The word yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning "union." Yoga originated to promote the union of mind and body to give you greater connection to your pure nature, or spirit. Many people practice yoga for the spiritual enlightenment, however doing yoga for physical benefits is becoming more mainstream. There are many forms of yoga: Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga, karma yoga, Raja yoga, Tantra yoga and the most common, hatha yoga. Yoga teachers and studios may offer hybrid classes which are a mixture of yoga styles.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is the most common style of yoga in the United States, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. Hatha yoga focuses on physical postures, or asanas, to help you create balance. There are many styles of hatha yoga; Ashtanga or power yoga, Bikram or hot yoga, Integral, Iyengar, kundalini and Viniyoga. Ashtanga or power yoga is a physically challenging style of yoga that keeps you constantly moving, or flowing, from one posture to another. Bikram or hot yoga warms and stretches the muscles and detoxifies the body through sweat by performing 26 poses in sequence in a room that is set at 95 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Integral yoga fuses breathing, chanting and meditation exercises into a gentle workout. Iyengar yoga holds postures for a greater length of time to improve alignment. Kundalini yoga works in detail on your breath during your postures. Viniyoga modifies postures to your individual abilities and needs with a focus on connecting to the breath.
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti yoga practices the mind-body connection to help you develop your spiritual path. This style of yoga focuses attention on the love in your heart and promotes seeing God in all of creation. The goal of practicing Bhakti yoga is to give you respect for all of life.
Tantra Yoga
Tantra yoga is a practice of balance through breathe, movement, discipline, training and rituals. This yoga practice focuses on breaking free of the six enemies: jealousy, greed, vanity, obsession, anger and physical longing, and the eight fetters: fear, shyness, hatred, egotism, apprehension, hypocrisy, pride of ancestry and vanity of culture. Isolation and focus on individual body parts is a common practice in Tantra yoga.
Hybrid Yoga
Hybrid yoga classes are a mixture of traditional yoga with western fitness. This style of yoga class helps draw a wider range of students who normally might shy away from yoga. These classes range from specific, such as Yoga For Surfer, YogaGolf, YogAlates, to general classes, such as Soul Yoga, Zen Yoga and Yoga Stretch.
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