Boost your body and mind ANUSARA YOGA

WHETHER you do yoga at the YMCA, at a fitness studio or with an app on your living room floor, you probably know there are plenty of ways to get into the flow.

But figuring out which practice best suits your physical and mental goals can be tougher than holding the half-moon pose.

What makes Bikram different from other hot yogas? How does ashtanga compare with Iyengar? Does aerial yoga require experience as an acrobat? Here’s the breakdown.

HATHA YOGA

This is probably the branch of yoga that comes to mind when most people think of yoga. It focuses on basic postures such as downwardfacing dog or the warrior poses. Sometimes the poses are combined into a set or series – for example, sun salutations – with each pose held for several breaths. Breathing is also rhythmic, with inhaling and exhaling as drivers of motion, as well as a way to find stillness. Hatha is great for beginners and for anyone looking for a good stretch or to work on their alignment. This type of yoga, closely related to hatha, was developed in the late 1990s by American teacher John Friend, based on the idea that humans have an intrinsic goodness we can experience through yoga. (Friend was later enmeshed in a financial and sex scandal.) Classes follow set sequences that are physically challenging and aimed at opening not just the body, but the heart and mind. If you’re looking for a workout with a deep focus on both the inner and outer sense of self, this might be a good option.

HOT YOGA

There are different styles of yoga designed to make you sweat. Bikram was named after another controversial founder, Bikram Choudhury (he was later accused of sexual misconduct), who popularised the series in the 1970s. Bikram is highly regimented: it consists of 26 postures, mostly done twice in a row, in a hot, humid room where temperatures can exceed 37°C. The idea is that the heat helps protect your muscles from injury while also allowing you to deepen the poses. Because the Bikram series never changes, it’s good for beginners as well as advanced practitioners, unless they’re the type of people who get easily bored.

Hot yoga, on the other hand, is derived from Bikram but is flexible in format. It just means the room is warm, and might contain any range of postures or particular series.

IYENGAR YOGA

Pronounced eye-yen-gar, and developed by the esteemed teacher BKS Iyengar in the 1970s, this practice is regimented, form-focused and prop-centric. (Yoga props or tools that help you modify poses or support your body, include blocks, straps, bolsters and blankets.) There are hundreds of different sequences, so there is a lot of variety among classes, and it can be practised by students at all stages. Poses are held for stretches of time and do not flow from one to the next: the goal is to achieve proper alignment, as well as build strength and balance. This is a good style to explore if you’re trying to understand postures from the inside out.

VINYASA YOGA

If you’ve ever been to a yoga class where the word “flow” was a dominant part of the instructor’s vocabulary, it was probably a vinyasa class. In this type of yoga, the emphasis is on performing poses that are fluid from one to the next. There is no set series for these classes; teachers might ask practitioners to call out things they want to work on and tailor it to those requests. Mindfulness of breath, and marrying your breath to movement, are part of this practice.

Many of these classes are open-level, but studios often will mark more challenging classes as intermediate or advanced. For those with injuries, keep in mind that vinyasa can be physically challenging. Depending on where you’re taking the class and who is teaching it, this form of yoga can feel like a full-on aerobic workout. |