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Which Yoga Style Is Right For You?
| Types Of Yoga | Yoga Types | Yoga Styles | Different Yoga Styles | What Is Vinyasa | What Is Hatha | What Is Restorative Yoga |
If you have ever tried yoga and think it is not for you, you just haven’t found the right style. Yoga is an amazing mind and body practice. It good is for everyone, including people with various health conditions, pregnant women, and even kids.
But there are so many styles of yoga and they are all so different from each other. How do you know which yoga style is right for you? Continue reading this article to learn about the popular styles of yoga and how to find the right one for you, as well as about the benefits of this practice in general.
Why You Should Try Yoga
Scientific research has found strong evidence of yoga being good for both physical and mental health. If the research-based benefits of yoga are not enough for you, just ask a friend that practices yoga regularly to learn how it makes them feel.
In the transformative practice of yoga, we often encounter various emotional challenges, and one such challenge can be the overwhelming burden of overthinking after being cheated on. Yoga offers us a sanctuary where we can begin to heal and regain mental clarity. By embracing the mindful asanas and meditative techniques, we can gently release the grip of these intrusive thoughts and find our way back to emotional balance.
Here are the main benefits of yoga:
But there are so many styles of yoga and they are all so different from each other. How do you know which yoga style is right for you? Continue reading this article to learn about the popular styles of yoga and how to find the right one for you, as well as about the benefits of this practice in general.
Why You Should Try Yoga
Scientific research has found strong evidence of yoga being good for both physical and mental health. If the research-based benefits of yoga are not enough for you, just ask a friend that practices yoga regularly to learn how it makes them feel.
In the transformative practice of yoga, we often encounter various emotional challenges, and one such challenge can be the overwhelming burden of overthinking after being cheated on. Yoga offers us a sanctuary where we can begin to heal and regain mental clarity. By embracing the mindful asanas and meditative techniques, we can gently release the grip of these intrusive thoughts and find our way back to emotional balance.
Here are the main benefits of yoga:
- It improves muscle strength and flexibility.
- Yoga eases back pain, lower limb pain, hand pain and improves posture.
- It helps manage stress and anxiety.
- Practicing yoga regularly improves the quality of sleep.
- Yoga boosts your immune system and metabolism.
5 Popular Yoga Styles And What They Are Good For
As noted above, there are different types of yoga. While all yoga types are healthy, you will only benefit from yoga if you practice the style that makes your body feel good and you enjoy the training process.
Here are the 5 popular yoga styles.
1. Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is one of the most popular yoga styles. The yoga places near you most likely offer hatha yoga classes. This is a branch of yoga that includes a set of physical exercises (poses), breathing techniques, and meditation. When going to a Hatha yoga class, expect to be holding poses for long periods of time.
Aside from being a separate branch of yoga, Hatha yoga is also a general term used to refer to all physical postures in yoga. This yoga style is one of the best yoga styles for beginners as it is slow, gentle, and focuses on static poses. With this said, advanced yoga practitioners can do hatha yoga too as this yoga styles has many complex asanas too.
2. Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa yoga is a style of yoga where breath is linked to movement and you transition from one pose to another very smoothly. Flowing from one posture into another is the reason vinyasa is often called vinyasa flow or flow yoga.
While vinyasa yoga is very athletic and essentially a full-body workout, it is still great for beginners. With time, vinyasa yoga will improve your balance, strength, and flexibility.
As noted above, there are different types of yoga. While all yoga types are healthy, you will only benefit from yoga if you practice the style that makes your body feel good and you enjoy the training process.
Here are the 5 popular yoga styles.
1. Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is one of the most popular yoga styles. The yoga places near you most likely offer hatha yoga classes. This is a branch of yoga that includes a set of physical exercises (poses), breathing techniques, and meditation. When going to a Hatha yoga class, expect to be holding poses for long periods of time.
Aside from being a separate branch of yoga, Hatha yoga is also a general term used to refer to all physical postures in yoga. This yoga style is one of the best yoga styles for beginners as it is slow, gentle, and focuses on static poses. With this said, advanced yoga practitioners can do hatha yoga too as this yoga styles has many complex asanas too.
2. Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa yoga is a style of yoga where breath is linked to movement and you transition from one pose to another very smoothly. Flowing from one posture into another is the reason vinyasa is often called vinyasa flow or flow yoga.
While vinyasa yoga is very athletic and essentially a full-body workout, it is still great for beginners. With time, vinyasa yoga will improve your balance, strength, and flexibility.
3. Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga is the yoga style you should choose if you are looking for a practice that is restful and passive rather than active and requiring a lot of physical strength.
This yoga style includes a lot of stretching and spending more time in certain poses. During the practice, the body moves slowly and you do only a few poses.
During restorative yoga, you use yoga blocks, blankets, and bolsters to hold different yoga poses for longer periods of time. The effects of this practice include deep relaxation and enhanced body and mind connection.
