What is Power Yoga? - Quoting Sri Pattabhi Jois on Ashtanga

What is Power Yoga?

If you are interested in yoga for spiritual benefits or for health and fitness, Power Yoga can provide both. Synchronous breathing with strong, flowing movement combines for a hot, high energy workout. Different from other style, Power Yoga is based on a choreographed sequence of poses (called asanas). These asanas flow into one another, creating a moving dance. Joints unwind in the process, muscles are release, energy is moved. Throughout the practice, a person builds strength, flexibility, and mental focus with the final result being a release of tension.

Ashtanga, which is what Power Yoga is based from, is an eight-limbed path to self-realization. Pictured above, correcting a posture, is Pattabhi Jois, originator of ashtanga yoga. He explains that the eight limbs are: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi.

• Yama - moral observance
• Niyama - inner integrity
• Asana - postures
• Pranayama - breath control
• Pratyahara - sensory withdrawal
• Dharana - concentration
• Dhyana - meditation
• Samadhi - contemplation

One of the eight limbs is yama. The yamas have five limbs: ahimsa [nonviolence], satya [truthfulness], asteya [non-stealing], brahmacharya [continence], and aparigraha [non-possessiveness]. . Patanjali's Yoga Sutras explain more. You will find them on our site in translation. Written between 400 and 200 B.C., the Yoga Sutras is the primary text of the science of classical yoga.

The idea in practicing Ashtanga or Power Yoga is to integrate the eight limbs. Movement through postures (asana) purifies the physical body, while focus on the breath (pranayama) through concentration (dharana) quiets the senses (pratyahara), preparing the practitioner for meditation (dhyana), and eventually, samadhi which is the union of the soul with the divine. A balanced asana practice requests ethical behavior (yama) and self-discipline (niyama). A qualified Ashtanga instructor can help the practitioner cultivate the eight limbs or steps. For those new to Power Yoga, you can reap the benefits of a class or workshop and especially practice. You'll learn as you go along and will benefit physically and mentally.

In practicing Ashtanga or Power Yoga, the idea is to integrate the eight limbs. A series of asanas are commonly called the Primary Series. Practicing the Primary Series is cleanses and purifies the internal organs of the body by preventing of the accumulation of waste products. Each asana has specific benefits. The Second Series are backbends, and the remaining four series are very advanced and difficult to perform. Backbends lift depression and revitalizes the spirits and body. Strength, flexibility, and stamina are areas of concentration for this type of yoga.

Intentional correct breathing and high body temperature characterize Power Yoga can offer a route to health, fitness, balance and equinamity for both beginners and advanced "yogis". This yoga is also particularly well suited to athletes of as a companion-training program for injury prevention and rehabilitation. Beryl Bender-Birch has been incredibly successful in doing this for runners.

"In the method I teach, there are many asanas and they work with blood circulation, the breathing sysem, and the focus of the eyes to develop concentration. In theis method you must be completely and keep the three parts of the body, -head, neck, and trunk in a straight line. If the spinal cord bends, the breathing system is affected."
-- Pattabhi Jois