Power Yoga

Power Yoga is any of several forms of energetic vinyasa-style yoga as exercise developed in America in the 1990s. These include forms derived from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, namely those of Beryl Bender Birch, Bryan Kest, and Larry Schultz, and forms derived from Bikram Yoga, such as that of Baron Baptiste.

History

Power Yoga began in the 1990s with "nearly simultaneous invention" by two students of K. Pattabhi Jois, and similar forms led by other yoga teachers including Larry Schultz's Rocket Yoga.[1]

Beryl Bender Birch created what Yoga Journal calls "the original Power Yoga"[2] in 1995.[3][4]

Bryan Kest, who studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga under K. Pattabhi Jois, and Baron Baptiste, a Bikram enthusiast, separately put their own spins on the style, and branded it. Neither Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga nor Bryan Kest's Power Yoga are synonymous with Ashtanga Yoga.[5] In 1995, Jois wrote a letter to Yoga Journal expressing his disappointment at the association between his Ashtanga Yoga, and the newly coined style "power yoga", referring to it as "ignorant bodybuilding".[6]

References

  1. ^ Pizer, Ann (8 January 2019). "Power Yoga History and Health Benefits". Very Well Fit. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Power Yoga". Yoga Journal. Retrieved 28 April 2019. The original Power Yoga was developed and founded by Beryl Bender Birch, but is now a term used to describe many vigorous vinyasa styles.
  3. ^ Singleton, Mark (2010). Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. Oxford University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-19-539534-1. OCLC 318191988.
  4. ^ Birch, Beryl Bender (1995). Power Yoga: The Total Strength and Flexibility Workout. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-02-058351-6.
  5. ^ Pizer, Anne. "Power Yoga". Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  6. ^ "A letter from Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois to Yoga Journal from November 1995". Ashtanga Yoga Library. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

There are several separate institutes which each teach their own forms of 'Power Yoga'.