Styles of Yoga

[Kimberly]

As you prepare for our first Sunday session on Jan. 21, think about the different styles of yoga you have been exposed to during your journey. Some of us started with videos at home or maybe at a heated power/Bikram studio, while others have long had a practice like the one we experience at Balancing Owl Yoga. Share with your fellow students your thoughts on different styles of yoga, what you are drawn to and why. Is a heated, fast-paced power class in which breath is not connected to movement yoga? Why or why not? Is it yoga if you don’t move? What other types of yoga do you want to explore? Please respond by Sunday, Jan. 21.

[msinghal]

My journey of yoga started as a teenager in India taught by my parents, who later became teachers of the Ashtang Yoga. All my early training of asanas and pranayama has been under their supervision. That is the only style of yoga I was familiar with until I visited a few studios in Columbus and landed at Balancing Owl. During the search for an ideal studio and classes, I was never attracted to either Power yoga, which to me symbolized rigorous exercise or Bikram. I have always learned to practice yoga in fresh air (cracking the window open just a tiny bit even during the thick of winter), hence the concept of heat and sweat did not appeal to me. These might be misconceptions due to my Eastern and traditional upbringing or conceptions driven by my aging body’s inability to handle too much rigor or heat! Either way, my ideal form of yoga practice includes asanas (moderate complexity) and pranayama preferably in the morning out in the open. In that realm, I would be willing to learn and explore any style of yoga as long as it encompasses all 3 entities: body, breath, and mind in its practice and as long as I can use the concepts learned on the mat for the betterment of myself off the mat.

I am also interested in learning dhyana (meditation), which I have not had the privilege of including in my practice sufficiently thus far. Meditation is one of the limbs of yoga, so I believe, you can be practicing yoga even if you do not move.

[betshellhaas]

I initially got into yoga through my mother being a yoga instructor. She offers different types of classes weekly which allowed me to get more familiar with other styles. One type of yoga I’m particularly drawn to is Yin for its deep stretching. I am tight in my hips and yin helps to relieve that. I have also tried power yoga which I love for its strength and endurance building. I have never been drawn to heated yoga classes. I do not care to be over heated in general so I’ve always avoided those types of classes. However, since we are required to try different types of classes in different studios I have decided to try one of these heated classes. Another type I’m interested in learning more about is Kundalini yoga. I have a broad idea of what it is but would love to try a class to deepen that understanding.
A heated, face paced class that is not connected to the breath I do not believe would be considered yoga. I have always thought the connection with breath and movement was what made yoga, yoga. Connecting with your breath in relation to your movements brings about an awareness of consciousness. Being present in the moment. I do believe yoga can be without movement though. I have been told that yoga used to be meditation. That sitting still with your breath and focusing on it was considered yoga and the actual movements came much later. However, it has evolved into more of an exercise than meditation in our society today.

[kmac10]

This is not necessarily a style but my exposure to yoga started a long time ago. I started 24 years ago with a VHS of Rodney Yee – Weekend Warrior Yoga! I upgraded to a DVD 18 years ago and still find him amazing to learn from when he is Columbus! He is definitely a Hatha /Iyengar style. He then started to introduce me to the big Y of Yoga and the 8 limbs! The only one I haven’t tried yet in Columbus is Yoga with Goats and that is on for the Spring!

[EmilyD]

My yoga journey started about twenty years ago using videos in the privacy of my own home. I don’t remember a yoga studio in the area where we were living at the time, and I’m not even sure what drew me to it in the first place. My first “instructors” were Denise Austin, and then years later, Bob Harper and Jillian Michels. Denise Austin, in retrospect, had a pilates flair, but I loved it at the time. She would show a pose and then build movement off of that particular pose. Bob Harper and Jillian Michels were both more focused on building strength and getting a good sweat on. Their videos were post-Biggest Loser, so it makes sense. The one constant for me between then and now is that it’s the only form of exercise that helps me rest my mind. I am so focused on holding poses and getting to the next place that I don’t have time to sort through my to-do list at the same.

