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Yoga Styles – Complete Guide: Types of Yoga (part 1)

Ananda

Ananda yoga incorporates different styles to harmonize your physical, mental and spiritual mind. For those who practice ananda yoga, they can raise the level of consciousness. Ananda yoga includes asana, pranayama, meditation as well as yoga philosophy. Ananda yoga emphasizes on safety and aims to retain constant relaxation. The postures are inwardly directed and suitable for those who prefer light and not aerobic styles.


Anusara

Anusara refers to flowing with grace. Sometimes, practitioners will define it as following your heart. Officially founded by john Friend, Anusara yoga is a powerful hatha yoga system that is open to continual restructuring. It incorporates Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness.


Ashtanga

Ashtanga yoga helps to improve circulation and calm your mind. In addition to that, Ashtanga detoxifies muscle and organs via purifying your sweat. It incorporates a series of postures that is synchronized with breath.


Bhakti

Bhakti yoga based purely on “love is God and God is love”. Thus, its postures are often regarded as pure spiritual devotion of love for God. The term ‘bhakti’ simply means devotion. It is one of the six major branches of yoga with complete devotion to God. Bhakti yoga is good for mental and physical well-being.


Bikram

Bikram yoga or rather known as hot yoga is a style founded by Bikram Choudhury. As suggested by the name, bikram yoga is best practiced in a room with approximately 105°F with over 40 percent humidity. Bikram lessons incorporate 26 different postures and two breathing techniques. Usually, it lasts for about 90 minutes to complete the whole cycle of Bikram.


Forrest

Forrest yoga aims for breath, spirit, strength and also integrity. The main objective is to provide a connection with the spirit and develop a sense of freedom for practitioners. Forrest yoga utilizes deep breathing techniques to sweat out toxins. It helps an individual to rejuvenate every cell in the body.


Hatha

One of the most widely practiced forms of yoga, Hatha is a one of the major branch that emphasizes on mental and physical well-being. It incorporates asanas (bodily postures), dyana (meditation) as well as breathing techniques (pranayama). Those who practiced hatha yoga can achieve a clear and sound mind besides maintaining a healthy body. So far, the record has pointed out nearly 200 hatha yoga bodily postures to improve blood circulation in organs, glands and also tissues. All in all, hatha yoga is suitable for those who aim to achieve balance and flexibility. 


Integral

Integral yoga or sometimes known as purna yoga refers to union of all parts of body to achieve divine. Integral yoga is also called supramental yoga that is founded by Swami Satchidananda.


Ishta

In Sanskirt, ishta refers to developing personal yoga style to meet individual needs. However, to be more precise, ishta stands for Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda. Founded by Alan Finger and his father, Ishta lines a series of careful alignment with the use of Iyengar yoga that includes numerous forms of relaxation and meditation.


Iyengar

Iyengar yoga is another form hatha yoga. Iyengar emphasizes on structural alignment of body via systematic development of asanas. Conducted correctly, Iyengar yoga can be a rewarding experience as it helps to relieve stress besides uniting mind and body for well-being.


Jivamukti

Jivamukti yoga can be physically intense and stimulating for beginners. It is a Vinyasa-style yoga that combines Ashtanga and can be explored via chanting, asana, meditation, pranayama as well as music. It helps practitioners to increase awareness. Practitioners need to apply yoga philosophy in daily life to achieve spiritual enlightenment.

 

Jhana

In Sanskrit, Jhana refers to knowledge. Jhana yoga incorporates postures for those who seek liberation instead of real self. It is developed by steady effort to differentiate pure awareness and objects of awareness.

 

Karma

The well-known Karma yoga is meant to influence destiny in positive manner. Practitioners must be self-less and act without attachment but with integrity. It is believed that Karma yoga practitioners must assume full responsibility for all actions taken.

 

Kripalu

Kripalu practitioners aim for one goal – that is to achieve physical healing, spiritual awakening and also psychological growth. It focuses on the mechanics of asana. Practitioners must work within the limits of individual flexibility and strength only.

 

Kriya

Kriya yoga is all about self-discovery. Practitioners are expected to achieve awakening to wisdom of cosmic processes. The main purpose is to increase practitioners’ awareness to wholeness. Besides that, those who practiced Kriya yoga can also cultivate rational thinking and achieve emotional balance through meditation.

 

Kundalini

Kundalini yoga emphasizes smooth movement and mediattion for relaxation and healing purposes. It allows practitioners to heal their body after a tiring day. Besides that, it helps practitioners to stimulate the immune system and opens the spirit. An additional advantage for those who practiced Kundalini – one can release stress, relieve back pain and control their weight.

 

Laya

Laya refers to dissolution and the melting of all impressions collected throughout the lifetime. When one practices Laya yoga, they can absorb lower nature of higher spiritual forces through ‘yoga of absorption’. However, when practicing Laya, you need to focus the mind in specific ways on chakras. 

 

Mantra

Mantra refers to the union by voice and sound. Thus, mantra practitioners must recite specific sounds, chants and mantras. Usually, practitioners repeat the words or phrases for weeks, years and so on. Some believes that mantra possess healing potential for specific purposes.


Power yoga

Power yoga or commonly known as Ashtanga refers to eight limb in Sanskrit. Practitioners often perform a series of same pose with the same sequence. Power yoga focuses very much on the flow. Besides that, it is also physically demanding due to the constant movement of one pose to the next subsequently. Bear in mind that it is not restricted to the set of Ashtanga poses.


Purna Yoga

Purna yoga incorporates Iyengar precision while highlighting gentle physical movements and spiritual awareness to the practitioners. It provides students' with tools and poses for healthier living lifestyle.


Raja

Raja yoga emphasizes on practitioners to balance the emotions via focusing on object of meditation. Basically, it needs a teacher to strain the practitioners to
assist them into hallucinations rather than consciousness.  


Yoga Styles – Complete Guide(part 2)

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