Stretching the limits

Sweat drips like a leaky faucet on the yoga mats. Five minutes of Sun Salutations and some students are already panting, trying to keep their breath in tune with the movement.

Think yoga’s all about relaxing, meditating and slow, gentle stretches? Then you’ve never tried Ashtanga.

This athletic style of yoga, one of several different types practiced in eastern Washington and North Idaho, has been around for thousands of years. But it’s becoming increasingly popular in the United States as followers discover that Ashtanga can help them build strength and endurance.

“I was looking for something that was physically challenging, but I needed something that had more meaning behind it” than just working out at the gym, says Katie Gehn, an Ashtanga instructor and owner of Spokane’s City Yoga studio.

Before moving to Spokane, Gehn was a member of the U.S. Women’s Rowing Team. She was an alternate on the 1996 Olympic team. But when she retired from rowing, she found that her muscles were tight and bulky. She stumbled on a “power yoga” class, similar to Ashtanga, and discovered her perfect fitness outlet.

“Even though I was in good shape for rowing, I wasn’t as strong as I am now,” Gehn says.

Ashtanga is one of many types of hatha (translated as the balance between sun and moon) yoga practiced in this country. Most forms of hatha focus on postures and breathing, designed to build physical and mental strength while connecting the mind and body.

Many of the poses are the same, but each style of practice takes a slightly different approach.

Here’s a look at some of the types of yoga practiced in the Inland Northwest:

In Ashtanga, practitioners try to link their breathing to a fast-paced sequence of postures. Students work their way through six series of increasingly difficult poses. (The sixth series is so difficult, there aren’t any practitioners living who can do it.) As poses get more difficult, students are asked to support their weight off the floor and perform backbends and other feats of flexibility and strength.

In Spokane, Ashtanga is taught at City Yoga, 159 S. Lincoln St. Call 869-4121 or log on to www.cityyogaspokane.com. There are also Ashtanga classes at FSG Yoga Studio, 20 W. Main St. Call 218-3903 or log on to http://yoga.fsgstudio.com/.

Power Yoga is an “Americanized” version of Ashtanga. It’s less-structured than traditional Ashtanga, allowing the instructor more freedom in selecting poses to perform.

Power Yoga is popular at health clubs and it’s also taught at FSG Yoga Studio.

The practice tends to draw people who are “athletically focused,” says FSG owner Elizabeth McElveen.

“That doesn’t mean they’re an athlete,” McElveen says. “They’re motivated by the physical benefits of yoga. The spiritual side tends to come after that.”

One of the newest and fastest-growing styles of yoga is Anusara. The system, which means “flowing with grace” or “following your heart,” was founded by John Friend in 1997.

Anusara classes center on alignment and attitude.

“The focus is to have the heart govern the yoga,” says Karen Sprute-Francovich, who owns Garden Street Yoga in Coeur d’Alene. “It’s yoga from the inside out.”

Rather than focusing on a sequence of poses, Anusara classes concentrate on a class of poses, such as backbends.

You’ll find Anusara classes in Coeur d’Alene at Garden Street Yoga, 602 E. Garden St. Call (208) 660-9746 or go to http://users.adelphia.net/~yogamind/

index.html for more information. Anusara is also practiced in Coeur d’Alene at Blue Lotus Sanctuary, 613 Dollar St., (208) 665-1946 or www.bluelotussanctuary.com.

At Spokane’s Radha Yoga Center, students work their minds as much, if not more, than their bodies. Practitioners perform traditional hatha yoga poses, but the center also offers many classes exploring yoga’s spiritual side.

The center’s goal is to practice “yoga for an inspired life,” says instructor Janet Brown.

Students are encouraged to bring notebooks to many of the classes, including Symbolism and Dreams and the Hidden Language of Hatha Yoga.

The Radha Yoga Center is at 406 S. Coeur d’Alene St. in Browne’s Addition. Call 838-3575 or log on to www.radha.org/Spokane for more information.

A rigorous attention to detail is the cornerstone of Iyengar, one of the most popular types of yoga practiced in the United States.

“It’s very technical, really precise in its alignment,” says Alison Rubin, director of Spokane’s Harmony Yoga LLC.

Iyengar students use props such as rolled blankets, straps and blocks to ensure that postures are performed correctly.

“Usually you don’t move on until you feel comfortable with wherever you are,” Rubin says.

In Iyengar, poses are generally held longer than in other types of yoga. This allows students to focus on alignment and the intricacies of each posture.

“You gain flexibility, strength, mobility and also the ability to quiet your mind,” she says.

Iyengar is the primary type of yoga offered at Spokane’s Harmony Yoga. The studio is located at 1717 W. Sixth Ave, 747-4430 or www.harmonyoga.com.