A look at the most popular different yoga styles taught and practised today
If you go to the yoga alliance web site and try to look up a yoga teacher, you would be quite impressed by the number of options for “style of yoga” that you can put in. I started counting them and run out of curiosity to know the exact number somewhere around number 100, and had barely gotten to styles starting with the letter “e”. Granted, it seems like the web site could have done a much better job of organizing the categories. Some of the entries are repetitive and some of the entries are combinations of different styles - but you get the idea - there seems to be a huge variety (at least by name) in the types of yoga being taught.
As part of our course, we examined the 4 major schools of yoga (raja, bakhti, karma and jnana) and looked briefly at some of the main branches of hatha yoga (i.e. iyengar, ashtanga, power, vinyasa, bikram). For this final project i wanted to take a look at what some of the other styles that are popular in the West are. My choice of what to include in this paper is purely personal and was based primarily on the fact that i have heard these names before. Thus I will give a short introduction into the teachings of Kundalini, Kripalu, Anusara and Sivananda yoga.
Most of the variations of yoga paths are fairly recent - from the second part of the 20th century, and there is a lot more in common than there is different between them. They are all yoga - and as such attempting to enable the individual to elevate his/her consciousness and still the mind. They all rely on the ancient techniques of asana and pranayama, and a lot of them look to Patanjali’s Eight limb path, or some subset of it. The main differences are in how they believe you can get to that ultimate goal of enlightenment and union with the Divine. While Kundalini practitioners are focused on awakening the shakti (or energy) sleeping in all of us and making it move through our chakra centers, Kripalu’s focus has evolved to an emphasis on healing, Anusara stresses goodness, positivity and open heart and Sivananda looks to remain true to the ancient traditions and bring the Vedanta teachings to the front.
The overview presented here is just scratching the surface of the subject and is only intended as a simplified picture of the main tenets of these yoga styles. The footnotes to this paper list the main sources of information I used and you can get further reading suggestions from those.
Kundalini yoga:
According to its practitioners, Kundalini yoga is the most powerful and all-inclusive of all yogas, and can give results up to 16 times faster . Kundalini derives its name from the sanskrit word Kundalini which means “coiled”, in reference to “coiled serpent”, lying dormant at the lower end of the spine - which is how they view a person’s energy or shakti. It is one of the ancient forms of yoga and was brought to the West at the end of the 1960s by Yogi Bhajan. Up to that time it was never taught publicly and was handed down from guru to disciple only.
The practice relies on a combination of Asanas, Pranayama, Mudras, Bandhas, Mantras and Meditation, which are done together or in sequence in order to achieve specific effects. The asanas part of a kundalini practice is generally a lot simpler and less physically challenging and takes less time of the practice compared to Power yoga. The main goal of the asanas is to promote a flexible spine and a balanced glandular system. A Kundalini practice attempts to awaken the coiled serpent sleeping at the bottom of our spine and move it up through the chakras to the crown of the head (the path of enlightenment), then go back down to the root chakra (the path of manifestation). The completion of the full cycle is called path of liberation. As a result, we expand our awareness and become able to tap into our infinite potential.
While the web sites promoting kundalini yoga have guides and dvds to help with self practice, some other sites of more neutral nature also discuss potential dangerous sides to practising on your own without much knowledge or experience. They suggest that help and advice from a gury are important since attempting to awaken your Kundalini by force could cause unwanted effects - after all, you are attempting to awaken a snake! Some of the possible unpleasant symptoms cited are headaches, depression, stress, mood swings, etc., and potentially even mental disorders.
Kripalu yoga:
It’s also one of the older schools and is one of the more holistic ones out there. It was started in the 60s by the Indian-born yogi Amrit Desai and is based on the teaching of his guru, swami Kripalu, who was a Kundalini yoga practitioner. Kripalu yoga puts an emphasis not only on proper alignment and breathing techniques, but also on taking yoga “off the mat”. They look to promote yoga as an integrated lifestyle versus any stand-alone practice . There are 3 stages in Kripalu yoga: you start by learning the poses and exploring your body’s abilities, then you move to holding the poses for an extended period of time to develop concentration and inner awareness. Stage 3 is “meditation in motion” during which you move from one pose to another spontaneously while you are in a meditative state.
