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Styles of Yoga
*All information below was taken from both The
Yoga Site: The Online Yoga Resource Center
http://www.yogasite.com/yogastyles.html Although there are
many styles of yoga, the differences are usually about emphasis, such as
focusing on strict alignment of the body, coordination of breath and
movement, holding the postures, or the flow from one posture to another.
All of the styles share a common lineage. In fact, the founders of three
major styles -- Astanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga -- were all students of
Krishnamacharya, a famous teacher at the Yoga Institute at the Anusara Ashtanga Bikram Hatha Kripalu Vinyasa
Ananda is a classical style
of hatha yoga that combines breath awareness, asana and pranayama to awaken,
experience, and control the energies within, especially the energies of the
chakras. Ananda uses those energies to harmonize body, mind, and emotions,
and attune oneself with higher levels of awareness. A unique feature of this
system is the use of silent affirmations as a means of working more directly
and consciously with the subtle energies to achieve the attunement. Ananda
yoga is a relatively gentle, inward experience, rather than an athletic or
aerobic practice. It was developed by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of
Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a
Yogi.
Anusara (a-nu-SAR-a) means,
"to step into the current of Divine Will", "following your heart", "flowing
with Grace", "to move with the current of divine will." A fairly new style
developed in 1997 by John Friend, Anusara yoga integrates a celebration of
the heart, universal principles of alignment, and balanced energetic action
in the performance of asana. Each student’s abilities and limitations are
deeply respected and honored.
For those who want a
serious workout, Ashtanga may be the perfect yoga. Developed by K. Pattabhi
Jois, Ashtanga is physically demanding. Participants move through a series
of sequential poses in a continual flow, linking movements to breath, and
jumping from one posture to another to build strength, flexibility and
stamina. It's not for beginners or anyone who's been taking a leisurely
approach to fitness. Power Yoga is based on Ashtanga.
Bikram Choudhury's yoga is hot, hot, hot, so be prepared to sweat. In class, they crank the thermostat to between 85 and 100 degrees, then perform a series of 26 asanas, always in the same order, designed to "scientifically" warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons. Founder Bikram Choudhury studied yoga with Bishnu Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda. Hatha Hatha yoga is a physical discipline that focuses on developing control of the body through asanas or poses. In Sanskrit, ha represents sun and tha represents moon. Hatha represents the duality in life — yin and yang, masculine and feminine, darkness and light. It leads the way to balancing these opposing forces. It is the yoga of physical well-being. Kripalu - "Yoga of Consciousness" Kripalu puts great emphasis on proper breath, alignment, coordinating breath and movement, and "honoring the wisdom of the body" -- you work according to the limits of your individual flexibility and strength. Alignment follows awareness. Students learn to focus on the physical and psychological reactions caused by various postures to develop their awareness of mind, body, emotion and spirit. There are three stages in Kripalu yoga. Stage one focuses on learning the postures, and practicing them steadily. Stage two involves holding the postures longer, developing concentration and inner awareness, and stage three surrenders to the body’s wisdom and allowing the movement from one posture to another to arise unconsciously and spontaneously – meditation in motion. Vinyasa
This form of flow yoga places great emphasis on the breath and
coordinating breath with movement. The flowing movement or vinyasa
is similar to ashtanga’s dynamic series of poses, but is performed at a
greatly reduced pace and stress level. Poses and flows are chosen to
suit the student’s abilities. It teaches the yoga student how to apply
the tools of yoga — asana, chanting, pranayama (control of breath), and
meditation — in individual practice.
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