Yoga
Styles to Balance the Body, Mind and Spirit
By Allen
Yoga is all about poses, breathing exercises and meditation. Yoga can be practiced in a variety of styles. Thus, there are many yoga styles and you, as a yoga practitioner need to select the one that best suits the requirements of your body.
Here are some of the yoga styles and the information about each style:
Hatha Yoga
Hatha is a general "catch-all" term for many physical yoga styles. If the yoga
class you are going for is described as hatha style of yoga, then it will be a gentle, slow-paced class. It will offer you a fundamental instruction on yoga poses.
The different styles of yoga are developed from hatha yoga. All these styles
provide a balance to the mind, the body, and the spirit through the yoga poses.
However, the prominence differs. Some focus on strict alignment of the body, while some on the coordination of breath and movement.
Hatha yoga is suggested for yoga beginners. It’s best to gain knowledge of yoga fundamentals before moving to other styles of yoga.
Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa is an explanation of many types of yoga classes. These yoga classes
involve breath-synchronized activities. It is somewhat more vigorous than the hatha yoga and is more powerful.
Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga is an interesting one among all yoga styles, because it is a series of yoga poses that
is always practiced in the same order. This style is physically demanding as in this style you are moving from one pose to another.
It is also called power yoga. Being one of the popular styles of yoga, it needs to be practiced in a
distinct order. Without any break, you naturally move from one pose to another.
Iyengar Yoga
Iyengar is also a popular yoga style, which needs to be practiced with the
correct body alignment. It is a moderate intensity style. There is very little focus on breathing exercises and meditation for starting levels.
The importance is on proper alignment, mainly for the spine and core of the body. That is the exact way that your body should
be placed in the yoga pose in order to obtain the best results and to avoid damage.
In this style of yoga, the yoga poses will focus on holding the poses for longer periods of time rather than flowing from one pose to another. In addition, this style of yoga makes use of some supports such as yoga blankets, yoga blocks, and yoga straps in order to bring your body into a proper alignment.
Iyengar is one of the good yoga styles for beginners, is a gentle form of yoga practice and the concentration of this style is to integrate body, mind, and spirit with the combination of yoga poses, breathing exercises and meditation.
Hot Yoga
Hot yoga is among the intense styles of yoga. This yoga style is practiced in a very hot room with temperatures between 90 and 100 degrees. The heat or the hot air makes the muscles
relax and causes heavy sweating. This sweating is treated as cleansing of the body.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram is the most popular among yoga styles. It is a style with 26 poses. It is a vigorous physical style of yoga created by
Bikram Choudhury. This style is designed to bring the body to maximum health
and fitness. An intense session of vigorous poses to reinforce the body,
liberates pent-up emotions, and purifies your body.
It also helps in healing the body by releasing pain. This yoga style is a concentrated exercise using abdominal intensification and deep, relaxing breathing.
Sivananda Yoga
Sivananda is among the yoga styles that has been practiced since 1957. This style is based on five principles.
* Proper exercise
* Proper breathing
* Proper relaxation
* Vegetarian diet
* Positive thinking and meditation.
People in about eighty locations all around the world practice this style of yoga. Many of them sponsor retreats for the dedicated yoga enthusiast.
There are many different yoga styles. These are the most popular styles of yoga and are just a sample of yoga styles offered in classes. By getting an idea about a few of these yoga styles, you can safely select a yoga class as well as yoga styles that are best for you.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/yoga-articles/yoga-styles-various-styles-of-yoga-hatha-yoga-vinyasa-yoga-183470.html About the Author: Allen writes for yoga classes. He also writes for hatha yoga and yoga for weight loss