All About Ashtanga Yoga

If you’ve noticed the term Astanga yoga being bandied about but have no idea what it is, we’re here to explain it. Many an unwitting gym denizen has stumbled into this class thinking it would be a relaxing way to spend the hour before their real exercise class begins. What they experience instead is a workout that can put the most advanced high-impact aerobics class to shame.

 

Because there is no resting between the individual postures, Astanga is an intense, high-energy form of yoga Astanga yoga (also called power yoga) is the practice of the different yoga postures (or asanas) in a continuous process using fluid, dance-like movements to connect each posture. The goal, says Beryl Bender Birch, author of Power Yoga and the forthcoming Beyond Power Yoga, is to generate heat within the body which is integral to stretching and strengthening the muscles. Before novices begin executing the moves, they first learn the special breathing technique (ujjayi) and the internal contractions (yogic locks or bandhas), which are believed to release energy and heat from the body’s core.

“Because there is no resting between the individual postures, Astanga is an intense, high-energy form of yoga,” says Birch. The intensity creates body heat, which begets the trademark of a seasoned power yoga practitioner: excessive sweat. “In power yoga, you concentrate on keeping the heart rate slow and steady, the opposite of most cardiovascular activities, while still keeping the heat and sweat mechanism active,” Birch explains.

The focus on sweat, practitioners say, makes Astanga a powerful form of detoxification for the body. The workout is not meant to be aerobic, although it does have cardiovascular benefits, Birch attests. Astanga also builds muscle, increases flexibility and promotes balance. And, although power yoga generally is not known as a high-voltage fat-blasting workout, Birch says she has “known people who lost 30 to 40 pounds doing it.”

When yoga was first introduced to mainstream America in the ’60s, it was considered to be a sleepy and “soft” practice, something primarily for women. Slowly, Americans began to recognize both the intense self-discipline that yoga requires and the immense benefits (both spiritual and physical) it can provide. When Astanga was introduced in the United States in the 70s, that wimpy image was shattered, leading to Astanga’s mainstream popularity, which has developed over the past five years. Power yoga “appeals to Americans’ sense of working out hard,” says Birch, “without all the pounding and tightening of most other fitness activities.”

 

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