Yoga is becoming increasingly common as another way to exercise the body (and soul!). Most people I know take a yoga class at least once a week for lots of different reasons: fitness, flexibility, strength, peace of mind and spiritual enlightenment. There are so many different styles of yoga around these days! So what exactly is the difference between them all? If you’re new to yoga, how do you know which to choose?
Here’s a little more information about some of the more common styles I’ve seen around town, which will hopefully answer a few of your burning yoga questions!
Ashtanga
Ashtanga Yoga is challenging, physically demanding and fast-paced, and includes strength building exercises such as push-ups and lunges. Like Vinyasa, it is performed in a flowing style, with attention given as much to transitioning gracefully between poses as to the poses themselves.
This form of yoga is made up of a set series of asanas (poses), always in the same order, and becoming more difficult as you move from one series to the next. There are no pauses between each pose; you constantly move from one to the next. So, you do need to be fairly fit in order to keep up. You also need to be flexible although of course in yoga, there are always easier poses to do if you can’t quite get to the intended pose.
As well as building strength and stamina, Ashtanga helps improve balance and concentration.
Meaning: Ashtanga means “eight limbs” in Sanskrit.
Bikram
Bikram Choudhury is credited with being the founder of Bikram yoga, hence the name! Bikram Yoga is well known for being practiced in high temperatures of around 37 °C / 100 °F. The heat is intended to keep your muscles warm so as to prevent injuries and increase flexibility.
This style of yoga is practiced in a sequence of 26 asanas, always performed in the same order. Each pose is intended to stretch and strengthen the specific muscles, ligaments and joints needed for the following posture.
Every muscle group and all five systems of the body are stimulated towards optimal functioning. The end result is an unparalleled feeling of mental and physical well being and relaxation.
If you have any heart problems (or cardio vascular diseases), Bikram Yoga is not recommended due to the heat.
Dru
Dru Yoga uses graceful flowing movements, directed breathing and visualisation to help relieve stress, improve positivity and refocus your mind so that you can have control over your emotions.
It’s a very holistic form of yoga, working on body, mind and spirit by combining physical movements with breathing techniques, mudras (hand and finger movements), affirmations, meditation and visualization techniques. In practicing Dru Yoga, your awareness is drawn to the “Druvakasha”, a place inside yourself that is still and spacious. This is where we store our tranquility and strength, and it is in this place that we are aware of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our being. Being aware of these aspects allows us to heal and integrate them into the body more fully.
The physical movements of Dru Yoga include what are called Energy Block Release sequences. When these sequences are practiced, the body’s energy channels are affected. This is both energising and relaxing for the body. In addition, the body is physically strengthened which helps to improve and provide relief for any musculo-skeletal problems.
Meaning: Dru is derived from the Sanskrit word “druva” which means “still” or “unchanging.”
Hatha
Hatha Yoga describes most of the styles of yoga that incorporate asanas (poses), such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Iyengar. Generally speaking, Hatha refers to a gentle style of practice, comprised of static poses, longer holds and slower movements from one pose to the next.
The goal of Hatha Yoga is to achieve a balance between mind and body. As you train your body physically with asanas, you use pranayama (breathing techniques) to help focus and calm the mind. Control of the breath is said to be vital to the control of the body, and it also encourages an inward focus which can help to develop one’s spirituality.
The physical side of Hatha Yoga is practiced with asanas to strengthen, stretch and tone the body. During a Hatha Yoga session, each asana is held for varying amounts of time and in a series of asanas that are performed in a set order to ensure that muscle groups are slowly warmed up and evenly worked. Many Hatha Yoga poses are quite demanding, requiring focus, strength and agility.
Because the combination of asanas with the pranayma will calm and clear the mind, Hatha Yoga is ideal for leading into meditation, which is a very important part of the spiritual yogic practice. The true aim of meditation is to lead to supreme bliss or enlightenment. Mediation also has a multitude of psychological and physical benefits, including stress relief, peace of mind, pain relief, happiness and improved concentration.
Meaning: Hatha means “wilful” or “forceful” which relate to the asanas. If separated into two words, “ha-tha”, it also means “sun-moon” which relates to balance (as in yin-yang).
Iyengar
Iyengar Yoga is a style of yoga that is focused on precise bodily alignment and symmetry. Developed by BKS Iyengar, after whom this style is named (obvs!), the belief behind Iyengar Yoga is that the body is the vehicle through which all things are experienced, thus you must research and train your body in order to influence and enlighten your experience of the world.
