How many people have you met who say something along the lines of ‘Ah yoga? It’s not for me. I tried it and I was totally not into it. At all. Think I’ll stick with <insert some other activity that they’re not enjoying but feel they should be doing>.’?

I have heard it again and again. Different class, different teachers; it doesn’t matter. All too often when I’ve talked with people about yoga – people who don’t currently have a yoga practice – they say ‘I went to a class once and it’s just not my thing.’

I’ll then talk to someone else who went to the same class, maybe even on the same day, and absolutely loved it. Loved the pace, the teacher, the music. It was totally their thing.

How can it be that the very teachings that leave one person cold are the same teachings that their friend raves about all the way home from class? Isn’t yoga yoga?

Not really.

One way to think about it is in terms of diet.

While there are some common sense guidelines when it comes to food, what’s right for you and your body is likely different to what’s right for me and my body.

The type of food you prefer might be completely different to what I prefer. You might enjoy a hot curry while I prefer Italian food, because the spices and garlic and onion in a hot curry give me reflux.

Luckily, there are many types of food to choose from so neither of us go hungry. We can find the food and choose the diet that sits best with our physical constitution.

And just like diet, with a little guidance you can discover the right type of yoga for you.

What’s your kind of yoga?

There are many types and schools of yoga, with new introductions popping up at regular intervals. For example, beer yoga and goat yoga have been growing in popularity and popping up recently in my Facebook feed.

I kid you not. (Sorry).

The question is, then, for someone looking to start a yoga practice: What class is right for me? What type of yoga is right for me?

Here’s an introduction to some of the most common types of yoga you’ll come across. It barely touches on what is available out there, but the practices detailed below have a longer history than most and are – for the most part – firmly rooted in tradition.

Iyengar yoga

Iyengar is a type of yoga brought to the West by B.K.S. Iyengar – a student of Krishnamacharya – in the 1950s.¹

Krishnamacharya, an Indian yogi and guru who lived from 1888 through to 1989, is a name to remember: so much of modern yoga stems from his teachings.

Iyengar yoga focuses on proper alignment and breathing techniques. Postures are typically held for a longer amount of time, which – in my experience – allows you to really understand what proper alignment feels like. ^2,3

There’s also a lot of prop use in Iyengar, from belts through to chairs blankets, blocks and rope walls. All of these are used to help you to experience what proper alignment feels like.

Research findings from multiple studies state that Iyengar can be used to help people with a range of conditions including chronic neck and back pain, other physical conditions such as osteoarthritis, pulmonary disease and hypertension, and cognitive function. It is also shown to improve general wellbeing.³

Iyengar yoga for me seems to be yoga at its purest: it’s not showy, flowy nor competitive.

Instead it is careful and considered. In working with the intricacies of the human body – the muscular and skeletal systems – to bring your body into alignment, its aim is to allow you to experience your body fully, and in turn, live your life fully.

Viniyoga

Viniyoga stems from the same teachings that inspired Iyengar yoga. It is also a style that focuses on improving a sense of wellbeing and optimal physical health.

The teacher who inspired this – Krishnamacharya – is said to have tailored his teachings depending on who he was dealing with and ‘helped his students move from a yoga that adapted to their limitations to a yoga that stretched their abilities’.⁴

It is this approach that is most associated with Viniyoga and what gives it the reputation of being a therapeutic and empowering yoga practice.

Viniyoga is definitely not just about the asanas – the postures. It also draws on other parts of yoga including pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation and chanting.

As Gary Kraftsow, founder of the American Viniyoga Institute told Yoga Journal:

‘Yoga has tended to be reduced to asana practice in this country. But the yoga therapy tradition incorporates not only asana but Pranayama, chanting, mantra, meditation, prayer, ritual, textual study, and Ayurvedic insights about diet and lifestyle.’⁵

Viniyoga is, then, a holistic yoga practice focusing not just on the physical, but also on the mental, emotional and spiritual parts of an individual.

Ashtanga yoga

Ashtanga is a style of yoga developed by another of Krishnamacharya’s students, a man called Pattabhi Jois.⁶

It is considered a ‘dynamic, physically demanding practice’ and is distinguished by sequenced postures that increase in difficulty, brisk moves and plenty of jumping.⁷It’s also the one that you might associate with Madonna’s honed  and muscular physique of the 1990s.

But while Ashtanga might be Madonna’s – and many, many others – yoga of choice, during my own yoga teacher training it was suggested that the design of this active, physical style of yoga was in fact to challenge and improve the minds and bodies of teenage boys.

While we might label Ashtanga yoga a very physical type of practice, it was certainly not the intention of its founder, Pattabhi Jois, to limit it only to the physical.

