Hatha focuses on static poses and is great for beginners. It is a non-heated traditional style, but can still be physically and mentally challenging.
Classes typically start with a gentle warm-up and advance to more physical poses, ending with a short period of guided meditation or rest.
Classes include:
Evidence suggests yoga may be beneficial for the following conditions:
Anxiety and depression:
Yoga can help relieve everyday anxiety and depressive symptoms,
Arthritis and fibromyalgia:
Yoga benefits for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia.
Back pain:
Yoga improves low-back pain and function and its effects are similar to types of exercise.
Balance:
Yoga helps to improve balance with regular practice.
Emotional health:
Yoga has a positive impact on mental
health and was shown to have benefits of improving resilience or general
Menopause:
Yoga can relieve physical and psychological symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes.
Mindfulness:
In a 2018 survey of 1,820 young adults, participants attributed greater mindfulness, motivation to participate in other forms of activity and eating healthier to practicing yoga regularly.
Multiple sclerosis: ]
Yoga has been shown to have short-term benefits on mood and fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis.
Neck pain:
A 2019 study found that yoga can reduce the neck pain intensity and disability from pain while also improving range of motion in the neck.
Sleep:
Several studies found yoga can improve sleep quality and duration for participants, including cancer patients, older adults, people with arthritis, pregnant women, and women with menopause symptoms.
Stress management:
Yoga was shown to improve physical or psychological measures related to stress.