Doing Yoga of any kind is beneficial.  Is there any one type of Yoga that can claim to be superior to all others?  I believe there answer to this is no.  Think of Yoga as food – for the body, mind and spirit.  We each like different food…we each have different reactions to various foods as well.  What I would find satisfying and fulfilling for lunch may make you cringe in fear.

In the same way, I think it necessary to explore at least a few of the various Yoga offerings you have access to in your area, and find out which one is best for you.  Pretend you are hunting for a new favourite restaurant – one you will frequent as often as possible to feed yourself with the best of food.  Even if you are planning take-out (doing Yoga at home), it is always wise to sample a few of the “entrees” in various teaching styles before settling on one yourself.  I personally practice at home, but still attend a class once every month or six weeks for guidance, advice and posture checks.  Anyone else feeling like takeout Chinese right about now?  I am!

Yoga everywhere!

No matter what your choice may be, Yoga is available almost everywhere; from recreation centers, public facilities, clubs, studios, at home, on DVD…you name it.  Listed below with short descriptions are the major Yoga teaching styles.  I hope the information may at least give you some indication as to what style of Yoga may be best for you.

Hatha Yoga

This term is often used incorrectly as Hatha Yoga can incorporate a variety of styles.  You may usually count on this style of Yoga to be slow-paced and serene as opposed to overly active.

Integral Yoga

If you suffer from intense pain in joints or have reached an age where you require a more gentle Yoga approach, Integral yoga may be for you.  Also a type of Hatha Yoga; classes include chanting, meditation, and breathing exercises (Pranayama).

Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa is another general term that encompasses many different types of classes.  Classes in Vinyasa Yoga often focus around more active poses based on a series known as Sun Salutations and are usually more vigorous.  These poses are performed in synchronization with the breath and are generally followed up by more intense stretching towards class end.

Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar Yoga is based on the teachings of the yogi B.K.S. Iyengar and is one of my personal favourites as it combines attention to body alignment with holding poses over long periods.  This allows the practitioner to advance at her or his own pace – e.g. gradually working your way up from only holding a pose for a few seconds to a minute or more.  Alignment in yoga terms refers to the precise positioning of your body to achieve the maximum benefit while reducing any risks of injury.  Iyengar Yoga encourages prop use such as blankets, straps, etc…to gain the necessary alignment for some asanas.  Breathing or practicing Pranayama after Yoga and at other times of the day is also encouraged.

Ashtanga Yoga (or a variant called Power yoga)

Ashtanga Yoga is a very fast-paced and intense style of Yoga.  If a class is described as a power yoga class, it will be loosely based on Ashtanga Yoga and yet may follow different poses.  Ashtanga Yoga relies on a set series of poses which are performed in the same order and without rest.  This constant movement is known as “flow” in Yoga terms and is quite demanding physically.

Bikram Yoga

Otherwise known as hot yoga, Bikram Yoga is practiced in a high temperature environment, usually 35 to 38 degrees Celsius.  According to Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga, the high temperature allows for lubrication and loosening of tight muscles as well as sweating out toxins from the body.  Bikram Yoga traditionally relies on twenty-six poses, although not all hot yoga classes may use the same.

Moksha Hot Yoga

Ted Grant and Jessica Robertson pioneered Moksha Yoga in Toronto, Canada in 2004.  Similar to Bikram Hot Yoga, a series of poses designed to be challenging yet accessible for those with physical difficulties is performed in a hot environment.

Kripalu Yoga

Kripalu Yoga was developed by yoga guru Amrit Desai who came to the United States from India in 1960.  Kripalu Yoga is a type of Hatha Yoga with emphasis on extending your practice into your everyday life.  Through awakening higher awareness, meditation, and physical healing, Kripalu strives to move students towards a holistically whole state.

Anusara Yoga

A very ‘Buddhist’ Yoga, Anusara is based on the belief of the inherent goodness of all of nature and adds to this a strong emphasis on alignment.  With a positive philosophy based on Tantra, Anusara Yoga classes are usually very open and relaxed, offering instruction for students with varying abilities.  As with Iyengar Yoga, props are often used, and poses are taught in such a way as to open the emotional and physical heart center in order to help heal and free the mind.

