Which Type of Yoga is Right For You?

People talk of yoga as though it is one thing but actually there are many types.

They all however have one thing in common, they promote health, strength, harmony and serenity in body, mind and spirit.

If you're thinking of taking up yoga, here's a guide to the various types of yoga available to help you make an informed choice.

Here we'll restrict ourselves to the common physical types of yoga. There are other types such as rajah (royal) and bhakti (devotional) yoga which are not really suited to a normal lifestyle.

Hatha Yoga is the most common style of yoga. This is the standard slow yoga that consists of postures and breathing exercises. Hatha yoga is perfect for the beginner as you can start off with just a few poses and breathing exercises a day and then build up.

Ashtanga Yoga, known as "power yoga" is most appropriate for the active person. It consists of a series of sequential, fast-paced postures. This type of yoga is currently enjoying great popularity and is quite accessible to beginners. The whole routine consists of six sequences of poses, each sequence of varying difficulty.

Bikram Yoga is a more orthodox school of yoga which is faithful to yoga's distant origins in Vedic India. One feature is that the place of practice is heated up to encourage sweating which it meant to purge harmful toxins from the body. For this reason it's often known as "hot yoga".

Iyengar Yoga, one of the most common styles practiced in the United States is a practice built around balance. Focusing mainly on standing poses, Iyengar Yoga requires the practitioner to concentrate on the alignment of this body. Balance and breathing are very important to this form.

Which type of yoga you choose is ultimately is a personal decision. You need to consider what you want to gain from practicing yoga, along with how committed you want to become. The great thing about yoga is that it can be everything from a simple exercise routine to a complete lifestyle. You can accept as much or little as you want. You don't need to be a Hindu. You just need to accept a few simple routines into your life.

Brett McDonald is a devoted practitioner of yoga. For info on the key yoga accessories you need for successful practice, please visit:
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