If you’re curious about learning yoga but don’t know where to start, we get it! There are so many different yoga practices that it can be hard to know what is right for you. A great place to start is by checking out YouTube superstar Yoga With Adriene.
Texas-born Adriene Mishler is one of the few famous modern yogis who sticks to an accessible and authentic approach to her teaching. Her practice focuses on healing the body, mindful breathing, and finding what feels good. She demonstrates how yoga is less about physical fitness and more of a holistic approach to looking after your body.
Here at Eartha, we believe in holistically bettering your life by undertaking a yoga practice. That’s why we supply cork yoga mats - to give yogis the best available products for their practices. Plus, for every yoga mat sold, we plant a native tree.
Physical fitness is just one of five major yogic principles. Yoga is a practical science/art about living well. It is critical to keep all of the yoga tenets in mind to have an authentic practice.
The five most important principles of yoga are:
Read on to learn about some popular types of yoga so you can explore the principles of yoga in your practice.
Bikram yoga classes consist of a 90-minute sequence of 26 set poses that you perform in the same order. This practice strictly adheres to the rules and must take place in a room that is 40 degrees Celsius with 40% humidity. Doing yoga in a hot environment improves your circulation and can help reduce the symptoms of chronic illnesses.
Bikram yoga instructors do not adjust their students, so if you are new and want to try hot yoga out, we recommend that you explore more flexible classes first.
With a name meaning “force” that derives from the Sanskrit words for sun and moon, Hatha yoga focuses on finding balance. It is one of the most popular yoga for beginners, as it encompasses many different styles and allows students to use their bodies as agents of discovery.
Hatha classes include a mix of asana, pranayama, and meditation. It is a gentle style that cares more about exploring energy than pushing the body. Yoga With Adriene has a lot of helpful instructional videos with Hatha style.
In yin yoga, practitioners hold each pose for a long time, working up from a minute to at least five minutes. It incorporates ideas from traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. By no means easier than ashtanga or vinyasa, yin yoga is a way of discovering how your muscles awaken when you hold different asanas.
Invented by one of the foremost yoga gurus in the world, Iyengar yoga uses asanas to focus on the precise alignment of the body. It is the style of yoga that utilizes the most amount of props, such as blocks and belts, so practitioners can perfect their alignment.
Yoga Nidra is one of the most relaxing and easy to learn forms of yoga. It uses guided meditation techniques to ease participants into a state of relaxation that sits between sleep and wakefulness. Both deeply soothing and incredibly transcendent, yoga Nidra is beneficial for relieving stress and improving your sleep.
Restorative yoga is similar to yoga Nidra, as participants are encouraged to relax completely into each pose. If you have an existing meditation practice, whether that involves crystals or simply sitting and breathing, restorative yoga is a wonderful way to supplement it.
One of the more popular types of yoga, vinyasa employs a flow style. Vinyasa is an adaptation of ashtanga, designed to be less restrictive. A focus on synchronizing the breath with your movements is key to vinyasa. Check out Yoga With Adriene’s vinyasa classes if you’re curious to know more.
Even though you’re moving, you might find vinyasa flow to be meditative when you connect your mind, breath, and body in continuous motion.
One of the most energetic forms of yoga, ashtanga synchronizes rapid motion with the breath. Like Bikram yoga, ashtanga teaches a series of specific movements. Ashtanga teachers give each of the six series of movements to their students when they believe each has been mastered.
When you learn ashtanga, your teacher will usually give you hands-on adjustments to ensure that you get the poses right.
At Eartha, we supply eco-friendly products to encourage people to enhance their awareness of caring for the planet. A yoga practice can not only enhance your wellbeing but also your environmental consciousness. Check out our yoga mats today!