Kundalini Yoga

As a practitioner of Kundalini Yoga, I can tell you it is a fairly strenuous workout with attention on breathing, breath control, mudras, and your spiritual third eye.  Kundalini yoga places great emphasis on the breath in rhythm with physical movement in order to free Kundalini energy and allow it to rise up your body.  Understanding the effects of the breath or prana (life energy) is an integral part of Kundalini Yoga and is present in many of the asanas.

Jivamukti Yoga

Jivamukti Yoga was founded by David Life and Sharon Gannon.  This is a particularly beautiful and interesting style of Yoga with emphasis on meditation, chanting, and spiritual teachings.  Jivamukti Yoga is quite challenging physically and finds its roots in Ashtanga Yoga.  David and Sharon have an interesting website which you may visit at http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com.

Sivananda Yoga

Sivananda Yoga is based on five principles;  proper exercise through performing Asanas, proper breathing, relaxation, proper diet, and positive thinking and meditation. Teachers of Sivananda Yoga usually advocate a strict vegetarian if not Vegan diet.

Forrest Yoga

Ana Forrest teaches this method at her yoga center in Santa Monica, California.  Forrest Yoga is very intense physically and is designed to strengthen the body and release hidden emotional damage and pain so that deeper healing may begin.  Emphasis is placed on developing a strong core through abdominal exercises and controlled deep breathing.

There are many other types of yoga and subcategories as well, but the majority of all are in some way based on these “umbrella’ styles.  Of note are Laughter Yoga (see article here), Christian Yoga, and Jewish Yoga.  I sincerely hope this information will lead you in a positive direction when it comes time for you to consider Yoga as a form of physical activity that will benefit your mind, emotions and spirit as well.

P.S.  Pass the eggrolls!

Namaste

I had no plans to move off topic today, until I happened to overhear one of the men who live in the same rooming house I occupy talking with his son. I should explain a bit here first – I chose after the experiences of my forty day retreat from the world to dedicate my life to helping others on their level, bringing Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, meditation and a willingness to listen to people who rarely are given the opportunity to be heard by someone living on their level.

An Oasis

In order to accomplish this, I moved to a smaller community with difficult substance abuse and prostitution issues. The rooming house I share with nine other men has become an oasis of sorts over the last few months. Located right dead center on the street frequented by prostitutes both too young and yet old at the same time; our rooming house was a heavily trafficked location when I first moved in. Over time, a few of the men here participate in Yoga, look forward to and attend meditation sessions and most have come to speak to me about one problem or another in their lives. I can’t say it has been easy, money is a steady concern, but at the same time everything has a way of working out. I survive, as the people often thought of as the dregs of our society do…day by day.

The father, who shall remain nameless, truly has a kind and gentle heart clouded by addiction and a desire for material wealth supported by selling any drug available. We have talked often, but his health has been failing for some time and he has become a man waiting to die, bitter, refusing treatment, and living on the edge wherever possible. The father’s twenty-seven year old son has suffered s few costly mistakes already, yet attends my yoga class infrequently and has told me often that he wants to learn his lessons.

Blown away

I entered into hearing range just in time to hear the son say to the father he wished he had enough money for a good car. The father’s response nearly knocked me off my feet when I heard him tell his child if he can pimp out five good looking girls he can by a new Cadillac for cash in only three months. Needless to say, I’m going to approach the both of them on the subject as soon as the opportunity arises….

I also hear the comments in response to the endless stream of crack addicted prostitutes by some of the residents when we are sitting out talking on the front deck, as well as the property owner as well I’m afraid, and I am heartbroken. It takes willpower and compassion to see through the pain most of these men are in and find the light within them, but at the same time it made me realize something much more profound: Western society has lost the memory of the importance, value and need for the feminine aspect to be integrated equally in the very hearts of men if true equality is to exist.

Womb or Embryo pose

In honour of my own mother who passed away many years ago, the women who walk the street here who are daughters and quite often mothers themselves, mothers and daughters everywhere, and the wonderful owner of this website who is a mother herself and a daughter – I added an Ashtanga asana to my routine today and set my intention on contemplating the blessings of the feminine side on physical, mental and spiritual levels. Garbha Pindasana (womb embryo pose) is a wonderful posture that can help accelerate the spiritual union between one’s mind and soul, slim and shape the abdomen, improve digestion and repair stomach illnesses.

