Yoga beginners: how to find the right style
As a beginner in yoga, the first thing to do is to find a suitable style for yourself. There are many different directions that combine different practices. Here you will find an overview and read what you need to consider as a layperson.
Tips for yoga beginners
As a beginner in yoga, you should think about the goal you want to pursue through yoga. Yoga can have many health benefits for body and soul.
- Therefore, ask yourself whether you want to remedy health problems through yoga or whether yoga should strengthen muscles and flexibility.
- Yoga can also be a way to relax in between or expand your spirituality.
- It is best to take time for yoga twice a week and take a two to three day break between your yoga classes.
- 20 to 45 minutes per yoga session is sufficient at the beginning.
- When choosing your yoga teacher, make sure that they have qualified training. Guidelines for training are provided by YA (Yoga Alliance), BYV (professional association of Yoga Vidya teachers) or BDY (professional association of yoga teachers in Germany).
- You can recognize a good yoga teacher by the fact that he does not participate during the yoga session. Instead, he observes and corrects the positions of the yoga students.
- Before you start practicing yoga, it is very important to know your own needs and objectives. Yoga practices are numerous and have very different orientations.
Yoga for your own fitness
Practice yoga regularly to strengthen your muscles and joints. However, some types have a greater focus on physical fitness than others.
- Vinyasa yoga, or often called flow yoga, combines classic asanas (yoga positions) in flowing transitions. In this way, new sequences of movements arise, which can be very exhausting.
- The movements are carried out with intensive breathing and accompanied by music. The focus here is on personal strength.
- The Ashtanga style focuses on an interaction of body, mind and breathing. The fixed and always the same asanas traditionally follow a fixed chronology. Each asana also has its own breathing exercise.
- Power Yoga very much like Ashtanga Yoga, which is also the cornerstone of this style. Here, however, the sequence of asanas is more free.
- Iyengar Yoga is characterized by clear instructions from the teacher and a focus on precision. Relaxation and meditation are more in the background here. By using tools such as wooden or cork blocks and blankets, physically challenged people can also follow this style.
Yoga for health
Yoga is a healthy sport due to its gentle effects on the body. The following styles are particularly good for painful tension in the body:
- Hatha forms the basis for numerous yoga styles. With slow and relaxing asanas, this style works well for beginners. The focus here is primarily on establishing the balance between body and mind, through physical exercises (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama) and with the help of meditation. The sense of balance is strengthened and the muscles strengthened.
- It varies from course to course how much you spend on a Hatha lesson. Difficulty levels can vary. Because it depends on how intensively your teacher designs individual exercises. But whether you start to sweat or not: Afterwards you should definitely feel more relaxed, relaxed and liberated.
- In hot yoga, on the other hand, you practice asanas in a room at around 38 degrees. This helps you sweat out toxins from your body, like in a sauna. A hot yoga session lasts 90 minutes. In particular, individual muscles are stretched.
Yoga to relax
Yoga originated in India. In itself, it is a philosophy of life. The asanas are only part of this philosophy. Body and breathing exercises support the search for inner peace and accompany meditation.
- In yin yoga, you keep your asanas very long, about two to three minutes. With this intense stretch, you can relax particularly intensely. This yoga style is not exhausting, but fascia and connective tissue are strengthened. You don't have to do the asanas precisely here. The focus in Yin Yoga is on your relaxation and wellbeing.
- This is different with Jivamukti Yoga . The asanas take place here in a "flow", are powerful and dynamic. You will definitely sweat. Your teacher will help you find the right position with your own body. In addition to meditative music, the session is accompanied by mantras and quotes from ancient Indian philosophy and always ends with meditation.
- Sivananda Yoga is characterized by its particularly meditative and spiritual practice. The twelve asanas of the Rishikesh series are the center of this style. They are always practiced in the same chronology and are very exhausting.
- Here you have to pay close attention to breathing and your balance of body and mind. In this style, too, the sessions are associated with mantras and spiritual readings.
- Kundalini Yoga combines dynamic body exercises, conscious breathing, and meditation through mantras. This should stimulate your own life energy. A strong connection to the guru and a spiritual attitude are part of this practice.
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