A high attention to detail is paid to each asana to ensure that the pose is accurate, injury is avoided and maximum benefit is achieved. Because Iyengar Yoga focuses heavily on the correct alignment of the body, it can help to eliminate aches and pains and correct the body’s posture. You’ll notice that teachers are actively involved, making sure your asanas are correct and helping you to achieve alignment.
Poses are held for an extended amount of time compared to other yoga styles. Props such as blankets, chairs, blocks, cushions, belts and straps are used to ensure your poses are as accurate as possible. The props are also very beneficial for those who have injuries or aren’t very flexible (yet!).
Iyengar Yoga tends to have more focus on standing poses, which help to build strong legs, improve circulation, improve coordination and balance and build a foundation for students to be able to achieve more advanced asanas.
Kundalini
Kudalini Yoga is practiced with the goal of awakening energy stored at the base of the spine, which is often depicted as a coiled snake. Kundalini focuses on chanting and breathing practices, with less emphasis on asanas. It uses asanas in combination with pranayama (breathing techniques), mudras (hand and finger movements) and bhandas (body locks) to create specific effects within the body.
All asana practices make use of controlling the breath. But in Kundalini, the exploration of the effects of the breath on the poses is essential. Kundalini uses rapid, repetitive movements rather than holding poses for long periods of time, and the teacher will often lead the class in call and response chanting.
The primary purpose of Kundalini is to free the energy in the lower body and allow it to move upwards through the chakras. Kundalini Yoga should always be taught by a teacher who is very experienced in this powerful yoga, because the energy should only be released when guided by another who understands it fully.
Meaning: Kundalini means “coiled” or “coiling.”
Power Yoga
Power Yoga is performed in a heated room and draws from several styles of yoga, in particular Ashtanga and Vinyasa. It’s a more practical form of yoga that was developed for the modernised world, where most people usually don’t practice yoga until adulthood and don’t grow up sitting on floors or in the lotus position, so their bodies are much less flexible. It draws from current knowledge of physiology to ensure that it’s safe for those who aren’t very flexible.
With less emphasis on meditation, spirituality and slow, gentle stretches than other yoga forms, Power Yoga is a vigorous, challenging, fitness-based workout, ideal for those who want to keep fit, increase flexibility, tone and strengthen muscles and burn calories. It doesn’t follow a set series of asanas, so can include more variety from session to session (good for those who get bored easily!).
Shadow Yoga
Shadow Yoga practices three set sequences, leading to the eventual application of “freestyle” yoga, which means the student lets their intuition guide them in their movements. It’s called Shadow Yoga because the body is considered as being composed of layers of frozen shadows. The intention of Shadow Yoga is to dissolve the shadows, which means your mind is released from its conditioning.
As you practice Shadow Yoga, the aim is to achieve the appropriate combination of positions and rhythmical movements to obtain an unobstructed movement of breath, to break down blockages and habits in the physical body and to release your inner powers.
There are twelve primary kinds of positions and movements in Shadow Yoga which have been adapted from the range of human activities including martial arts, dance and from the plant and animal kingdoms.
Vinyasa
Vinyasa Yoga consists of a flowing, linked series of asanas in which movement is synchronised with the breath. That is, you move from one pose to the next on an inhale or exhale. Movement from asana to asana is continuous, smooth, flowing and is more vigorous in comparison to some other styles of yoga. There is much less focus on perfectly aligned postures, thus allowing plenty of room for creative interpretation!
A Vinyasa class will often start with a number of sun salutations to warm up the body for more intense stretching that’s done at the end of class. Expect to have plenty of movement, not just stretching. The speed of the class is dependent on the teacher, but generally you’ll find that in Vinyasa Yoga you’ll move more quickly through the poses.
The purpose of Vinyasa Yoga is to create heat in the body, which in turns leads to purification through increased circulation and sweating. It also improves flexibility as well as the strength of tendons and hard tissues, allowing the student to practice advanced asanas without the risk of injury.
Meaning: Vinyasa means “breath-synchronised movement” or “flow.”
I hope that’s been interesting and informative for you! Time for me to do some sun salutations. Om shanti shanti shanti.
“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
- Siddhartha Gautama Buddha
1 Comment
September 8, 2009 at 6:19 pm
[...] me ages to see any sort of results or substantial changes in my flexibility. While there are many different forms of yoga, with Bikram yoga I went from not being able to touch my toes the first session to bending [...]