Well, people are really taking the yoga creative license to the limit these days, incorporating it into all facets of life and exercise programs. Yoga does have a rhythm to it, so we can’t say we’re too surprised by one of the most recent additions to the long line of yoga mutations, Hip Hop Yoga. It’s an obvious combination of hip hop music, dance and yoga, with an emphasis on the dance part.
If Santa Monica’s YogaHop “About” page is any indication:
YogaHop yoga offers a celebratory twist by featuring music of the hip-hop, rock and pop worlds jamming out of booming speakers, headset-microphoned teachers and all the energy of a dance party. The result is an East meets West yoga style that’s athletically fulfilling and spiritually soothing.
The YogaHop philosophy encompasses flowing yoga, exhilirating workouts, and rockin’ music to give you a life-altering experience.
Obviously not your typical yoga experience. But we’re beginning to think there isn’t much to left to the definition of a “typical” yoga experience.
The Gyllenspoons seem to love the workout (according to some far east papers, the only sources reporting it oddly enough).
[Witherspoon’s personal trainer Matthew Reyes]: “Most people think yoga is all granola and hippies, so I love to explain how YogaHop is not like that. Imagine all the benefits of Hatha Yoga, then add chart music that will have you bouncing into the poses.”
Reese, 32, has also taken her boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal along to a couple of the 90-minute classes, which she tries to attend two to three times a week.
It’s even catching on in Canada. A reporter from Calgary, a non-yogi, gave it a go:
There is a real energy and vibe going on with people singing, snapping their fingers and making their yoga movements trance-like and dance-like. The juxtaposition of rhythm on a normally meditative practice has a surprising charge. Hip-Hop Yoga is exercise disguised as fun. Even as I grooved along, I was sweating like a madman. [Calgary Herald]
