Yoga Types: Chose One Which Suits You Best

Yoga is becoming extremely popular all over the world today, even though it had been in practice in the East for centuries. There are a lot of places offering yoga classes taught by trained and experienced instructors, and there is also a great number of types of yoga available. There re types such as Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Power Yoga, etc. So, if you don’t take a well-informed person’s opinion, you can easily get confused as to which type will suit you.

Ashtanga Yoga: In Sanskrit, ‘ashtanga’ means ‘eight limbs’. This yoga is quite energetic and intense, and involves a set of asanas (poses) which is coordinated with breath. Ashtanga yoga can be quite exhausting as it requires you to shift quickly from one asana to the next. You have to be quite flexible to do this type of yoga, and it helps you to increase your body’s flexibility, strength and stamina a lot since it is so demanding physically.

Hatha Yoga: ‘Ha’ means ‘sun’ and ‘tha’ means ‘moon’ in Sanskrit, which is an Indian ancient classical language. In contrast to Ashtanga yoga, the Hatha yoga is slow-paced and mild, and it is best for a beginner to yoga to start off with this yoga. Since it does not involve any difficult asanas, a beginner will be comfortable with this type of yoga. Like all other types of yoga, the Hatha yoga aspires to bring together the body, mind and spirit.

Iyengar Yoga: This yoga is founded on the teaching of B. S. Iyengar and focuses on the proper alignment and form of the body. While Ashtanga yoga involves moving fast from one asana to the next in the sequence, Iyengar yoga concentrates on holding one pose for a longer time before moving on to the next. For this type of yoga, you will need blocks and straps to help align the body into various poses.

Power Yoga: This type of yoga is based on the Western interpretation of the Ashtanga Yoga. It does not always stick to the correct sequence of asanas as prescribed by the Ashtanga yoga, but it does involve moving through various poses without stopping and starting again.

Bikram Yoga: The Bikram yoga is also known as the ‘Hot Yoga’. This is because it is practiced in a room which is heated to 105 degrees and has a humidity of 40%. Usually, the Bikram Yoga involves a sequence of 26 different asanas, and the heated atmosphere helps to loosen muscles. The hot room temperature makes people perspire a lot, and this helps to wash toxins out of the body.

Vinyasa Yoga: ‘Vinyasa’ means a breath-coordinated movement and this is yet another rapid kind of yoga. It begins with salutations to the sun and continues to strong stretching. Each asana is balanced with a counter-asana.

There is no rule about you sticking to one kind of yoga. You can start with an easy one and proceed on to more difficult ones.