The Beginners Guide to the Different Types of Yoga

Are you new to yoga? Dont know which yoga to choose?

When choosing a style of yoga, choose one that is in sync with your fitness level and personality. Also ask yourself what you want to achieve doing yoga: do you want to lose weight; improve mindfullness; relieve pain; lessen stress? Once you have these answers, check out the list below to find the right type of yoga for you.

 

1. Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga is based on physical practice. It is a good “starter yoga” as the pace is slower than other styles. You hold poses for a few breaths and focus on meditation, breathing and postures. You also learn some relation techniques in this popular type of yoga.

2. Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar yoga is great if you have injuries and joint problems as it focuses on correct body allignment and accurate moves. This practice improves stability, mobility, strength and flexibility. Iyengar yoga creates balance in the body and mind. This type of yoga can also help with lower backpain.

3. Kundalini Yoga

This is a physically and mentally challenging style that involves a lot of meditation, chanting and breathing exercises. These exercises are for releasing energy coiled in the lower spine. This style is fantastic for those looking for something more than a workout. This type of yoga clears blocks of your energy field which surround the physical body.

4. Ashtanga Yoga

This is not the best type of yoga for starters or if you are not in great shape. It is very physically demanding and therefor also called Power Yoga. It takes years of practice to master Ashtanga Yoga.

5. Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa Yoga is an offshoot of Ashtanga Yoga and is also a very physically demanding practice. The pace is quick and this type is great if you want to tone your body. This type of yoga works your core and upperbody and gives you a cardio hit too. The teacher might include some meditation and chanting as this style often depends on the teacher to form structure and flow.

6. Bikram Yoga

This practice includes doing poses in a room set to 41 degrees and 40 percent humidity. This makes you sweat a lot and rids the body of toxins. This type of yoga also brings oxygenated blood to your internal organs. Bikram Yoga has a set sequence of postures which might be something to consider when choosing the type of yoga for you.

7. Hot Yoga

This type of yoga is very similar to Bikram Yoga and is also carried out in a heated room. However, this type of yoga doesn’t have a set sequence of yoga postures that Bikram Yoga has. If you’re looking for something that gets you sweating but has a little more freedom to the practice, this is the type of yoga for you.

8. Kripalu Yoga

Kripalu Yoga is for those seeking spirituality through yoga. The focus of this type of yoga is self- reflection, deep relaxation and meditation. This type of yoga aims to destress the mind and body through deep connection to spirituality.

9. Jivamukti Yoga

Jivamukti yoga is a workout and a deeply spiritual exprerience. It includes Vinyasa style postures, chanting, meditation and deep relaxation, but also some philosophy, poetry and music. Something to consider before seeking this type of yoga out: you are expected to be vegetarian in this practice.

 

10. Yin Yoga

Yin yoga is a slow paced style that makes you hold poses for 45 seconds to 2 minutes to strech your connective tissue and make it more elastic. This type of yoga also focuses on spirituality, inner peace and relaxation. It is often practiced in heated rooms to help your muscles become more elastic. We wouldn’t advise you choose this type of yoga if you are super flexible or have any connective tissue problems.

11. Restorative Yoga

The poses are in restorative yoga are meant to relax and rejuvenate. This type of yoga is perfect if you have a stressful job or life and you’re looking for something to reconnect yourself to calm. This yoga practice is also ideal if you have insomnia, anxiety or stress-related illnesses.

12. Prenatal yoga

Prenatal yoga is a workout for pregnant women that is safe for the bay and works pelvic floor muscles and breathing exercises that can ease labor and delivery. We wouldn’t recommend this type of yoga unless you’ve got a little one on the way!

13. Anusara Yoga

Nusara yoga is similar to Vinyasa yoga but places higher focus on mindbody-heart connection. This type of yoga encourages to uplift yourself and work hard towards finding that inner peace.

14. DIY Yoga from Home

There are some fantastic yogis out there looking to bring yoga right to your home. The convenience of this type of yoga makes for easy integration into your day to day life. In addition , you’ll have a variety of styles and teachers available to you that will allow you to keep switching things up if you get easily bored.

A final note about all of these type of yoga is that, of course, you will need a mat to practice on for each of them. If you liked this article we would love if you took a look at our collected at MatMat!