This article contains a list of the different types of yoga and their benefits to help you decide on the best style of yoga for you.
Yoga is an ancient practice dating back at least 5,000 years. Introduced to America in the late 1800s by Swami Vivekananda, its popularity started to grow in the 1960s and 1970s.
This was largely thanks to American Hatha and Raja Yoga teacher and author Richard Hittleman, who fronted Yoga for Health, one of the first yoga television series.
In the intervening years, many new types of yoga have been developed. Most of these consist of older types of yoga blended in a way that provides increased benefits.
The best style of yoga for you will depend on what you want to get from it.
When performed regularly, any type will improve your strength, flexibility, balance, and posture.
It will also release tension, enhance your mind-body connection and mental clarity, and quieten your mind, promoting relaxation.
Other benefits of regular practice are relief from chronic pain, muscle toning, and improved heart health with dynamic styles of yoga.
Following is a list of some of the different types of yoga and their benefits in alphabetical order. Most are convenient to do at home, except hot yoga, which requires more effort.
Table of Contents
The Different Types of Yoga and Their Benefits
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Aerial Yoga
Aerial yoga is among the more adventurous types of yoga practices, involving performing yoga postures and elements of aerial arts using a hammock on a stand or suspended from the ceiling.
The hammock allows for increased flexibility, deeper stretches, and the exploration of inversions with reduced strain on joints.
Regular practice improves spatial awareness, flexibility, and balance. It also builds core and upper body strength and helps decompress the spine.
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AcroYoga
AcroYoga is one of the most unconventional yoga practices, combining elements of yoga, acrobatics, and Thai massage, practiced with a partner.
Sessions involve a base, a flyer, and sometimes a spotter, working together to perform a sequence of acrobatic movements and yoga poses.
The base provides support and stability while the flyer balances and moves through various poses.
AcroYoga promotes trust, communication, and teamwork while improving strength, flexibility, and coordination.
It also offers the benefits of deep stretches, core engagement, and a sense of accomplishment as partners create intricate and visually stunning poses together.
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Ananda
Ananda yoga involves gentle, meditative poses that move energy and prepare the mind and body for a calm state and meditation.
Its holistic approach aims to nurture the body, mind, and soul.
Benefits of regular practice include stress reduction, increased mental clarity, enhanced emotional well-being, and a heightened inner peace and sense of self.
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Ashtanga (Astanga)
This traditional, quick-paced yoga will help you build strength and improve your flexibility, endurance, mental focus, and discipline.
The poses are always executed in the same sequence, moving from one to the next without a break.
Each pose is held for five breaths and includes a Half Sun salutation. The fast pace makes it more physically demanding than some other yoga styles.
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Bikram
Bikram Yoga is a comprehensive workout that falls in the hot yoga category.
It involves doing 26 postures, including two breathing exercises that improve endurance, strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health.
Additionally, it works all major muscle groups, improves circulation, aids detoxification, and eases stress.
Click here to read about the 26 Bikram yoga poses and their benefits.
Or click this link to find out about 10 Bikram Yoga Benefits and 2 Drawbacks.
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Chair yoga
Chair yoga is among the most accessible types of yoga practice, done while seated or using a chair for support.
It is particularly beneficial for individuals with limited mobility, seniors, and those recovering from injuries, as it provides an accessible way to experience yoga’s physical and mental benefits without getting down on the floor.
Sessions involve gentle, modified yoga postures, breathing exercises, and gentle stretches to improve flexibility, strength, balance, and relaxation.
Regular practice can also improve joint mobility, alleviate stress, reduce muscle tension, enhance circulation, and promote a sense of calm and well-being.
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Forrest
Forrest Yoga is a modern yoga style focusing on healing, self-discovery, and transformation.
It emphasizes deep breathing, intense core work, and a strong connection to feelings and emotions.
Poses often involve longer holds, promoting the release of physical and emotional tensions and improving strength and flexibility.
