The word yoga means "to yoke or unite." The purpose of yoga is to unite your mind and body in an effort to achieve enlightenment. Though yoga is often characterized by movements and postures known as asanas, not all types of yoga involve movement. Kathalu is not a recognized yoga style, but many types of yoga exist with some styles more popular than others.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is perhaps the most well-known style of yoga in the Western hemisphere. It encompasses the third and fourth steps in the "eight limbs of yoga." It involves asanas and breathing, or pranayama, to exercise the body and mind. Invented by Yogi Swatmarama in 15th century India, hatha yoga is the basis for many other popular yoga styles, like Bikram and ashtanga yoga. When broken down, "ha" means sun and "tha" means moon in Sanskrit; hatha is known as the branch of yoga that unites pairs of opposites.
Iyengar
For beginners, Iyengar yoga is ideal. It is a type of hatha yoga that uses props like blocks and bolsters to help you hold poses more comfortably. Iyengar instructors will ask you to remain in a pose for more time than other types of yoga, as Iyengar's focus is on correct posture and developing a state of focused calm.
Vinyasa Styles
Vinyasa means "to flow." It emphasizes flowing through asanas more quickly with a rhythmic breathing pattern. The result is a powerful mind-body workout that can increase your strength and cardiovascular endurance. Ashtanga, power and jivamukti yogas embody the vigorous vinyasa style; participants move rapidly through a series of asanas while breathing or sometimes chanting.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram yoga emphasizes a specific series of postures performed in intense heat, as yoga evolved in India where temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Bikram classes, which take place in rooms that can exceed this temperature depending on the facility's ability, make you sweat. Developed by Bikram Choudhury, typical Bikram classes use a series of 26 traditional hatha postures intended "to address the proper functioning of every bodily system."
Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini yoga gets its name from kundalini energy, which is believed to reside near the base of your spine. Kundalini yoga consists of postures combined with breathing techniques, hand and finger gestures or mudras, body locks or bandhas, chanting and meditation.
Pranayama
Pranayama practice is control of your breathing. Pranayama is done during the above mentioned types of yoga, but it can also be done on its own. Pranayama techniques include one nostril breathing and breath of fire, and they are often accompanied by mudras and bandhas, where you contract muscles in certain areas of the body.
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