I find myself drawn to classes that move and help build strength at the same time. I like the way I feel after I’ve stretched, elevated my heart rate a little, and pushed myself to focus for a period of time. As I try new classes, I find that I need some Yin and restorative classes in my life. Both challenge me mentally, and I like how calm I feel after.

I recently attend a power flow class at Harbor with my sister-in-law. I thought I was going to die. It was cardio on steriods and heat gagging me. I had to take a break in the middle, which was a little embarassing. I’m not ruling hot classes out entirely, but this definitely wasn’t for me. The music was so loud I couldn’t hear the cues, and I felt like everyone else had done it a thousand times and knew what was going on before it happened. I couldn’t keep up. I remember telling my sister-in-law that it wasn’t yoga. It was a good workout, but definitely not yoga. I didn’t walk away feeling like I had a good stretch or any relaxation to my mind. I believe that for it to be yoga, there needs to be more focus on the breath with the movement, as well as more attention to the asanas.

As far as what I want to explore, I am totally open. After reading the Yamas and Niyamas, I made a commitment to myself to try things outside of my comfort zone. This class is providing a perfect platform for that. I already know I want to try classes in the following categories: hot, paddle board, ariel, yin, and ashtanga. Who knows, maybe I’ll find my next obsession.

[regmarlew63]

My first experience with yoga ever, was 19 years ago. I enrolled in a Hatha Yoga class for beginners. I quickly realized the benefits, physically, mentally, spiritually from the practice. This was such a relief to me, as the reason for my enrolling was dealing with unexpected life events, which brought on a lot of anxiety that I was not able to cope with as I had done in the past.
I developed an amazing bond with my teacher. To this day, I still practice under her guidance. And still, thankfully, reap the benefits of doing so.
I enjoy hatha, because of its focus of breath, linking it to the poses, linking it to the meditation & awareness of how my body feels, reacts & performs in the postures. I am certain, this type of practice & this particular teacher will ALWAYS be part of my life.
Since I have started my journey on the YTT program at Balancing Owl, my eyes have been opened to the MANY MANY types of yoga & classes out there. At first, I felt overwhelmed. But now, after taking some classes on different styles, teachers, & environments, that overwhelming feeling has turned to excitement. And an eagerness to explore & grow even more in the way of healthy living.
Through my exploration so far, I have found that sometimes it is hard to be really focused on what I am feeling during a new class or teacher. I look forward to being able to just take part in the newness & connect with the true experience of learning something new, and seeing where it brings me. I found that even in one particular class, there are elements I feel totally uncomfortable with (translates to “I don’t like this”), and elements I have a moment of “oh, that’s really a cool feeling”…
I have tried classes that are more gentle & calming than what I have done. I am looking forward to the styles that will be more of a physical challenge than what I am used to, even though it scares me a bit. I have no interest in “hot yoga”, but do want to try styles that hold poses longer, or ones that are not connected to the breath as much as what I have always done & enjoyed.
I am learning to get excited about trying something different, even challenging. An approach, my whole life I would never do.
I have always been aware, that yoga can be found in all ways of life. And honestly, some of my deepest awakenings have come in the form of yoga where there is NO movement. I have found out a lot about myself in the stillness. And, for that, I am grateful.
Regina

[KHuttsell]

My first true yoga class was a Bikram Yoga class. I was new to the area and my co-worker invited me to join her – so I initially attended for socialization and hopefully a “workout.” I found that I enjoyed the discipline of the class, and frankly the heat allowed me to push myself in different ways that I could not typically achieve. However, I often felt constrained by the set order of the poses and the inability to decide what was the right amount of time to hold a pose, as dictated by the teacher. Modifications were not often provided during these classes – so I would struggle, unable to achieve what I thought was the “right way” to hold a pose.