Other benefits include increased energy, enhanced emotional resilience, and a greater sense of empowerment.
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Hatha
Hatha is the foundation of most yoga styles. 
Suitable for people of any fitness level, traditional Hatha focuses on active postures that increase strength, flexibility, and endurance.
Slow-paced and gentle, it also involves restorative and calming postures that balance and relax the body and mind through controlled breathing.
While reasonably challenging, it is easy to learn.
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Integral
Integral yoga incorporates postures, breath control, meditation, and philosophical teachings to promote personal growth and self-realization.
Its holistic approach seeks to cultivate inner harmony, mental clarity, emotional balance, and a deeper connection to one’s spiritual nature.
Physical benefits include improved flexibility, strength, balance, and muscle tone.
Moreover, it supports healthy circulation, enhances respiratory function, and contributes to stress reduction, which can positively impact physical health.
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Iyengar
Suitable for both beginners through to advanced-level practitioners, Iyengar is one of the most popular yoga styles.
It helps improve posture, flexibility, and balance.
The active poses focus on precise alignment, often including props like blocks and straps.
It is suitable for people with various physical limitations.
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Jivamukti
Jivamukti yoga integrates physical postures with meditation, breath awareness, chanting, music, and spirituality.
The postures are dynamic and challenging, helping to improve flexibility, strength, balance, and overall physical fitness.
It can also lower stress levels and enhance mental clarity.
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Kripalu
Kripalu is a gentle and reflective style of yoga with a strong emphasis on self-acceptance, compassion, and self-awareness.
The postures are gradually deepened and held to build strength and flexibility, with focused breathing and meditation incorporated.
Benefits include increased flexibility, improved physical strength, stress reduction, enhanced self-awareness, a greater sense of emotional balance, and a heightened connection between mind, body, and spirit.
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Kundalini
Kundalini incorporates dynamic movements, controlled breathing, meditation, and chanting to awaken spiritual energy.
The practice aims to stimulate energy flow, open energy channels, and activate the chakras, leading to heightened awareness, emotional balance, improved focus, and spiritual growth.
Other benefits include stress reduction, enhanced flexibility and strength, increased mental clarity, and a deeper sense of connection to oneself and the universe.
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Moksha (Modo Yoga)
Moksha yoga is a style of hot yoga combining postures, breath control, and mindfulness.
It involves a series of 40 postures designed to build physical strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance and improve balance and alignment.
Other benefits include detoxification and enhanced circulation through sweat, increased mental clarity, stress reduction, and improved overall fitness.
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Power Yoga or Power Vinyasa
Power yoga is one of the most physically challenging yoga styles.
When practiced as hot yoga, you will work in a studio heated to around 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40% humidity.
Designed to improve strength, stamina, and flexibility, it helps detox, and its devotees say it can aid weight loss and improve cardiovascular health.
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Prana Flow
Prana Flow Yoga is an energetic and dynamic yoga style emphasizing the connection between breath and movement.
Its innovative approach allows practitioners to add creative expression to the structured sequences.
Prana Flow involves fluid transitions between postures, incorporating controlled breathing, meditation, and music to create a rhythmic and immersive experience.
Its benefits include improved flexibility, enhanced cardiovascular fitness, stress reduction, heightened mindfulness, and a profound sense of inner flow.
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Prenatal Yoga
Prenatal yoga is tailored to pregnant women. It focuses on breathing techniques and relaxing, modified poses that help ease discomfort and improve 
circulation and flexibility.
The practice’s benefits include enhanced overall well-being, reduced lower back pain, improved posture, and better sleep.
Pregnant women who are new to yoga should practice under the guidance of a certified prenatal yoga instructor to ensure safety and suitability for their specific needs.
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Restorative
As its name implies, Restorative Yoga helps to restore the mind as well as the body.
It involves doing six slow poses held for an extended period, sometimes using props.
