How To Make Sense of Modern Yoga Practices
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
There are multitudes of yoga practices offered in every town and city around the world, for the most part. How do you know what kind of yoga you will encounter with all the trademarked names for yoga that exists today? Yoga is being marketed to the spiritual seekers and business people alike. Yoga has been accepted into American culture as a fitness program for getting in shape, and often its spiritual aspects have been left out in order to make yoga more palatable to the mainstream. Yoga is being mass marketed and practiced by the ordinary person, and yoga classes can be found in any regular local gym in your neighborhood. Of course, since the spiritual aspects of yoga are often left out, you will not receive the teachings of the subtleties of yoga, but at least the self-discipline of performing the postures can be learned and developed, and you can work on the spiritual aspects on your own since you know there is more to yoga than the exercise of holding particular asanas for a few moments. Initially, yoga was for attaining enlightenment, but now it is taught mainly as a fitness program.
Almost all yoga being offered in your local facilities and abroad is a form of hatha yoga. Some types are more vigorous than others, and we will sort out the differences here. I offer you a brief description of each, but in no way is this an end all in descriptions of the various yogas that are available to the modern practitioner. You will want to ask some questions when you are getting ready to sign up for a yoga class:
- Where was the yoga teacher trained?
- What is the name of the type of yoga the teacher presents?
- Is the room going to be hot or left at room temperature?
- Will I need to bring my own towel or mat?
- Will I need any special tools or props?
- Will I need to drink water during the yoga class?
I briefly paraphrase Jennifer Cook’s article at www.yogajournal.com which is called “Not All Yoga Is Created Equal.” She has already done the homework of researching the various types of yoga found in the mainstream market. Here is a guide that might help you decide which yoga is for you. I also encourage you to research the name of the type of yoga on the internet and see what you find if one type draws your attention. There is far more information than what I include here.
Ashtanga Yoga: This is a series of postures that are practiced in sequence with each other, and the student moves from one posture to the other without resting. The person who started this yoga is K. Pattabhi Jois who lives in Mysore, India. Ashtanga is one of the most widespread types of yoga, with centers all around the world and training schools that turn out many teachers of this type of yoga. There are six series of asanas, each increasing in difficulty as the student evolves into more and more skill with yoga. There is no space between postures, so it is a great workout and causes you to sweat.
Power Yoga: Bender Birch wrote a book called Power Yoga (1995) and gave Westerners a taste of the possibilities with Ashtanga Yoga. Really, it is the same, but with a more marketable name that was acceptable to Americans who were looking for a good work out. It is found in many gyms and health clubs, and the name attracts a large class.
Jivamukti: This yoga is physically challenging, but includes a more meditative state than other yoga workouts. It is a combination of Ashtanga and other spiritual traditions. It includes chanting, meditation, scripture readings, and affirmations. Its cofounders are David Life and Sharon Gannon who started it in 1986.
Kali Ray TriYoga: This is a series of dance-like movements that develop seven distinct levels of self. Kali Ray (Kaliji) suddenly “received” these movements intuitively while leading a class in 1980. This method is taught in a meditative environment and promotes relaxation, inner peace, and wholeness.
White Lotus: Ganga White and Tracey Rich started this type of yoga. It refrains from spiritual teachings and focuses on flowing poses that range from easy to difficult, depending on the student’s skill level, and pays special attention to alignment, breathing, and focus.
Iyengar: Iyengar yoga is quite well known and was created by a man named B.K.S. Iyengar. He lives in Pune, India, is over 80 years old, and continues to have a healthy body and mind. Iyengar Yoga focuses on the subtleties of each posture, finding all the gifts that each posture can give even by varying them ever so slightly with a fraction of a movement. These poses are held much longer, and the student pays very close attention to the alignment each posture brings. It also includes the use of belts, chairs, blocks and other props, in effect creating an extension of the stretch that can be attained. Even the wall is used in some poses to further it or give support to the beginner.
Integrative Yoga Therapy: Joseph Le Page, M.A founded IYT and got his start in San Francisco. This yoga is designed specifically for medical situations, and is practiced in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. It consists of gentle postures, guided meditations for well-being, and breathing techniques for promoting recovery from illness or injury.vvvv
Viniyoga: T.K.V. Desikachar of Madras, India designed this yoga and founded the American Viniyoga institute in Hawaii (Maui). It is a method of individual blossoming based on the needs of each practitioner, rather than a system that is meant for everyone. It is meant to bring out the best in each person by taking inventory of the persons present condition and the future potential, setting individual goals for that person. No other yoga takes the individual needs of each into consideration like Viniyoga does. Teachers of Viniyoga are free to create individualized asana series geared to each student’s interests and preferences.
Svaroopa: This version of yoga includes different ways of doing the poses, with emphasis on the spine and it’s flexibility and health. It also works toward creating the inner experience of transcendence, called svaroopa. This yoga is consciousness oriented and works toward self transformation. It was created by Rama Berch, who works at the Deepak Chopra Center for Well Being. This method tries to bring the pose out from within rather than impose it on the body or force the body into poses it is not really ready for. This is a great beginner’s yoga, and a more difficult yoga can be adopted once a general grasp on yoga and some progress has been achieved.
