Yoga that touches the heart

What a flower has in common with yoga is anyone's guess. That's until you meet Frenchman Gilles Chuyen and experience a class of 'Flower Yoga' conducted by him.

"The class doesn't have a rigid structure and is not time bound. It starts and ends with a meditation, involving breathing and visualisation, especially focusing on the opening of the heart chakra, like a lotus flower, hence the name Flower Yoga," says Gilles who chose Delhi over France to make a career in dance.

So while Madison Avenue in New York is abuzz with gastronomic yoga, Saket here in New Delhi is being treated with Flower Yoga, a heady cocktail of yoga, pilates and dance.

Gilles does emphasise, however, that this isn't a class for those who find yoga a grind. "Flower yoga is very much grounded in yoga. Yet it's different from yoga in the sense that it goes beyond the physicality of yoga and aims at achieving flexibility of mind along with the body through a synchronisation of movement, breath, thoughts and emotions," he says.

A choreographer, dancer and actor, Gilles has been practising dance since the age of nine. He is trained in ballet, jazz and contemporary dance and has been teaching dance in Delhi for the past 15 years.

According to Gilles, he designed Flower Yoga for those who are curious to plumb the depths of their soul and 'rise above the trivialities' even as they build their fitness levels. "Despite the chaotic environment of people's lives in Delhi, many are in harmony with their inner selves, whereas those in the West only appear calm. From the outside they seem to be in peace with themselves but in reality they are very un-centred," he says.

By combining Pilates (which strengthens the core muscles) and yoga postures (which stretches the spine) Flower Yoga aims at fitness and reshaping as well as creating a sense of peace and flexibility of body and mind.

During the class, students go from one movement to another in a flow, that opens their bodies like flowers. "The very substance of Flower Yoga is flow. It has elements of yoga but it is not static," says Gilles. It aims to open the heart chakra or anahata, the fourth primary chakra located at the center of the chest dealing with compassion and unconditional love.

In Sanskrit, anahata means unhurt so the chakra evokes unconditional love and forgiveness to get over the feelings of jealously, anger, fear and insecurity. Flower Yoga differs from other fitness forms such as Yogalates in various ways.

According to Gilles, it's a class where you experience the benefits after the class is over, when you do muscular dance meditation by closing your eyes and letting your body loosen. The session ends with a mental visualisation of images guided by the instructor through music. "As the class comes to an end, you feel very relaxed not just in the body but in the mind. Your mind empties itself from thoughts," says 23 year-old Sanjay Khan, who takes contemporary dance and Flower Yoga classes.

Another exercise created by Gilles is Salsa Aerobics. According to Gilles this is unlike Flower Yoga since it's fast, upbeat and an ideal choice for restless or high energy people. The fitness routine is a blend of various Latin dance styles such as salsa, mambo, cha cha cha, tango with the intent of cardio and full body workout and aerobic exercises for flexibility, muscular strength, and cardiovascular fitness. "

I feel rejuvenated when early in the morning I perform sensual dance movements to Latin music in the plaza of the mall and not in a stuffy gym," says 26 year-old Aarti Seth.

Salsa Aerobics is an ideal workout if you want to get rid of extra flab as it works on the entire body. It involves a lot of footwork and hip work, which works your leg from ankle to hips giving you shapely legs and toned butt. It also builds toned biceps as you make use of your arms, shoulders and chest. And, most importantly, it works greatly on your abdominal muscles which cover the sides of your body at the waist and obliques. Overall, it burns calories and improves heart rate, breathing and balance.

According to Gilles, Salsa Aerobics is a creation born out of his 30 years of experience in different forms of dance. The philosophy of the class is using the sensuality and appeal of Latin music to create a mood of fun and celebration and make fitness easy and effortless.

"Having been into intense fitness regimes, what appeals me most about the Salsa Aerobics class is that the physical fitness can be so much fun," says Aarti. And, to make the class interesting Gilles makes sure every session of Salsa Aerobics has a new set of dance movements. "I never feel I have come for a workout as it's not at all strenuous.

In fact, it calms your mind. Also, what makes such fitness programmes different is that even after you discontinue it's unlikely you would experience any adverse reactions like you do after you stop working out in a gym," says thirty-two year-old Prince Uppal.

Aerobics, which has a number of dance-like exercises, is based on oxygen-consumption equivalency as they use oxygen to let the muscle generate energy. It makes your heart stronger and efficient by repetitively doing the exercises that work on large muscle groups and breathing hard.

Dancing improves cardiovascular function by raising a dancer's heart rate for sustained periods of time to boost heart's strength and the body's endurance level. Usually, dance is associated with fun, which is true as it distracts the mind completely and lifts it to an altogether different plane.

But, more than that dance is about the connection between the mind and body; dance bridges the gap between the two. "A flexible body alone doesn't make a good dancer. It's the easy connectivity between mind and body," adds Gilles.