference to take breaks.

bubblybubbles - 29 August 2008 04:47 AM

This is great! I badly need this, work is so stressful, i can do that without leaving my chair! It seems i won't look ridiculous if i can convince all my co workers to do the same. Is this a trend? Anyways, it will surely make a difference to take breaks.

Haha, I tried this at work too, and I also got strange looks from my officemates. Maybe we should start a "workplace yoga time" at the office, like at every 1PM, everyone should stand up and do the exercises, and then another one at 5PM.

Are there any stages in yoga exercises? I want to enroll in yoga classes can you give some advice or pointers to start on Yoga?