Garbha Pindasana is a fairly difficult pose for me personally, as I have had some past trouble with one knee flexing enough to sit comfortably in lotus position, so please judge for yourself whether you are ready to experience this posture before trying it yourself and take advantage of the variations offered here when necessary:

Technique

Exhale slowly… Place the legs in full lotus position, and slide your arms in until the back of the elbows rest inside the thighs. Place your hands on your face, covering your cheeks, or do half lotus and place your arms around the legs, or do the lightest variant of this pose and hold your legs with your hands.

Inhale… Sit up on the edge of your sit bones. Look forward and maintain this position for five comfortable breaths. Exhale… Roll back and forth clockwise seven to ten times with deep breathing.

Inhale… Roll up and lift up your body with your hands, resuming whichever of the three variants you are comfortable with and maintain for another five long, comfortable breaths. Exhale, release and straighten the legs.

In my meditations while performing this pose and the rest of my usual evening routine, I considered that as a man, allowing my feminine side to express itself has led to creativity, a deeper connectedness with my own emotional states, and a greater sense of compassion for others when I consider the power of a mother’s bond to her children. I realize that without my mother, I would have never been given the gift of being born into this world.

Peace to you…and Namaste

After a very rough week with multiple tooth extractions, a root canal, and numerous emotional issues that arose from nowhere, I found myself in need of something to pick my spirits up.  My physical activity has been down; no mountain hikes, no long bike rides…sadly even walking jars my mouth too much. Am I whining…?  Six days of fasting on fruit juice and barley green tea has certainly helped, but I needed more.  It turns out ‘they’ may be right…Laughter really is the best medicine.

The first formal Laughter Club meeting took place in a park in Mumbai on March 13, 1995.  The brainchild of Dr. Madan Kataria, laughter groups have been around in India for so many years that no one can pinpoint the exact time they began.  Today, there are over six thousand laughter clubs in over sixty countries.

Hee Hee Hee!

Laughter Yoga is based on the scientific concept that the human body cannot differentiate between real laughter and fake laughter – the results on our body and our state of mind are virtually the same.  Combined with Pranayama (Yogic breathing, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term), laughter is first simulated as a physical exercise in a group setting with playfulness and eye contact.  Very quickly, the laughter becomes genuine and spreads through everyone who is present.

Throughout India and many other countries, thousands of Laughter Yoga clubs meet in public parks every morning to share in the benefits of Laughter Yoga.  Enthusiasts say that Laughter Yoga makes them feel happy, healthy and energetic.  Through practicing Laughter Yoga daily, positive energy is created making it easier to cope with the stresses of daily life – many in fact have ceased the need for anti-depressant medications simply by making this practice part of their morning routine.

Laughter as natural medicine

Through laughter, common infections that gnaw away at our state of health and well-being such as colds and flu are reduced, and chronic medical problems are often cured if not relieved.  Clinical research shows that laughter lowers stress hormone production in the blood and fosters a positive mental outlook making one less likely to fall victim to depression or feelings of helplessness.  Further research has revealed that laughter can help resolve workplace issues, improve memory and performance, as well as productivity in any task.

In Canada and abroad, Laughter Yoga has demonstrated itself to be an ideal exercise routine for seniors and those with compromised cognitive abilities.  As humour is not required to stimulate the laughter, it transcends mental states and levels of awareness and allows laughter to occur in a child-like state – free of language barriers or need for conscious understanding.

Laughter Yoga moves past language, creed, color and race.  I love the concept!  It is often laughter that is the first to go when we experience stress or difficulties in our lives.  We were given the gift of laughter as a self healing method to lift our spirits and renew our hopes, and best of all, no prescription required!

For more information about Laughter Yoga, you may visit their website at http://www.laughteryoga.org.  Article cover image copy the same.

And now…a few yoga jokes to get you started chuckling!

What did the yogi say to the hotdog vendor?

Make me one with everything! (veggie dog, of course!)

Time is the best teacher…although it kills students

How many Yogis does it take to change a light bulb?

Into what?

And my favourite joke of all…When Mahatma Gandhi was asked about what he thought of Western civilization, his answer was “I think it would be a good idea.”  Priceless! J