Alignment Oriented Yoga Styles - Basic Vs Recent

You must be curious to know why there is such a hullabaloo over alignment oriented yoga exercises! Here's a guide for all you anxious people raring to know more about YOGA. Whether you want to shed weight, enhance your athletic skills, or simply stay flexible - yoga has something for every committed person who practices it regularly. And the results are stunning and long lasting, making you feel lighter, flexible and naturally beautiful - both internally and externally!

Let us begin with a knowledge update of yoga style basics. The origin of the word 'Yoga' can be attributed to the Sanskrit term 'yug', which implies 'union'. Through the yogic practice an individual discovers the path to his soul and unites himself with it. Being both a spiritual and a physical art, yoga helps in uniting the body, mind and soul to arrive at a ideal state where the body gets clean and physically powerful, the mind becomes lucid, and the soul gets turned inward. At the physical forefront, yoga not only relieves us of the countless body ailments, but also serves as an excellent means for building strength, flexibility, and balance.

Though most contemporary styles of yoga have similar characteristics, knowing the fine nuances can help you start your learning on the right foot. This awareness adequately matches your practice to your physical priorities. It also extends your awareness and makes your yoga practice more satisfying and fruitful.

Although the contemporary styles of yoga are many, their differences mainly revolve around the emphasis. These areas of emphasis include focusing on strict body alignment, perfecting coordination between breath and movement, holding the right postures, etc. However, every yogic style shares one universal lineage. The major yoga styles may be listed as Astanga, Iyengar, Viniyoga - propagated by the students of Krishnamacharya (a famous instructor at the Yoga Institute, Mysore Palace, India) and Integral and Sivananda - created by the disciples of Sivananda (the famous guru). However, we cannot emphasize the superiority of one style over the other. It's purely a matter of individual preference.

Power yoga has emerged as a relatively new branch of recent yoga practices. Nowadays, major gyms across the globe are offering power yoga classes owing to its surprising after effects. It aims at emphasizing the development of one's flexibility. It assists in a vigorous whole body workout. Together with this, it also facilitates in increasing the concentration span and mental stability.

No wonder power yoga classes are becoming increasingly popular. It's not just vogue that an increasing number of people are adding power yoga to their lifestyle. It is their proven benefits that have driven people crazy about them. A list of few of the many power yoga benefits is as under -

  • It bolsters strength, stamina, and flexibility.
  • It improves a person's ability to focus and concentrate.
  • It helps to keep the overall tension and distracting anxiety at a bay.
  • It helps to maintain proper posture.

Keeping in view, the countless advantages of performing alignment oriented yoga exercises; one should make it a regular habit and make these exercises a part of the daily routine.