4. Ashtanga Yoga
Unlike restorative yoga, ashtanga yoga is a very dynamic style of yoga. It is a sequence of yoga poses performed in a specific fixed order. When switching from one pose to another, the focus should be kept on breath and energy. As a result, ashtanga is good for not only physical but also mental health.
If you are a beginner, ashtanga yoga might be a good yoga style to start your yoga practices. However, you should make sure to start with a beginner’s class as ashtanga yoga is physically demanding.
5. Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Activation is more spiritual compared to some other yoga styles. This practice includes breathwork, mantras, and meditations that activate spiritual energy and release kundalini energy, said to sit in the lower spine. While Kundalini yoga is not the same as Kundalini Activation, it can still awaken this energy more directly, often leading to profound spiritual experiences and heightened states of consciousness.
Kundalini yoga is quite intense as it has both physical, mental, and emotional aspects. It doesn’t include as much movement as hatha yoga or vinyasa. But it includes a lot of repetitive and precise poses, as well as singing and chanting.
Restorative yoga is the yoga style you should choose if you are looking for a practice that is restful and passive rather than active and requiring a lot of physical strength.
This yoga style includes a lot of stretching and spending more time in certain poses. During the practice, the body moves slowly and you do only a few poses.
During restorative yoga, you use yoga blocks, blankets, and bolsters to hold different yoga poses for longer periods of time. The effects of this practice include deep relaxation and enhanced body and mind connection.
4. Ashtanga Yoga
Unlike restorative yoga, ashtanga yoga is a very dynamic style of yoga. It is a sequence of yoga poses performed in a specific fixed order. When switching from one pose to another, the focus should be kept on breath and energy. As a result, ashtanga is good for not only physical but also mental health.
If you are a beginner, ashtanga yoga might be a good yoga style to start your yoga practices. However, you should make sure to start with a beginner’s class as ashtanga yoga is physically demanding.
5. Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Activation is more spiritual compared to some other yoga styles. This practice includes breathwork, mantras, and meditations that activate spiritual energy and release kundalini energy, said to sit in the lower spine. While Kundalini yoga is not the same as Kundalini Activation, it can still awaken this energy more directly, often leading to profound spiritual experiences and heightened states of consciousness.
Kundalini yoga is quite intense as it has both physical, mental, and emotional aspects. It doesn’t include as much movement as hatha yoga or vinyasa. But it includes a lot of repetitive and precise poses, as well as singing and chanting.
How To Find The Right Yoga Style For You?
Reading about different yoga styles may not be enough to make a choice. Here are three things we recommend you do to find the yoga style that suits you.
1. Define your purpose
What is your purpose for practicing yoga? Gaining stamina and getting physically more fit, enhancing mind and body connection, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving balance – these are all reasons to start practicing yoga.
Once you decide for yourself what you want to achieve with yoga, it will be easier to narrow down the list of yoga styles and make a choice
2. Look for a certified instructor
It is essential for beginners to start practicing yoga with a certified and experienced instructor. Only in this case you will get everything right and will be able to decide if a particular yoga style fits you.
3. Sign up for a yoga class
This can be done online or offline. Many yoga centers offer basic yoga classes. These classes are for beginners who are yet to learn the basic yoga moves.
This class will help you understand how yoga makes your body feel and how you would like to move on with it. The goal of basic yoga classes is not only for teaching beginners the basic yoga moves but also to prepare them for advanced yoga styles.
Reading about different yoga styles may not be enough to make a choice. Here are three things we recommend you do to find the yoga style that suits you.
1. Define your purpose
What is your purpose for practicing yoga? Gaining stamina and getting physically more fit, enhancing mind and body connection, reducing stress and anxiety, and improving balance – these are all reasons to start practicing yoga.
Once you decide for yourself what you want to achieve with yoga, it will be easier to narrow down the list of yoga styles and make a choice
2. Look for a certified instructor
It is essential for beginners to start practicing yoga with a certified and experienced instructor. Only in this case you will get everything right and will be able to decide if a particular yoga style fits you.
3. Sign up for a yoga class
This can be done online or offline. Many yoga centers offer basic yoga classes. These classes are for beginners who are yet to learn the basic yoga moves.
This class will help you understand how yoga makes your body feel and how you would like to move on with it. The goal of basic yoga classes is not only for teaching beginners the basic yoga moves but also to prepare them for advanced yoga styles.
Here, at peaceinside.me, we offer self-love Vinyasa flow and restorative yoga session as a part of our online retreat. This is a perfect way to start your yoga journey as you can learn your yoga preferences and connect to mind and body through various yoga styles.
Self-love Vinyasa flow is designed to recognize the changing nature of our body. In this flow, we focus on heart-opening sequences and finding compassion for ourselves. Restorative yoga is a deep relaxation practice that helps us to re-balance the nervous system and enhances our healing capacity.
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