Ashtanga yoga

The practice of Ashtanga that's getting mainstream attention today is a fast-paced series of sequential postures practiced by yoga master K. Pattabhi Jois, who lives in Mysore, India. Today, yogis continue to spread Jois's teachings worldwide, making it one of the most popular schools of yoga around.

The system is based on six series of asanas which increase in difficulty, allowing students to work at their own pace. In class, you'll be led nonstop through one or more of the series. There's no time for adjustments?you'll be encouraged to breathe as you move from pose to pose. Be prepared to sweat. For more information, visit Ashtanga teacher Richard Freeman's Web site (www.yogaworkshop.com).

Bikram Yoga

When you take a Bikram yoga class, expect to sweat. Each studio is designed to replicate yoga's birthplace climate, with temperatures pushing 100∞ Fahrenheit.

Why the sauna-like effect? "Because sweat helps move the toxins out of your body," explains Radha Garcia, owner of Bikram's Yoga College of India in Boulder, Colorado. "Your body is like a sponge. To cleanse it, you need to wring it out to allow fresh blood and oxygen to circulate and keep your immune system running smoothly."

This method of staying healthy from the inside out was designed by Bikram Choudhury, who sequenced a series of 26 traditional hatha postures to address the proper functioning of every bodily system.

Choudhury first visited the United States from India in 1971 on a trip sponsored by the American Medical Association to demonstrate his work using yoga to treat chronically ill patients. Today Choudhury continues teaching students of all ages and abilities from his studio in Los Angeles where he also conducts a certified teacher's training program. For more information, visit http://www.bikramyoga.com/.

Hatha yoga

literaly means Sun and Moon and is the linking of the active and passive aspects of nature. In practice in the west, a hatha yoga class is usually more passive, and involces holding poses for a longer period and is usually less of a workout then some of the other dynamic styles. There is usually a focus on meditation and slow breathing. sometimes studios offer a Dynamic Hatha class which is a bit more fast paced.

Iyengar

From his home in Pune, India, B.K.S. Iyengar reigns as one of the most influential yogis of his time. At 80 years old, he continues to teach thousands of students from all over the world, encouraging them to penetrate deeper into the experience of each pose. This is the trademark of Iyengar Yoga?an intense focus on the subtleties of each posture.

In an Iyengar class, poses (especially standing postures) are typically held much longer than in other schools of yoga, so that practitioners can pay close attention to the precise muscular and skeletal alignment this system demands. Also specific to Iyengar, which is probably the most popular type of yoga practiced in the United States, is the use of props, including belts, chairs, blocks, and blankets, to help accommodate any special needs such as injuries or structural imbalances.

"In forward bends, for example, if someone's hamstrings aren't flexible, he or she can use a prop to help extend the spine. The wall is often used for support in a variety of poses," explains Janet MacLeod, who teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. "Using props gives the student support, allowing them more freedom to breathe deeply into the pose." For more information, visit www.iyisf.org.

Vini yoga

As we travel through life, it's no mystery that we are constantly evolving on all levels?physically, emotionally, and intellectually. So why not tailor a yoga routine that will help address and integrate these transitions? Viniyoga, in fact, is an empowering and transformative practice designed to do just that.

In this gentle practice, created by T.K.V. Desikachar, poses are synchronized with the breath in sequences determined by the needs of the practitioner. According to Gary Kraftsow, owner and teacher at The American Viniyoga Institute on the Hawaiian island Maui, Viniyoga is a methodology for developing an integrated practice for each person's needs as they grow and change.

"As children, our practice should support balanced growth and development of the body and mind. As adults, it should protect our health and promote our ability to be productive in the world. And as seniors, it should help us maintain health and inspire a deeper quest for self-realization," says Kraftsow. For more information, visit www.viniyoga.com.

Ki Yoga

Ki Yoga is the Yoga of Meaning. You donít just stretch and strain. You learn why you stretch, how to strengthen and what you are striving towards. You discover what each gesture, movement and part of the body means and how it affects your mind, your behaviour, your health and your whole life.

Ki Yoga explores and extends the postures and sutras of Hatha Yoga by using the diagnostics of the Chinese and Japanese Healing Arts. It begins with the experience of Asana (postures and movements) and Pranayama (breath) to connect with and understand the whole person ñ the body, the psyche, the emotions, a code of living, vitality and a state of meditation, concentration and calm.

Ki Yoga is healing yoga. Teachers in Ki Yoga design sequences and classes that treat specific conditions - both physically and psychologically - and that follow the rhythms of nature ñ the time of day, the seasons, and the environment. Relief from illness, pain, confusion or distortion comes swift.
Jack Marshall is the founder of Ki Yoga. A yogi, a healer, a sceptic and a philosopher, he developed Ki Yoga from his study and training in the teachings of Masters Masahiro Oki, Shizuto Masunaga and Andrzej Gospodarczyk. Through his school and clinic at the Zen Renaissance Healing Centre, he and other teachers continue to explore the healing and invigorating possibilities of Ki Yoga - its way to a Way in life.

Synergy Style

Yoga Synergy was established in Newtown in 1984, in Bondi Junction in 1997, and in Manly in 2002. This dynamic style of Hatha Yoga, devised by the directors,Simon Borg-OlivierMSc BAppSc (Physiotherapy) MAPA &Bianca MachlissBSc BAppSc (Physiotherapy) MAPA, represents a synthesis between Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga and modern medical science. The Hatha Yoga taught at Yoga Synergy is derived from the work of Professor T. Krishnamacharya. Sri Krishnamacharya, who died in 1989 at the age of 101, was the teacher of three of the most influential yoga masters alive today. These yoga masters are Sri B.K.S. Iyengar (author of “Light on Yoga”); Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who teaches Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and, Sri T.K.V. Desikachar (author of “The Heart of Yoga”).

Yoga Synergy style of yoga is a Vinyasa flow-style meditative practice, linking postures with the breath while maintaining an awareness of anatomical and physiological alignment, and allowing students to progress with guidance at their own pace. Every 9 weeks a new sequence of yoga postures and exercises are presented and taught in the Synergy style Open classes and pre-booked courses. Design of these sequences takes into consideration the time of the year, the level of the group being taught, and that each posture must have a simple version and full or hard version that the practitioner can choose to attempt with the level of intensity that practitioner desires.A sequence sheet of the postures in each sequence is available to assist students in their own practice.

By regularly attending Synergy Style Yoga Classes, the student is able to learn a yoga sequence enough to do self-practice and yet still be stimulated every 9 weeks by a new set of postures and exercises. Yoga Synergy is a team of professional teachers, trained personally by Bianca and Simon, with years of experience teaching the Synergy style of yoga.