I am a bit confused. I’ve read descriptions of so many different types of yoga and still do not know what type I am doing. I’m guessing either Vinyasa, Ashtanga or Hatha.
Any easier way to decipher what type of routines I am doing?
Greetings!
Do you take a class or use a DVD to guide you through a home practice?
Everybody’s branding their own style of yoga these days, so it can be quite confusing,
I am doing two different DVD’s…
Candlelight Yoga (Sara Ivanhoe)
http://www.amazon.com/Crunch-Candlelight-Yoga-Sara-Ivanhoe/dp/B00006FMB2
10 Minute Solution: Yoga
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/10_Minute_Solution_Yoga/70037314?strackid=414659ea5e1bd648_0_srl&strkid=1619222659_0_0&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&trkid=222336
The first one is much slower than the second one.
I clicked on the first one and it seems more to be hatha than anything else. Keep in mind that if you are just learning asanas, this is not yoga per se but just an asana practice. Certain poses don’t exactly “belong” to one style of yoga or another.
Ashtanga yoga has specific sequences like the ashtanga primary and intermediate sequences. They use a specific set of asanas in a certain order. You can google this. Which is not to say that if you don’t do the entire sequence that you are not doing ashtanga yoga. I find that vinyasa yoga is often used instead of ashtanga yoga. Ditto with “power” yoga. Vinyasa based classes will have a lot of flowing in them but will not necessarily use the entire ashtanga sequences. Hatha yoga tends to be a more random selection of poses rather than following a perscribed sequence. Though hatha can have a lot of flowing in it too.
I wouldn’t worry too much about putting a name on the asana practice. IIRC, all yoga is based on hatha. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in 
Oh, as for the second video all I got was an ad when I clicked on it.
Thank you for the input. It’s really more out of curiosity than anything else. I’m enjoying both of them greatly.
You did a great job in your descriptions amz155.
Sara just branded her own style. Hatha is the physical practice of yoga, so it covers just about anything. Some of the reviews said there is little instruction, so maybe augment her practice with a beginner yoga DVD. Check out Gaiam. They have a good selection.
Its a great irony and tragedy. Yoga, such a holistic philosophy and practice, has been fragmented in the hands of some of its practitioners. Hatha Yoga was a system practiced by people who in their stage of evolution required stretching of muscles and mobilizing the joints in order to make the physical body more supple. This provided groundwork for Karma Yoga, Yoga of Action, to sublimate physical body.
The humanity then advanced to Bhakti-Yoga to sublimate emotions, the astral body and later the Dnyana-Yoga, Yoga of Intelligence, to sublimate buddhi. All these practices, though belonging to the distant past, catered to the needs of the time and are relevant even today for people with similar needs.
But it is believed that humanity is now entering a phase ripe for the eight-limb, Raja-Yoga, literally the “King” Yoga, because it is built on the sublimation of physical, astral and causal bodies by purifying the mind into its original form, the Universal Mind. Thus, it culminates the Yoga path.
So, CKarmaKat, when you look at various brands of Yoga, please do not forget that they are only giving you some TOOLS, which by themselves make nothing to happen. You are going to walk the Yoga path all by yourself. So, ask yourself what you need, which body needs to be purified and made supple. Read a good book on Yoga-Sutra, if you haven’t, to understand the wholeness of Yoga, of which these branded Yoga are only parts. You seem earnest, you will find your path.
I’m curious about the spelling of “dnyana” yoga as classically I’m more familiar with jnana. Anyone at the scholar level when it comes to Sanskrit??
[QUOTE=Suhas Tambe;36213]
So, CKarmaKat, when you look at various brands of Yoga, please do not forget that they are only giving you some TOOLS, which by themselves make nothing to happen. You are going to walk the Yoga path all by yourself. So, ask yourself what you need, which body needs to be purified and made supple. Read a good book on Yoga-Sutra, if you haven’t, to understand the wholeness of Yoga, of which these branded Yoga are only parts. You seem earnest, you will find your path.[/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for this insight.
I actually started doing yoga as a substitute for meditation. I’ve always had a difficult time clearing my mind properly in meditation and thought that the movement would help with my monkey mind. It most definitely does.
Then within the first week, I noticed how quickly my body toned in comparison to other forms of exercise I’ve done in the past… a very nice side effect.
I’ve since dropped the “10 Min Solution” video as it feels more like a basic aerobic workout than anything else and now I’m alternating Sara’s video with one from Jenny Cornero.
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Health-Headaches-Jenny-Cornero/dp/B000MGBLXW
Jenny’s video is a bit more intensive for me and the sound of her voice is so mesmerizing.
Since I began I have found my body telling me new things… my dietary cravings are changing and my mind is so much calmer. Throughout the day I find myself doing a quick asana in regards to what I feel I might need at that time. A little warrior will give me a boost of confidence when needed, etc.
I find it interesting that with so much information on the internet, on video and in books - the question of ‘What is Yoga’ is both very simple but yet still very complex.
Well Hatha is the physical practice of yoga, so it covers just about anything. Some of the reviews said there is little instruction, so maybe augment her practice with a beginner yoga DVD.
InnerAthlete,
You are absolutely right. That’s the common one and widely accepted. A little variation is as follows:
ज्ञान jJaana
I have studied Sanskrit in school, and my mothertongue Marathi is derived from it. So, “dnyana” comes closer to the actual pronunciation of that unique Sanskrit syllable. “d” is not actually pronounced, but the tongue is lifted up to touch the back of the teeth and gently separate the cavity and the air is exhaled upward in the nose to make a sound and then “nyaana” is pronounced.
But, some scholar may explain the convention better. Thanks,
[QUOTE=Suhas Tambe;36260]InnerAthlete,
You are absolutely right. That’s the common one and widely accepted. A little variation is as follows:
ज्ञान jJaana
I have studied Sanskrit in school, and my mothertongue Marathi is derived from it. So, “dnyana” comes closer to the actual pronunciation of that unique Sanskrit syllable. “d” is not actually pronounced, but the tongue is lifted up to touch the back of the teeth and gently separate the cavity and the air is exhaled upward in the nose to make a sound and then “nyaana” is pronounced.
Reason for Editing:
But, some scholar may explain the convention better. Thanks,[/QUOTE]
It looks that the pronunciation of both yours and in the school I was taught is the same, as nyaana, but like IA, I have learned to spell it with the IAST transliteration (a particular way of writing sanskrit letters to convey their pronunciation).
However: tonight I looked at the conventions of IAST and how it should be pronounced (described through the International Phonetic Language, which tells you how to pronounce everything, ever), and the ‘j’ in jnana is actually listed as a weird soft half sound resembling a ‘g’. It does not exist in the English language at all, though I’m pretty sure what it is supposed to be. So what they are saying is that it sounds a bit like ‘ghuh-nyaana’, though there is little pause and it almost seems like the sound if conjoined. Softened a bit, it sounds almost exactly the same, though I have heard some different Indian dialects pronounce the g and n must harder like ‘GNyaana’ before too.
(Trivia: The N with the tilde above is the nasalized sound of ‘nya’. In the IPL ‘nya’ is represented by a ‘j’ and ‘n’ stuck together, which I think is adorable).
I’m a nerd.
I’ll still say it like my teachers taught me, but maybe I’ll listen super carefully next time just to be sure. 