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Who is doing yoga in the U.S.?
By Christina | October 27, 2007
Can you believe it, 15 million people in the United States do yoga! That’s a jump of 29% from last year. Who is doing yoga? Today yoga reaches across all segments of the population from football players to prison inmates, school children to high powered executives. There is gentle yoga for senior citizens and power yoga for fitness enthusiasts. There is meditative yoga, restorative yoga, yoga with long holds of poses, and yoga which flows quickly from pose to pose. Which is right for you?
Iyengar Yoga - Can be a strong format with emphasis on the poses and the body’s alignment. It utilizes yoga props such as blankets, straps and blocks. Good for students with physical limitations.
Ashtanga Yoga - Athletic, flowing style of yoga which uses a great deal of breath and creates heat in the body. There is a good deal of sweating going on here which helps with the removal of toxins from the body.
Hatha Yoga - There is much confusion on this one. Hatha refers to the physical practice of yoga, not a particular style. This can be any series of yoga poses.
Ananda Yoga - This a gentle, meditative inwards focused style of yoga.
Sivananda yoga - This yoga combines physical poses working around 12 basic poses with breathing exercises, relaxation, diet and positive thinking. It can also include meditation and chanting.
This list is by no means all encompassing, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of “yoga formats”. This is because anyone can create a flow of poses and call it whatever they like and another yoga format has been born. For example, mine is called Colorgized Yoga.
