The Different Types of Yoga

Do you lead a stress lifestyle or are you overweight and lack spiritual meaning in your life? Perhaps you have heard people talk about the wonders that Yoga has to offer, especially celebrities who say it is the only thing that works for them. Yoga is not just a form of exercise; it is also about bringing the body together; in terms of your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual being.  After reading this perhaps you will have better understandings of yoga is all about, but most importantly you can identify which yoga class works for you.

Yoga Systems
Yoga has various systems that have different characteristics and personalities; it has been designed this way on purpose, people all have their own unique personality and they will identify with a specific type of yoga. For example someone may be looking for physical training, while someone else may be looking for spiritual healing. Overall, there is no right or wrong system to choose from. Some of the systems range from five hundred to thousands of year’s old, modern yoga has been careful to adapt these traditions.

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  Bhakti Yoga
  

This type of yoga has a spiritual focus where the yoga trainer will guide you to develop a state of devotion within your mind and heart. This yoga is not recommended for beginners, as a strong sense of faith is important. Members will be taught how to submit themselves to God and forget their old ways of egotism and self reliance. Meditation and mantra repetition are the main focus of the class.

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  Karma Yoga
  

This yoga focuses on thoughts, actions and feelings that occur on a day to day basis in our lives. This system believes that what we did in our past will force us to take another life to fix what we did. You eventually build up Karmic merit which either balances the cycle or completely destroys anything bad you did in the past. The practice of this yoga revolves around the things you do in the world, which can add up to your spiritual progress. In a Karma class, you will practice breathing exercises, meditations and learn about serving.

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  Kundalini Yoga
  

This form of yoga originates from Tantra yoga. This system focuses on controlling your energy within your body. This yoga needs to be done extremely carefully and be led by someone who has had years of experience, as it can have negative psychological effects if used incorrectly. Therefore, this system is also not recommended for beginners.

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  Hatha Yoga
  

The meaning of Hatha is broken down to mean sun and moon. Hatha focuses on purification for your entire body, mind and soul. During a Hatha class you will learn proper yoga postures for beginners. You can also build your way to learn more complicated things like body cleansing, energy channelling and self-realisation.

Nicole de Freitas has realised the benefits of yoga from her weekly yoga cape town classes, she now enjoys encouraging others to follow.