Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Getting Jiggy with Power Yoga!!!

A person is never too young or too old to reap the exquisite benefits of yoga. It can be practised for various reasons like relaxation, stretching, breathing, meditation or simply because it is the latest trend in town. The new evolved concept of power yoga has changed the stereotypical mindsets of people about yoga.
I thought that yoga is for oldies who do not have the stamina to go to a gym and exercise strenuously to reduce a few inches. But when the Bollywood beauties turned towards yoga, it surely made me raise my eyebrow.
It all started from none other than Americans. In 2008, 9.7 million Americans practised yoga compared to just 5.7 million in 1998 which is a considerable increase in a country where even population increases scarcely. There are a dozen yoga studios in Manhattan. Bollywood stars love following the western trends. Gradually a number of actresses indulged in practising it like Aishwarys Rai Bachchan, Esha Deol, Sameera Reddy, Kareena Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and the list grows every day.
I did some extensive research and found that yoga has been the fitness mantra of various actresses in the 80s. Hema Malini practises yoga regularly along with her dancing sessions to stay fit. Rekha also had a yoga video in the 80s.
But why is everybody turning to power yoga in this age of treadmills and abs crunches? Maybe it is a new fast-paced variety of all the traditional techniques of shedding extra pounds and looking perfect at all times.
Power yoga has another benefit attached to it. A person no longer has to yearn for his favourite recipes. Eat well and practise yoga is the new mantra for fitness. The latest demand of the audience is that when an actress shed clothes on-screen, she must look perfect, not an inch extra. But why does she need to starve for it? So, power yoga seems to be the easy way out. Moreover, it has spiritual and meditational benefits attached to it.
Kareena Kapoor had her style but she was a little more than required when she joined the industry. She made a good start but eventually her films were not doing well. Then came Tashan which casted Bebo in her zero size figure and the reduced size became the talk of the town.
Shilpa shetty, who was known for her body went the yoga way to promote herself after she won Big Brother, the reality show. Then there was no looking back. Shilpa in Shut Up and Bounce made people go mad about her. She even released her CDs on power yoga in 2008.
It also helps one to reduce stress level. People follow super stars blindly in a country like India. A sexy figure is the biggest dream of every second girl in this country. Power yoga gave us a ray of hope.
According to a research, Asia will be the next growth area for yoga. It is $18 million industry and is being talked about on social networking sites as well.
But power yoga will basically appeal to people who are already quite fit and enjoy exercising. Anyone who has the zeal to reduce must give it a try.
However celebrities that used power yoga technique to reduce were always surrounded by questions. There were speculations raised by the media about the authenticity of the practices used by them to reduce. The truth is not known to anyone. People believe what stars say but the reality is deep rooted into their bosoms.
Well I plan to try the yoga way out. Lets see if it works!!


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