The Main Styles of Yoga

<h2>STYLES OF PRACTICE</h2>YOGA - an ancient system of health and longevity, refined over thousands of years, which brings every system of the body to its best working order. Through practice your body will become more flexible, more resilient and stronger, and your mind calm and clear.There is a great variety of kinds of yoga, and they differ from one another not only in how the poses are varied but in their philosophy as well. Hatha yoga Hatha yoga is perhaps the best known system of all; it consists of some two hundred poses, movements and breathing techniques that put the body in order and make it healthy. Hatha yoga was originally devised as a system that would make the body healthy enough for a person not to be distracted by the body's troubles during spiritual self-development. There are several different schools of hatha yoga. The most widespread are Iyengar yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga and Sivananda yoga.<a href="joga/osnovnye-napravleniya-jogi/ajengar-joga/">More about hatha yoga</a> Yoga in the Iyengar system Iyengar yoga teaches that proper alignment in the poses is the most important thing in a class: only poses performed correctly give the result you want. Until the body becomes open enough, students may use props (blocks, straps, blankets and others) to bring the body into the required position, to get the most from it and to avoid injury. The use of props characteristic of Iyengar yoga has been taken up by many other styles of yoga.<a href="joga/osnovnye-napravleniya-jogi/ajengar-joga/">Find out more...</a> Sivananda yoga Sivananda yoga is a static practice. Its main difference from Iyengar yoga is that students are first taught not asanas and pranayama but deep relaxation. It is held that only if you are completely relaxed will the asanas do you good and serve to transform not only the body but the spirit as well. The five basic principles of Sivananda yoga are: proper exercise (asanas), breathing (pranayama), relaxation (Savasana), diet (vegetarian) and meditation (the study of the scriptures, reflection).<a href="joga/osnovnye-napravleniya-jogi/shivananda-joga/">Find out more...</a>Other styles of yoga Sukshma Vyayama yoga One of the authentic dynamic schools is the school of Sukshma Vyayama practice in the lineage of Guruji Dhirendra Brahmachari (personal yoga teacher to Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India). Sukshma Vyayama yoga - the yoga of "subtle exercises" - consists of simple exercises for healing and cleansing the body.<a href="joga/osnovnye-napravleniya-jogi/sukshma-vjajama-joga/">Find out more...</a> Yoga Nidra Yoga Nidra is «conscious sleep». If nidra is ordinary sleep, then yoga nidra is a series of brief disconnections of consciousness during which inner tension is released. With Yoga Nidra you can reach a state in which consciousness turns into attention. It looks as though the person is asleep, but that is not so.<a href="joga/osnovnye-napravleniya-jogi/nidra-joga/">Find out more...</a>There is no answering the frequently asked question “Which style is best?”: each person is suited by something different. All the traditional styles of yoga that have stood the test of time are equally good. It would be wrong to say that one is better suited to beginners and another intended for experienced practitioners. Every method, however, has its own nuances and emphases to which particular attention is paid. You may choose a single style, or you may combine practice in all these schools quite successfully. Go to different classes, get a taste of the practice, and then you will be able to tell what suits you best. In any case the choice is yours, for yoga is freedom!