8 Most Popular Types of Yoga: Which is the Most Suitable for You?

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When you try yoga for the first time, or for the second time, and you are still curious about which yoga is right for you, maybe this article can help you choose or maybe try everything as part of yoga journey You. In this article we will describe the types of yoga style popular ones that you might often hear or meet in yoga studios around you.

1. Hatha Yoga

Most types of yoga that exist today can be categorized as Hatha Yoga, because they usually focus on harmonizing (alignment) breathing physical exercise. If you've heard of Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Iyengar, and Power Yoga, these types can also be categorized as Hatha Yoga, even if in practice, usually the tempo or pace from Hatha Yoga more calm or slow.

Suitable for: Those of you who have just begun to try yoga, because practicing Hatha will make you more able to recognize basic postures and recognize names from postures more easily. And because of the calm tempo, you can also explore each posture better.

2. Yoga Vinying

This type of yoga usually flows dynamically and requires coordination between physical, posture, and breathing. Yoga Yoga is usually faster and more intense freestyle aka there is no standard set, but usually the teacher or instructor always guides the class from the beginning to the end with a specific goal. For example, today's session to strengthen arm muscles, the next class session, focus on backbend, or in one session you get a pose that is useful for all parts of your body.

Suitable for: You who like spontaneity, dynamic, and do not like routines. At each Yoga session, you will always feel surprised because of a different set of postures.

Some types of yoga are included in the Vinyasa yoga category because their movements are dynamic and connecting posture and breathing movements include Ashtanga Yoga, Jivamukti, Baptiste, Power Yoga.

3. Ashtanga Yoga

When compared to Hatha, Ashtanga Yoga is a type of yoga that is very dynamic, very intense, and often feels very athletic. In Ashtanga Yoga there is a series of poses that must be followed, commonly referred to as Ashtanga series. There are 2 methods in practicing Ashtanga Yoga with a teacher or instructor guide commonly called Led Class and there is a method Mysore where you practice by following a series of postures, for example Primary series without teacher guidance, but your yoga teacher is in the room to observe you, and help to adjusting your yoga posture. Practicing Ashtanga Yoga requires high dedication, so it is very good if you want to experience the benefits of practicing yoga physically and mentally.

Suitable for: You are a committed and dedicated personality, especially if you are also an athletic person.

4. Iyengar Yoga

This type of yoga focuses on precision posture and is very attentive to detailed body anatomy. Often you will be in a pose for a long time, and usually there will also be a posture modification using a tool (block and strap / wallrope) This yoga method is very systematic and usually aims to increase body strength, flexibility, and body stability. Iyengar Yoga can also be useful as a therapy for certain body conditions.

Suitable for: You who like to do something in detail, or you want to do therapy for your health condition.

5. Hot Yoga

That is practicing yoga in a deliberately heated room (heated room). The most popular one is Bikram Yoga yoga is done in a hot room around 42 Celsius with a series of 26 fixed postures. If you travel frequently or traveling and want to practice yoga on the sidelines of your trip, anywhere in the world, you can practice Bikram Yoga with a hot room situation and the same set of postures.

Suitable for: You who enjoy the sensation of sweat pouring out during exercise because the hot room temperature seems to have a detox effect that is beneficial to your body's health and also makes your body more flexible when doing a series of 26 postures of Bikram Yoga. This often makes you want to go back to practicing yoga immediately to increase the strength and flexibility of your body.

Besides Bikram Yoga, there are several other types of yoga that can also be done by the method of practicing in a hot room such as Hot Ashtanga, Forrest Yoga, Baptiste Yoga, Core Power yoga, HotBarre Yoga.

6. Kundalini Yoga

This type of yoga combines physical and spiritual elements, combines body posture with dynamic breathing techniques, meditation, and also spells learning (chanting) aimed at increasing body vitality and self awareness (self conciousness).

Suitable for: You who like meditation, want to explore more about your energy, intuition, and mind, or recognize yourself more spiritually.

7. Prenatal Yoga

Specifically designed for pregnancy, this type of yoga can help prospective mothers physically and mentally. Usually, Prenatal Yoga or pregnant yoga focuses on breathing exercises, exercises for the hip area, and restoration poses that are useful to restore energy when feeling tired due to hormonal changes in the body.

For those of you who are pregnant, routine practice of this type of yoga will make you feel stronger, stay active during pregnancy, and benefit the baby. In addition to practicing alone during pregnancy, there are also studios that offer Prenatal Yoga classes for couples to practice together and share knowledge for you and your partner to be better prepared to give each other support in the birth process.

Suitable for: You who are pregnant, even though you have never done yoga or have never even exercised at all before your pregnancy, because Prenatal yoga is specifically prepared for your condition that is in a two body.

8. Yin Yoga

If all the yoga above is mostly dynamic practice, Yin Yoga focuses more on passive exercises, where you are in a pose for a long duration of about 3-5 minutes, and the posture is a sitting position, gentle twistor lying down. This yoga method can also be useful in training your meditative side, besides being very good for health because it aims to give stretching in the joints and also the tissue layer of your body which is commonly called fascia.

Suitable for: You who are calm, or even you who are active, dynamic, and often hit by endless work. Yin Yoga is very useful to restore energy and make your sleep more qualified, because during your practice your body is brought to be more relaxed and your breathing is of higher quality.

There are many other types of yoga besides the 8 types of yoga above, but it seems from some of the most popular types of yoga, you already have enough choices. My advice, practicing various types of yoga with a variety of teachers will make you better understand which type of yoga you like the most and fit your personality or routine, and do some different types of yoga regularly is good for you, because your practice can be more colored. Happy exploring!

** Dian Sonnerstedt is a professional yoga instructor who actively teaches various types of yoga from Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, and Prenatal Yoga to private classes, offices, and @ Yoga42 Senayan, Jakarta. Dian is currently registered with YogaAlliance.org and can be contacted directly through her Instagram account, @diansonnerstedt.