Kripalu has a somewhat curious history. The first residential yoga retreat to practise Kripalu yoga was established by Desai in the 1970s in Pennsylvania. The center, which was run as an ashram, grew in both popularity and size over the years and moved to a large facility in Massachusetts in the 80s (it’s current home). Desai became one of the leading spiritual leaders and yogis at the time. The kripalu center was one of the institutions that started efforts to integrate yoga with western approaches to healing and self-development and incorporate modern science into its teachings. It was one of the pioneers in holistic healing. At the end of the 80s the ashram was legally reorganized as a church order, and a lot of the ashram residents became yoga nuns and monks - taking formal vows of celibacy and obedience. The ashram and it’s guru continued to be extremely popular and influential till the mid 90s, when allegations surfaced of sexual relations between Desai and sever female ashram residents. The disillusionment with the omniscient guru pretty much disbanded the ashram, and it had to sell of most of its assets in order to finance a $2.5mm dollar law suit settlement with former residents. A group of committed residents remained however, and the ashram was transformed from a guru-disciple institution into a secular center for health, wellness and lifestyle change. In the last 10 years the Kripalu center, while continuing to teach kripalu yoga, has also become a holistic center for growth and personal development, honoring all traditional and contemporary spiritual approaches.
Anusara yoga:
A more recent style that has been gaining popularity in the US is anusara yoga which was started by John Friend in 1997. Anusara means “flowing with grace”, “going with the flow”, “following your heart”. It is based on a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness and combines this with the Universal Principles of Alignment. They teach that the nature of the divine is bliss and that goodness is the nature of the universe. It’s an upbeat, energetic and optimistic practice that is not foreign to the western mind and spirituality. It’s popularity seems to be the result of the combination of being an intensive physical workout like Power yoga and its upbeat and positive vibe.
Classes normally begin with an invocation or centering, and have a heart-oriented theme - i.e. use a theme such as cultivating a virtue as a direction for the energy that students put into their poses and breathing. The practice is centered around the three As - Attitude, Alignment and Action. Attitude is related to the heart - every pose should have meaningful intention connected to the grand purpose of yoga. Alignment is related to the body - be aware of specific postural alignments . And Action relates to the mind - balancing between stability and freedom. Similar to Power yoga, Anusara classes are vinyasa style progressive sequencing classes which encourage the use of props and pose modifications.
Sivananda yoga:
This is a school that still has a firm base in India as well as has centers in the West. It draws inspiration from the teachings of swami Sivananda - one of the important 20th century figures in yoga. In the late 1950s, swami Vishnu-devananda came to the West on the advice of his guru, swami Sivananda to teach yoga. Sivananda philosophy has its roots in the Vedanta teachings, and spreading these teachings is a major part of the mission of the Sivananda centers around the world.
Sivananda yoga is one of the more traditional styles. They define their path of yoga as the “yoga of synthesis” . I.e. they encourage students to practise some techniques from each of the 4 major paths (raja, bakhti, karma and jnana) while putting extra emphasis into their preferred path. Both in India and in the West they rely on the guru/disciple relationship as a main path for deepening a person’s yoga practice. The 5 main points of yoga according to Sivananda are: 1) Proper exercise (Asanas), 2) Proper breathing (Pranayama), 3) Proper relaxation (Savasana), 4) Proper diet (vegetarian) and 5) Positive thinking (Vedanta) and meditation (Dhyana) .
Their typical practice is a combination of pure hatha yoga and pranayama, with rest between most poses/short sequences. It would normally begin with rest followed by some breathing exercises, then a gentler variation of Sun Salutation sequences and then the main asanas. The standard program is 12 basic asanas (Sivananda believes that the asanas they’ve chosen for their sequence bring out the essence and all major benefits of the whole body of asanas known to us). The 12 basic asanas are: Headstand, shoulder stand, plough, fish, forward bend, cobra, locust (beginners do superhero), bow, spinal twist, crow/peacock, standing forward bend and triangle pose. Instructors are allowed to add to it or use variations. More Pranayama and Savasana end the session.
Conclusion:
The styles discussed above are just a small portion of the plethora of yoga paths that have been brought to us by different yoga teachers and gurus and are a testament to the flexibility and open-mindedness of yogic thought, as well as to our inexhaustible spiritual quest and desire to find a path that works for us in this life.
Some of the newer creations have taken interesting and somewhat peculiar turns. A few new styles are a lot more oriented towards the physical exercise part. While doing the readings on this subject I run across Cy-Yo (a practice combining yoga and cycling) and Aerial yoga (which utilizes a soft trapeze to lift you off the ground while practising yoga asanas), to name just a couple. Others look to new ways to connect with our spirituality. Nada yoga (or Yoga of Sound) makes a distinction between external sounds and internal sounds and attempts to teach you to hear the internal “sacred” sound - the practice session starts by listening to music for 10-15 minutes. Laughter yoga believes that laughter is the best de-stressing and healing mechanism and uses a mixture of chanting, breathing, some asanas and laughter during their practice .
