Yoga, a physical and spiritual practice which is thousands of years old, has exploded on to the American scene. Every one is doing yoga from Hollywood movie stars to your local fireman. Yoga studios are popping up everywhere. Physical fitness, stamina, strength , flexibility, youthfulness, weight loss, stress reduction are all reasons people are flocking to yoga. Once a student finds a yoga class, there is an overwhelming array of traditions to choose from, including specialized fields of yoga practice- such as yoga for women, and yoga for children.

What is it about yoga that keeps people coming back? The benefits are amazing on many levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. What may have begun as a quest for flexibility turns in to a life transformation with job changes, relationship changes and lifestyle changes.

Yoga is that time to regroup and call your own. And best of all , while you are nurturing all your vital systems of the body and soothing the soul you are getting a great workout. I don’t know about you, but that seems like multi-task heaven!

If time is truly a constraint, why not incorporate yoga in to the family routine? Set aside 15-20 minutes per day to do yoga with your family. Create a sacred space in your home with candles, soft music, soft light and make it your daily yoga space.. Children are equally as stressed these days as adults and many are not nearly as flexible as we think they are. Children are also very open and curious, responding easily to both yogic breathing, yoga postures, and meditation.. Their refreshing perspective can only encourage our own growth and mind/body/spirit awareness. Husbands/fathers, too, may become more open to their own emotions as they honor their inward journey through yoga.

Being present is a gift that you can give yourself and your family at any age. When you are present , you are timeless and ageless. Life is meant to be lived fully .What that means is that we are here with each breath, each moment, BEING ourselves. So why not give yoga a try?

       

Ananda
Ananda Yoga is a classical style of hatha yoga that uses asana and pranayama to awaken, experience and begin to control the subtle energies within oneself, especially the energies of the chakras. Its object is to use those energies to harmonize body, mind, and emotions, and above all to raise oneself with higher levels of awareness. The unique feature of this system is the use of meditation while in the asanas as a means of working directly and consciously with the subtle energies of oneselves to achieve the state of attunement. Ananda Yoga is a gentle, inward experience, not an athletic or exothermic practice. It was developed by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi.

Anusara
Anusara (a-nu-SAR-a) means, “to flow with the devine will - your heart”. A new style developed by John Friend, Anusara yoga is described as heart-oriented, spiritually inspiring, yet grounded in a deep knowledge of outer and inner body alignment. Each student’s various abilities and limitations are deeply respected and honored.

Ashtanga
A strong physical form of yoga, meant for those who want a serious workout. Developed by K. Pattabhi Jois, Ashtanga is physically demanding. Participants move through a series of flows, jumping from one posture to another to build strength, flexibility and stamina. It’s not for beginners or anyone who’s been taking a leisurely approach to fitness. The so-called Power Yoga is based on Ashtanga.

Bikram
Founded by Bikram Choudhury, bikram yoga is performed in high temperatures. A series of 26 asanas, sometimes performed twice, are designed to “scientifically” warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in the order in which they should be stretched. Bikram Choudhury studied yoga with Bishnu Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda

Iyengar
Ever think standing was just a matter of keeping your body on top of your legs? It’s hard to appreciate how involved a simple thing like just standing can be, how much concentration and how many subtle movements and adjustments it takes, until you take an Iyengar yoga class. Of course, the point is that you’re not just standing. You’re doing Tadasana, Mountain pose, and in yoga in the style of B.K.S. Iyengar, Tadasana is an active pose. B.K.S. Iyengar is one of the best-known yoga teachers and the creator of one of the most popular styles of yoga in the world. His style of yoga is noted for great attention to detail and the precise alignment of postures, as well as the use of props such as blocks and belts. No doubt, part of Iyengar’s success is due to the quality of teachers, who must complete a rigorous 2-5 year training program for certification.

Kali Ray TriYoga
Kali Ray TriYoga, founded by Kali Ray, brings posture, breath and focus together to create dynamic and intuitive flows. The Tri Yoga flows combine flowing and sustained postures that emphasize spinal wavelike movements, economy of motion, and synchronization with breath and mudra. The flows are systematized by level and can be as gentle or as challenging as desired. Students may progress from basics to advanced as they increase their flexibility, strength, endurance and knowledge of the flows.

Kripalu
Called the yoga of consciousness, Kripalu puts great emphasis on proper coordination of breath and movement, and allows you to work according to the limits of your individual flexibility and strength. You focus on the physical and psychological reactions caused by various postures to develop awareness of mind, body, emotion and spirit. There are 3 stages in Kripalu yoga. Stage 1 focuses on learning the postures and exploring your bodies abilities. Stage 2 involves holding the postures for an extended time, developing concentration and inner awareness. Stage 3 is like meditation in motion in which the movement from one posture to another arises unconsciously and spontaneously.

Kundalini
Kundalini yoga draws its name from the coiled snake. It is in the tradition of Yogi Bhajan, and focuses on controlled release of coiled energy said to reside at the base of the spine. The practice involves classic poses, breath, coordination of breath and movement, and meditation.

