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Is Power Yoga A Contradiction Of Yoga Principles

Having tried several styles of Yoga, I can say that power yoga is by far the stupidest. I don't say this lightly. I am a man of strong opinions, and although there were many – indeed most – styles of yoga that I liked, There were others that I did not care for at all. But among all of those, power yoga takes the cake.

There isn't anything wrong with the power yoga series itself, although it is not a series that I enjoy as much as Ashtanga or Vinyasa. It is simply a matter of the approach.

The power yoga class I took was at a Bikram's Yoga studio called Funky Door. You go into there, and the room is well over 100 degrees. In this stifling condition, it is not very long before you start to become weak and dizzy. The advantage, of course is that the heat loosens up your muscles for the power yoga, and so you can stretch much more deeply, but the disadvantages are manifold.

First of all, yoga is about concentration and focus, and it is impossible to do either of these things in 120 degrees of heat. To make up for this, the power yoga teacher shouts at you like a drill instructor. Instead of the efficient pace, starting off slowly and building up to a workout once your muscles begin to release it is all pose after pose after pose, with ridiculously short breaks to recuperate stuck in between.

Besides this, the people who are drawn to power yoga are not among my favorite yoga fans. They tend to be completely unconcerned with the spiritual side of yoga. Instead, power yoga is simply their workout where they get to suffer the extreme discomfort that all health nuts cherish, while doing a series of stretches at an aerobic pace.

Yes, you will burn calories, and perhaps get somewhat stronger and more flexible, but power yoga never incorporates this with the deep, meditative aspect that occurs in other forms of yoga. It really is just for yuppies and housewives, people who want to learn this important art, but are unwilling to put in the dedication.

While Vinyasa requires introspection, power yoga is just huffing and puffing, and can be done with or without focus to about the same effect. It moves so quickly, that you don't have time to ensure that you've done the poses right anyway.