Yoga is one of the most popular and commonly participated in exercises out there, but not many people are actually aware of just how many different types of yoga there are to choose from. Each has its own features, qualities and advantages, and so in order to be able to determine which is going to work best for you, you need to learn the basics about each of the separate most major types of yoga.

Hatha Yoga

This is one of the more popular types of yoga, and it is a particular system of yoga which was introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, who was a sage of 15th century India, as well as the compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradpika. In many aspects the Hatha yoga follows the same principles as the Raja yoga of Patanjali, including moral restraint yama and spiritual observances niyama.

It is a holistic yogic path, and it is actually one of two branches of yoga that focus on the physical culture, the other being the Raja yoga. The main difference between the two being that Raja yoga uses asanas mainly to get the body ready and prepared for prolonged meditation, focusing on the more meditative poses.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar yoga concentrates more on the correct alignment and form of the body, and there is a real emphasis on holding each pose for a long period of time, rather than moving constantly from one pose to the next, as you do with Ashtanga yoga. Iyengar yoga also uses various props such as blocks and straps in its practice, in order to help align the body into the different poses.

Bikram Yoga

This is another of the more popular types of yoga, and it is also known as ‘Hot yoga’, because it is practiced in a room that is heated to 105 degrees, with a humidity of around 40%. It was developed by Bikram Choudhury and a Los Angeles, California based company, and is now practiced all over the world.

There are many other types of yoga as well however those previously discussed are the most major and so if you are just getting into yoga you will want to make sure that you get yourself started with one of these genres of yoga, and then you can always try out the others once you have got the general idea of how it all works. Of all the types of yoga, Ashtanga yoga is the best to start off with, because it allows you to learn all of the different aspects to yoga in general.

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Yoga is known for being one of the most beneficial exercises in the world, and not only that but it is incredibly fun and enjoyable as well and can be practiced by people of all ages. It is very important to understand all the benefits of yoga before you start practicing it, so that you will understand that much more just how respected and positive an exercise form it really is.

What are the Benefits of Yoga?

There are a ton of different benefits that are offered from the exercise of yoga, and while each different type of yoga does offer its own separate benefits and results, there are some basic benefits that you will receive, regardless of which specific type of yoga you practice.

Yoga, at the physical level, has been proven as being extremely effective not only for your health in general but as well for various different disorders. For one yoga is extremely effective in increasing flexibility, as it has positions that act upon the various joints of the body, even including those which are never really worked out with other exercises.

It also works to massage all of the organs in your body, and in fact it is considered as being perhaps the only activity that is able to massage all the internal glands and organs of the body in a thorough manner. It really is able to act in a wholesome manner on the various body parts, and this stimulation results in keeping away disease and notifying the body earlier when there is something wrong.

Another of the prime benefits of yoga involves relaxation, as this is actually one of its main purposes. Yoga promotes meditation and relaxation, particularly through its breathing exercises, and so thus yoga is great for helping with stress and depression.

Another of the benefits of yoga is total body detoxification. By gently exercising and stretching the muscles and joints through yoga, your body’s blood supply begins working better and quicker, and this helps in the flushing out of toxins as well as providing nourishment up to the last point.

Your muscles get incredibly toned and fit from practicing yoga, and so not only is it great spiritually and emotionally, but physically as well. Especially muscles that have become flaccid or weak, are stimulated repeatedly in order to help you shed flab and flaccidity. It is easy to see just how many benefits of yoga there really are, and so it is really no wonder as to why it is considered as being one of the best exercises in the world that you can do.

It is widely practiced worldwide, particularly in the West and the East, where it first actually originated.

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Having the correct yoga posture is one of the most important aspects to yoga in general, and so you really need to be aware of what position you are trying to hold and how to maintain it during the hold, so that you can practice yoga properly and thus reap the numerous benefits that are possible from it.

There are a few different yoga postures in particular that are important to learn, as they are generally practiced in all types of yoga, and so these are the basics that will help get you started in the yoga exercise. You want to remember to take it easy, and go slowly, especially in the beginning, and always listen to your body. You will be able to tell when you are holding a posture incorrectly, and you should stop immediately.

Sukhasana

This is the most basic yoga posture of all, and it is a starting position in yoga which helps you to focus awareness on breathing and on your body. It also helps to strengthen the lower back and the hips. In order to complete this posture you need to sit cross-legged with your hands on your knees, focus on your breath, and keep your spine straight as you push the sit bones down into the floor.

Allow you knees to gently lower, and take 5-10 slow, deep breaths. Then on the next inhale, raise your arms up over your head, exhale and bring your arms down slowly, and then repeat this 5-7 times.

Dog and Cat

This is another more basic yoga posture, and this yoga posture is actually comprised of two different poses. You need to begin on your hands and knees, keeping your hands just slightly in front of your shoulders, and your legs about hip-width apart. As you inhale, you want to tilt your tailbone and pelvis up, letting your spine curve downward and your stomach drop low.

You will feel your muscles stretching gently, and as you exhale, you will start moving into the second – the cat – position by reversing the spinal bend, tilting the pelvis down, drawing the spine up and in and pulling up your chest. You want to repeat this process several times, flowing smoothly from the dog to cat position and cat back into dog.

Sethu Bandhasa

This yoga posture, also known as the bridge, is completed by you lying on your back with your knees up and your hands at your side. Your feet should be near your buttocks, about shoulder width apart, and to begin you need to raise and lower your tailbone, then continue lifting the spine, trying to move one vertebra at a time until your entire back is fully arched upward. Make sure you push firmly with your feet, keeping your knees straight the entire time, and breathe deeply into your chest. Clasp your hands underneath your back, push against the floor, take five slow deep breaths, rest down on the floor and then repeat.

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Practicing yoga exercises allows you to practice both your body and your mind, an offer that is not made by most other types of exercise. It truly takes great willpower and dedication to be able to accomplish each yoga pose properly and make the practicing of the exercise a part of your daily routine, but it is definitely more than worth it to do so.

Practicing yoga can benefit you in a number of different ways, including improving your health, increasing your resistance, and developing your mental awareness. It also helps to build your concentration as doing the yoga poses requires you to have to study each pose carefully and execute it slowly so that you can keep your body and mind in control.

Yoga Exercises

There are basically eight different major categories of the yoga exercises, which are: warm-up poses, standing poses, seated poses, twist yoga poses, supine poses, inverted postures and balance poses, backbends and finishing poses. The warm-up poses that you should do will depend on what specific type of yoga you are practicing, but regardless the point of them is to help get your body warmed up to start exercising.

The standing poses are the yoga exercises that you remain standing for, and this includes the triangle pose, hands to feet, standing side stretch pose, stand spread leg forward fold, warrior pose, tree pose and sun salutation. The seated poses are poses which are done while sitting and this includes the spread leg forward fold, hero pose, seated forward bend and the child pose.

Then there are the twist yoga poses, which are yoga exercises that help especially to strengthen the back, as well as help to tone and massage the abdominal area and improve digestion. The supine poses are done in lying face up position, and this includes the leg reclining lunge, locust pose, leg pulls, leg raises, and the wind relieving pose. The inverted postures and balance poses are considered as being helpful to increasing circulation, stimulating the brain, enhancing glandular system functioning, and relieving pressure on the abdominal organs.

Backbends are the yoga poses that work to promote more flexibility in the spine and strengthen the arms, legs, and abdomen, and finally, the finishing poses are those which are typically used to end off a yoga session. They are usually practiced as final relaxation at the end of a yoga class to calm and cool down the body.

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