I eventually moved toward other forms of stretching such as pilates that seemed more in line with my ballet training and allowed some flexibility and modification in the exercises. I dabbled in all types of yoga at different studios – ashtanga, flow, kundalini, yin, yoga-pilates fusion (a fav) – and I even did aerial yoga with a friend as part of “Well, this should be fun!”

Then I stumbled on Balancing Owl Yoga – which at the time was Nurture Yoga. I thought I was attending the studio because it was convenient to our home and allowed for some “me time.” What I found was that the classes filled a void that I didn’t realize I had. I would feel what I didn’t realize was “space” in my body and a mind that actually settled for an hour. I would embrace the world in a new way when I left the studio. In particular, it was Rachel’s Sunday night Rest & Relaxation class that made me realize yoga had found me – and it would continue to be part of life.

So today – I feel like I am in a “yoga exploration phase” – wanting to try as many new teachers, types of yoga, and studios as I can. I am stoked to try SUP yoga – and would like to do a program this summer that incorporates hiking and the outdoors into the yoga practice. In addition, I will be traveling in the next few months and will attend classes elsewhere, including hopefully, Iceland.

[heatherfly]

I started doing ashtanga yoga 18 years ago when a studio opened up the street from my apartment outside Boston. A roommate was the obsessive type and was hooked from jump. She is very bendy so it all came easily to her and I liked it too but wasn’t very good at it. Not flexible myself but I still loved that spacious open feeling in my body that I’d get after a class, and the sense of becoming acquainted with muscles I’d never met. I couldn’t really afford that though so started taking classes available for cheaper – like those at the gym I attended – and there I met Iyengar and vinyasa yoga. I liked Iyengar, taking the time to get into a posture correctly. Using props and whatever was needed to experience the benefit of feeling the asanas in a way that was harmonious with my own body. When I moved here 11 years ago I tried a few different studios and styles. I tried Bikram and wished to never go back. Ive tried various Hatha classes. I tried that hot yoga aerobics class at harbor and again wished to never go back. I call it yogaerobics. I can’t say whether it is or isn’t yoga. I know I don’t feel the lovely post yoga feeling after those classes. I don’t like being hot. I’ve decided, too, that I don’t need to suffer greatly in order to reap benefits of activity. A few years ago a friend gave me a series of kundalini videos which I love dearly. For a while I was doing them every day and the feeling of flexibility in my spine seemed to translate to flexibility in my mind. It was great medicine for a difficult chapter with post partum blues. I still do these videos frequently. My life in recent years has made attending classes in studios challenging. But it’s been in that time that I started doing at least a little yoga every day. I also have a meditation practice. Mindfulness has been a regular practice for me for the last 20 years. And I’ve noticed that doing yoga before sitting for meditation puts me in my body in a way that aids mindfulness. So I consider them two different ways of the same thing. In asana practice I’m staying with my breath while moving my body. In meditation I’m staying in my body while noticing the way the breath moves. They’re really complementary. So I’d consider meditation a form of yoga and vice versa.

[sally200]

Thinking back on the classes I have attended, the descriptions have list Hatha, honestly I did not connect with the style, I just wanted a yoga class not realizing I could choose the type. I always was concerned with the level- beginner, etc. So my experience is limited when it comes to a variety of styles. I recently experienced Yin Yoga, my body felt good and invigorated.
I am drawn to trying as many styles as I can, though I am not sure I could do a heated class. This program is my journey and adventure to experience, so maybe heated yoga will happen!! It is my sense that meditation and yoga are mates, we read that yoga was seated before the movement was added. My practice allows my body to get into rhythm with my breath, which helps me become relaxed and in a shifted place.
All good.

[LAD92761]

K, Hutsell, love your yoga hiking idea!! I’m in to explore with you if I can.
Lori

[EmilyD]

KHutsell mentioned hiking. I’ve never done yoga outside, but this triggered a thought for me. I use an app called Insight Timer when I meditate. It has fabulous guided meditations – many topics and lengths. There are walking meditations in there too. Could be intereesting to meditate on your way to an outside asana practie.

