Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Siri Datta


The Different Types of Yoga

There are many different styles of yoga being taught and practiced today. Although all of the styles are based on the same physical postures (called Asana’s), each has a particular emphasis or path. Here is a quick guide to the most popular types of yoga that can help you decide which style is right for you.

However, I am strongly advising that you try as many different styles, classes and teachers as possible.  It is crucial for your development, that you have a rich and varied experience of Yoga. 

Hatha Yoga

Hatha is a very general term that can encompass many of the physical types of yoga. If a class is described as Hatha style, it is probably going to be slow-paced and gentle and provide a good introduction to the basic yoga postures.  Highly recommended as a standard experience in the basics of yoga. This is a good place to learn basic poses, relaxation techniques, and become comfortable with yoga.

Vinyasa Yoga

Like Hatha, Vinyasa is a general term that is used to describe many different types of classes. Vinyasa, which means breath-synchronized movement, tends to be a more vigorous style based on the performance of a series of postures called Sun Salutations, in which movement is matched to the breath. A Vinyasa class will typically start with a number of Sun Salutations to warm up the body for more intense stretching that’s done at the end of class. 

Ashtanga or Power Yoga



Ashtanga, which means “eight limbs” in Sanskrit, is a fast-paced, intense style of yoga. A set series of postures are performed, always in the same order. Ashtanga Yoga is very physically demanding because of the constant movement from one pose to the next. In yoga terminology, this movement is called flow. Ashtanga is also the inspiration for what is often called Power Yoga.  If a class is described as Power Yoga, it will be based on the flowing style of Ashtanga, but not necessarily keep strictly to the set Ashtanga series of poses.

Iyengar Yoga

Based on the teachings of the yogi B.K.S Iyengar, this style of practice is most concerned with bodily alignment. In yoga, the word alignment is used to describe the precise way in which your body should be positioned in each pose in order to obtain the maximum benefits and avoid injury. Iyengar Yoga usually emphasises holding poses over long periods versus moving quickly from one pose to the next (flow). Also, Iyengar practice encourages the use of props, such as yoga blankets, blocks and straps, in order to bring the body into the most perfect alignment.

Kundalini Yoga

Yogi Bhajan brought Kundalini Yoga to the US in 1969.  Now the practice is world wide and growing. The emphasis in Kundalini Yoga is on the breath, internal concentration, mantra (words or sounds) in conjunction with physical movement, with the purpose of freeing energy within the body and allowing it to move upwards. All asana practices make use of controlling the breath. But in Kundalini, the exploration of the effects of the breath (also called prana, meaning life force energy) on the postures is essential. Kundalini uses rapid, repetitive movements rather than poses held for a long time.

Bikram or Hot Yoga

Pioneered by Bikram Choudhury, this style is more generally referred to as Hot Yoga. It is practiced in a 95 to 100 degree room, which allows for a loosening of tight muscles and profuse sweating, which is thought to be cleansing. The Bikram method is a set series of 26 poses, but not all hot classes make use of this series.

Anusara Yoga

Founded in 1997 by John Friend, Anusara combines a strong emphasis on physical alignment with a positive philosophy derived from Tantra. The philosophy’s premise is belief in the intrinsic goodness of all beings. Anusara classes are usually light-hearted and accessible to students of differing abilities. Poses are taught in a way that opens the heart, both physically and mentally, and props are often used.

Jivamukti Yoga

This style of yoga emerged from one of New York’s best-known yoga studios. Jivamukti founders David Life and Sharon Gannon take inspiration from Ashtanga yoga and emphasise chanting, meditation, and spiritual teachings. They have trained many teachers who have brought this style of yoga to studios and gyms, predominantly in the U.S. These classes are physically intense and often include some chanting.

Forrest Yoga

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and gaining popularity around the U.S., Forrest Yoga is the method taught by Ana Forrest. The performance of vigorous asana sequences is intended to strengthen and purify the body and release pent-up emotions and pain so that healing can begin. Expect an intense workout with an emphasis on abdominal strengthening and deep breathing.

Kripalu Yoga

The name Kripalu is associated both with a style of hatha yoga and a yoga and wellness centre in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Both were founded by yoga guru Amrit Desai, who came to the United States from India in 1960. Kripalu is a yoga practice with a compassionate approach and emphasis on meditation, physical healing and spiritual transformation that overflows into daily life. Kripalu also focuses on looking inward and moving at your own pace.

Integral Yoga

Integral yoga follows the teachings of Sri Swami Sachidananda, who came to the U.S. in the 1960s and eventually founded many Integral Yoga Institutes and the famed Yogaville Ashram in Virginia. Integral is a gentle hatha practice, and classes often also include breathing exercises, chanting, kriyas, and meditation.

Sivananda Yoga

Swami Vishnu-devananda, a disciple of Swami Sivananda, founded the first Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in 1957. There are now close to 80 locations worldwide, including several ashram retreats. Sivananda yoga is based upon five principles:

1. Proper exercise (Asana, focusing on 12 poses in particular)

2. Proper breathing (Pranayama)

3. Proper relaxation (Savasana)

4. Proper diet (Vegetarian)

5. Positive thinking and meditation (Dhyana)

Guest Author: Alien


Yoga for Toning Your Body



Yoga in these days is becoming popular and is practiced by people mainly for its health benefits. The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “union,” which means ‘to join.’

