A Guide to 5 Types of Yoga & Their Benefits
As one of the oldest schools of exercise and movement, there are many different styles of yoga that you can tailor to your fitness goals. Each yoga type is rooted in a philosophy of harmony between mind, body and spirit through movement and breath – and different styles highlight certain principles over others.
Each of the four core FS8 workouts borrow components from different yoga styles, integrating them with pilates and tone to give you a balanced, full body workout. Ahead, we’ll take you through five popular traditional and modern styles of yoga and how they can benefit you.
The benefits of different yoga styles
Yoga is all about the mind-body connection, so while some practices are gentle and others are vigorous, each one works together to support health, fitness, and mental wellbeing. Different yoga styles can promote benefits like:
- Improved flexibility and balance
- Increased muscle strength and tone
- Better quality sleep
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Boosted immunity
What are the different types of yoga?
Whether you’re interested in getting your sweat on with a high energy class or want to reap the benefits of active recovery through restorative yoga, there’s a yoga type for everyone. Our guide to five popular styles of yoga includes:
- Hatha yoga
- Vinyasa yoga
- Restorative yoga
- Prenatal yoga
- Power yoga
Hatha yoga
Want to improve balance with yoga and pilates? Hatha yoga could be right fit for you. The purpose of hatha yoga is to improve balance, flexibility and strength while finding the harmony between three time-honoured elements of yoga: breath, poses, and meditation.
Though traditionally a gentler yoga type, modern hatha yoga classes involve a mix of both passive postures and physically challenging positions and stretches. If you generally prefer cardio-based workout classes like FS8 Burst, a weekly hatha yoga session could be the perfect counterpoint.
Vinyasa yoga
If you’re searching for a yoga class that incorporates a variety of poses, stretches, and postures, look no further than vinyasa yoga. This practice is all about aligning the breath with movement and linking postures together in seamless flow. A little pacier than some other styles of yoga, vinyasa yoga is moving meditation that can benefit mental health and stress levels by helping to induce a flow state.
The approach combines fluid movement with balance poses while being both beginner friendly and perfect for the regular gym goers. Our expert trainers can help you make small adjustments for either a gentler stretch or extra challenge – it’s one of the reasons why FS8 is so popular.
Restorative yoga
Restorative yoga is a restful approach that focuses on slow movements and poses that can be held minutes at a time. If you enjoy yin yoga you might notice these two yoga types sound similar – but a few key differences make the practices quite distinct. So, what’s the difference between restorative yoga and yin yoga?
While both styles of yoga are slow and meditative, restorative yoga takes a physically passive approach, using props to support the body with the goals of prompting a state of deep relaxation. Conversely, yin yoga aims to target connective tissues, ligaments, and joints with deep stretches and activated poses. FS8 Restore classes incorporate elements of both, so book a class to get a taste.
Prenatal yoga
Prenatal yoga uses practitioner–developed poses designed with pregnancy in mind. So, you can feel confident knowing that this style of yoga is safe during all stages of pregnancy. There are bunch of benefits to yoga during pregnancy; it can help to improve sleep, ease back pain and even support labour and delivery due to the focus on pelvic floor work.
Most FS8 workouts are pregnancy safe, but every individual is different so chat to your medical practitioner to find out if prenatal yoga is right for you. From there, find a studio to book a class and let the front desk and your instructors know. Want to feel extra informed? Read up on what to expect from FS8 and check out our FAQs.
Power yoga
Power yoga is often referred to synonymously with vinyasa yoga, but these two styles of yoga have significant differences, both in how they’re practiced and the benefits they promote. Power yoga is a strength building and athletic yoga type that lets you work up a sweat while still incorporating traditional yoga principles. So, is yoga enough for strength training?
It depends on the individual, but increasing strength and endurance are key aims of power yoga. If power yoga sounds like it reflects your fitness goals, FS8 OG could be your perfect match – combining yoga flow with reformer and mat pilates work. FS8 Remix is another high energy option, providing a full body toning workout using dynamic, fast paced movements.