[LAD92761]

I started my yoga journey with Bikram, 1 1/2 hour commitment to withstand 103 degree room, focusing on doing the same poses every time, while sweating from every part of my body including my knees. She said to breath but idk how many of us did at first. But we were focused, and determined, and learned to power through, and built flexibility and confidence. And because I stuck with it, consistently, 3 times a week, I learned to de stress and leave class feeling like I had the best massage ever. So yes, I did feel like power, heat, breath or no breath, felt like yoga. I felt one with myself.

Then I focued on Baron Baptiste which became almost drill sergeant, but again the power made me push myself, learn how to stretch to my limit and beyond, and block out the world for a while while on my mat.

Fast forward to body changes and slow flow and breathing made me feel right. And Kundalini became my guilty pleasure. It really taught me how to push beyond my limits. Breath of fire was so important to prove that my focus was beyond my control.

But then yin yang and restorative is perfect for calming, stretching, etc.

So I believe yoga has many purposes, depending on the person, and what the body and mind needs. I want to expand on Ashtunga more, the balance part is intriguing to me. I need to understand how Balancing works in the body.

Lori

[Beth]

My first experience in yoga was in college at OSU 12 years ago. It was in a large open room, all the classroom chairs and desks were pushed to the back and the teacher guided us through basic poses, I can’t remember what type of yoga. I remember doing legs against the wall and giggling because I didn’t know anything about yoga. I felt good afterward and I really enjoyed the positive energy from our teacher. She wore loose clothing in beautiful colors, her hair was unkempt and she was wearing big wooden earrings. She was in her 40s I would guess and the way she spoke was musical, I remember thinking she must be in tune with something completely different than what I had been exposed to growing up. I remember being curious about her spirit and how yoga was connected. At the end of the class, she had us to choose a partner and sit directly across from them on the floor. She lit a small tea light candle in between all of us and had us stare into the flame for as long as we could without blinking. It was so strange and it made my eyes water. We did this for about 5 minutes with music on and then she asked us to spend the next 5 minutes staring into our partner’s eyes with loving-kindness. I will never forget that night and how I felt. As we walked out she offered us vegan cookies, also a new experience. The whole evening was intoxicating and so positive, I have gone back to yoga in all my hard times. I am grateful to have had this as my first experience with yoga.

[Beth]

I also use insight timer and with headphones, it is wonderful to meditate outside!

[lisaclick48]

I’m a fairly new yogi! I really didn’t focus on exploring activities where I could enhance my inner peace as my world revolved around my daughter and my insane work schedule. When I did attend a yoga session in 2015, it was not a great experience as I was nicknamed “wrist girl” which didn’t feel so good. I didn’t know the pose names and downward dog made my wrists hurt bad and it felt awkward to be nearly upside down (50lbs heavier from steroids) and not being able to catch my breath. Over lots of wine and some Advil, I struggled to think why I would ever try to do it again until I was in top shape.
Then my world changed by making a good decision to try yoga somewhere else and found Balancing Owl as a new student in Kimberly’s class. I quickly realized that I made the best decision ever. I was amazed how I felt during and after the Hatha yoga session.The focus on being in the moment and focus on breath, the body movements and my mind making the connection of those things tied together. I was hooked and fell in love with exploring myself and the world of yoga. I love restorative yoga and I have attended gentle/curvy yoga which I really enjoy too. I borrowed a book from Kimberly about meditation for a beginner and I started to see a difference in how I felt and a shift on how I saw myself in this world. I attended a chakra class and went thru a hands-on assessment that captures the energy fields around each finger and around the entire body. The report was right on the mark as some of my chakras were in alignment and others were very depleted. I became fascinated about the charkas. Overall, it’s a very new journey and I know it’s the right path for me…
I’m excited to do all types of yoga and I will keep an open mind. I don’t believe that yoga must be constant movement as I see meditation a big part of the yoga practice. I continue to read and learn as much as I can absorb! I love that learning about yoga will continue throughout my lifetime…

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