What are the different types of yoga? Description of the various types of yoga traditions, including poses and methods. I teach Vini yoga. The way I describe Vini yoga when somebody who comes from the Iyengar...
I teach Vini yoga. The way I describe Vini yoga when somebody who comes from the Iyengar tradition or the Hatha tradition in this country, and a lot of times they're Iyengar trained, or the Ashtanga tradition, I say 'Same master, different student,' so the master was Krishnamacharya, Patabhi Jois was his student, Iyengar was his student, and then the Vini yoga came through Krishnamacharya's son Desikachar, and Desikachar studied with Krishnamacharya basically his entire life, and as Krishnamacharya aged, and as Desikachar aged, Krishnamacharya began teaching Desikachar to be a teacher as well as be a student. And there's a big difference in being a student of a master and being a student of master who's teaching you to be a teacher. The word vini means 'to adapt,' so what we're really trained in is these stages of life, this developmental stage, this midday stage of life, and then there's the later stage of life or the sunset stage of life, which encompasses seniors but more getting into elderly and I've had that distinction made to me before, the difference between seniors and elderly. So, in the developmental stage of life there's more emphasis on the physical, the asana, the postures, and learning that, and alignment and thing s like that. In the midday stage of life, there's more emphasis on our intellectual development, so our breath practice is probably more important. And in the later stage of life, there's more emphasis on meditation and more of that spiritual release because we're getting closer to death.
Bikram yoga. There is a beginner series of 26 poses; the ideal temperature of the room was 105 degrees with 60% humidity. There is a figurehead, Bikram Choudhury, that developed this yoga out of his own experience, and he's very passionate about it. http://www.bikramyoga.com
Ashtanga yoga. The person most closely associated with that would be Patabhi Jois. He comes from a similar lineage that I come from through the lineage of a man called Krishnamacharya. The Ashtanga yoga is the yoga that there are a set series of movements, it's where you move from one thing to the next. People call them sun salutations. This is a type of yoga that someone who is not health impaired currently could do. I think of it as for younger people. That's my personal thing. It is vigorous, it is demanding of the body, but it does come out of a beautiful tradition. It wouldn't be a place where a pregnant woman would want to start. It wouldn't be a place where a senior would want to start. It would be great for kids if they had the discipline to do it. Not toddlers or young children, but preteen, through their 20s. It would be a great yoga for that stage of life.
http://ashtangayoga.info
Kundalini yoga was developed by a man from India, Yogi Bagan. He came to this country in 1969 and introduced this yoga to this country. It is somewhat energetic. They have a particular breath technique. It is considered a crea, its called kapalabhati, or breath of fire that they use pretty much throughout the entire routine. Again, you have to be careful with this. I wouldn't recommend that for a new pregnant woman who had never done yoga before. If she was already studying Kundalini yoga before she got pregnant, and she was comfortable with that and has a good teacher, fine. But I wouldn't start there if I were pregnant or had a special need.
Anusara was founded and created by John Friend. He's from Houston Texas. It has a lot of basis in structural alignment. I believe John was probably trained through the Hatha yoga tradition, the Iyengar tradition, but what he has done is brought this sense of the heart into it. The people that study it love it. It's very well loved, but it is a, again I would say through that structural and alignment type background, it can be physically demanding.
www.anusarayoga.com
