What style of Yoga is right for me?
This is a very common question. If you feel unsure when you are looking at a class on a studio schedule, know that you are not alone. Yoga studios literally use a different language!
At HeartFelt Yoga, we offer five different styles of yoga- Hatha, Yin, Restorative, Therapeutic and Kundalini. I’m going to go through each of these styles and hopefully help you understand the type of class you are walking into, before you get to the studio.
Hatha- This one is a little unfair, because all yoga derives from Hatha yoga. The word Hatha loosely translates to “union”. Some people will describe this union as the breath and body, moving together- which is all yoga. Others will say this is the union of our masculine and feminine aspects. Now a days, you’ll see it on schedule to describe a class that doesn’t really follow a set sequence. A hatha class will typically be slower paced- when compared to a flow or vinyasa class (these classes, will typically move you quite quickly through the postures). The instructor, will keep in in a pose for a little while, to allow time to work on alignment or the breath. There will still be some up and down from the floor, but much less than a flow class. Hatha is my favourite type of class to practice and to teach-I like not knowing what I’m going to do when I practice.
Yin- When I first started teaching, no one knew what yin was. Since 2008, this style has grown to be pretty popular. Yin is really slow moving, typically we stay in a pose for 3-5 minutes. The poses focus in on the areas of the body that most of us are pretty tight- hips, lower back and legs. Because this class is slow moving, there is lots of time to focus on the breath, which is a great help for faster moving classes. At HeartFelt yoga, we offer two styles of yin- one is straight yin & the other combines yin with hatha.
Restorative- Similar to yin, restorative yoga is also slow moving-maybe even a little more so. The main difference being- in yin, you look for a stretch in the pose, where in restorative yoga, we are looking more to relax the body completely. I describe restorative yoga, as laying on the props in all sorts of funny ways. The more props you use in a restorative pose, the better. We live in a busy and high stress world. This type of class, is perfect to counteract all of that stress.
Therapeutic- This style of class offers you something specific. At HeartFelt, our therapeutic classes are Yoga for Cancer Care and Happy Backs. In the Cancer Care class, we offer community and support. The practice is breath centred, offering an opportunity to connect with the body & to relive some stress in the mental and physical body. In Happy Backs- we use specific props and movements to strengthen the back and to realign the posture.
Kundalini- Kundalini yoga, when compared to other classes offered, focuses more on the spiritual side of a yoga practice. We move through a Kryia- this is a specific set of movements- designed to unblock the energy body. You can expect to do some chanting and meditation, as well.
Then lastly, the fancy names of each class, just describe the focus of the class. For example, “Let’s Get Hippy with it” is a hatha class- focused on the hips.
I hope this helps!
Until next time,
Sandra