Should yoga rock? Should it spin? Should it dance? Should there be walking with your warrior one and dumbbells with your downward dog?

According to a slew of nontraditional yoga classes and studios sprouting up around Arroyoland, the answer is a resounding yes. The reaction of traditional yogis who typically revere the spiritual benefits? It may surprise you. I say whatever the motivation, if it brings them to the mat so that they can have a deeper experience of themselves, thats the perfect introduction for that person, says Pete Lee, who teaches kundalini yoga, a Sikh-based tradition.

Indeed, YogaWorks Pasadena touts its cardio-flow yoga class by noting its earth-bound payoff: Your ultimate goal may be enlightenment, but it never hurt anyone to develop a hot booty along the way. Similar sentiments led yoga celeb Colleen Saidman Yee to create her Calorie-Killer Yoga DVD, which comes out in March. As I get older, I realize the benefits of including cardio and strength into my asana practice, she told Arroyo Monthly. It doesnt hinder the practice leading to or becoming meditation. (But she cautioned that not all yoga-hybrid classes are created equal: The main problem is not enough study for some of the hybrids and the result is poor alignment and very poor sequencing, which can lead to injury.)

Crunch in Burbank also provides booty aid in its AntiGravity Yoga class, which incorporates dance, Pilates and calisthenics in a trapeze-like hammock. Yes, a hammock. New York Citybased Unnata Aerial Yoga takes the concept even further by combining traditional yoga with aerial acrobatic training using a soft fabric trapeze, which makes inversions easier. According to the Unnata website, by supporting the weight of the body, the fabric trapeze or hammock helps students quickly achieve advanced traditional yoga postures that would otherwise take years to learn.

Prefer a more streamlined workout? Try a BarWorks class (a strength-building class that incorporates ballet barre work to complement ones yoga practice) or Yoga With Ropes (which incorporates a rope wall to enable deeper release into the poses), all offered at the Pasadena studio.

Meanwhile, Rock It Workouts in Pasadena offers Yoga Rock: We mix incredible music with incredible sculpting fusions that work to balance your mind, body and soul, according to the Rock It website. It also offers vigorous Rock Your Buti classes in Buti Yoga, which fuses yoga, tribal dance and plyometrics (a training technique that boosts strength by making muscles exert maximum force in as short a time as possible, such as repeated jumping). Derived from the Marathi word Buti, meaning the cure to something hidden or kept secret (but serendipitously being a homonym for booty), its objective is to guide women through movement, nutrition and wellness that supports the female spirit transforming lives from the inside-out Buti combines various styles of hatha yoga with tribal-influenced dance sequences to keep the heart rate up, free the female spirit and help women form a tribe or sisterhood, according to the Buti website.

Then theres Pasadenas YogaHop, which bills itself as the home of high energy, fun yoga 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 thats athletically fulfilling and spiritually soothing, the website says.

On the tamer side, Descanso Gardens in La Caada Flintridge offers members-only classes that combine a 25-minute fitness walk and 60-minute yoga class. At Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, both members and nonmembers can attend outdoor yoga classes.

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Yoga 2.0

Step aerobics is a form of aerobic power distinguished from other types of aerobic exercise by its use of an elevated platform (the step). The height can be tailored to individual needs by inserting risers under the step. Step aerobics classes are offered at many gyms and fitness centers which have a group exercise program.

Step aerobics was innovated by Gin Miller around 1989. After a knee injury, Gin consulted with an orthopedic doctor, who recommended she strengthen the muscles supporting the knee by stepping up and down on a milk crate and from this she developed the step regimen.

Step aerobics can also be involved in dancing games, such as Dance Dance Revolution or In the Groove.

Often moves are referred to as Reebok step moves in reference to one of the first makers of the plastic step commonly used in gyms.

The "basic" step involves stepping one foot first on the step then the other on top of the platform then stepping the first foot back on the floor with the second following. A "right basic" would involve stepping right foot up, then the left, then returning to the floor alternating right then left.

Many instructors of step will switch immediately between different moves, for example between a right basic and a left basic without any intervening moves, forcing people to "tap" their foot instead of shifting weight. However, one form of step is called tap-free or smooth step in which feet always alternate without the ambiguous "taps" that can make learning step difficult for beginners. This requires a bit of foresight and planning by the instructor in order to insert a transitional or switching move that maintains the natural alternating weight shift akin to walking. For example, from a series of right basics one may insert a "knee up" (which involves stepping up and lifting the knee and returning the lifted leg to the ground, thereby switching feet) and then continuing to a left basic. However, this requires planning and the extra beats required for the transitional move.

Common Moves include:

Many instructors will prepare a set of moves that will be executed together to form the choreography of the class. Usually, the choreography will be timed to 32 beats in a set, ideally switching legs so that the set can be repeated in a mirrored fashion. A set may consist of many different moves and the different moves may have different durations. For example, a basic step as described above takes 4 beats (for the 4 steps the person takes). Similarly, the "knee up" move also takes 4 beats. Another common move, the repeater knee, is an 8-beat move.

Classes vary in the level of choreography. Basic level classes will tend to have a series of relatively basic moves strung together into a sequence. More advanced classes incorporate dance elements such as turns, mambos, and stomps. These elements are put together into 2-3 routines in each class. One learns the routines during the class and then all are performed at the end of the class. Regardless, of the complexity of the choreography, most instructors offer various options for different levels of intensity/dance ability while teaching the routines.

Step aerobics helps burn calories and fat. It also helps to reduce stress, promote restful sleep, strengthen muscles and gives the body a more streamline appearance. The number of calories burned depends on the speed of movements, step height, and length of exercise. Exercise sessions can create social connections with others and step as well as low-impact aerobics is suitable for all ages, low cost, and has no restrictions on place.

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Step aerobics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia