YOGA STYLES AND SCHOOLS
A Guide to Popular Names in Yoga
Part 1
By Margaret “Saraswati” Kruszewska

Yoga is everywhere. And everything seems to be Yoga! What can you expect from a class taught by an Iyengar teacher? Do the names Anusara or Jivamukti designate a certain type of yoga class? Who are the name teachers associated with the most popular styles? Below is an easy map into the world of yoga teachers, styles and classes. There exist hundreds more that reflect hybrid, blends and experimental versions inspired by different regions and influences.

Part 1 describes the major influential schools of yoga as they arrived from teachers in India. Part 2 offers descriptions of more recent hybrid forms developed in North America. Part 3 describes practices of Yoga other than through the physical Hatha form.

The name of the “school” or style serves as a category, along with some names of known gurus or teachers and distinguishing or unique elements that might identify the yoga teacher’s method. Some names of schools also refer to general terms in yoga practice (such as kundalini and kriya).

Hatha
Any practice based on the physical postures of asanas. Almost all yoga classes in the West are hatha yoga classes. This is different from yoga practices that mainly consist of meditation and pranayama, for example, those arising from Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Ashtanga
Pattabhi Jois of Mysore is the guru of this system which is good for building strength and stamina. Jumps and leaps are often used to get from one pose to another, can be quite challenging. Students use a cotton rug-mat because of the sweating and for better grip.

Iyengar
Developed and popularized by B.K.S. Iyengar, author of Light on Yoga. Iyengar greatly influenced the current generation of yoga teachers because of his emphasis on precise alignment of the physical body in hatha yoga postures. Most commonly done with yoga props that may include blankets, straps, blocks and cushions. Good for support and for those working with limited range of movements. Frequent use of downward facing dog in between other postures.

Kriya Yoga
Associated with the teachings of ParamhansaYogananda, whose book Autobiography of a Yogi, introduced the spiritual basis of yoga and meditation to students in the West in the 1950s. This practice is mainly based on meditation and visualization techniques working with images of light and energy. Teachings continue through the Self-Realization Fellowship.
“Kriya” is also the name of certain cleansing practices for the physical body used by yoga practitioners such as the neti pot for cleansing nasal passages and nauli for massaging internal organs.

Kundalini
May refer to either the routine developed in the Sikh community by Yoga Bhajan and made famous by Los Angeles teacher Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa or to the raising of the subtle energy called kundalini, which may occur in yoga practice. In the Sikh version, the emphasis is on rapid breath work coordinated with repeated movements, often with chanting or instruments such as the gong at the end of a session. You may also see the traditional sheep-skin rug used for meditation sessions.

Sivanada
Classes are structured around 12 basic yoga postures with relaxation poses in between. Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing) and inverted postures are taught early on in sessions. Similar in style is Integral Yoga. Both teachers, Swami Vishnu Devananda of Sivananda and Swami Satchidananda of Integral Yoga were disciples of Swami Sivananda who wrote prolifically on all aspects of a spiritual yoga practice including on devotional and philosophical aspects.

A Guide to Popular Names in Yoga
Part 2
By Margaret “Saraswati” Kruszewska

Yoga has continued to change as teachers blend styles according to their training and experiences with the practices in their communities. Below is a list of yoga forms more recently popularized by yoga instructors and/or spiritual leaders.

Ananda
Founded by Swami Kriyananda and based on the teaching of Yogananda, this organization emphasizes service and community work as path to enlightenment.

Anusara
Created by John Friend who trained with Iyengar and continued his practice and studies with the Siddha Yoga community under Gurumayi . Emphasizes strength of upper body through hand stands and triangle variations. Can be identified by use of specific languages such as “lifting the heart” and “spiraling thighs.”

Bikram
A specific sequence developed by Bikram Choudhury that is done in an extremely heated room – having the effect of warming and therefore relaxing the muscles and producing sweat which cleanses and purifies. The 26 posture routine does not vary and is quite rigorous physically.

