If anyone had asked me if there was such a thing as aerobics for yogis, I'd send them packing with a lecture about dippy oxymorons. But that was before last month, when I tried Lisa Van Ahn's IntenSati class at the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis. The New York hit is just reaching Minnesota. In fact, there are only two instructors teaching it in the state. So when my buddy Lynn Nelson invited me, I pounced. Nelson's been going since September and swore it was fun. Then she warned me that there would be lots of yelling. Yelling?

Sure enough, Van Ahn belted out positive affirmations that we echoed throughout the class, which proved to be part aerobics, part yoga, part martial arts, balance work and crunchy-granola feel-good talk. According to IntenSati creator Patricia Moreno, Sati is designed to be a high-energy cardio workout threaded with themes for mindfulness, positive psychology and the law of attraction. Moreno invented this mind/body/cardio blend after struggling to control her weight. Now she's teaching other instructors nationwide. At full intensity, participants burn 600 to 800 calories per class. Want to know how? Check out satilife.

In class, Van Ahn warmed us up while chanting, "This week, who are you becoming?" ... "I take responsibility for my thoughts. I take responsibility for my actions," and "Every day, in a very true way, I co-create my reality."

My first reaction? This class is nuts! But then, I got it. Each movement had a name or phrase. There really was a pose called "responsibility." Who knew?

Van Ahn wasn't nuts. She was using the rhythm of the words to cue a sequence of movements. It proved brilliant and effective. And because we moved at a decent, but not frantic, pace, the 60-year-old grandmother in the back of the room was able to keep up with the 20-year-old in front.