There are many styles of yoga and it’s a good idea to do a little research, or speak with your local yoga teacher, who will be able to point you in the right direction.
Some types of yoga are about full on exercise and stretching, others can be calm and restorative. You may like to mix up your practise and do a couple of sessions a week on a fast based lesson and a couple of times simply meditating and calming your mind, body and soul. – We’ll talk about meditating in another post.
Three styles commonly practised in the western world are:
Hatha
Hatha is about balance and focuses on breathing and postures which help you to find peace and harmony.
Ashtanga
Ashtanga is a much more physical style of yoga, performing the same asanas, or postures, in the same order every time.
Hot Yoga
This is when the room is heated and you sweat buckets! Similar to ‘Bikram’ yoga but varies slightly
There are many more styles but they tend to fall in to two main categories – calm and restorative or hot and physical. Mix them up if you can and explore different styles until you find one or more that suit you. If one doesn’t work for you, don’t give up. Try something else. We’re all different and your practise can depend on many factors – age, health, physical ability and even your mood.