The use of the word ‘Ashtanga’ refers to the eight limbs of yoga: eight (ashta) and limb (anga), and supports Pattabhi Jois’ intentions ‘to encourage his students look into the whole practice more deeply and integrate all the limbs’.⁸

Bikram yoga

If you like the idea of hot yoga, then Bikram might be for you. Practised in a room heated to between 90 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit, Bikram yoga has 26 postures in a sequence, 26 postures per class. This means you know what you’re getting whether you go to a class in Bankgkok or Beirut.^{9, 10}

Bikram yoga is the creation of Bikram Choudhury, an Indian yogi who moved to the US in the early 1970s and opened his first studio in the health, fitness and wellbeing mecca of California. Although controversy surrounds the man himself, Bikram yoga as a practice has grown to be hugely popular.¹¹

Anecdotally, I have one friend who swears that Bikram yoga is the only type of yoga that helps him deal with his aches, pains and skin problems. He loves the sweat, the heat and the routine. He has connected – deeply – with the practise.

Hearing this would undoubtedly be music to the ears of Bikram Choudhury, who stated:

‘If you follow my instruction and do my yoga posture sequence to the best of your ability, you will live a better, healthier and more peaceful life.’¹⁰

But alongside positive stories, I’ve also heard stories of people pushing themselves that bit too far, often without even realising it. Heat helps you stretch out further, helps your muscles relax, and so your flexibility is significantly increased.

Some might argue that the high temperatures actually enable the body ‘to become more flexible for stretching and thus reduces the chance of injuries’, but ensuring a reduction in injuries really needs you to focus on proper alignment, practise regularly and maintain a steady, considered pace.⁹

Anything else to consider when choosing a yoga class?

Even within each of these different kinds of yoga you will notice differences in teaching. Does that mean one teacher is doing it wrong when compared to another?

Not at all.

Each teacher brings with them their own life experience, yoga experience, insights and considerations. With Ashtanga and Bikram you can definitely expect set sequences and formalities, sequences designed to improve your overall wellbeing. With Iyengar and Viniyoga you can expect sessions that are likely to be different each time to help support different parts of you and your body at different times, coming together to form a holistic practice.

T.K.V Desikachar, teacher and son of the revered yoga teacher Krishnamacharya, offers this.

‘…yoga is not fixed. Yoga is a creation. I know that the way you teach will be different from the way I teach, and the way I teach is different from the way my father taught. We all have different experiences, different backgrounds, different perspectives on yoga and why it is important for us. So it is not a surprise that different people find different things through the same yoga teaching. Even in our own yoga institution different teachers will teach in different ways according to their own perspectives and priorities and interests in yoga. The Yoga Sutras says that each person gets different things from the same teaching based on his or her own perspective. There is nothing wrong with this. This is how it is.’¹

This is how it is.

To return to the diet analogy: get a taste for what is right for you and your body. See what feels right; feel how you respond.

Whether it be through Iyengar, Viniyoga, Ashtanga, Bikram or maybe a different type of yoga altogether, the purpose is the same: to improve our overall wellbeing.

So maybe try a few different types of yoga. Try classes with different teachers. Try until you find a class that works for you.

And then stick with it to allow the work to happen in earnest.

References and further resources

1. Desikachar, TKV. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. Revised Edition. 1995.
2. Iyengar, BKS. The Path to Holistic Health: The Definitive Step-By-Step Guide. 3^rd 2014. Great Britain: Dorling Kindersley Limited
3. Cramer H, Lauche R, Langhorst J, et al. Is one yoga style better than another? A systematic review of associations of yoga style and conclusions in randomized yoga trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2016;25:178-187
4. Ruiz FP. Krishnamacharya’s Legacy: Modern Yoga’s Inventor. Yoga Journal. 2007. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/krishnamacharya-s-legacy. Accessed 19 Aug 2018.
5. Hammond H. Meet Gary Kraftsow: A Leading Teacher of Viniyoga Yoga Therapy. Yoga Journal. 2007. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/meet-the-innovators-gary-kraftsow. Accessed 19 Aug 2018.
6. Steiner R. The origins of Ashtanga Yoga. 2013. https://www.ashtangayoga.info/ashtangayoga/tradition/130601-the-origins-of-ashtanga-yoga-part-13/Accessed 22 Aug 2018.
7. Yoga Journal. Ashtanga Yoga. https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/ashtanga-yoga
8. Rosen R. Q&A: What Does “Ashtanga” Mean. Yoga Journal. 2007. https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/definition-of-ashtanga. Accessed 19 Aug 2018.
9. Staff YJ. Some Don’t Like It Hot. Yoga Journal. 2007. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/some-don-t-like-it-hot. Accessed 19 Aug 2018.
10. Bikram Yoga. Meet the Founder. https://www.bikramyoga.com/about/meet-the-founder/Accessed 22 Aug 2018.
11. Fagan K. Bikram yoga’s moral dilemma. ESPN. 2018. http://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/feature/article/23539292/after-serious-allegations-founder-bikram-yoga-practitioners-crossroads. Accessed 22 Aug 2018.