Yoga (meaning - to attach, to join, to yoke in Sanskrit) is an ancient group of practices and disciplines coming from India.
Although in the western society we automatically connect yoga with physical exercise and bending, yoga is much more than that. It is a way of living. It connects you to your higher purpose, teaches you to accept the current moment, to be overall happier with what you have and more peaceful.
First of all, there are a few types of yoga, and not all require asanas (practicing physical postures).
Traditional types of yoga are:
- Jnana yoga - yoga of knowledge and wisdom
- Bhakti yoga - yoga of devotion and love towards the whole Creation and all the beings and the world
- Karma yoga - yoga of selfless act
- Raja yoga - yoga of self discipline and practice, with the goal of 'conquering' the mind. It involves asanas, or postures.
Physical types (most known):
Ashtanga yoga
'Ashta anga' litterally means eight angles or limbs. It was popularized by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who brought it to the west. It is part of Raja yoga.
The eight limbs are:
Yamas, Niyamas, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi.
I will write more about each of them in the future. You can notice that asana, or physical practice is third in importance, after Yamas and Niyamas which are moral codes.
The asana practice is done in series. There are six series of asanas, all becoming sequentially harder, and you cannot progress to the second before perfecting the first, and so on. Most students stay with the first series, the Yoga Chikitsa (meaning Yoga therapy, because it heals the body in many ways, makes it stronger and fixes the posture).Power yoga
This style was born from modifying the first series of ashtanga, but now it is completely freed from the strict structure and gives the teacher or practitioner to be more creative and use different asanas (postures).Vinyasa yoga
Similar to power yoga, but this is more fluid in movement. It was developed in the west to bring yoga closer to 'ordinary' people. Vinyasa means cycle, or 'to set up in a special way'. It is playful, asks practitioner to explore his own body and mind, and to connect the breath with the movement.Iyengar yoga
Named after B.K.S. Iyengar, the establisher, this is a very detailed type of yoga, where precision and alignment are very important. It uses many props like blocks, straps, chairs, all to make the body more aligned in asanas.Yin yoga
This is a special kind of yoga in which the practitioner stays relaxed in a pose for a few minutes, in order to release deep tisues. It is very meditative and helps the body to soften up, especially if you practice more physical disciplines, or sports.
More yoga related texts in the short future, so follow if you are interested :)