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Yoga is a meditative discipline that has been around for centuries. It involves gentle stretches, mindfulness, meditative breathing, and several postures.
Many people use it to enhance mental and physical energy and find a balance between the two. Here are some different types of yoga I have experienced in my journey to enhance physical and mental fitness.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is thought to date back to the 15th century. It is a type of meditation practiced at a relaxed, slow pace as the focus is on meditation.
The purpose of the style is to introduce users to various asanas. It also includes various styles of modern yoga.
f you are a beginner in yoga, consider starting with Hatha yoga before moving to more intensive poses.
Hatha yoga is more of a physical workout than a spiritual experience but offers a good foundation for deeper meditation.
Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa Yoga is a form of meditation that follows a sequence of poses and breathing styles.
One characteristic of the yoga style is the flow from one stringing posture to another to achieve lean muscle throughout the body.
During the meditative session, participants move in and out of a posture and connect to the next using a breathing technique.
The breathing is also rhythmic and done through the nose, creating a sensation of relaxation.
Restorative Yoga
The renowned American yoga instructor Judith Hanson established restorative yoga. Hanson was a student of a famous yoga guru B.K.S Iyengar.
Her form of yoga uses props to support and assist the body as it calms down and comes to a rest.
Each pose in the style is held for about 20 minutes before transitioning to another. This means that the type of yoga requires you to have lots of time to accomplish several postures.
However, the long poses help you achieve a deep state of relaxation. Deep relaxation, in turn, helps increase flexibility and enhance the suppleness of your muscles.
This relaxation style helps manage stress relief as it avails enough time to listen to the body’s signals and focus on the mind. It also helps in better concentration and imaginative thinking.
Iyengar Yoga
The renowned Indian guru B.K.S Iyengar founded Iyengar yoga. This style focuses on the alignment and precision of various postures.
You may use several props to achieve this, including cushions, blankets, bands, and yoga blocks.
Iyengar is a slow style of yoga that requires deep concentration to ensure that all poses are well aligned. The concentration also helps hold asana s for a long period.
This type of yoga is good for people recovering from injury or who cannot move their joints for some reason. Props prevent you from overstretching as you move to the desired posture.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga was established in 1971 by an Indian-born American guru called Bikram Choudhury.
It consists of 26 poses performed in a room heated to 40 degrees Celsius and about 40% humidity.
These are the same conditions found where Choudhury was performing the postures in India.
The inclusion of heat enables the body to detoxify through sweating and increases metabolism and cardiovascular activity.
This type of yoga aids the body in dealing with various conditions, including insulin resistance, increased blood lipids, and glucose intolerance.
Therefore, it can help manage Type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Besides, it helps move the mind to the present, lowering perceived stress and increasing mindfulness.
Kundalini Yoga
This is one of the oldest forms of yoga, thought to have been established around 1000 BC, but its origins are unknown.
This type combines breath, movement and sound in the form of a song or a chant.
It aims at activating the spiritual energy called Shakti, which is thought to reside at the base of the spine.
A typical session starts with a chant followed by several poses combined with breathing exercises.
At the close of the session, all participants go into meditation and close off with a song. It helps improve your mood, enhance focus and lower your blood pressure.
Others practice this yoga type to enhance the quality of sleep and balance their metabolism.
Those are six popular types of yoga. You will find a few postures being used across several types of yoga to achieve a particular goal.
It is good that you practice a few types to enjoy a wide range of benefits, as explained above.