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5 Health Benefits of Baptiste Power Yoga

Your body moves through 11 different stages as you flow through Journey Into Power. From cardio training to balancing to strengthening to stretching, Baptiste yoga provides a full-body workout that offers a multitude of benefits.

One of the most unique aspects of Baptiste Power Yoga is the incredible blend of a physical workout, heart-calming meditation, and refreshing detox. Each time you get on your mat, you know you’re in for a tough workout; with the room heated at 90 degrees, you’re guaranteed to work up a sweat.

The Journey Into Power sequence, founded by yogi Baron Baptiste, is a type of vinyasa yoga, meaning each pose “flows” from one to the next rather than being held for several moments at a time. This faster-paced practice is supported by deep and controlled breathing.

Your body moves through 11 different stages as you flow through Journey Into Power. From cardio training to balancing to strengthening to stretching, Baptiste yoga provides a full-body workout that offers a multitude of benefits.

1. Build Your Functional Strength

Kelly Stine, a teacher at Evolution’s Harrisburg studio, explains that Baptiste Yoga builds your functional strength, or the ability of your muscles to move the joints of your body through their full range of motion while supporting your body weight.

“I’ve been able to heal from a major back injury, two cesarean sections, and a number of minor injuries through the Journey into Power practice alone,” Kelly tells us.

Above: Kelly Stine assisting a student in the Lancaster Studio
Photography: Jenny Foster

The Journey into Power sequence was created to do just this: help the body heal through natural stretching and movement. We spend too much of our lives leading a sedentary lifestyle, which over time can lead to tension, pain, and chronic injury. Regular practice of Baptiste yoga can reduce the risk of injury, make daily tasks easier to perform, improve balance, relieve pain, and allow for better movement coordination. 

2. Improve Your Flexibility

One of the most common misconceptions about yoga is that you have to be flexible in order to practice, which deters a number of people from attending a class. We’re here to tell you that yoga doesn’t require you to be flexible! Yoga is a journey, and part of that journey may be improving your flexibility.

Each pose is connected to your breath, and your breath helps guide you as you challenge yourself to move deeper into the poses. Once you start a regular Baptiste practice, you develop muscle memory that allows you to move further into the Journey into Power sequence. When you challenge your body to sit deeper, bend further, or reach higher, you stretch your muscles and joints that in turn will make you more flexible. Pair that with deep, consistent breath, and you’re set up for success!

3. Learn How to Focus

We practice a focus called Drishti in Baptiste yoga, which is designed to eliminate distractions and decrease the amount of stimulation around us. Our Drishti allows us to focus on the task at hand, whether it’s stability in a balance pose or a chance to clear your mind.

The Journey into Power sequence emphasizes focus in order for us to feel calm, at ease, and present. The beauty of regularly practicing these focal points is that we’re able to take them into our personal lives; when life pulls us in a hundred different directions, our Drishti helps us stay in the moment.

4. Detox Your Body

With the room set at 90 degrees, you know you’re in for an incredible sweat. 

The heat is used as a tool to dig deeper into the body. Our bones become more malleable, as heat softens the tissues and muscles, and we’re able to move into different and deeper poses. Think of it like frozen cookie dough: when it’s rock-solid in the freezer, you can’t do much with it. However, as it starts to warm up, you’re able to mold it into different shapes – same with the body.

Although a hot and humid room could be something to acclimate to at first, the malleability of your body and the purification you’ll feel will get you hooked on the practice. Sweat helps the body release toxins and excess debris, allowing you to walk out of your practice feeling rinsed and renewed.

5. Maintain Youth + Vitality

Believe it or not, studies have shown that doing yoga is one of the best ways to maintain your youth. Not only are your muscles strong and limber, but a regular yoga practice has been shown to decrease stress levels and ward off the effects of gravity.

Ward off the effects of gravity? You read it right – any type of inversion we practice, whether it’s a handstand, waterfall, or downward-facing dog, placing our head below our waists stimulates blood flow to the face, which has been shown to enhance immunity.

We all know that managing stress is the key to longevity, and a regular yoga practice can help. Because yoga is a mind-body exercise, we’re able to achieve relaxation by matching our breath with our movement. If you’re the type of person who needs more intense physical activity to relieve stress, Baptiste yoga gives you the freedom to push yourself to your limits.
There are several health benefits to practicing Baptiste yoga, but above all else, we love the community feel we have here at Evolution Power Yoga. If you’ve considered trying out a Baptiste yoga class, we encourage you to practice with us!

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