Sivananda
Sivananda is one of the world’s largest schools of yoga. Developed by Vishnu-devananda and named after his teacher, Sivananda yoga follows a set structure that includes pranayama, classic asanas, and relaxation. Vishnu-devananda wrote one of the contemporary yoga classics, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. First published in 1960, the book is still one of the best introductions to yoga available.

Svaroopa Yoga
Developed by Rama Berch, Svaroopa Yoga teaches significantly different ways of doing familiar poses, emphasizing the opening of the spine by beginning at the tailbone and progressing through each spinal area in turn. Every pose integrates the foundation principles of asana, anatomy and yoga philosophy, and emphasizes the development of transcendental inner experience, which is called svaroopa by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. This is a consciousness-oriented yoga that also promotes healing and transformation. Svaroopa is not an athletic endeavor, but a development of consciousness using the body as a tool.

Viniyoga
Viniyoga is not so much a style as it is a methodology for developing practices for individual conditions and purposes. This is the approach developed by Sri. T. Krishnamacharya, teacher of well-known contemporary masters B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois and Indra Devi, and continued by his son, T.K.V. Desikachar. Key characteristic of the asana practice are the careful integration of the flow of breath with movement of the spine, with sequencing, adaptations and intensity dependent upon the overall context and goals. Function is stressed over form. Practices may also include pranayama, meditation, reflection, study and other classic elements.

       

“What!” you’re thinking, “How can my yoga outfit have an effect on someone else’s practice?” Let’s take a look at different aspects of yoga clothing and how they can affect you and others.

Breath: It is the most important aspect of our practice. It is a pillar of yoga practice and living a yogic life. Breathe, always breathe, especially through the tough spots, whether that means an asana, an argument with your partner, watching your child ride their bike alone for the first time, or driving in your car. In yoga class, when the music is gently floating around us and our teacher is gently talking us out of our past and future moments to right here in our poses, should be the easiest time to breathe. If we have restrictive clothing on in our practice, it can prevent us from taking the complete breath we need to nourish our bodies and spirits. As your pants cut into your waist and a small roll develops on your side, are you breathing or are you worried about what your neighbor is looking at?

Fit is important, especially as you pretzel yourself into a warrior interlock. We’ve all seen what can happen if our clothes don’t fit exactly as they should, a student with a little too much cleavage, the yoga pants that you have to constantly pull up or, even better, the ones that should be pulled up but instead the woman in front of you has her thong in plain view all during class. The proper fit for yoga clothing should be comfortable and easy to move in without leaving a lot of room for the clothing to gap or expose too much. Yoga pants come in all sorts of different versions–Capri length, long, wide waistband, above the waist, below the navel, wide-legged, narrow-legged, etc. Unfortunately, finding the perfect pair is like finding the perfect shoes: You may have to try on 30 pairs to get the right fit for you. Yoga tops are a similar story but worse. Not only do they have to fit on your body but they also have to stay in place as you work through your practice. When I try on yoga tops, I always make sure I try a down dog and a forward fold in the dressing room. You don’t want any accidents in class!

You may think I’ve really gone off the deep end with this next idea. Ethics. How can yoga clothing affect one’s ethics? We try to imagine our fellow yogic companions as others on the path, but can we ever assume we understand what that path is? What we might forget is that for some this time in class is the only time to themselves they get. For you it may be working on a more balanced Bakasana or crow pose, but for others it may be a time when they figure out how to deal with the fact that their family has walked all over them for the past 20 years, or that their eating patterns are impacting every aspect of their lives. This is sacred time and it needs to be respected as that. So how can yoga clothes be unethical? Imagine that you are watching a student in front of you go into down dog and the seat of their pants is so worn through that you can see everything. Or that a man in class wears shorts a little too loose and, in Badda Konasana, you can see right up them. Now imagine that you are recovering from sexual abuse and this is what you see in class. We have an ethical responsibility to respect everyone in our class, including ourselves. The clothes you wear may not be fully respectful of those around you.

The last idea I would like you to consider as you explore the path with your yoga practice and work to heal yourself is how we can carry that healing beyond us through our clothing choices. One way is to buy eco-friendly products. We may accomplish this by purchasing organic cotton and hemp clothing or by purchasing clothing from retailers who believe in fair trade or paying employees in developing countries a livable wage. Whatever your choice, take a moment to consider the larger impact on the earth, those who created your clothing and the children who will live here after we have left this world.

Clothes definitely do not make the person in yoga, but they can influence you and those around you. Next time you are considering a yoga clothing purchase, actually try it on and do a pose or two. If you are fiddling with it in the dressing room, then you will probably fiddle with it even more as you work through your practice. Yoga is supposed to be a safe place where you can relax, let go and explore some of the life gunk that we all have to deal with. Why not take one more aspect out of what can drive us crazy and buy comfortable clothes with full coverage in which you can move and breathe. In fact, this is probably not a bad idea for every aspect of our life; shouldn’t we always wear what is comfortable, appropriate and good for our well-being?