Yoga Sneaks Its Way Into All Sorts of Sports and Fitness Classes

July 27, 2006 — -- Marisa Parella stops sharply. Her toes hover just centimeters from the edge of the yoga mat.

She almost forgot to bow before starting Budokon class, a workout that fuses yoga with various martial arts, including karate, jiu-jitsu and tae kwon do.

Nearby, Juliana Bonilla was already on the mat at DC Aikido Dojo in Washington, bending down to touch her toes after pausing for a moment to adjust the white martial arts belt that is wound around her waist.

The white belt is the mark of a novice -- a teacher in training -- and most importantly for Bonilla, it means she is one step away from receiving an embroidered red belt that will give her teacher status.

"It's not just a workout you do for an hour," she said. "It's a lifestyle change. Budokon has allowed me to step back and look at things in my life."

With 43 percent more Americans currently practicing yoga than in 2002, according to the second annual "Yoga in America" survey collected by the Harris Interactive Service Bureau on behalf of Yoga Journal, the thirst for "yoga hybrids" like Budokon is also on the rise.

From disco yoga to yoga in the nude, gyms across the country are reshaping yoga to satisfy more than 16.5 million yoga enthusiasts nationwide, while simultaneously luring an American culture that pounces on fitness fads.

But, warns Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise, while fitness hybrids encourage creativity and make exercise more appealing, some classes could strip yoga of its value.

"It's just trying to be innovative to attract an audience," Bryant said. "In the quest for making things new and different and innovative they will compromise some of the benefits."

According to a 2005 American Council on Exercise study, yoga alone has significant physical benefits.

Thirty-four women who participated in the study increased their strength and flexibility significantly over an eight-week period.