It aims for the great union of the body, mind, and spirit through a system of postures, breathing exercises, meditation. It refers to far more than these. In reality, it includes a wide range of disciplines designed to eventually bring the practitioners closer to god.

The yoga classes are usually longer than any other exercise classes because practicing yoga generally needs two to three hours. During a yoga session, your yoga instructor will guide you a series of yoga poses, where you will find many for the yoga positions with simple names such as ‘the plank,’ ‘the cat,’ or ‘the warrior.’

Yoga, when compared to other classes, is based on perfection and many yoga practitioners expend large amounts of their time in getting the positions perfect. Many instructors make use of definite terminology in their sessions.

You may feel overwhelmed in the beginning with terms such as asana, pranayama or pratyahara. So, do not allow these put you off, as it is not essential to learn and master all yoga terminology.

Benefits of Yoga

The benefits of yoga are countless. The most important benefit of yoga is physical and mental therapy. Hence yoga is considered therapeutic or beneficial. Yoga helps to increase one’s body flexibility. It also helps to increase the muscle and tendon suppleness, as a result decreasing your risk of injuries.

It can also helps to combat against certain illnesses, and there are some reliable researches proving that it aids in controlling certain illnesses such as headaches, arthritis, stress, anxiety, blood pressure, asthma, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, epilepsy, diabetes and many more.

Practicing yoga doesn’t increase the aerobic fitness of your body, apart from ‘ashtanga yoga’, so it is better to combine yoga sessions with aerobic type of exercises such as brisk walking or jogging. The ultimate aim is to manage the breathing and reduce stress through meditation.

Types of Yoga

Yoga is all about poses, breathing exercises and meditation. There are many types of yoga that are available to practice regularly in order to maintain a healthy body and though no type particularly is harder.

So, it is wise to ensure how experienced your yoga class is prior to join. Generally, beginner’s classes are more available.

Here are some of the types of yoga:

Hatha Yoga

‘Hatha’ is a type of yoga that is an overall term for the physical part of yoga. Hatha yoga is suggested for the yoga beginners. Hatha covers most types of yoga and a class that is known as Hatha Yoga, is usually a balanced and moderately concentrated.

Yoga posture and breathing exercises will be practiced. It’s best to gain knowledge of yoga fundamentals before moving to other type.

Iyengar Yoga

This is one of the Hatha yoga styles, which needs to practice with the body alignment and focusing on the way to understand the body and its work. There is very little focus on breathing exercises and meditation for starting levels. The primary importance is on proper alignment, mainly for the spine and core of the body.

This Hatha yoga style makes use of some supports such as yoga blankets, yoga blocks, and yoga straps in order to bring your body into a proper alignment. Practitioners will hold the yoga poses for longer periods of time than other types of yoga.

Astanga Yoga

Ashtanga is an interesting one among all Hatha yoga styles, which is a series of yoga poses that always practiced in the same order. Astanga yoga is a physically demanding workout. Astanga yoga practitioners practice these postures in a continual flow linking their movements from breath to breath.

Practicing this type of yoga will develop the body strength, stamina and flexibility. It is also called as power yoga. Those who want to practice this type of yoga can fit it easier if they are physically fit.

Guest Author: Anmol Mehta


Yoga is a powerful tool to help you blossom and reach your full human potential. The seeds are all within you, yoga is the water, the sunlight, the nutrients and the love they need in order to make your life vibrant, beautiful and full of sweet fragrance. It is not a religion, it is really a science with which to develop your body, mind and spirit.

The ultimate goal of Yoga, which literally means, Union, is to reunite you with the Universal Source. You may call this Universal Source by any name you wish, God, Brahman, Allah, Christ Consciousness, Buddha Nature etc, Yoga is a pathway to bring you to the realization that you and this Universal Source are inseparably One.

There are many branches of Yoga, such as Bhakti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Laya Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kundalini Yoga to name a few. These all have the same one goal, unification with the Universal Source, but each follow a different path to get there. Depending on your personality one or the other path may suit you better.

Here is a description of some of the major branches of Yoga:

* Bhakti Yoga: Emphasizes love as the pathway to liberation and Union.

* Jnana Yoga: Emphasizes the intellectual and philosophical approach to penetrate the illusion of dualistic reality.

* Karma Yoga: Emphasizes right action and selfless service as the path to moksha (liberation).

* Kundalini Yoga: Emphasizes the activation of Kundalini Shakti for enlightenment.

* Raja Yoga: Considered the Scientific approach, this branch emphasizes Sage Patanjali’s 8 step path to Self-Realization.

In this article I will expand on Raja Yoga as that is perhaps the most prevalent and popular Yoga system in use today.

As indicated above Raja Yoga employs Sage Patanjali’s 8 step path to achieve Union with the Supreme. This 8 step system (ashtanga) compromises of the following parts. Yamas, Niyamas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and finally Samadhi. This 8 step path is designed to bring about physical, emotion and mental harmony; and in the advanced practices of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi lead to the cessation of thoughts allowing the mind to realize that Reality is indeed Singular, Whole and indivisible.

