Yoga classes focus on the significance of breath. They teach meditation and posing skills that contribute to fitness and relaxation. However, if you've started to look into signing up for a yoga class, you may be overwhelmed at the vast array of courses offered. Understanding the basics of the most popular types will help you make a more informed investment.
Ashtanga
Ashtanga yoga, also popularly known as power yoga, emphasizes flexibility and muscular endurance with a series of rapidly-flowing sequential poses. It quickly induces an increase in pulse and perspiration, so it can triple as a strength, cardio and stretching workout. This yoga type is ideal if you want a high-energy workout that boosts your vigor and endurance levels, but you may be better off starting with a slower yoga style to get the moves down before you pump up the pace. The American Council on Exercise also warns against trying ashtanga yoga if you have shoulder or wrist problems, as many of its poses cause that area of the body to bear much of your body weight.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram yoga is well known as an extreme sauna-like experience, as the heat in the classroom is typically increased to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and its humidity level is also increased to about 40 percent. It aims to quickly increase your flexibility by calling you to perform a series of 26 postures, split up into a group of sitting and a group of standing postures. You may benefit from Bikram yoga if you have stiffness from a chronic back problem or arthritis. It isn't for you if you have a health condition that could be exacerbated by high temperatures.
Iyengar Yoga
Iyengar yoga emphasizes precise posture alignment by calling for you to use posture props such as blocks, chairs, mats, blankets, incline boards and harnesses. An Iyengar yoga course is appropriate for people of various ages and experience levels, but this doesn't mean it's simple or that it offers limited benefits. It works all areas of your body and helps define your muscles in balance.
Kundalini
A Kundalini yoga class aims to stimulate your higher consciousness and boost your flexibility by incorporating meditation, varying breathing patterns and a series of constant, fluid, and invigorating postures. This style of yoga may be ideal for you if you're looking for a workout that rejuvenates your mind as well as your body. However, the postures and breathing patterns in this style may increase your risk of health complications if you have high blood pressure or if you are pregnant.
Prenatal Yoga
A prenatal yoga class is likely ideal for you if you are pregnant because it incorporates postures specially adapted for expectant mothers of all pregnancy stages. Prenatal yoga places little strain on the body during pregnancy and can offer benefits such as decreased tension, reduced pregnancy-related swelling and aching, and a faster and easier childbirth experience.
Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga sessions are less about getting into a high-intensity workout and more about inducing relaxation and healing. You may perform only four or five basic postures within 20 minutes by holding them for extended periods. Restorative yoga, which also includes a period of deep relaxation, calls for the use of props such as bolsters to boost the ease of the experience. This style may be for you if you are under stress or rehabilitating from an injury.
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