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Writer's pictureAdelaide

3 Best Styles of Yoga for Absolute Beginners



The best thing about Yoga is you don’t have to stick to any one style. Many forms of Yoga complement each other and make for a well-rounded Yogini/Yogi but if you're an absolute beginner here are my top 3 styles of Yoga to get you started.


1) Hatha Yoga


The Sanskrit word ‘Hatha’ means the physical practice of any yoga that teaches physical postures.

Hatha Yoga is where I began in my own yoga practice 20 years ago and it’s a great place to start. Hatha does not link asanas (postures) together as one long unbroken routine but instead focuses on moving steadily into each individual pose and holding these positions for a few breaths.


Because it is a much slower, gentler form of yoga, it gives the participant time to become aware of their body and breathing in the various yoga positions and transitions.


The time spent in each pose allows you to self-assess and question whether you are breathing efficiently within the asana? Are your arms or legs able to support you in certain positions? Do you need to make any adjustments? Are you able to bring, your body, your mind, and your breath into each pose?

Hatha Yoga is where you can develop your internal strength within each asana and create a strong foundation that will make for a much more self-aware, intelligent, and progressive practice, especially if you intend to try other forms of yoga such as Ashtanga, Power or Vinyasa (which I will talk about in another blog).




2) Iyengar Yoga


Formed by Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar one of the foremost Yoga instructors in the world, this form of Yoga is perfect for beginners as the focus is still on learning correct body alignment in each asana but you’ll use yoga props such as yoga straps, bolsters, rope walls, yoga blocks or bricks. All these props are used to help beginners increase their understanding of the finer details and precision within the yoga practice.


Props are used to supporting you're body allowing you to relax and hold the positions for longer. This helps to increase your mental and physical stability and gives the teacher time to explain each pose in more detail, which is only going to be of benefit to the understanding of the practice overall.

Iyengar Yoga is great if you're recovering from an injury or generally hold a lot of tension in your muscles.




3) Yin Yoga


With its roots beginning in the Taoist Traditions, Yin Yoga is perfect for releasing muscle tension. It focuses on increasing flexibility, elasticity and length across the connective tissues and fascia around the hip joint, pelvis, and lower back. Postures are mainly done in a seated or lying down position and can be held for 1–10 minutes.


It is a very gentle form of yoga developed by Paulie Zink, an American Martial Arts Champion and Yoga Taoist teacher. Yin Yoga is great for helping you find your inner zen space, quiet the mind and learn the basics of meditation. It also uses props such as bolsters to help you release muscle tension as opposed to tensing the muscles as you sit in the various positions.

It’s great for those who want to de-stress, suffer from back pain, migraines, have tightness in the neck or shoulders or sports people that need to stretch out and unwind from training. You can also try Hot Yin Yoga as the warm environment helps the body move deeper into each pose with less resistance.

It’s best to avoid Yin Yoga if you are hyper-mobile or have any connective tissue disorders.


Adelaide


Adelaide Brooks is a Certified Personal Trainer and Life Coach with a Degree in Sports and Exercise Science and a Masters in Psychology. She has over 15 years experience as a health trainer in the medical and fitness industry.

If you would like to book a body transformation training session with Adelaide please take a look at the Programs Page.






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