The new yoga teacher I’m seeing every Thursday at 4 p.m. is a wonderfully odd duck. Last week, she played a depressing Nick Drake tune at what’s supposed to be the most blissful, relaxed moment of class. Yesterday–ZAP! POW! CRASH!–she played the highly-orchestrated “Superman Returns” summer-movie soundtrack through the first hour of a ninety-minute Ashtanga class. And, this time…it pretty much worked.

We blasted out of Utkatasana (Chair Pose), flew over the planet in Virabhadrasana III (Warrior Three), gliding down to the floor much later for Salabhasana (the Locust). At the close, we bowed to our newly energized “inner superheroes,” and I sailed out the door (forgetting to leave my mat in the rack).

Every religion has its superheroes, and Hinduism is no exception. Deepak Chopra and Richard Branson launched Virgin Comics last year, a series that features super-human do-gooders.