Which Yoga for You?

By Karla Becker  (Sat Bachan Kaur), published in “Branches Magazine” March –April 2004

 

To help you decide which yoga style to choose, decide what you want to accomplish in your yoga practice.  The following styles, which all incorporate the basic physical postures (asanas) of Hatha Yoga, are offered in Indiana.

 

Are you looking to improve your athletic stamina?  If you run, bike, or participate in strenuous sports, or just want to improve your overall strength, you are a good candidate for Power Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga.  By far the most athletic Hatha Yoga, all three styles are characterized by the practice of a sequence of postures with breath-synchronized movements. Power Yoga is synonymous with Vinyasa (flow or sequence) Yoga and Ashtanga  (the Eight Limbs) Yoga, which refers to the eight disciplines described in Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the oldest written text on yoga, circa 400 BCE —400 CE.  When you take a Power/Vinyasa/Ashtanga class, you will move through a series of sun salutations, which includes a vinyasa or flow of push-ups — called chatarungas — then the upward dog and downward dog poses.  Repetition of the vinyasa and holding challenging postures builds strength in the entire body. 

 

Do you want to learn the basic Hatha Yoga postures or improve your form and flexibility in classic postures?

Then you may enjoy Iyengar Yoga, a widely recognized approach to Hatha Yoga.  This style is characterized by precision performance and the use of various props, such as cushions, wood blocks, straps, and even sand bags to help your body correctly align without strain.  I was introduced to the Iyengar approach in 1990 from a Yoga Journal video, “Yoga Practice for Beginners.”  The teaching is led by senior Iyengar teacher, Patricia Walden.  This video has been lauded as the first of its kind to make yoga understandable and possible to a wide audience. 

 

Do you want to increase your undertanding of spirituality as it relates to the physical world?

 

Try Satyananda Yoga, with its emphasis on awareness of the mind as the primary force behind our experience of matter.  Including key practices from all traditions, Satyananda encourages relaxation and concentration during the asanas to promote the health of your internal organs as well as the proper functioning of your muscles.  Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda is a helpful manual that illustrates posture and breathing techniques at the heart of all yogic studies.

 

 

Are you looking for a yoga style that will help you heal from injuries or emotional traumas, or allow you to practice with physical limitations? 

 

You’ll find just what you need with Restorative Yoga, Yoga Therapy, or Gentle Yoga.   Restorative Yoga gained wide popularity following Judith Lasater’s 1995 book, Relax and Renew – Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, ground-breaking due to its focus on relieving the body and mind from stress, fatigue and illness.  Yoga Therapy, also focuses on healing the body.  Gentle Yoga is a comforting and meditative approach.  All three styles are suitable for students of all body types and physical challenges. 

 

Do you want to awaken your energy and connect with your infinite potential? 

 

Then try Kundalini Yoga, a style originated by the Indian Sikh master Yogi Bhajan. Its purpose is to awaken the energy that resides at the base of your spine (kundalini) by means of postures, intensive breath practices, chanting, and meditation.  The latent energy ascends through the chakras (energy centers along the spine) to the crown, enabling the practitioner to connect to the Infinite and realize samadhi (enlightenment).  Well-known on the West Coast, Kundalini Yoga has gained popularity in the Midwest in recent years. 

 

 

 

For more information, read Kundalini Yoga – Unlock Your Inner Potential Through Life-Changing Exercise, by Shakta Kaur Khalsa or The Eight Human Talents by Gurmukh.  Through the practice of Kundalini Yoga, you expand your awareness and tap into the vitality that already exists inside you.  My own practice of Kundalini Yoga has awakened talents and energy that have been dormant for some time.  I have been able to rid myself of habits that were acting as barriers to my fulfillment and go on to create new habits and choices that are allowing me to experience my own infinite potential. 

 

Are you interested in yoga as a path to self-realization, or to reconnect love and sex in an intimate relationship? 

 

Explore the style called Ipsalu Tantra Kriya Yoga, which teaches mastery of sexual, emotional and mental energies.  Practitioners learn to circulate the kundalini energy through their chakras in ascending order in a systematic clearing of emotional issues.  A specific five-step formula awakens the body, quiets the mind, awakens the sexual energy and transmutes it into love energy, allowing you to live in a state of bliss.  For more information, read The Jewel in the Lotus  or The Ipsalu Formula: A Method for Tantra Bliss, both by Bodhi Avinasha.

 

There are approximately 100 styles of Hatha Yoga.  Others that you may hear mentioned or see ads for include Anusara, which means “flowing with grace”; Kripalu Yoga, also known as “meditation in motion,” and Ananda Yoga, the “yoga of bliss,” grounded in the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi.  For information on where to take yoga in Indiana, visit www.indianayoga.org  —Karla Becker