What are the different styles of yoga?
There are several popular styles of yoga in the West and it can be confusing for students to know what all the differences are. If you are practicing yoga for general health it’s probably more important to find a class that you enjoy and not worry so much about the style. If you want to deepen your practice or just explore what yoga has to offer the following simple style descriptions may be helpful. Keep in mind that the qualities you cultivate physically in your practice you will also cultivate mentally so choose wisely! And since no two teachers are alike, even if they teach the same style, you should always try several teachers before coming to any conclusions. • Hatha: this is a general term used to describe a practice of physical postures (asanas) and breath work. • Freedom style: teaches you to “do your own yoga” creatively and safely by listening to your inner guide as you move through the poses with focus on the breath, your own limits and lines of energy (Kelly teaches Freedo
There are many types of yoga, but most of the styles you’ll see in a yoga class (with the exception of kundalini yoga) fall under the umbrella of hatha yoga, or the yoga of physical postures. Hatha yoga classes are further divided into many different schools, including the following: Ashtanga yoga: Very vigorous, fast-paced style according to the teachings of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Anusara yoga: Alignment-based, expressive practice created by John Friend Iyengar yoga: Precise and alignment-based according to the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar Vinyasa or “power” yoga: Vigorous, faster-paced style based on ashtanga yoga Viniyoga: Therapeutic style based on the teachings of Desikachar Kundalini: Based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan: for more on kundalini yoga, click here.
At its most basic, yoga is a set of spiritual practices originating in ancient India. While most people in the Western world think of yoga as a form of physical exercise, it actually encompasses much more. Even when only the physical branch of yoga is considered, many different styles exist today, from the traditional to the trademarked Bikram style. The Bhagavad Gita, a text dating from the first few centuries BCE and considered the definitive source of Hindu philosophy, mentions four branches of yoga. Karma yoga refers to one’s action in the world, Jnana yoga is the development of knowledge and the mind, Bhakti yoga is the worship of a deity, and Raja yoga is meditation. The style of yoga most familiar to those in the Western world, consisting of the practice of asanas or poses in order to reach a meditative state, is a medieval development of Raja yoga known as Hatha yoga. Today, Hatha yoga is practised the world over for both its aid in meditation and its physical health benefits.
Hatha-Yoga , is the classic yoga practice and it refers to the 5000 year old practice of yoga postures. In the recent decades, however, because of trademark policy yoga teachers created different names for their own style of yoga. For instance: Iyengar, Bikram, Power, Vinyasa, Kundalini, Ashtanga, are some of the many styles of Hatha-Yoga today. YOGAMATRIX STUDIO calls its classes Hatha-Yoga because our instructors come from diverse yoga background and all our classes incorporate a blend of styles.
