Unlock YOUR belief in YOGA

Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan recently credited her fitness to S Factor -a form of exercise that combines pole dancing with pilates and yoga. 

"Everyone should try S Factor. It's almost like erotic yoga -all these women in a dark room doing really sexy movements. It's very sexual, and there are poles involved. And you sweat so much, it's so good. The class starts with yoga, and then some stretching that feels like pilates. Then everyone starts to move around the room really slow and really sensual. It's beautiful to watch," she told a website.


But S Factor is not the only `erotic' variant of yoga doing the rounds in the west. TOI looks at five variants that can be rated from interesting to outright bizarre! Interested? Well, read on...

Pole yoga
This form, somewhat similar to what Lindsay practises, is a rage in New York's Brooklyn and is getting a huge number of takers. According to the studio that promotes this form, it has nothing to do with stripping, but has a lot to do with heavy breathing and working out core muscles on the pole.


Hot yoga
Second only to the conventional form, hot yoga is truly `hot' when it comes to popularity.Developed by Bikram Choudhury by sequencing 26 hatha yoga postures to produce optimum results, this form gets its name from the heated chambers where it is practised.According to Choudhury, the human body is most flexible when it is warmed up.


Kama yoga
The mercury soars further with this form that celebrates the sexuality expounded in the Kama Sutra and is aimed at enhancing your sexual prowess. According to proponents, nude erotic yoga (yes, it's also called that!) is practised as a sequence of postures (asanas), in cooperation with, and under the eye of, a partner, who may be a teacher, a student, or a lover. Sweating anyone?


Naked yoga
This one sure turns up the heat, as anyone practising this form needs to do it in the buff. The reason, its proponents say, is that the body needs freedom from restrictions clothes impose to perform its best. The moves, however, are the conventional yoga ones. So, if you are interested in practising this form, make sure you're indoors and the curtains are drawn!


Orgasmic yoga
Well, that's it; here's the maibaap of all yogas bizarre! Described as `a form involving pleasurable, intimate and transformative practices that individuals and couples can do while sexually aroused,' this form surely makes `hot' yoga seem arctic cold.