The word yoga translates to “to yoke.” It’s a practice, and like anything worth doing, it takes time.
Yoga improves flexibility and helps ease aches and pains. It also strengthens the muscles of the arms, legs, shoulders, and neck. This may prevent or reduce long-term pain from conditions such as fibromyalgia and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Yin
This gentle style of yoga focuses on holding postures for three or more minutes at a time. The long holds provide an opportunity to work into connective tissue around the joints, which increases flexibility and stimulates circulation.
Students are encouraged to find their “edge” in a pose, which may vary from day to day or minute to minute within the same posture. It is important to avoid pushing into pain, as this can strain the muscles and ligaments.
Yin can be emotionally cathartic as well, because it allows deep feelings to surface in the body. This can be especially true for those who have experienced trauma in their lives, as the poses can help release tension and stored emotions that are repressed. This type of releasing can be very empowering.
Ashtanga
Ashtanga is a physically demanding practice that combines strength and flexibility, and it’s great for beginners who want to build physical endurance. It also helps you improve your posture and cultivate mindfulness.
The Ashtanga yoga poses are synchronized with breath, which enhances mindfulness and creates a strong connection between the mind and body. It encourages the use of bandhas and drishti, which help seal prana energy in the core and create stability in the pose.
Practitioners typically follow a set series of poses and only move on to the next sequence once they’ve mastery over the current one. Beginners can tap into a Mysore-style class, where they do their own routine at their own pace with one-on-one guidance from a teacher as needed. The daily practice of ashtanga pushes practitioners to confront their own limitations. This can be uncomfortable but also empowering and ultimately leads to self-transformation.
Hot
Originally developed in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhury, hot yoga is practiced in a room set at 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 percent humidity. The heat helps open the pores of the skin, flushing toxins out through the sweat glands.
The heat also increases heart rates, making it a good cardiovascular workout. The yoga postures, which require a lot of flexing and extension, encourage the body to strengthen its muscles, as well.
Yoga is a great way to relieve stress. Research suggests that regular practice may boost levels of a calming hormone in the brain. Studies also show that yoga can help improve depression symptoms, particularly in veterans returning from war.
Iyengar
Iyengar yoga is a disciplined, methodical practice that is highly effective for those with physical limitations or injuries. The emphasis on precise alignment helps alleviate postural/structural problems and emotional tensions, and improves strength, flexibility, balance, and stability.
Iyengar classes incorporate preliminary postures to activate the body and quiet the brain before moving into standing, seated and twisting poses followed by restorative supine postures. The precision that is a hallmark of Iyengar yoga requires a teacher who understands the way that each pose, even if slightly misaligned, can affect the whole body and mind.
This precision creates an opportunity for creativity – whether in the manner in which a pose is held or in the way that it is sequenced to achieve specific responses, like alleviating back pain, building confidence or focusing attention.
Gentle/restorative
Restorative yoga offers ground-based postures that are gentle on the body. This style is perfect for those who are new to yoga, are rediscovering exercise after a long absence or are working with physical injuries or limitations.
Unlike more energetic styles of yoga like Vinyasa that build heat and require muscular engagement, restorative poses are held for five to 10 minutes or longer to relax the muscles and calm the mind. It is important to find a quiet space free of distractions when practicing restorative yoga at home.
The benefits of this yoga practice include reducing stress levels, improving sleep, increasing pain-free range of motion and bringing a sense of calm stillness to the mind and body. The benefits are maximized if practiced regularly.