Trends in yoga

We already know all about the relaxing, fitness and health benefits of hitting the mat, but what are the trends in yoga that have us captured at the moment?

As technology continues to crank up the pace of our lives to almost unbreathable levels, it’s no surprise that yoga’s popularity remains on the increase. The essence of yoga is connection; recognising and bringing back together the different parts of ourselves – body, mind and spirit and helping us to balance, be calm and be present. As more and more of us look to our yoga mats for some much-needed down-time, the ancient practice is being given some seriously creative and unexpected twists. Here are just a few of the latest trends…

Hot Pod Yoga

Fancy doing yoga inside what feels like a giant bouncy castle (with a solid floor)? The founders of Hot Pod Yoga have created a unique hot yoga environment – a warm, purple-lit cocoon of peacefulness. The heat feels more manageable than a Bikram studio while remaining warming and detoxifying, and the postures and sequencing are accessible as well as authentic and recognisably ‘yoga.’ The best thing about the pods? They travel – to Birmingham, Swansea and beyond, making Hot Pod Yoga accessible to more people and also allowing them to pop up in some seriously quirky locations.

Buti Yoga

Buti Yoga has an extensive online offering, but recently landed in the UK when founder and celebrity yoga teacher Bizzie Gold flew in from LA to train the first UK Buti Yoga teachers at top London gym Gymbox. The Buti Yoga lifestyle and philosophy is grounded in alignment, transformation and female empowerment and this is reflected in the strong physical practice – a high-energy, fierce and seriously effective fusion of dynamic yoga, primal movement, tribal dance and plyometrics.

Voga

Where sun salutations meet Madonna, Voga is, as the name suggests, a fusion between yoga and the 1980s dance craze of ‘voguing.’ Yoga teacher and former fashion and film set designer Juliet Murrell dreamt up this unlikely but creative blend, which offers a real cardio workout, but maybe most importantly a serious dose of fun and escapism.

Yoga raves

Speaking of fun… With its unique invitation to ‘rave your way into the day,’ Morning Gloryville and its unique brand of ‘conscious clubbing’ has exploded into a global movement – launching in 15 cities in the last six months and featuring world-class DJs. The idea? To literally turn clubbing upside down (events are from 6.30-10.30am!) and to invite the crowd to sip on superfood smoothies as they dance, move and yoga their way into the day. If you can’t bring yourself to set the alarm that early, Black and Light Yoga offers evening blacklight (UV Light) yoga and dance parties with live DJs.

Yoga fashion

With the line between working out and going out blurring and with so many new hybrid yoga-based workouts, the leading boutique yoga and fitness wear labels have recognized that we need a wardrobe to match. Cutting edge brands are blending fashion, performance and mindfulness and there’s no shortage of creativity and innovation. Just look at London-based Five Feathers and Los Angeles-based Teeki (who even create their yoga pants out of recycled plastic bottles!).