Here is a description of the 8 limbs of Raja Yoga:

1. Yamas: Yamas are abstensions. They are truth, nonviolence, control of sexual energy, nonstealing and noncovetousness.

2. Niyams: Niyams are observances. They are austerities, purity, contentment, study and egolessness.

3. Asanas: Steady postures and poses.

4. Pranayama: Breathing exercises and control of the vital energy.

5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal of the Senses.

6. Dharana: Concentration of the mind.

7. Dhyana: Meditation.

8. Samadhi: Union with the Supreme Consciousness.

The regular practice of Raja Yoga promotes health, happiness and insight. Although the ultimate goal of Yoga is Union with the Supreme, many material benefits are also obtained by its practice.

Today, many ailments are treated via the use of Yoga asanas and pranayamas, and the stress reducing benefits of Yoga meditation are becoming more and more valuable to us given our hectic and frantic lifestyles. Furthermore, the principles of humility, truth and other high values that Yoga promotes are helping to offset some of the excessive materialism and greed that is eroding the peace and spirit of our society today.

The most important aspect of Yoga is that it is based on Self-Realization. In other words, you are given the tools required, and using them you bring about the necessary transformations in yourself to reach your true potential in life.

It is now often said, that the next great teachers will arise from the West. This is because the West has an empirical approach to things, as opposed to superstition and blind faith. If something works it is embraced and utilized, if something does not prove to work, it is discarded as junk. This is probably the reason why Yoga has grown in such popularity here in the West, because it works. So dive in and reap the benefits.



Fountain Of Youth

Guest Author: Alien


Yoga Styles to Balance the Body, Mind and Spirit

Yoga is all about poses, breathing exercises and meditation. Yoga can be practiced in with a variety of styles. Thus, there are many yoga styles and you, as a yoga practitioner needs to select the one that best suits the requirements of your body.

Various Yoga Styles

Here are some of the yoga styles and the information about each style

Hatha Yoga

Hatha is a general “catch-all” term for many physical yoga styles. If the yoga class you are going for describes hatha style of yoga, then it will be a gentle, slow-paced class. It will offer you a fundamental instruction on yoga poses.

The different styles of yoga are embedded from hatha yoga. All these styles provide a balance to the mind, the body, and the spirit through the yoga poses. However, the prominence differs. Some focuses on strict alignment of the body while some on the coordination of breath and movement.

Hatha yoga is suggested for yoga beginners. It’s best to gain knowledge of yoga fundamentals before moving to other styles of yoga.

Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa is an explanation of many types of yoga classes. These yoga classes cope with breath-synchronized activities. It is somewhat more vigorous than the hatha yoga and is more powerful.

Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga is an interesting one among all yoga styles, which is a series of yoga poses that always practiced in the same order. This style is physically demanding as in this style you are moving from one pose to another.

It is also called as power yoga. Being one of the popular styles of yoga, it needs to be practiced everything in an order. Without any break, you naturally move from one pose to another.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar is also among popular yoga styles, which needs to practice with the body alignment. It is a moderate intensity style. There is very little focus on breathing exercises and meditation for starting levels.

The importance is on proper alignment, mainly for the spine and core of the body. That is the exact way that your body should place in the yoga pose in order to obtain the best results and to avoid damages.

In this style of yoga, the yoga poses will focus on holding the poses for longer periods of time rather than flowing from one pose to another. In addition, this style of yoga makes use of some supports such as yoga blankets, yoga blocks, and yoga straps in order to bring your body into a proper alignment.

Integral, one of the good yoga styles for beginners, which are a gentle form of yoga practice and the concentration of this style, is to integrate body, mind, and spirit with the combination of yoga poses, breathing exercises and meditation.

Hot Yoga

Hot yoga, is among the intense styles of yoga. This yoga style is practiced in a very hot room with temperatures between 90 and 100 degrees. The heat or the hot air makes the muscle relax and causes heavy sweating. This sweating is treated as cleansing to the body.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram is the most popular among yoga styles. It is a style with 26 poses. It is a vigorous physical style of yoga created by bikram choudhoury. This style is designed to bring the body to maximum health and fitness. An intense session of vigorous poses to reinforce the body, liberates pent-up emotions, and purifies your body.

It also helps in healing the body by releasing the pain. This yoga style is a concentrated exercise using abdominal intensification and deep, relaxing breathing.

Sivananda Yoga

Sivananda is also among the yoga styles that have been practiced since 1957. This style is based on five principles.

* Proper exercise

* Proper breathing

* Proper relaxation

* Vegetarian diet

* Positive thinking and meditation.

People about eighty locations all around the world practice this style of yoga. Many of them sponsor retreats for the dedicated yoga enthusiast.

There are many different yoga styles. These are the most popular styles of yoga and are just a sample of yoga styles offered in yoga classes. By getting an idea about a few of these yoga styles, it will become easy and you can safely select a yoga class as well as yoga styles that are best for you.