Yoga is a discipline that integrates posture and breathing to relax deeply, but also to improve flexibility and energy. It is granted various benefits depending on the techniques used, and there are many! If you’re not sure where to start, here’s a quick guide to the different types of yoga that exist.
Yoga and its many techniques
Yoga is a discipline that appeared in India several millennia ago. The word “Yoga” arrives from Sanskrit and standards “to unite”. This practice combines physical postures (called asanas) and breathing exercises (called pranayama) to bring body and mind together. There are also meditation and deep relaxation techniques.
Yoga is known to solve many ailments. It allows you to find an anchor, a rootedness, but above all a balance between body and mind.
It allows access to a certain inner peace and reconnecting with one’s body to better understand it. Yoga works on flexibility and deep muscle building and allows you to keep in shape gently.
This discipline is more or less physically demanding depending on the branches you choose to practice. You can turn to the most suitable method for you according to the points on which you wish to work (relaxation, physical condition, flexibility, etc.) and according to the limits of your body.
Don’t go through the steps too quickly! It is better to start slowly, to listen to your body and mind, and to progress better.
We guide you through several types of yoga that might interest you!
Choose the yoga that’s right for you
To begin
➡ Hatha yoga is surely the best-known method of yoga and the one that is most easily found. It introduces the basic postures of yoga, those that any practitioner must know, but also good breathing techniques to master gently. This style of yoga, therefore, consists of chaining different movements, maintaining the postures for a few breaths.
You don’t necessarily need to be flexible or have a great physical condition to get started in the branch of Hatha yoga; it is even completely suitable and recommended for beginners!
After some time of practice and development, you can move on to other branches depending on what you want to develop.
Hatha yoga allows you to gradually gain flexibility and work the muscles. It relaxes, relieves stress, and improves sleep, breathing and concentration.
Finally, practitioners of Hatha yoga quickly notice renewed energy and vitality.
➡ Iyengar is a modern branch of yoga. This discipline requires great concentration and patience since it is based on the correct execution of the postures, maintained for several long minutes. Very technical, the Iyengar takes up the movements of the classic Hatha to correct bad postures.
To achieve this, props (bricks, straps, or just the wall) are included in the practice to help the body find proper alignment when performing the poses. This discipline has the same benefits as Hatha yoga, but also helps relieve back pain and reconnect with your body.
To relax deeply
➡ Nidra yoga allows you to reach a state of deep relaxation of body and mind. There are no postures, but essentially deep breathing exercises and visualizations that stimulate the chakras and bring you into a state close to sleep. The duration of the sessions is rather free.
This method will appeal to followers of meditation and people wishing to master their emotions. Nidra also helps to fight against insomnia, against both physical and mental stress, and to reconnect psychically with one’s body.
➡ Kundalini yoga offers static and dynamic postures for in-depth work, especially from a mental point of view. Indeed, this discipline is largely based on the control and channeling of energies to find a certain harmony.
Kundalini precisely designates the vital energy at the level of the spinal column, going from the sacrum to the top of the head. This yoga technique, more spiritual, therefore invites those who practice it to awaken this energy for better self-awareness. Postures at a sustained pace, chants and mantras, breath control,…
Kundalini yoga requires a certain rigor and is more appreciated by people who already have an intermediate level in yoga.
➡ Yin yoga is a real care for body and mind. He relies on extremely slow movements and postures held for long minutes to best feel his body relax. Yin yoga uses props to improve postures. Muscles and flexibility are therefore quickly strengthened.
The idea is to improve one’s ability to sit longer during meditation sessions; she therefore also aspires to mental well-being to find inner calm and peace.
It, therefore, promotes concentration and is very beneficial for people with an anxious nature. If it requires certain flexibility, this type of yoga is accessible to all levels.
To improve flexibility and tone
➡ Ashtanga is one of the most physical branches of yoga. The sessions always use the same 6 sequences of postures, performed in synchronization with the breath to circulate the energies.
This type of yoga is very dynamic, is quite physically demanding and does a lot of cardio work. It’s not uncommon to come out sweating from a session! It is therefore preferred for people who already have a good physical condition.
Among the benefits of Ashtanga: it eliminates toxins and purifies the body, it improves flexibility and stability, and allows you to build muscle and lose weight.
➡ Vinyasa yoga is inspired by Ashtanga for its style of series of postures that are quite dynamic and at a steady pace. However, it is freer and more creative because it does not require following a sequence of movements in a specific order.
The very wide variety of postures can therefore attract those who are afraid of getting tired of repetition with Ashtanga! Like the latter, Vinyasa develops cardio and promotes body tone.
➡ Bikram is another very dynamic branch of yoga. The breathing exercises and the 26 repetitions of poses, identical to each session, are usually carried out in a room heated to 40°C.
This feature allows the muscles of the body to stretch more easily to relieve tension. These exercises strengthen and refine the body, eliminate bad toxins and promote blood circulation. Like all other branches of yoga, Bikram also allows you to relax and find inner calm.
The lessons, which generally last 90 minutes, are quite intense! They are not recommended for people with cardiovascular problems.
If you are still hesitating, The Last Yogi blog offers an easy way to turn to the yoga that suits you best!
So which one is right for you?
Photo: Pexels/ Elina Fairytale
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