Find the Style of Yoga for Your Body
If you’re ready to make a fitness change this year, you don’t have to dread spending hours in the gym or agonize over going to a strenuous workout class. Fitness should be something that you look forward to and something that serves your body. You should love your body and love feeling healthy!
For many, a New Year’s Resolution comes with losing a certain amount of weight. This can be somewhat frustrating, and more often than not we see people give up on their goals soon after starting. This year, what if you changed your mindset on your fitness resolution? Instead, create a goal of feeling good and loving your body: the most important home you have to take care of.
Yoga comes with a multitude of styles that range from relaxed and rejuvenating practices to rigorous practices and can be a great fit for anybody. What are you looking for in a yoga practice to meet your needs? Here, we’ll break down a few styles so you can see just how much yoga has to offer.
Restorative Yoga
You’ve just been through a busy and possibly hectic holiday season with shopping, parties with friends, and many family gatherings. You’re tired and your body is telling you it needs some time to relax and recover. Restorative yoga could be the perfect practice for you as you dive into the new year. This style is a gentle, calming, therapeutic practice that soothes the nervous system and releases physical and mental tension. Props such as blankets, blocks, bolsters, and straps support the body in gentle stretching sequences and nurturing, sustained postures that ease the entire system into relaxation and balance. If your body feels like it needs added rest, then a restorative yoga class could be the perfect place to start.
Hot Yoga
Energize your new year with hot yoga! If you want to get back in shape, strengthen your muscles, and increase flexibility, then hot yoga may be the right move for you. Temperatures in a hot yoga class are usually in the 90’s, which makes it easier for your muscles to stretch. This will also increase your heart rate as your body works to keep you cool, and a higher heart rate results in a better cardio workout. Sweating it out in a heated room gives your body the opportunity to cleanse itself and release built up toxins that will leave you feeling renewed and energized from head to toe.
Bhakti
If you are looking for something inspiring, this particular style will introduce to the spiritual side of yoga. Bhakti offers you a path to self-realization, exploring a unique experience of oneness with everything around you. Asheville Yoga Center offers Bhakti flow classes, which combine the chanting of universal mantras with the grace of vinyasa flow yoga. Class usually opens with a musical style of group chanting, sometimes accompanied by instruments, sometimes voices only. The remainder of class is vinyasa flow, which incorporates different postures into a specific sequence with ujjayi breathing, mindful alignment, and a meditative focus.
This new year, listen to your body and do something kind for it. You can find exactly what you need from your yoga practice and enjoy all the benefits that come with it without straining yourself at the gym. Make this your best start to a new year.
See our full list of classes here.