The latest spin on yoga [0] is yoga-spin. A sweat-wringing class that starts with a session of flowing power asanas and ends with a heart-pounding stationary bike ride, it’s perfect for yogis who want more cardio and adrenaline junkies who need to add stretch and stillness.

“What I found was that a lot of people who do cycling or spinning don't tend to stretch enough, in fact I rarely see them in a yoga class,” yoga spin instructor Noll Daniel [1], told Fitness Magazine [2]. “People who do yoga hate it, they hate cycling, they hate cardio work in general. So I'm trying to wake them up and say you still need something, you still need to burn fat, you still need to keep your heart healthy. You know, lose a few pounds anyway while you're at it.”

This overlooks the fact that ashtanga and vinyasa forms of yoga and even some kinds of pranayama (yogic breathing) offer cardiovascular benefits. And a recent study [3] shows that yoga helps middle-aged folks lose and keep off weight. But if your yoga practice is more gentle than vigorous, this new fusion can nicely integrate the two. The official purveyors of spin (they own the copyright to Spin and Spinning) have started offering (and have copyrighted) Yoga Spin continuing ed classes [4] for its certified instructors. “In this workshop you’ll learn cycling specific asanas (yoga poses) that help elongate muscles, release tension, deepen the breath and improve posture,” reads the Spinning.com website.

Classes can be found at Chelsea Piers [5] in New York City and places like Yoga Revolution [6] in Western Massachusetts. Or check out Google [7] or Citysearch [8] for Yoga Spin near you.

Photo from Spinning.com