The types of yoga and its benefits

Yoga has been around for centuries, traced to northern India, and evolving across the millennia, linked to different ideas and philosophies. It is considered a holistic discipline that uses breathing exercises and physical poses to bring together mind, body, and soul, while promoting physical health, flexibility, strength, and awareness.

The National Institutes of Health writes: "Yoga is a form of mind-body fitness that involves a combination of muscular activity and an internally directed mindful focus on awareness of the self, the breath, and energy.Four basic principles underlie the teachings and practices of yoga's healing system."

Today, lots of us practice yoga at different levels - some enjoying the physical benefits while others are devotees to the mental and emotional wellbeing that it brings. Its focus on breathing, flexibility and strength to boost mental and wellbeing are well documented, and are attested to both anecdotally and empirically, so what are the different types of yoga, and what are its benefits?

Types of yoga

There are lots of different types of yoga, each offering slightly different benefits and experiences. The mindfulness app, Calm, details 10 different types of yoga practice, including:

Vinyasa yoga

Vinyasa yoga is considered a more dynamic approach to different poses, creating a fluid movement in the body, or a flow, that brings together physical fitness and breath work. It's considered beneficial for cardio fitness as well as mental calm.

Iyengar yoga

Iyengar yoga is all about precision, achieving alignment in each yoga pose, and focusing on the quality of each posture rather than the speed. It's great for strength and flexibility.

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga is more about the breathing techniques, and is considered particularly good for meditation and relaxation. It's great for balance, and beginners often like hatha yoga, for its slower pace, helping you to get used to the different movements.

Kundalini yoga

Kundalini yoga has a real energy focus with a deep mental and spiritual component. It can include a lot of breath work and chanting, focusing on the energetic force in the spine. It focuses on awareness, and energetic shifts, and can be deeply relaxing.

Bikram yoga

Bikram yoga is a very specific practice, which takes place in a dedicated, humid space usually heated to around 40°C. It dates to the 1970s, and is quite an intense practice that builds strength and endurance through flowing movements and deep breathing, in an environment that encourages intense sweating.

Ashtanga yoga

Ashtanga yoga is a really dynamic approach which involves synchronising the breath with movements, building internal heat and causing you to sweat to detox. It follows a specific series of postures at a vigorous pace.

Yin yoga

Yin yoga is a much slower style of yoga, focusing on more gentle exercises, held for longer periods. It's great for stretching rather than building stretch, and is mediative in its approach.

Restorative yoga

Restorative yoga is exactly what it sounds like - it's gentle, and great for reducing stress as well as encouraging relaxation. It often encourages the use of props like blankets and blocks to support your movements, and is great for a sense of healing and balance.

Anusara yoga

Anusara yoga is similar to Hatha yoga, and is again about a sense of mental and physical alignment. There's often a spiritual focus to the classes, and it's described as being 'heart-centred' in its approach.

Prenatal yoga

Prenatal yoga is a modified version of yoga, designed to support women in pregnancy. It's gentle, and focuses on stretching and breathing, helping to gently strengthen and support the body in preparation for birth and recovery.

Benefits of yoga

The general benefits of yoga are considered to be a combination of mental and physical support, enhancing strength, flexibility, balance, and helping you to be present in your body, and aware of how it feels. Those who practice it in its different forms, will often find that it becomes about more than the physical movement - helping to navigate mental wellbeing, find calm amidst everyday chaos, and often helping you manage mentally and physically through good times and bad. John Hopkins Medicine lists some of the many benefits of yoga as:

• Improving strength, balance and flexibility
• Helps with pain relief - notably back pain
• Ease arthritis symptoms
• Aids heart health
• Improve sleep quality
• Boost mood and energy
• Help manage stress
• Promote self-care and compassion