Ashtanga Yoga

If taking a yoga class conjures up images of weird hippies twisted into pretzel-like positions with psychedelic sitars playing in the background, it's time you took another look. One of the fastest-growing activities in the fitness field, yoga is an incredible way to improve flexibility, increase strength, improve cardiovascular capacity, reduce stress and develop a mind-body connection.

Yoga is essentially about the basic, fundamental movement of the spine. The idea is to keep the spine healthy and mobile throughout life. In the East, it was originally a spiritual practice, the purpose of which was to get one in touch with the divine or "greater consciousness" that lives inside all of us.

Today, at least in our country, yoga is a popular method of training the body for everything from fitness to relaxation to flexibility to stress management. It is not necessary to give up your religion to do yoga, and you can enjoy the many physical benefits of this fascinating, challenging activity without ever being exposed to its religious or devotional sides.

There are many types of yoga, each with a different emphasis. Yoga can be restorative and therapeutic, or it can be as physically demanding as any sport on the planet. Let's look at three of the main styles practiced in the United States.

Hatha yoga means, literally, all of the physical aspects of yoga. Under the heading of Hatha yoga there are three basic "lineages," or styles of practice. Like different types of martial arts, each style has a different emphasis and may appeal to a different kind of person.

The first kind of Hatha yoga is called Iyenga yoga, which concentrates on alignment and muscle-to-bone relationships. It is fluid and dance-like, and the work is very pose-to- pose, emphasizing grace and simplicity of movement. It is not as physically demanding as some of the other styles, and might be particularly appealing to beginners or the less athletic. Iyenga gives the body tone and flexibility and increases mind-body awareness. It can also reduce stress and induce calm.

Ashtanga yoga is very intense. Much more athletic than the other styles of Hatha yoga, it can be physically demanding. If you're looking to yoga as your main source of fitness activity, this is the route to take. The "power yoga" classes springing up all over the country in health clubs and aerobic studios are hybrids or offshoots of Ashtanga yoga. (Get ready to do lots of push-ups!)

In Ashtanga yoga, you learn a series of postures which you perform repeatedly. There are six series in all, but for the first several years of classes you may just work on the first one. An entire series might take an hour and a quarter to perform. You begin by learning the first few movements and keep adding on new poses as you get better.

Ashtanga builds endurance and strength - runners love it, for example. The fact that you do the same things in each class in the same order creates a growing sense of mastery over the familiar, but difficult, exercises, and makes it easy to chart your progress as you become more proficient.

Next week we'll look at the third type of yoga, called Vini yoga, which focuses on energy, balance and breathing. We'll also look at an interesting "Hollywood" form of yoga and talk about some things you should look for in a yoga class.