WHENEVER I tell anyone I’m a yoga practitioner or that I teach yoga for a living, I’m always asked the following questions: what type of yoga do you do or what is your style of yoga?
Often times, I find myself pausing momentarily before answering and in most instances, I don’t realise that my answers were never quite the same since I was going to Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Yin, dance yoga and Hatha class every week.
It can be quite confusing when you have to pick a yoga class and you don’t know what your preferred style is.
When I first started, I chose only basic yoga classes or ones for beginners. Subsequently, I started to lean towards classes based on the respective instructor’s teachings, vibes and energy.
When I fell in love with the teachings of Singaporean yoga teacher, Azmi Samdjaga, Ashtanga became a regular practice for me.
For the uninitiated, Ashtanga is a fixed yoga discipline that requires a lot of perseverance, patience and practice. I stuck with it for a few years before moving on to other styles, such as Vinyasa and Vikasa.
Ever since the MCO began, I have started practicing Ashtanga once again via YouTube, this time with the Godfather ─ the one and only K. Pattabhi Jois ─ an Indian yoga teacher and Sanskrit scholar, who developed and popularised Ashtanga Yoga.
In this week’s video, I will share with you the standing sequence of Ashtanga; an intense practice that I truly love.
Join me and my special guest, Deedee, for 15 minutes of Ashtanga and find out if this form of yoga suits you; we built up a sweat making this video.
Here are some styles that I have practised in the past and the gist of what I’ve learned from my time attending classes:
1. Vinyasa yoga
Vinyasa means ‘to place in a special way’. It is a practice of poses linked through smooth transitions based on breaths. I love Vinyasa as it’s like dancing.
2. Hatha yoga
The Sanskrit term ‘hatha’ means force. It refers to a group of physical movements made to align your body. It’s a learning of balance, strength and flexibility.
3. Ashtanga yoga
In Sanskrit, ‘ashtanga’ means ‘eight limb path’. At its birthplace of Mysore, India, people gather to practise this form of yoga at their own pace — if you see Mysore-led Ashtanga, it's expected of you to know the series. This is the practice that I’ll be sharing this week.
4. Yin yoga
Yin yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga with seated postures that are held for longer periods of time. Yin can also be a meditative yoga practice that helps you find inner peace. Although this helps me relax, funnily enough, I still break into a sweat.
There are about 11 styles that you can find online but these are the four that I have tried, and love! ─ The Vibes, 10 March, 2021