Bikram: Choudhury Bikram created a system of 26 postures that if done in the correct order and in the correct way will bring ultimate healing and well-being. I have personally been a delighted recipient of the benefits of Bikram’s yoga, and can attest to the very rapid level of well being it brings to the body. It is “hot” yoga, however, and isn’t for the faint-hearted. Even Bikram’s beginning yoga is difficult for the beginner. It is sometimes called a warrior type of yoga since it is so athletic, like Ashtanga yoga is. The difference is that there is a short rest between each pose, but given that the room is so hot, a heavy sweat and aerobic heart rate is experienced, thus a terrific workout. The one thing I found difficult with this yoga was maintaining a healthy level of minerals and electrolytes in my body since the body loses so much through the sweat in that department. You must take minerals if you plan on doing this yoga. The heat in the room is simulating India’s hot climate, promotes removal of toxins through the sweat, and minimizes injury, for the heat makes the body more pliable.
Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy: This yoga encourages a deeper connection to self by using classical poses and techniques and one-on-one guidance through the physical and emotional selves. Breathing techniques are incorporated and psychological therapeutic insights are used. Awareness is focused on the sensations while one is in the pose. The client listens to the body’s wisdom and releases emotions, beliefs, or issues that manifest as chronic aches and pains.
Sivananda: Sivananda yoga instructs the student to ask the question: Who am I? This yoga system was introduced by Swami Vishnu-devananda in 1957 in the United States. Now there are more than 80 Sivananda Yoga Vedatna Centers, all of which teach the five main principles of yoga, covering the first 5 Limbs of the Eight Limbed system of Raja Yoga. This yoga prepares the student for the other three Limbs, which must, for the most part, be done on one’s own through inner discipline. Sivananda yoga is the most complete yoga taught in the Western world, and includes more of the Eight Limbs of Raja than any other system. Sivananda yoga emphasizes 12 basic postures, chanting, pranayama, and meditation.
Ananda: If you want more than just a great workout and would like to truly embrace the yogic path of spiritual growth, Swami Kriyananada, a disciple of the famous Paramahansa Yogananda, developed Ananda yoga. Silent affirmations are repeated during a pose, which deepen the benefits of the asana. This yoga consists of gentle hatha yoga postures, preparing the body and mind for meditation.
Kundalini: Once a secret teaching only divied out to deserving students, it was suddenly available to the masses as of 1969 when Yogi Bhajan decided to make it public. He believed that it should not be coveted and should be shared with those in the west who also have a birthright to be “healthy, happy and holy.” Kundalini yoga includes asanas, breathing techniques, chanting and mantras. Focus is put on the base of the spine and drawing the dormant energy (kundalini) upward into the chakras, thus providing the way for enlightenment.
ISHTA: Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda, this type of yoga system was created by Alan Finger, a native of South Africa. He was a student of the Sivananda system, the “tantric hermit Barati,” and explored many traditions under various teachers. He helps students get in touch with the un-ending reservoir of energy that is available to us all. The asanas include flowing Ashtanga yoga poses with the focus of the Iyengar approach. Also included are pranayama and meditations.
Kripalu: The Kripaluy Center For Yoga is located in Massachusetts. Amrit Desai and the Kripalu staff created Kripalu yoga over a period of 20 years, which is a spontaneous flow of postures that are not consciously directed by the mind. The body simply goes into the poses that it seems to want to do next. It is very intuitive, and it is also beautiful to watch. Amrit studied under an Eastern Indian guru named Kripaluvananda, who the center is named after, and discovered that there was a deep release of life force (prana) when he first discovered this innate urge to let the body move on its own. He created three stages of practice, which are: willful practice (alignment, breath, presence); willfull surrender (holding postures beyond the comfort level, and deepening the focus and concentration); and meditation in motion (the body’s release of internal tensions and trust in the body’s wisdom to know which postures are need in that moment to release whatever will block deep meditation.)
Anusara: Literally, it means “to step into the current of divine will.” The student is honored for his or her abilities and limitations, and the body is not forced into poses without first working toward them as time goes on. This is another type of yoga that focuses on the individual’s needs and preferences. It has three key areas of practice: attitude (opening to grace and awakening to one’s true nature); alignment (integrated awareness of all the different parts of the body and how it is responding to the pose); and action ( artistic expression of the heart in which muscular stability is attained along with inner freedom.)
Tibetan: Tibetan yoga is a range of practices among Buddhists, from tantric meditation, to asanas, to pranayama. Most famous of the asanas in Tibetan yoga are the Five Rites Of Rejuvenation, or the Five Tibetan Rites. This consists of five movements that flow from one to another, and all five are repeated 10 or 12 times, eventually working up to 21 repetitions of the five rites. Kum Nye, developed by Tarthang Tulku, is another known movement practice that has been exposed to the West. It means “interaction with the subtle body” and is more contemplative than the Five Tibetan Rites. Other than that, not much more is known about Tibetan yogas, which to this day, some remain secret.