October 1, 2015

All You Need to Know About the Different Types of Yoga

SMC-Information-series-915

All You Need to Know About
the Different Types of Yoga

Yoga has been an increasingly popular form of exercise in the United States since the 1980s, and definitely here in Westchester. However, for thousands of years, it has been an important discipline in Hinduism, Jainism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Buddhism.

The purpose of Yoga is to transform your mind and body. It is a spiritual, mental, and physical practice that goes all the way back to ‘prevedic’ Indian practices and traditions. Records going all the way back to 400CE show that early philosophy and abstemious practices were being utilized by people of that time period. Meaning, people would go beyond themselves in order to achieve inner tranquility. By the 1980s, people in the western world began using yoga as a physical exercise.

Through the years, the philosophy of yoga has never changed:

Humans exist based on three bodies (casual, physical, and subtle).
Humans also exist on five sheets (food sheet, mind sheet, bliss, intellect, and prana breath).

In yoga, energy flows through various channels of energy. This energy becomes more populated in chakras. There are several different types of yoga.

The three most popular forms of yoga are:

Vinyasa yoga
Hatha yoga
Anusara yoga

Vinyasa Yoga

In vinyasa yoga, movement becomes one with the breath. Also called “flow yoga,” movements become synchronized and become a fluid dance. Each pose and movement is synchronized with the breath. A yoga expert will instruct you to move from one pose to another pose via an inhale and exhale of the breath.

Some of the poses that you will be introduced to include:

The catcow stretch
Sun salutation
Plank
Chaturanga
Upward facing dog

Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga uses gentle and basic movements, in which there are no fluid movements between the poses. This class is mainly a stretching period with breathing exercises and seated meditation. If you are just beginning yoga, hatha yoga would be a great class to start off with.

Anusara Yoga

Anusara yoga was founded in 1997 by John Friend, an American yogi. Anusara means “flowing with grace,” and it is quite popular in America. Anusara yoga is a philosophy that instills in us that ‘every being is good.’

In this class of yoga, you are taught to open your heart and adhere to the five Universal Principals of Alignment.

The Universal Principals of Alignment are:

Opening to grace and then setting the foundation
Utilizing muscular energy
Accessing the inner spiral (expanding spiral)
Accessing the outer spiral (contracting spiral)
Accessing your organic energy

Anusara yoga is a very positive experience. However it is not an easy practice. Anusara uses a lot of the vinyasa principles and also entails the universal principles of alignment. If you are looking to better your spiritual and physical well being, anusara yoga is definitely for you.