Types of Yoga

If you have ever thought about getting into yoga, you have probably run into the problem of choosing which type of yoga you want to study. The options can be overwhelming and it is enough to turn you off yoga altogether! But not all types are based only on physical poses, it is also very much a mental and spiritual exercise. Well, here is a quick guide to the major types of yoga, so you can decide once and for all which one you are really interested in.

Bhakti yoga is based on love and devotion. This branch of the popular exercise tends to be extremely spiritual and may involve chanting or singing to gods. It is a good way to get in touch with your spirituality through prayer and meditation.

Hatha yoga is most commonly seen in the United States and other Western societies. Supposedly forming the basis of all other types of yoga, it is also one of the easiest to perform, which explains its popularity among other cultures. Its aim is to relax and create a balance in the energy flows of the body while revitalizing the mind and stimulating various parts of the body. Hatha has almost 200 different stances or asanas that can be practised, and around 90 of those are popularly used in the West.

Jnana yoga is more of a mental exercise, emphasizing use of the mind to understand and discern the mind. This form is based on the search for knowledge and understanding and it is not as popular in Western cultures as the Hatha. Jnana aims for perfect knowledge, developed through millions of years of universal consciousness.

Karma yoga is more often known as simply karma in the US and Europe. Most people are familiar with the concept of karma in its most basic form, good actions bring good actions and bad ones will cause bad things to happen to you. The yogistic philosophy behind Karma is to give up egoistic desires and work in harmony with the universe, which is something we could all learn from whether studying or not.

Kundalini yoga leads us more toward the physical mixed with mental. In the Western world, this is more commonly known as Tantric, which is actually only a part of the Kundalini faith. The idea that our sexuality traps an enormous potential of energy is fundamental to this branch of yoga which teaches people how to harness that power in order to better understand the universe as well as themselves. For obvious reasons, this is a popular area of study!

Mantra yoga focuses on mantras or phrases that mean something to the individual. These phrases are repeated over and over until the person reaches their goal, be that a moment of stillness or a point of healing. These mantras can be extremely powerful, so it is important that they are used and pronounced correctly.

These are the major areas of yoga study. Some of them are more commonly found than others in the Western world, but all can be studied by anyone anywhere in the world at great benefit to the yogistic student.