In this 80-minute live class audio by instructor Tilak Pyle, the emphasis is truly on the “power” part of the title. Although the practice offers its share of peaceful poses as well, including gentle opening postures and a sinfully long savasana, Pyle manages to sneak some pretty powerful poses into the middle of the session.

The practice begins with a few minutes of silent meditation and continues with some simple seated stretches, including a twist. Moving onto all-fours, Pyle leads the class through some forehead-to-knee stretches and a nice shoulder opener. Continuing to take things relatively slowly, he then offers some great hip openers via a lunge series that includes low lunge, high lunge, crescent lunge, and lizard’s pose. At this point, however, things get a bit more strenuous, as Pyle leads his students into a standing pose flow which includes warrior 1, standing splits, knee-to-chest, tree, standing hand-to-foot, one-legged dog/plank/cobra vinyasa, and crescent lunge—this is tough! Of course, the entire series is repeated on the other side.

Following the powerful standing work, Pyle brings the class to the floor for some unique variations in hero’s pose, including a backbend move and a twist. He then allows the class a brief rest on their stomachs before flipping over to their backs, again stepping up the challenge with core work. Relaxing forward bends follow as well as a seated twist (easy noose pose), and then it’s back to a lying position for a wonderfully long (about 16 minutes) savasana. Here Pyle facilitates the relaxation by going through each area of the body in turn and reminding participants to relax that area. He concludes the practice with a brief seated meditation.

This audio definitely provides a nice balance between strength and relaxation. It’s appropriate for experienced beginners to more intermediate and advanced practitioners; it is likely to appeal most to those who crave a powerful yoga practice that’s not “power” yoga.