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| Hello folks, I'm a newbiew to bikram...being doing it for about three weeks now and love it! I was just wondering that the difference is between power yoga and bikram yoga. I've been reading that power yoga is done in a heated room also. Thanks in advance for you help. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
The main characteristic of "power yoga" is usually the use of vinyasas or
sun salutations to move from pose to pose. The sequence of postures
thus flows from one to the next. In this form, power yoga is a generic
derivative of Ashtanga Yoga.
Only some styles of "power" yoga are done in a heated room. Others are
not. Two of the better-known hot power yogas were developed by people
who used to be connected with Bikram. One is Jimmy Barkan's hot vinyasa
yoga, and the other is Baron Baptiste's power yoga. Both Barkan and Baptiste
have incorporated a number of poses that you'll find in Bikram yoga,
such as standing bow-pulling pose. The heat is usually a bit lower than in a
Bikram class (maybe 90 degrees) because you generate a lot more body
heat doing all the vinyasas. Barkan's hot vinyasa is very similar to Baptiste's.
{ Barkan was one of Bikram's senior teachers for about 25 years before they
broke up. Baptiste is one of the best known "power" yoga people. I've heard that
Baptiste was also a Bikram teacher and that he actually lived in Bikram's house
for a year or so. }
I personally don't see any need to heat a studio if you are doing vinyasa
yoga. You can work up a good sweat in a room that's only at 70 or 80 degrees.
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| I guess your definition of power yoga differs from mine as I have never heard of power yoga being done in a heated room. Perhaps a warm room of about 75-80 degrees, but not heated to 110 like Bikram.
Perhaps you mean "hot yoga" which is basically Bikram yoga without the officially licensed name. Meaning your instructor may or may not have trained with Bikram and rec'd the certification. Many teachers have also taught Bikram for a while and then for whatever reason lost or gave up their franchise rights and started calling themselves hot yoga (to avoid a lawsuit for the illegal use of the Bikram trademark).
If you are indeed talking about power yoga as it is commonly called, then you are referring to a style that has come from the ashtanga/vinyasa lineage. A flowing practice that joins breath and movement to generate heat, flexibility and, of course, power. Generally speaking power yoga requires more strength especially in the upperbody because you do more poses like chatturanga and upward and downward facing dog.
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| HOLY KRISHNA!!! Bay Guy and I actually agreed on something! |
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| B ikram
B arkan
B aptiste
B ay Guy
B ower yoga
B ush B ecomes B resident
Too many Bs for one day! Is it a coincidence? Or a conspiracy? 
Edited by afroyogi 2004-11-03 3:32 PM
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| "Too many Bs for one day! Is it a coincidence? Or a conspiracy?"
Better Believe it! Basically been beyond believable all the B's aBounding.
Be Well |
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| Stefan,
You forgot "Bruce's Beachfront Bikram and Brew & Bountiful Bevy of Bodacious Babes" that I'll be opening soon.
B ikram
B arkan
B aptiste
B ay Guy
B ower yoga
B ush B ecomes B resident
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| I've actually been on a schedule of alternating Bikram and Power and I think the styles complement each other well. I love using Bikram to hold the poses longer and get deeper into the poses while Power helps me focus more on aligning the breaths and working the core a little more.
If you're looking for a good power DVD for home practice, Bryan Kest's Power 1-2-3 is excellent and Barons' DVDs are nice as well. For Bikram DVD there's always Tony Sanchez' Yoga Challenge I which is pretty close to a 90-minute Bikram class - not as good as a class, mind you, but the best that I'm aware of. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Hmmm...I personally think that Tony Sanchez is a more interesting yogi than Bikram.
You should check out his Yoga Challenge IV video....
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Bikram Yoga vs. Power Yoga
