Power Yoga for Fitness Benefits and Power Yoga Poses

When it comes to physical, mental and emotional well-being, Yoga provides many benefits that help improve your overall health. The integrative approach of yoga brings deep harmony and unwavering balance to body and mind. However, there isn’t just one style of yoga. It has many different approaches, each with its own focus goal and discipline.

Below we’ll look at power yoga and its many benefits. We have also listed down the top power yoga poses that you can get started with today!

Further reading: Best Exercises for Men and Women To Do at Home

A] What is Power Yoga?

Unlike vinyasa-style yoga, Power yoga is an energetic, fitness-based approach modelled on the Ashtanga method that helps improve muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. In power yoga, the body moves swiftly through various vinyasa (flow) sequences that help the body generate heat, releasing tension and stiffness from the muscles.

The power yoga poses are challenging as you need to move rapidly from one pose to another. This provides a vigorous physical workout for the body. A power yoga class may seem like an aerobics class, but unlike aerobics, power yoga requires mindfulness and focuses on breathing.

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B] Difference Between Power Yoga and Regular Yoga

• Power yoga follows a less structured flow of quick, rhythmical exercises compared to the uniform flow of the same sequences of regular yoga that is done at a much slower pace.
• In yoga, an individual follows a fixed set of asanas. Whereas, in power yoga, there is more flexibility in terms of how a particular power yoga pose is performed. The different power yoga postures can vary depending on the teaching style of the instructor or individual preference.
• While conventional yoga focuses on meditation and chanting, power yoga focuses on strength building through intense, faster exercises.
• Regular yoga is much more comprehensive and has a positive impact on body, mind and emotional well-being. Whereas, power yoga exercises are more dynamic and focus mainly on physical fitness rather than mental and emotional aspect.

C] Power Yoga Benefits

1. Improves posture:

Power yoga requires you to align your body from head to toe. This assists in developing core strength to support each muscle. It also helps increase awareness, so once you know about proper posture, you will automatically correct your posture when slouching or slumping in daily life.

2. Increases strength:

Power yoga workouts help increase strength and improve muscle tone. Most power yoga sequences involve using your bodyweight or working against resistance to maintain a certain position. This helps boost muscle strength as well as upper and lower body strength.

3. Enhances the quality of sleep:

Power yoga is more intense than traditional yoga. The different workouts and exercises engage all your core muscle groups, providing a full-body workout. This helps release all tension and stiffness from the body ensuring restful sleep at night.

4. Boosts immunity:

One of the most common power yoga health benefits is improved immunity. Power yoga can help you de-stress and eliminate toxins from the body. Practising yoga also makes you more attuned to your body’s needs, which ensures you eat healthily, and all these contribute towards improving your overall immune system.

5. Improves Flexibility:

Different power yoga postures help align and bend your body in varied ways ensuring a smooth flow from one movement to another. This helps improve flexibility, strengthens your joints and enhances bone density. Power yoga for beginners is a good option for older adults with joint pains.

6. Reduces stress:

Power yoga exercises help release both physical and mental stress. The different power yoga postures challenge your body muscles and make you feel rejuvenated. It also helps improve focus which is essential when moving from one pose to another. This increases mindfulness and helps calm the mind.

7. Burns calories:

As a high-intensity, fast-paced workout, power yoga helps burn a lot of calories. This combined with healthy eating, improved sleep and reduces stress makes power yoga for weight loss an excellent choice.

Read more: The Truth About Weight Loss: Myths and Facts

8. Improves blood circulation:

The heart rate increases during exercise, helping the body circulate blood and oxygen efficiently to all organs and muscles. Increased movement during power yoga helps improve blood circulation throughout the body. This helps improve your overall health. Plus, enhanced blood circulation nourishes your skin, giving it a glowing radiance.

9. Increases stamina:

Power yoga is a low-impact cardio workout that helps build stamina over time. Just like moving from simple poses to complex workouts, you’d gradually see a steady rise in your overall stamina.

D] Top 5 Power Yoga Poses

Power yoga for men and women can include different exercises and workout routines. If you want to practice power yoga at home, you can begin with the below-mentioned power yoga poses. These are simple to perform and can be practised alongside your daily workout.

1. Chaturanga Dandasana (Low Plank Pose)

• Begin with the plank position, keep your elbows to your sides and not spread out like conventional push-up.
• Move your shoulders in front of your wrist and rise your feet-up on the toes.
• Hold this position of 10 to 30 seconds before you lower your body and transition into the upward facing dog pose.

2. Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)

• Stand on the mat with your feet apart. Now slowly bend your right knee and touch your wrist to the ground.
• Make an angle of 90 degrees by lifting your left foot. Slowly lift your left arm so that both your arms are parallel to each other.
• Balance your body weight on your right leg. You can feel the pressure building up in the buttocks and back area once you achieve proper balance.
• Slowly lower your left leg and then your arm while exhaling. Repeat the process on both sides at least five times.

3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)

• Start with Tadasana and bend your body from the waist placing each palm on the ground in a half stretch. Press your hips up and back by inhaling.
• Place your head and neck in the same line. Feel the stretch from your palms to your feet.
• Stay in the pose for 5 to 10 seconds. To come back to the start position, walk your feet towards the palm and close stand back in the Tadasana pose.

4. Ustrasana (Camel Pose)

• Begin by kneeling on the mat with feet hip-distance apart and hands on the hips.
• Bring your palms together in front of your sternum, and drop your chin toward your sternum.
• Inhale and with the he next exhalation, slowly bend backwards and place your hands to your heels.
• Immediately press your shoulder blades forward and up, and coil your spine to lift your chest.
• Having created more space/extension in your upper back, your can let your head drop back.
• Hold for 5-10 breaths, then slowly lift your head and come back to the initial pose with hands on the hip.

5. Paripurna Navasana (Boat Pose)

• Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you and place your hands on either side.
• Lift your leg off the floor, this will create a tightness in your abdominal area.
• Support the weight by outstretching your hands in front of you.
• It might be tough to achieve this pose initially, but with practice, you can achieve it.

Further reading: The Ultimate Guide on Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

To Sum Up

Power yoga is a swift-paced style of yoga that’s focused on building body strength and muscle endurance. Being fast-paced, it is an ideal workout routine for burning calories. Power yoga requires an individual to focus on breathing and is also more dynamic than other forms of yoga. If you are trying to build muscles and strength without any equipment, then power yoga is an excellent choice.