Understanding Different Types of Yoga
Yoga, which originated in ancient India, has become a popular and healthy practice worldwide in recent years. There are many different types of yoga, but these can be divided into five main groups:
- Hatha Yoga (or physical yoga)
- Raja Yoga (or mental yoga)
- Karma Yoga (or yoga of action)
- Bhakti Yoga (or yoga of devotion)
- Gñana Yoga (or yoga of knowledge)
The first two are the most popular and have the most varieties.
In many cases, the relationship between these types is very close, and it could be debated whether a certain type of Yoga should be classified within one group or another. To clarify concepts, here is a brief distinction between Raja and Hatha yoga:
- Raja Yoga tries to reach the spiritual energy, also called kundalini, by controlling the mind, which is superior to the body, and therefore the body is also controlled.
- Hatha Yoga seeks the same goal, the release of the kundalini, but believes that it is necessary to calm and control the body, so that it is easier to control the mind.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha Yoga is the path of strength and balance of energies. It is the best known in the West. Ha means moon, and tha translates as sun, symbolizing life force and mental force, feminine and masculine energy. When these two energies flow and come together in a balanced way, the spiritual energy or Kundalini is awakened. The Hatha Yogi begins to work on his physical body, through asanas (postures), shatkarmas (cleaning and purification exercises) and pranayama (breath control exercises) that improve the functioning of the entire organism, balance the internal energies and clean the energy channels (nadis). Then the practice of mudras (gestures) and bandhas (keys or energy locks) that facilitate states of concentration and meditation are addressed.
Raja Yoga
Also known as Ashtanga Yoga, Raja Yoga is the path of introspection and knowledge. It is also known as Mental Yoga, although its translation is Real Yoga. It is based on investigating one's own mind, bringing attention and work to its inner planes.
One of the most important branches of Raja Yoga is Vinyasa Yoga, also called Flow Yoga. It aims to create a sequence of movements that is fluid, in such a way that meditation is achieved through the connection with the breath.
Karma Yoga
Karma Yoga is the path of selfless action, characterized by the spirit of service and detachment. In Karma Yoga, all the events of daily life are used to work on the sense of consciousness. It is similar to maintaining a meditative attitude in all actions and facets of life, without really caring about the result of what is done.
Gñana Yoga
Gñana Yoga is the path of knowledge and wisdom. Broadly speaking, it is about rationally analyzing what you want to know, in order to later experience it yourself and thus get to know it. The gnana yogi enters into a process of unlearning and deprogramming, and then acquires his knowledge through personal experience.
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is the path of love and devotion. This type of yoga promotes love and devotion directed towards the divinity, towards a guru, or towards any person.
Other Popular Yoga Types
- Bikram Yoga or Hot Yoga, features a sequence of set poses in a sauna-like room—typically set to 105 degrees and 40% humidity.
- Kundalini Yoga, a subtype of Raja Yoga, is the so-called Yoga of energy. Of all the types of Yoga, it is the branch that is most concerned with awakening the cosmic energy (kundalini). Asanas (or postures), pranayama (breathing), mudras (psychic gestures), bandhas (energetic keys), mantras (mystical sounds), visualizations and meditation techniques are used to awaken the kundalini. It is responsible for activating the 7 most important chakras (or energy centers), which in the human being reside in the spine. The awakening of the chakras causes the practitioner to enter higher levels of consciousness. Within Kundalini Yoga, Kriya Yoga can be highlighted.
- Yin Yoga, belonging to Raja Yoga, can be defined as "a more meditative style". They dedicate more time than usual to each asana, with the minimum time for each one being about 5 minutes. Yin Yoga decides to apply a moderate and soft tension on parts of the body more involved in movement, such as tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue in general. This tissue has the function, among others, of repairing injuries and protecting against infections.
- Iyengar Yoga's purpose is to perform each movement, each asana, in the best possible way, perfectly. This achieves balance with less muscle and joint effort, and more stability. You have to be concentrated and attentive in the movements to take care of all the technical details, but at the same time abstract from what surrounds you, controlling your senses. An important part of Iyengar Yoga is breathing, which helps to abstract from what surrounds you.
- Restorative Yoga is aimed at helping practitioners in great moments of stress, fatigue, insomnia, or during pregnancy. You start by warming up to be able to perform all the postures without feeling bad, and then you move on to simple postures, usually on your back or lying down. These asanas are relaxing and the body enters a state of rest, helping the mind to get to the same point.
- Prenatal Yoga’s benefits are explained by the state of pregnancy of the mother. Obviously, the same asanas, or postures, cannot be practiced during pregnancy, so they adapt, and thus mothers can perform Yoga without any risk to their babies or to themselves. It focuses on physical exercise to better carry the pregnancy. It also focuses on meditation exercises to control nerves and stress. Helps avoid postpartum depression, which sometimes occurs.
- Power Yoga is one of the types of Yoga that are more popular today. It is nourished by the classic postures of Yoga, or asanas, to perform a purely physical exercise. He forgets about any non-material aspect of Yoga and focuses on physical exercise. This exercise is hard, demanding, it does not have series or fixed routines, but the asanas are practiced randomly, except for the Sun Salutation. Strength and resistance are required, which are also obtained with practice.
Remember, these are only a few of all the yoga variants that exist nowadays. I hope this could help you understand yoga types a little bit better. For more information, talk to one of our Fitness Experts and get customized advice by submitting a request in our Mavyn website.