5 Types of Yoga & Their Useful Health Benefits

We will discuss 5 types of Yoga and their useful health benefits to you as a person. Ayurveda is a science of life that originated in India about 5000 years ago. It is a medical science that uses a holistic approach to curing diseases and also focuses on the prevention of disease. Yoga has been described as an integral part of Ayurveda. There are plenty of health benefits to practicing Yoga. Practicing Yoga regularly can help you to relieve stress, increase strength and help to attain spiritual wellness.

Yoga is more than just a physical posture, it is a broad term. Different types of yoga disciplines are available for different purposes, and a beginner can get confused about where to start. Here, we have discussed various traditional types of Yoga styles, along with their health benefits, you can start with the Yoga style that suits your current fitness level and personality.

Go listen to some relaxing and soothing yoga and meditation music on our YouTube channel.

5 Types of Yoga

  1. Hatha Yoga
  2. Iyengar Yoga
  3. Vinyasa Yoga
  4. Kundalini Yoga
  5. Ashtanga Yoga

1. Hatha Yoga

“Hatha Yoga” is the discipline of yoga that includes everything that comes to your mind when you think of yoga in general terms. It includes various yoga poses, breathing techniques, stretching exercises, and meditation. In the Sanskrit language, Hatha means force. Thus, practicing Hatha yoga can help you to balance the force in your body. This technique of yoga can be traced back to the 1st century in Hindu as well as Buddhist texts.

The tools used in Hatha Yoga are described below briefly.

Many types of research have supported the physical benefits of Hatha Yoga.

Practicing Hatha yoga can be beneficial in the following ways:

2. Iyengar Yoga

This type of Yoga discipline was developed by BKS Iyengar in 1966. It is a form of yoga exercise that focuses on details, precision, and performance of yoga postures. This discipline was developed by the Yogacharya through intense practice and self-study. Various props, such as blankets, blocks, straps, etc, are used to assist the practitioner in suitable means. Iyengar Yoga is the best one for those who want to work on injuries and joint pain. These Yoga postures are held with each breath, and it helps in improving the strength, mobility, stability, and flexibility of the body.

Iyengar Yoga includes various yoga poses and puts more emphasis on poses such as Sirsasana and Sarvangasana.

The health benefits of practicing Iyengar Yoga are provided below.

3. Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa Yoga is a Sanskrit term that means “in a special way”. It can be traced back 3500 years ago to the Rig Veda. Vinyasa yoga is a special type of yoga in which the practitioner moves from one posture (asana) to another flawlessly, using breath. It is commonly known as “Flow Yoga”. It indicates the importance of bringing consciousness to each movement of our body. It is a way of dedicating our whole minds to the movements we are performing. It can also be termed moving meditation.

Vinyasa Yoga can be performed in vigorous style by synchronizing the breath along with sun salutations while adding a Vinyasa sequence between them. It is the way to synchronize our body, mind, and muscles with each other in repeating patterns. It is believed that such patterns nourish us and support us.

Characteristics of Vinyasa

Here are some of the health benefits of practicing Vinyasa yoga.

4. Kundalini Yoga

“Kundalini Yoga” refers to the power or energy that is said to be at the base of our spine. Awakening of this energy can be done by practicing Kundalini Yoga. It includes various things, such as Chanting, Singing, Breathing Exercises, and Repetitive Poses. Awakening Kundalini can make you more self-aware and help you to reach a higher level of consciousness.

“Kundalini” is a Sanskrit word derived from the root word “Kundal”, which means circular. According to Ayurveda & Yoga, there are various energy centers, known as Chakras, present in our spine at different levels. Activating all these energy centers can make the energy flow in a circular path, activating the Kundalini energy.

Kundalini Yoga consists of six components, each of them are discussed below briefly.

There are plenty of health benefits of performing Kundalini Yoga, both researched and anecdote.

Some of the health benefits of Kundalini Yoga are provided below.

5. Ashtanga Yoga

The eight limbs of Yoga or the “Ashtanga Yoga” is Yogacharya Patanjali’s discipline of Yoga. As the name suggests, it includes a total of eight limbs of Yoga that focuses on attaining a healthy body in all aspects - physically, mentally, and spiritually. It is described by Acharya Patanjali in its Yoga Sutra book. The eight limbs of Yoga are described below briefly.

The following are the benefits of Ashtanga yoga.

Check out our Yoga Store for some yoga and meditation merchandise.

There are other modern types of yoga available, like Bikram Yoga, Yin Yoga, Hot Yoga, etc., but they are derived from these basic types of Yoga that were described in the traditional scriptures of Ayurveda Yoga. You can choose any of the above-mentioned yoga types to get started. It is advised to start from Hatha Yoga and proceed towards Ashtanga Yoga.