While some of this might sound strange to us, if it helps the people who practise it - even if it simply makes them calmer and more centered persons - then i will argue it’s a worthwhile practice. While even after this research i think I will be sticking to Power yoga, i think the world would be a better place if more and more people find ways to connect to their spiritual beings - however different or even strange those ways might be...
As part of our course, we examined the 4 major schools of yoga (raja, bakhti, karma and jnana) and looked briefly at some of the main branches of hatha yoga (i.e. iyengar, ashtanga, power, vinyasa, bikram). For this final project i wanted to take a look at what some of the other styles that are popular in the West are. My choice of what to include in this paper is purely personal and was based primarily on the fact that i have heard these names before. Thus I will give a short introduction into the teachings of Kundalini, Kripalu, Anusara and Sivananda yoga.
Most of the variations of yoga paths are fairly recent - from the second part of the 20th century, and there is a lot more in common than there is different between them. They are all yoga - and as such attempting to enable the individual to elevate his/her consciousness and still the mind. They all rely on the ancient techniques of asana and pranayama, and a lot of them look to Patanjali’s Eight limb path, or some subset of it. The main differences are in how they believe you can get to that ultimate goal of enlightenment and union with the Divine. While Kundalini practitioners are focused on awakening the shakti (or energy) sleeping in all of us and making it move through our chakra centers, Kripalu’s focus has evolved to an emphasis on healing, Anusara stresses goodness, positivity and open heart and Sivananda looks to remain true to the ancient traditions and bring the Vedanta teachings to the front.
The overview presented here is just scratching the surface of the subject and is only intended as a simplified picture of the main tenets of these yoga styles. The footnotes to this paper list the main sources of information I used and you can get further reading suggestions from those.
Kundalini yoga:
According to its practitioners, Kundalini yoga is the most powerful and all-inclusive of all yogas, and can give results up to 16 times faster . Kundalini derives its name from the sanskrit word Kundalini which means “coiled”, in reference to “coiled serpent”, lying dormant at the lower end of the spine - which is how they view a person’s energy or shakti. It is one of the ancient forms of yoga and was brought to the West at the end of the 1960s by Yogi Bhajan. Up to that time it was never taught publicly and was handed down from guru to disciple only.
The practice relies on a combination of Asanas, Pranayama, Mudras, Bandhas, Mantras and Meditation, which are done together or in sequence in order to achieve specific effects. The asanas part of a kundalini practice is generally a lot simpler and less physically challenging and takes less time of the practice compared to Power yoga. The main goal of the asanas is to promote a flexible spine and a balanced glandular system. A Kundalini practice attempts to awaken the coiled serpent sleeping at the bottom of our spine and move it up through the chakras to the crown of the head (the path of enlightenment), then go back down to the root chakra (the path of manifestation). The completion of the full cycle is called path of liberation. As a result, we expand our awareness and become able to tap into our infinite potential.
While the web sites promoting kundalini yoga have guides and dvds to help with self practice, some other sites of more neutral nature also discuss potential dangerous sides to practising on your own without much knowledge or experience. They suggest that help and advice from a gury are important since attempting to awaken your Kundalini by force could cause unwanted effects - after all, you are attempting to awaken a snake! Some of the possible unpleasant symptoms cited are headaches, depression, stress, mood swings, etc., and potentially even mental disorders.
Kripalu yoga:
It’s also one of the older schools and is one of the more holistic ones out there. It was started in the 60s by the Indian-born yogi Amrit Desai and is based on the teaching of his guru, swami Kripalu, who was a Kundalini yoga practitioner. Kripalu yoga puts an emphasis not only on proper alignment and breathing techniques, but also on taking yoga “off the mat”. They look to promote yoga as an integrated lifestyle versus any stand-alone practice . There are 3 stages in Kripalu yoga: you start by learning the poses and exploring your body’s abilities, then you move to holding the poses for an extended period of time to develop concentration and inner awareness. Stage 3 is “meditation in motion” during which you move from one pose to another spontaneously while you are in a meditative state.
Kripalu has a somewhat curious history. The first residential yoga retreat to practise Kripalu yoga was established by Desai in the 1970s in Pennsylvania. The center, which was run as an ashram, grew in both popularity and size over the years and moved to a large facility in Massachusetts in the 80s (it’s current home). Desai became one of the leading spiritual leaders and yogis at the time. The kripalu center was one of the institutions that started efforts to integrate yoga with western approaches to healing and self-development and incorporate modern science into its teachings. It was one of the pioneers in holistic healing. At the end of the 80s the ashram was legally reorganized as a church order, and a lot of the ashram residents became yoga nuns and monks - taking formal vows of celibacy and obedience. The ashram and it’s guru continued to be extremely popular and influential till the mid 90s, when allegations surfaced of sexual relations between Desai and sever female ashram residents. The disillusionment with the omniscient guru pretty much disbanded the ashram, and it had to sell of most of its assets in order to finance a $2.5mm dollar law suit settlement with former residents. A group of committed residents remained however, and the ashram was transformed from a guru-disciple institution into a secular center for health, wellness and lifestyle change. In the last 10 years the Kripalu center, while continuing to teach kripalu yoga, has also become a holistic center for growth and personal development, honoring all traditional and contemporary spiritual approaches.
