Styles of Yoga
Ananda Sanctuary offers a comprehensive range of Yoga Styles, including Hot26 and Aerial for adults and children.
Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga is a combination of asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques), with possible chanting. This is a slower-paced class with a strong focus on alignment and how to do each pose correctly. More recent yoga styles have evolved from hatha. Our hatha classes work through a series of poses and often build towards a peak pose, coupled with a series of counterbalance poses, to align and balance. Standing poses, twists, balancing poses and reclining poses may also be included. This class is ideal for beginners to yoga, or more experienced yogi’s.
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Benefits
Hatha Yoga assists with anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia and any sleep disorders, promotes wellbeing, improves fitness and core strengthening and overall balance. A sense of being grounded and connected is evoked and the use of body postures, breathing techniques and meditation all aid in centering and balancing the individual through this practice.
Vinyasa Flow
Vinyasa flow is an active form of yoga which flows from pose to pose with breath guiding the movement. Your body moves and glides with your breath with no break between the various poses, promoting a dynamic movement. A variety of postures are combined typically including standing, seated, twists, supine, balancing, folds, inversions and backbends. Sun salutations are incorporated most often and this style is ideal for those seeking a more active, energetic movement experience. It is a beautiful example of a moving meditation.
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Benefits
Vinyasa Flow is a more upbeat style of yoga – fast and active, meaning an increased heart rate given that the movements are active and in quick succession. This style is excellent for cardio, core strengthening, building greater strength overall in your body and enhancing flexibility. This style is ideal for active, athletic yogi’s seeking a more aerobic and rhythmic class. (If you are experiencing any knee, neck or shoulder issues or have a history of pain, or you are pregnant, we recommend you rather take a yin or restorative class.)
Yin Yoga
Yin yoga is fully restorative with most of the asana’s practiced seated, or on the mat. Yin means passive (compared to yang which means active). This style of yoga is typically coupled with meditation, providing space to move within. Yin yoga focuses on stretching the connective tissue at a deeper level (fascia, ligaments, joints) as one holds the poses for several minutes.
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Benefits
Yin Yoga is a wonderful practice for those suffering with anxiety given the focus on deep breathing thus calming the body and the mind. It is a great aid for meditation and promotes wellbeing, helps with insomnia and creating calm and stillness. The benefits of strengthening and stretching connective tissues are multifold, especially in creating space for the flow of qi and prana through the connective tissue and energy pathways, and promoting a state of wellbeing.
Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga focuses on the holding of various poses (or asana’s) for a period of time to gain the benefits of the asana. Use of props such as bolsters, straps, blocks and blankets also aid in attaining comfort, supporting and depth in a particular pose, helping your body to settle and deepen into the pose as a result. We may also include breathwork, poetry, meditation, visualisation, creative expression and mantras into our restorative classes. This is a very calming and relaxing form of yoga that is gentle and slow and is suitable for any age with the emphasis on inner relaxation of body and mind. The ability to identify where tension is stored in the body helps one to release that tension through this gentle practice.
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Benefits
Restorative Yoga helps with anxiety and stress relief, calms and centers the mind, stills the spirit and helps relax. It is a wonderful way to boost your immune system, regulate blood pressure and accelerate your body’s healing journey. If you are having trouble sleeping, dealing with depression or anxiety, or experiencing migraines or headaches this is an ideal form of yoga movement.
Sculpt
Sculpt yoga is a combination of yoga, pilates and cardio while incorporating hand - weights with a focus on working the entire body and promoting functional movement with attention to detail in alignment and technique. The focus is on toning, stretching, aligning and strengthening working with the core.
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Benefits
Sculpt is ideal for weight-loss, toning the body and strengthening the spine and back through core strengthening work. Ideal for developing greater flexibility and core strength.
Yoga Nidra
Yoga nidra (yogic sleep) is an immensely powerful meditation practice promoting deep relaxation, inducing states of mind between waking and sleeping. Resting comfortably in Savasana, this systematic meditation takes you through pancha maya kosha (five layers of self), with a guided set of verbal cues, leaving you with a sense of wholeness. The end goal is to bring in a state of meditative consciousness called Samadhi.
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Benefits
Yoga Nidra is incredibly beneficial for insomnia/lack of sleep as it down-regulates the nervous system. As well as de-stressing and bringing in a sense of calm. It helps detach yourself from a busy mind and thoughts, releases tension and pain, and enhances a connection to self.
Power Yoga
Power yoga, deriving from the Ashtanga series, is a powerful and vigorous style of vinyasa yoga flow, promoting body heat to build from within with the use of synergy between movement and breath. An adaptation of yoga that has developed within the Western world to accommodate a physical form of meditation. Often includes dynamic flow of asanas, core work, and opportunity to explore inversions and arm balances. Ideal for intermediate level and above.
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Benefits
Energizing, enhances stamina, muscle and core strength, flexibility, posture and mental focus. Relieves tension and releases toxins. Can help with weight loss and increasing cardiovascular health.
Hot 26
Hot 26 (also known as Bikram yoga) is a series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises performed in sequence. Known also as 26+2 and founded by Bikram Choudhury is done in a hot room, to emulate Indian temperatures. Most poses are performed twice and held for 6-60 seconds, depending on the specific pose.
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Benefits
Improves body strength, flexibility, balance and range of motion. Helps to detox, burn calories and encourages weight loss. Helps decrease stress and promotes a feeling of wellbeing. Increases cardiovascular health, nourishes skin and decreases blood glucose levels. Helps improve sleep, calm the mind and nervous system.
Aerial Yoga
Aerial Yoga combines yoga asanas elevated in aerial silk fabrics hung from ropes, or hammocks. You are supported by the silks, suspended from beams providing a fun way of getting into poses in a more versatile way allowing those with less mobility to explore greater movement in an acrobatic, elevated way. Aerial yoga is also very therapeutic, especially for restorative and yin practices and savasana.
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Benefits
Improves stability, balance and flexibility and hanging upside down is said to decompress the joints. If you are struggling with inversions or handstands this an alternative. Promotes a greater sense of wellbeing, and helps with stress and improves mental health and is fun too!