In recent years, yoga has become a popular fitness sport and has become popular all over the world. However, when we are enthusiastically searching for suitable yoga to practice or facing various types of yoga offered by gyms, we begin to feel confused about how to choose the most suitable type of yoga for ourselves. This article will introduce you to the following common types of yoga and provide relevant selection suggestions.
1. Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga, also known as traditional yoga, advocates the training of equal flexibility and strength at both ends of the body to achieve a balanced state of the body. Hatha Yoga starts with postures, focusing on the relaxation of movements and the coordination of breathing, while supplemented by meditation and bandhas, and is the entry-level choice for yoga beginners. Through this combination, it helps practitioners enhance their body flexibility, balance and concentration, so that the mind can be tranquil and peaceful, laying the foundation for in-depth exploration of the world of yoga.
2. Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga Yoga was originally created for young people with athlete status, so the asana content is challenging and has high requirements for the practitioner's physical strength, endurance and flexibility. It belongs to power yoga. It has technically tandem asanas, throat breathing, forehead bandhas, perineum bandhas, gaze points, etc. Ashtanga is divided into six levels, each level consists of about 60 postures, which is not suitable for self-study practice and requires guidance from a mentor. Its rigorous practice sequence helps to quickly improve physical functions, but it is not suitable for beginners with poor physical fitness or no experience.
3. Flow Yoga
Flow yoga is a hybrid of Hatha yoga and Ashtanga yoga, and its practice style and difficulty are between the two. It emphasizes the continuity and fluency of movements, focusing on stretching, strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, and concentration, and allows the body to generate heat and release energy through uninterrupted posture conversion. Flow yoga focuses on the coordination and unity of breathing and movement, which can effectively improve the body's agility and cardiopulmonary function. It is suitable for people who have a certain yoga foundation and pursue dynamic practice experience.
4. Yin Yoga
Yin yoga is a yoga school that combines yoga, medicine, human connective tissue knowledge, Chinese Taoism and martial arts. It emphasizes the relaxation of the whole body and clearing all distractions. During the practice, it focuses on maintaining a long period of deep stretching postures, exercising bones, fascia, and ligaments in a state of complete muscle relaxation, regulating the nervous system, and allowing the body to relax and repair deeply. This kind of yoga has a slow rhythm and can help practitioners release deep tension and stress in the body. It is suitable for people who need to relax deeply after high-intensity exercise, especially for those with poor flexibility.
For yoga enthusiasts, choosing the right yoga for them requires considering many factors. In terms of physical fitness, people with strong bodies and good flexibility can choose high-intensity types such as Ashtanga or Flow Yoga; while for beginners or people with weaker bodies, Hatha Yoga or Yin Yoga would be a better choice. In terms of the purpose of practice, if you want to shape and improve your strength, you can choose Ashtanga or Flow Yoga; if you want to relax your body and mind and relieve stress, Hatha Yoga or Yin Yoga is the best choice.
Correctly choosing the right type of yoga for you can not only make the practice process more pleasant and efficient, but also avoid the risk of injury caused by improper choices, helping every yoga enthusiast gain health and beauty on the road of yoga.