Loud and peppy Bollywood music and people in branded sportswear dripping with sweat. If this description conjures up the image of an upmarket gym, it is time you checked out one of the new-age yoga training centres in the city. These are places where the time-tested asanas and breathing techniques have been re-tuned to suit the lifestyle and needs of the city-bred young living on the fast lane.
There are traditionalists who turn their nose up at the metamorphosis of a calming and relaxing form. But there is no dearth of people who argue that change is but inevitable in fast-changing times.
For instance, the popular ‘Power Yoga’ classes in the city offer a mix of postures synchronised with breathing techniques and promise almost instant weight loss. There are yoga studios that offer a combination of various streams of yoga in one-hour sessions. Some offer ‘hot yoga’ sessions in a heated environment (up to 40 degrees Celsius) to “remove toxins” and for “quicker weight loss”. There are also centres that offer personalised yoga in tune with specific needs of individuals, especially for medical reasons. Even as these new forms of yoga are thriving, some of the older schools such as Hata Yoga and Kundalini Yoga too are holding their own with niche practitioners.
City-based trainers say that the new forms are designed to improve flexibility, tone the body, and strengthen muscles. Shivashankar P. Shenoy, yoga trainer in a Rajajinagar institute, says that power yoga demands practitioners to continuously change postures, unlike the traditional forms where more focus is on holding each asana and relaxing in between.
Justifying the need to “tweak” yoga to suit the urban needs, Rubina Kamboj, a yoga teacher, says, “Earlier, people were fit and could spend hours on yoga. But that may not be relevant anymore. How can we ask people to meditate when their mind is running in different directions? They are not even physically fit to mediate.”
Ms. Kamboj argues that yoga can be modified to suit one’s needs and they can begin with postures based on energy level. “For those who cannot do specific asanas , they can seek the help of props initially to improve their flexibility,” she says.
Those getting initiated to yoga too say they are interested in the form for its health benefits. Reshu Agarwal (42), who has been practising yoga for a month, says she was advised to enrol for classes as she had a cervical problem. “Within a month, yoga has helped me rebuild my core strengths and has made me fit,” she beams.