Jivamukti
Developed by Sharon Gannon and David Life whose influences include Pattabhi Jois, Sivananda, and various philosopher-gurus such as Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati. Both instructors were performing artists and their teachings reflect their experiences in the dance and music scene of New York City.

Kripalu
Integrates Eastern philosophy and Western psychology into the practice. Frequently emphasizing restorative poses and connection of thoughts with body. Stephen Cope is the well-known teacher and author from this community which promotes a holistic approach to yoga including healing arts, meditation and knowledge from all spiritual traditions.

Mysore Style
The Ashtanga sequences done in a group setting but each person is doing their own level under teacher supervision.

Power Yoga
Offers a more athlete-centered routine as developed by either Beryl Bender Birch on the east coast or the Baptiste family. Baron Baptiste’s fitness driven Power Yoga was shaped by his famous body-building yogi parents. Characterized by dynamic repetitive vinyasa sun salute sequences, he takes a boot camp approach with swift, athletic moves that appeal to mainstream gym settings. His sister, Sherri Baptiste, has developed a yoga routine with weights. Power Yoga as developed by Beryl Bender Birch focuses on use of asanas by athletes, especially for runners.

Shadow School
Developed by Shandor (Zhander) Remete, one of the forms is named Nata Yoga and is inspired by the images of the Dance of Shiva. The “karanams” movements resemble more of a martial-arts yoga with slow, movements through warrior poses and sun salutes.

Siddha Yoga
Founded on the teaching of Swami Muktananada, whose current spiritual leader, Gurumaji Chidvilasananda heads the SYDA Foundation. The organization runs hundreds of retreat centers including the largest in upstate New York. Initiates focus on meditation practice, chanting and community service work.

TM-Transcendental Meditation
Founded by Maharishi Maha Yoga, the most influential organization in popularizing meditation techniques as medically proven practices that reduce stress, promoting health well-being and peace in communities. The Iowa based Maharishi University offers courses rooted in the Vedic knowledge of enlightenment.

Viniyoga
Instructions are individualized in the form of Yoga Therapy popularized by Gary Kraftsow who continues in the traditions of Desikachar and Krishnamacharya.

Vinyasa Flow
A non-stop flow of sequences blending Ashtanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga postures often done with music.

A Guide to Popular Names in Yoga
Part 3
By Margaret “Saraswati” Kruszewska

Yoga refers to many different paths of realizing a union with the divine. Hatha yoga, most popular with non-Indian yoga practitioners, is merely one of many approaches. Hatha yoga emphasizes the physical body as the starting point in building a spiritual practice. The names on this list are all forms of yoga practice that may or may not include the practice of physical asanas postures.

Bhakti Yoga
The devotional path of worshipping the divine, performed mainly through puja rituals, chants and invocations of deities.

Buddhist Yoga
Metaphysical approach based on Buddhist scriptures that prepares practitioner for Buddhist meditation techniques.

Hatha Yoga
Any practice based on the physical postures of asanas. Almost all yoga classes in the West are hatha yoga classes. Differ from yoga practices that instead emphasize meditation, pranayama and devotion.

Jnana Yoga
The yoga of knowledge. Identifying oneself with the Ultimate Divine instead of with one’s body or mind. Sometimes described as the path of the philosopher or sage.

Karma Yoga
The practice of selfless service to community. Most frequently used to describe unpaid volunteer work or offerings of work without attachment to results and for the good of all.

Raja Yoga
Emphasizes self-control of one’s mind by living according to certain ethical practices (such as ahimsa, non-violence), restraints and observances, meditation and pranayama techniques of regulating the breath as described in the eight-fold path by the scribe Patanjali.

Tantra Yoga
Ecstatic practices enacted with the belief that being fully engaged with the physical, material world activates the power of sakti energy. Can be experienced through extreme or altered states including through sex, food, intoxicants, ritual, dance, art, nature and societal taboos.