Recent studies indicate that hybrid yoga is the fastest growing segment of all yoga styles. Some people prefer to adhere to a style that has maintained a certain “integrity” in the sense that the sequencing and basic alignment principals remain the same after many years. I appreciate this idealism, but at the same time as a teacher, love to explore the creative possibilities that result from combining yoga with other exercise systems.
Personally, after many years of studying and practicing traditional yoga styles, I find it stimulating to create variations of a basic posture with the addition of free weights and micro movements. Just as in Iyengar and other styles that use props to enhance the experience and efficacy of a posture, in Pulse Yoga we use free weights and micro movements to do accomplish this. As yoga practitioners, we live in a time where we have access to powerful established yoga traditions from ancient times, as well as other effective exercise systems. How exciting to have the freedom to explore the potential benefits of combining them.
Who knows, if any of the current hybrid yoga styles survive the test of time, then perhaps these teachers are creating the tradition yoga styles of the future! Time will tell!
