Benefits of power yoga

Power yoga gives your immune system a boost, eliminates toxins and reduces stress - ideal for a working person

Mariam Gabaji April 01, 2013
Our body’s need for self-discipline has gone long ways of showing adverse effects when we do not give it its required dose of physical fitness.

Power yoga is perfect for this as it develops our physical flexibility and nurtures strength of mind at the same time.

I did not realise the importance of this till I began life after graduation as a working person and took up power yoga classes. Women of all ages come, nanis, dadis, newly-weds, single ladies, and for that one hour or so, they let go of everything else and focus on the moves while easing all their tension during the meditation part.

The workout, experienced during power yoga, is intense and utilises the entire body. To hold the series of poses, I have to use muscles in my arms, shoulders, back, legs, feet, and abdomen, which tone and strengthen these muscles.

This workout is also a great way to burn a lot of calories, so you can lose weight and build lean muscle tissue at the same time.

Basically, the exercise is conducted by doing a series of yoga poses while synchronising your breathing patterns to each movement: this is also known as ‘Vinyasa’.

For the observers, the movements may appear soft and free-flowing, comparable to a trance-like dance, but from my perspective, or any other power yogis’, the process of nailing each posture is vigorous. You need to keep pushing and contorting every limb to its limit, while maintaining a strong sense of inner peace and concentration to come into each posture.

One of the major physical benefits of power yoga, which I have experienced myself, is the reduction of stress and tension. While it increases strength, flexibility, and stamina — in order to achieve these, you learn to release stress, and relax the body, in order to get each of the poses right. This is very important for those who have to deal with work stress.

Finally, one of the key reasons power yoga, in my opinion, should be encouraged for everyone is because of the general improvement in health. This is because your immune system is given a boost and becomes more in tune with the body overall. Toxins are also eliminated from the body through sweat while trying to do the challenging poses.

Read more by Marium here
WRITTEN BY:
Mariam Gabaji
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (1)

Romaisa | 10 years ago | Reply I've been a little skeptical about trying out yoga, but your article sure made me think about it. It was a good read :)
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