A Guide to 4 Different Types of Yoga

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It’s interesting to compare how regular people and yoga experts respond to someone telling them that they do yoga.

When a regular person is told someone does yoga they usually respond “cool” and conjure up images of people in a community center doing stretches and basic yoga positions.

When a yoga expert is told the same thing, they respond with the question “what type of yoga.”

See, one thing a lot of people don’t know is that there are actually different types of yoga out there.

Each type of yoga has its own unique characteristics and benefits.

In this article, you’re going to be introduced to 4 different types of yoga.

1) Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga is probably the most general type of yoga.

Hatha, like many other types of yoga, focuses on a mixture of breathing exercises and physical movements.

In places like America, Britain, and other western countries, Hatha Yoga is used as a shorthand for many different kinds of yoga, however, that isn’t how it is understood by true yoga experts.

Hatha Yoga is great for people who are new to yoga or who are not in the best shape because the movements it uses are relatively simple.

They will get you in shape and get you ready for the more advanced types of yoga.

Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga is a far more demanding type of yoga and it’s definitely something that only those experienced with yoga and/or those who are in shape should try.

The reason why it’s so demanding is fairly simple, rather than focusing on slow, very thought out movements, Ashtanga Yoga encourages rapid poses that are always performed in the same order.

There is very little downtime.

Another factor that adds to its difficulty is remembering each pose, which usually requires you to practice daily.

2) Hot Yoga

Hot Yoga is another very demanding form of yoga, but not necessarily because of the movements, but because Hot Yoga involves doing yoga in a heated room.

When you do Hot Yoga, you sweat an absolute ton, which helps you to lose weight and cleanse your skin.

3) Iyengar Yoga

The final type of yoga that you should know about is Iyengar Yoga.

This is a very meticulous form of yoga.

The idea behind it is that it encourages each student to achieve perfection each pose.

So, while you won’t be maintaining a particularly fast pace, it’s still rigorous because of how demanding it is to achieve perfection on each pose and to stay in the poses for a long time.

5 Benefits of Practicing Yoga

Yoga is one of the most popular exercises out there.

It went from being relatively unknown to being something that is taught at basically every community center in the Western world. Now, everyone and their grandmother seems to do yoga.

But, what are the actual benefits of doing yoga?

Sure, we all know the obvious ones like losing weight, but what are some of the benefits that make this worth choosing over something like weightlifting?

It Makes You More Flexible

Yoga does a great job of exercising almost every muscle in your body.

Because of this, yoga manages to make you a lot more flexible.

If you struggle to bend over or to move certain muscles, then yoga can help you with that.

You will feel a lot more mobile after a couple of months of doing yoga.

The fact that it makes you more flexible is a big part of the reason why so many choose to do yoga.

It Prevents Injury

So many people out there suffer from things like pulled muscles, torn muscles, etc.

Every day people either suffer through these injuries or they are forced to remain in bed because of them.

Yoga helps prevent these injuries by stretching out your muscles and loosening tension in your muscles.

Those who do yoga have dramatically lower chances of straining or tearing a muscle than those who don’t.

It Helps You Release Stress

One of the main benefits of yoga that is often talked about is how it helps to release stress.

This is due to a couple of reasons.

First off, yoga is a very slow paced, relaxed form of exercise, especially when compared to something like sprinting or weightlifting.

The slow pace and relaxed atmosphere do wonders for preventing stress.

It Improves Concentration

Yoga not only teaches physical skills but mental skills as well.

Part of doing yoga involves learning how to clear your mind and focus.

This skill helps you to improve your concentration and can be used in other parts of your life.

It Gives You More Energy

One of the main benefits of yoga is that it actually gives you more energy.

Most other forms of exercise leave you drained and tired.

But, that isn’t the case with yoga. You feel invigorated and ready to tackle the world after a yoga session.