Kripalu Yoga
Explore yoga’s softer side with Kripalu, which means compassion. Because the mind, body, and spirit are inextricably intertwined, you move at your own pace, honoring your body’s needs at each moment. This compassion toward your body opens your heart to explore your emotions in each posture. Kripalu is a tranquil yoga.
In class, you might practice light, easy stretching to reduce fatigue and soothe the nerves, along with poses that are divided into three stages: gentle poses that focus on alignment, breath, and coordination; poses that emphasize inner sensations, thoughts, and emotions; and gentle or vigorous poses, depending on your needs, that flow together like meditation in motion. Kripalu teaches you to move within your body’s wisdom. Classes are great for beginners, pregnant or postpartum women, and stressed-out folks in need of a change of pace. Kripalu means breathe, relax, feel, watch, and allow.
Difficulty rating: 1-2
Kundalini Yoga
If you’ve never experienced Kundalini yoga, brace yourself. Movements are dynamic and percussive with lots of rocking and rolling, twisting and shouting, bouncing and bending, belly grinding and pelvic thrusting. The active asanas release the Kundalini energy around the spine, or “the serpent.” Through active postures, breathing, meditating, and chanting, the serpent is awakened and moved upward though the body to achieve good health. Prana, your life force, must be able to flow freely to cleanse your spirit and balance the chakras, energy centers that correspond with specific organs in the body.
A typical class consists of “tuning in” to clear your brain’s clutter; a “warm up” of pranayamas such as breath of fire or alternative nostril breathing; and Kriya, which provides a purpose for your class so you can practice active exercises that correspond to the Kriya. Generally speaking, Kriyas heal the body by balancing the glandular system, cleansing the digestive system or bloodstream, strengthening the 72,000 nerves in the body, expanding lung capacity, establishing emotional fortitude, or bringing balance to the mind, body, and soul. After that, you’ll practice several minutes of deep relaxation, meditation, and then a “tune out” chant.
Kundalini yoga is a gentle yet invigorating yoga—the release of Kundalini energy can be euphoric. Whether you need to cope with stress, learn to relax, find a new way to meditate, or gain peace in your life, Kundalini can be yours. It’s great for beginners and anyone with an open mind.
Restorative Yoga
The word “restorative” evokes images of stretching out and sinking into a deep trance of nothingness. These passive poses heal the body and allow the mind to attain a deeper state of relaxation. In most cases, poses are held for several minutes, and props such as bolsters and straps are used to support the body while the muscles melt and gravity moves you. Restorative classes may alleviate chronic conditions such as headaches and backaches. Classes are great for the tired, weary, pregnant, overweight, or anyone looking to unwind after a hectic day.
Difficulty rating: 1
Power Yoga
With power yoga, you never know what you’re going to get—a pinch of Ashtanga, a bit of Bikram, and maybe a taste of Iyengar. But it is the perfect mixture of fat-blaster and spirit-enhancer with cardio, strength, flexibility, determination, mental toughness, agility, and breath work. Of course, class format differs by teacher and his or her training, but do expect results. You’ll jump in and out of sun salutations that flow in and out of poses, drop to the mat for an ab makeover, backbend your spine into shape, and then chill out in corpse pose. Best of all, no sets or reps.
Yes, these power yogis have some tough toes from jumping between poses, and so can you. But new yogis must be careful. Because power yoga is the latest craze to get your body sweating you might not get the individual attention you need to practice asanas safely. Don’t hesitate to ask your teacher for a few pointers beforehand, enroll in a beginner’s course, or take a few private lessons.
Difficulty rating: 4-5
Scaravelli Yoga
Imagine Iyengar with a softer touch. You practice the classic poses but the delivery is more poetic. “If you are kind to your body, it will respond in an incredible way,” writes Vanda Scaravelli, the Italian yogi who customized the classic poses of Iyengar with a feminine and organic approach. As a student of Iyengar, she believed that she needed a less strenuous approach to yoga. If Iyengar is a powerful and precise form of yoga and Kripalu is a softer method, then Scaravelli is a combination: powerful and precise yet soft and fluid.
The basis of her work was to unwind and undo the body while honoring the process of relaxation; it was during her own practice that she discovered that the breath moves the spine like a wave. “You have to learn to listen to your body,” she writes, “going with it and not against it, avoiding all effort or strain and centering your attention on that very delicate point, the back of the waist.” In class, you may practice a series of modification and breath work to attain the classic pose while emphasizing proper alignment of the spine. Her stress-free yoga awakens the spine to keep it healthy. Scaravelli is great for any level student and age is not a factor.
Difficulty rating: 2-3
Viniyoga Yoga
Viniyoga may just be the most intelligent yoga out there. T.K.V. Desikachar’s extremely sophisticated approach tailors each practice to your needs, whether you’re suffering from an injury or chronic illness, young or old, pregnant or postpartum, athlete or couch potato, too thin or need to shed a few. Want examples? Journey into the three phases of life: Sunrise (25 and younger) is a practice that builds strength and develops the body; Midday (26-75) poses keep you healthy and productive; and Sunset (76 plus) prepares you for death, a practice of meditation and breath work to contemplate life.
Viniyoga is often called therapeutic yoga. There’s no such thing as the perfect pose—you give your body what it needs at that time in your life, which in turn enhances your performance in life itself. You can practice Viniyoga in a group class or with a private instructor. And, in the words of Vanda Scaravelli, “Desikachar’s yoga does not push you into it, but very gently leads you to the door that eventually, and unexpectedly, may let you in.”
Difficulty rating: 3-4
Karon Karter is a health, fitness, and travel writer. She is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Pilates.
The Yogi’s Dictionary
Asana: Sanskrit for posture. “To sit” or “to be present.”
Ashtanga: Sanskrit for eight limbs of yoga, defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Child’s Pose: Relaxation pose practiced between asanas.
Dharana: Concentration that occurs after yogi controls the senses, not letting stray thoughts, negative emotions, smells, or pain disrupt the mind.
Dhyana: Meditation that happens as asanas flow to create meditation in movement; all limbs active to establish a contemplative practice.
Guru: One who removes the darkness of ignorance, replacing it with the light of intelligence.
Hatha: All yoga practiced is a variation of hatha, the unification of two energies: ha, the left, and tha, the right, to the center of the spine.
Karma: Sanskrit for action. The universe gives back what you give it.
Krishnamacharya: Invented or influenced most yoga.
Kriya: Sanskrit meaning “to tone, cleanse, and heal the body.”
Mantra: A sacred sound used to create focus during meditation.
Namaste: Sanskrit saying that means “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you.”
Niyama: Rules of personal conduct espousing physical cleansing and contentment. Purification of the body both internally and externally.
Om: Sanskrit word symbol for God, the basis of all sounds in the universe.
Patanjali: The first sage to give a permanent definition and form to yoga; his teachings are the heart of yoga today.
Pranayama: Breathing techniques to still the mind and find clarity.
Pratyahara: Control over one’s senses; the most literal translation is “hold back.” If the mind wanders in class—”to do lists” and “what’s for dinner”—the breath quiets the mind to control the senses.
Samadhi: Contemplation or ultimate state of self-realization to see all and be equal with God.
Savasana: Sanskrit for corpse pose, a classic relaxation pose practiced before each session, in between asanas, and as a final repose.
Sun Salutations: A salute to the sun god that warms and tones the body, especially the spine.
Vinyasa: Sanskrit meaning “to move.” The body and breath flow as one.
Yama: Rules of moral codes relating to other people and the environment, creating a peaceful and harmonious world.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A text that provides the basic tenets for life divided into the eight limbs of yoga, which are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyna, and samdhi.
