Wondering which type of Yoga in London you should start with? Take a look below and consider yoga classes or yoga courses that follow one of these main styles:
ACRO YOGA
Did you like that episode of Sex and The City where Carrie Bradshaw was learning acrobatics in Central Park, NYC? Would you like a bit of that, and think combining it with getting your mind, body and spirit into shape would be the ideal combo? Acro Yoga is the Answer. New to the scene Acro Yoga involves Cirque du Soleil style upside down suspension in mid-air. First you prepare, then get up there (and upside down!). The activities are all much easier than you would think (and make for great stories in work the next day). Marylebone, NW1 is where you’ll find the spiritual birthplace of Acro.
ANUSARA YOGA
Based off Hatha Yoga, this style is hugely popular in London and often a fixture of Gym schedule classes. Alignment (in the strict physical sense) is allied to playfulness to develop an “opening of the heart.” Medium intensity combines to push the Yoga Student above a meditative state while allowing focus and the holding of positions with the style of effort that affords grace and opens the Chakras.
ASHTANGA YOGA
Ashtanga is best described as Yoga for Pro’s or fitness gods! If you compete to be the fastest at spin class, or think Pilates followed by a 3 mile swim is just a “warm up” then Ashtanga Yoga is for You!
Timing of your breathing must coincide exactly with each pose here to keep the energy flowing. Poses flow from one to the next with no rest. If you’re looking for Yoga to build your stamina, sweat out your toxins and strengthen your muscles Ashtanga (or ‘Power’ Yoga) is for you… do start slowly!
BIKRAM YOGA
Some like it H O T ! Bikram Yoga is the fastest growing Yoga discipline in London and the most popular style of Yoga people search for. Also known as Hot Yoga, Bikram is practiced in a Sauna type room (100 degrees temperature, or 38 degrees and around 40% humidity). Yes that’s right.. Bikram Hot Yoga is practiced at body temperature. The poses are less strenuous to compensate. Heat brings the advantage of reducing injury (literally warming you up), improves flexibility and the sweat detoxes the body. Classes often contain 50% men… this is Yoga for the modern woman and modern man!
BROGA
A creation of fitness group Gymbox this high pumping, loud music session can meld anything from dancing through combat training to circuit style exercises involving press up and crunch variations. If you want to venture into Yoga but retain your street cred and hold onto a high-energy workout BroGa will fulfill your quest.
GLOW YOGA
Miss the sunshine? Do the grey skies make you yearn for far away sun drenched climates? Want to cheat and get some of that feeling while performing your favourite yoga moves… Glow Yoga brings together bright lights used for anti-SAD treatments and infrared heaters that directly warm your body aswell as the air, so you feel you are attending a Yoga Retreat in Miami or the Med (just close your eyes and don’t look at the walls!). This style combines Pilates style core strengthening with Hatha Yoga. WC2 / Covent Garden is the place to begin your “Glow.”
HATHA YOGA
Where to start if you’re a YOGA BEGINNER? Right Here. Hatha is a term used to describe various forms and styles muddled together. This means your experience will vary from class-to-class if you experience different Yoga Teachers. What is for sure is that Hatha is relaxed, easy to learn and will combine breathing, meditation and methods to move towards enlightenment. This style of Yoga is ideal if you aren’t a gym regular and incredibly useful for those who wish to de-stress, relax the mind and give suppleness back to the body… this explains why Hatha took London Yoga by storm, directly following its success in America.
IYENGAR YOGA
Body alignment is the name of the game with Iyengar Yoga. Balance is key… and if you don’t have it you will develop it quickly in this style. Poses last much longer in Iyengar Yoga than in Hatha or Vinyasa. Yoga products such as soft cushions, blocks, blankets or straps are often introduced to force that alignment in the early stages… until the body magically accepts the new normal and realizes alignment is healthy and natural.
KIDS YOGA
Calm, serene, focused, composed….. to be this way as an adult would be divine… well what if your children could be this way first? How would that improve their life, their opportunities. Children learn faster than adults, the younger, the quicker they will absorb. So what if you bestowed upon them the qualities of yoga at a young age (classes start from Toddler upwards). You can only be benefitting them and perhaps create the healthiest hobby they can have…. able to muster up positive energy on tap (not after sugar!), the ability to focus mind for school work and master their energy reserves for sport…. Childrens Yoga enhances relaxation, reduces stress, empowers your child!
Kids Yoga builds their flexibility, strength and posture, constantly reinforcing what is ‘good’ and erasing the bad… the perfect way to “auto-correct” each week.
The emphasis with Childrens Yoga remains on fun… achieving poses, not holding them, working with flexibility, developing breathing (great to reduce the effects of Asthma)
KICK YOGA
Do you enjoy those boxercise style classes at the gym that let you act all aggressive, with no danger of a punch or kick landing on you? Do you think ‘Yoga would be great, but I’m a bit more funky and active for such a slow pace?’… Kick Yoga is for You! New to the scene the style combines thai boxing style punches and kicks with yoga stretch, poses and meditation. It’s almost like 2 sessions in 1. Ideally this would be paired with a more traditional style of yoga, practising that once or twice a week and this once a week. We hear East London (Hoxton) is the birthplace of Kick Yoga…
KUNDALINI YOGA
Looking for a style of Yoga that will help the core of the body, from the base of the spine upwards… here it is. With breath control, breath manipulation and often chanting, there is a spiritual sense which Pilates practitioners often find heavenly.
VINIYOGA YOGA
An alternative to physiotherapy and used in rehabilitation, muscle repair and recovery a dedicated teacher will often practice one-on-one with the Yoga student and tailor the program to achieve their goals. Differing ages and physical strengths can be compensated for, so this method often feels like personal training… and the results will often accumulate faster (as will the pounds you spend!).
VINYASA YOGA
Coordinating breathing with synchronized movements this free flowing form of Yoga is very physically intense and begins with poses that build warmth in the body to climax in a series of stretches that can only be described as intense !