Yoga is one of the oldest philosophies in the world that promote healthy living. It originated over 5000 years ago in India and has survived for 5 millenniums due to its ability to adapt to the requirements of its practitioners. On such relatively new adaption of Yoga is American Power Yoga. It promotes physical well being and development as well as mental discipline and stability.

Power Yoga is mainly adapted from the Indian Ashtanga Yoga. Ashtanga Yoga was introduced to the west by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the 1096’s. The origins of Ashtanga Yoga lie in an ancient text written by Patanjali in the 2^nd century called the Yoga Sutras, where he first introduced the concept of ‘Eight Limbs (ashtanga) of Yoga’. Power Yoga was developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois along with his devotees, mainly Beryl Bendere Birch, who coined the term ‘Power Yoga’ and authored a widely famous book, ‘Power Yoga: the Practice’. Power Yoga also borrows a few philosophies and practices from other styles of Yoga like Bikram Yoga and Iyengar Yoga.

Power yoga consists of a number of Different Yoga Asanas that are performed in synchronization with one’s breathing. To an onlooker, the sequence of Yoga Asanas looks seamless and graceful, almost like the soft, graceful movements of a trance-like dance. To the practitioner, it involves stretching every muscle as much as possible, while maintaining a strong control over one’s inner self. This leads to each move being performed flawlessly and gracefully, giving the sequence a quality of a graceful dance.

The transition between the Yoga Asanas in the sequence is also slow, yet steady and each pose is help for an extended period of time. This means that the practitioner has to stay in the same pose while stretching the concerned limb fully, while fully concentrating on the pose. This goes a long way in building physical endurance as well as mental concentration.

There are many other health benefits to be derived from practicing Power Yoga on a regular basis. Some of them are listed below:

• It helps improve your stamina as well as endurance
• It makes your muscles and your whole body more flexible and gives you a greater range of movement
• It helps relieve tension, stress and anxiety from the mind of the practitioners
• It helps in toning your muscles and giving your body a toned look
• It helps cleanse internal organs in the body and detoxifies it
• It improves your internal systems like circulatory, respiratory, digestive, metabolic and nervous systems
• It improves the power of concentration and makes the mind more alert

It is important to remember that while Power Yoga is greatly beneficial to the body, its larger aim is the same as classical Yoga, which is unification of body, mind and spirit and equilibrium between all three. With the help of Power Yoga, practitioners can cleanse their bodies and minds, make them healthy and able to pursue spiritual enlightenment. Though the path may be different, the aim remains the same.