Yoga styles and traditions

Where the yoga styles come from and what a class is like: Hatha, Ashtanga, hot yoga, Sivananda and the Krishnamacharya lineage. Each guide traces the roots and says who the style suits.

All 7 guides, A to Z

What Is Hatha Yoga? Meaning, History and What a Class Is Like

What Is Hatha Yoga? Meaning, History and What a Class Is Like

Hatha yoga is the physical branch of yoga: postures (asanas), breathing practices (pranayama), and relaxation, practised to steady the body and the mind for meditation. On a studio timetable today, "Hatha" usually means a slower class where you hold each pose for several breaths and rest between...
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Yoga styles and traditions
What Is Hot Yoga? Bikram, Moksha, Baptiste, CorePower and Barkan Compared

What Is Hot Yoga? Bikram, Moksha, Baptiste, CorePower and Barkan Compared

Hot yoga is any yoga class taught in a heated room, usually somewhere between 32 and 41°C (90-105°F), often with added humidity. The best-known styles are Bikram, with a fixed series of 26 postures at 40°C, and the heated vinyasa styles such as Baptiste Power Yoga, Moksha (Modo) Yoga,...
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Yoga styles and traditions
Ashtanga Vinyasa for Beginners: How to Start and What to Expect

Ashtanga Vinyasa for Beginners: How to Start and What to Expect

Ashtanga Vinyasa is a dynamic style of yoga in which you practise a fixed series of postures in the same order every time, linking each movement to one breath. It was taught by K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, who learned from T. Krishnamacharya. Beginners can start it: you learn the Sun...
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Yoga styles and traditions
Unusual Yoga Styles: Acro, Laughter, Goat, Nude Yoga and More

Unusual Yoga Styles: Acro, Laughter, Goat, Nude Yoga and More

Unusual yoga styles are modern spin-offs that add something new to a yoga class: a partner, an animal, a hammock, a paddleboard, a drink, or no clothes at all. The best known are acro yoga, laughter yoga, goat yoga, aerial yoga, SUP yoga and nude yoga. Most of them are less than 30 years old,...
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Yoga styles and traditions
Sivananda Yoga: The 12 Poses, the 5 Points and the Styles From His Lineage

Sivananda Yoga: The 12 Poses, the 5 Points and the Styles From His Lineage

Sivananda Yoga is a classical, slow form of Hatha yoga built on the teachings of Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963) and brought to the West by his disciple Swami Vishnudevananda. A class follows a fixed shape: Savasana, breathing exercises, a 12-round Sun Salutation, the same 12 basic...
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Yoga styles and traditions