 |
|
Yoga >>
Ask a question >>
Types of Yoga & Other Techniques |
Power Yoga And Ashtanga Yoga
What is the difference between power yoga and ashtanga?
(16 Feb 2009)
|
(Only for registered users! Login OR Sign Up in just 30 seconds) |
|
|
The main difference is that Ashtanga Yoga follows a set sequence of poses so Ashtanga Yoga practitioners go through the same set routine every time. The advantages to this system are that first and foremost you don't have to worry about what comes next. Just practise the sequence and get involved in the asana (physical yoga poses) practice. Secondly, you are really able to perfect the sequence just by repeating the same routine again and again.
While Ashtanga Yoga insists on the same set routine every time, in Power Yoga classes students do something different in every single session. Their premise is that when there are literally hundreds of Yoga postures, why restrict oneself to the same routine day after day? Rather, they feel, focus more on forward bends one day, backward bends another day, strengthening poses the third day, so on and so forth. This seems to make sense to a lot of its followers.
But, both Power Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga have essentially been derived from the same roots and with the same aim in mind. Their emphasis on strength and flexibility is what they share in common is. Both are done at a non stop pace and have for their basis the heat produced by Ujjayi Pranayama (Ocean Breath). Both forms; Power Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga flow gracefully from one pose to another to develop a fit body, generate purifying heat, and give you a calm, peaceful mind. For this reason, oftentimes the terms Ashtanga and Power Yoga are now, even used identically.
In the West the term Power Yoga is used to describe an energetic, dynamic, hearty and enthusiastic style of Yoga. In the mid 1990s the term "Power Yoga" gained wide currency and became quite popular, after a slew of Yoga teachers sought to make Yoga popular among Western students. As against Ashtanga, Power Yoga follows no set sequence of postures. So, different Power Yoga classes vary widely from each other, it has been found. Yoga owes its current popularity to the advent of Power Yoga, after which people – particularly Americans and Europeans – started to consider Yoga a serious and fitting way to work out; and it was Power Yoga that heralded the era of Yoga in America and European gyms.
Ashtanga Yoga, on the other hand is the brainchild of one Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and is a system of Yoga passed on to the modern world in a bid to enhance physical health, strength and stamina. This Yoga style involves coordinating your breath with a set sequence of Yoga poses. This process is known – and is designed – to generate a lot of heat in the body with copious amounts of perspiration that detoxifies both the organs as well as the muscles. As a result you enjoy a strong, lithe and light body, better circulation, and end up feeling calm and peaceful.
|
|
answered by A on 16 Feb 2009, 3:41:05
|
|
|
|
|
|
Read more questions in Types of Yoga & Other Techniques
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