Anusara yoga:
A more recent style that has been gaining popularity in the US is anusara yoga which was started by John Friend in 1997. Anusara means “flowing with grace”, “going with the flow”, “following your heart”. It is based on a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness and combines this with the Universal Principles of Alignment. They teach that the nature of the divine is bliss and that goodness is the nature of the universe. It’s an upbeat, energetic and optimistic practice that is not foreign to the western mind and spirituality. It’s popularity seems to be the result of the combination of being an intensive physical workout like Power yoga and its upbeat and positive vibe.
Classes normally begin with an invocation or centering, and have a heart-oriented theme - i.e. use a theme such as cultivating a virtue as a direction for the energy that students put into their poses and breathing. The practice is centered around the three As - Attitude, Alignment and Action. Attitude is related to the heart - every pose should have meaningful intention connected to the grand purpose of yoga. Alignment is related to the body - be aware of specific postural alignments . And Action relates to the mind - balancing between stability and freedom. Similar to Power yoga, Anusara classes are vinyasa style progressive sequencing classes which encourage the use of props and pose modifications.
Sivananda yoga:
This is a school that still has a firm base in India as well as has centers in the West. It draws inspiration from the teachings of swami Sivananda - one of the important 20th century figures in yoga. In the late 1950s, swami Vishnu-devananda came to the West on the advice of his guru, swami Sivananda to teach yoga. Sivananda philosophy has its roots in the Vedanta teachings, and spreading these teachings is a major part of the mission of the Sivananda centers around the world.
Sivananda yoga is one of the more traditional styles. They define their path of yoga as the “yoga of synthesis” . I.e. they encourage students to practise some techniques from each of the 4 major paths (raja, bakhti, karma and jnana) while putting extra emphasis into their preferred path. Both in India and in the West they rely on the guru/disciple relationship as a main path for deepening a person’s yoga practice. The 5 main points of yoga according to Sivananda are: 1) Proper exercise (Asanas), 2) Proper breathing (Pranayama), 3) Proper relaxation (Savasana), 4) Proper diet (vegetarian) and 5) Positive thinking (Vedanta) and meditation (Dhyana) .
Their typical practice is a combination of pure hatha yoga and pranayama, with rest between most poses/short sequences. It would normally begin with rest followed by some breathing exercises, then a gentler variation of Sun Salutation sequences and then the main asanas. The standard program is 12 basic asanas (Sivananda believes that the asanas they’ve chosen for their sequence bring out the essence and all major benefits of the whole body of asanas known to us). The 12 basic asanas are: Headstand, shoulder stand, plough, fish, forward bend, cobra, locust (beginners do superhero), bow, spinal twist, crow/peacock, standing forward bend and triangle pose. Instructors are allowed to add to it or use variations. More Pranayama and Savasana end the session.
Conclusion:
The styles discussed above are just a small portion of the plethora of yoga paths that have been brought to us by different yoga teachers and gurus and are a testament to the flexibility and open-mindedness of yogic thought, as well as to our inexhaustible spiritual quest and desire to find a path that works for us in this life.
Some of the newer creations have taken interesting and somewhat peculiar turns. A few new styles are a lot more oriented towards the physical exercise part. While doing the readings on this subject I run across Cy-Yo (a practice combining yoga and cycling) and Aerial yoga (which utilizes a soft trapeze to lift you off the ground while practising yoga asanas), to name just a couple. Others look to new ways to connect with our spirituality. Nada yoga (or Yoga of Sound) makes a distinction between external sounds and internal sounds and attempts to teach you to hear the internal “sacred” sound - the practice session starts by listening to music for 10-15 minutes. Laughter yoga believes that laughter is the best de-stressing and healing mechanism and uses a mixture of chanting, breathing, some asanas and laughter during their practice .
While some of this might sound strange to us, if it helps the people who practise it - even if it simply makes them calmer and more centered persons - then i will argue it’s a worthwhile practice. While even after this research i think I will be sticking to Power yoga, i think the world would be a better place if more and more people find ways to connect to their spiritual beings - however different or even strange those ways might be...
by Stella Stoyanova
Certified Yoga Teacher- Lima Yogashala Class of 2008
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