The postures aim to reduce stress, improve flexibility and promote deep relaxation and healing, making it suitable for people with injuries or chronic conditions.
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Rocket
A modification of Ashtanga, Rocket yoga is more dynamic and challenging.
Sequences are typically fast-paced with creative transitions and the scope for new yogis to progress to advanced poses sooner.
Benefits include improved flexibility, strength, cardiovascular fitness, and stamina.
Rocket’s emphasis on breath control and mindful movement may also lead to better stress management and increased mental focus.
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Shadow
Shadow Yoga is a unique and intricate yoga practice that uses rhythmic movement and breath control to prepare the body for advanced poses.
It comprises three preludes, each emphasizing specific movements to open and strengthen different body parts.
Sessions incorporate deep stretches, circular movements, and specific patterns of breath to awaken and release energy blockages.
Benefits include improved flexibility, enhanced body awareness, increased vitality, and a profound sense of grounding.
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Sivananda
Sivananda is a traditional form of yoga combining a structured sequence of postures, controlled breathing, and meditation.
Regular practice enhances flexibility, reduces stress, fosters a harmonious balance between the body, mind, and spirit, and cultivates vitality and inner serenity.
It also improves circulation and digestion and aids detoxification.
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Strala
Strala Yoga is a modern and innovative style of yoga with a free-form, intuitive approach to movement that emphasizes natural and flowing transitions between poses.
It encourages practitioners to move with ease and explore their body’s sensations, fostering a sense of personal freedom and self-expression.
The benefits of Strala Yoga include increased flexibility, reduced stress, improved body awareness, and a greater connection between movement and breath.
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Svaroopa
Svaroopa Yoga is a gentle, therapeutic practice that releases spinal tension and promotes physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Through precise alignment and using props, Svaroopa Yoga seeks to unwind deeply held tensions in the muscles and connective tissues, leading to increased flexibility and improved posture.
Other benefits may include stress reduction, alleviation of chronic pain, and a deep sense of inner peace.
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TriYoga
TriYoga emphasizes the flow of movement linked with breath, focusing on the spine’s natural curves.
It incorporates rhythmic, smooth transitions between poses, creating a meditative and fluid practice.
Benefits include increased flexibility, improved posture, enhanced breath awareness, and a deep sense of tranquility.
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Viniyoga
Vini means adaptive, and it explains this gentle, adaptive yoga style well.
Able to be customized to the individual’s needs and goals, it is ideal for people with physical limitations and those rehabilitating from an injury.
It emphasizes the breath as a guiding force for movement and aims to create a harmonious connection between breath and posture.
Its benefits include improved flexibility, strength, and relaxation.
Viniyoga can also help manage pain, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being.
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Vinyasa
Also known as “flow yoga,” Vinyasa involves a continuous sequence of flowing postures, often guided by a sun salutation.
Each movement is synchronized with the breath, promoting mindfulness and meditation in motion.
It improves cardiovascular health, circulation, and body awareness, builds strength and flexibility, and enhances concentration.
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Yin
Yin is a slow-paced and meditative yoga style that involves holding passive stretches for an extended period, usually several minutes.
Movements primarily target the connective tissues, ligaments, and joints rather than muscles.
Benefits include increased circulation, enhanced flexibility and joint mobility, and a release of tension. It also cultivates a deep connection to the breath and inner self.
Summary of the Different Types of Yoga and Their Benefits
The above list of the different types of yoga and their benefits briefly overviews some of the most popular yoga styles. 
Remember, there is no one best style of yoga. The benefits you experience will vary based on the type of yoga you choose to do and your goals.
If you are new to yoga, start with a basic form that meets your needs now. When you have more experience, you can experiment with other styles.
If you want to practice yoga at home, I recommend the Beachbody 3 Week Yoga Retreat DVD. (Click on the previous link to read my review or click here to learn more on Amazon.)
If you’ve already signed up for classes at a studio, check out How to Prepare for Yoga Class, which contains tips for first-timers.
