The First-Timer's Guide
to the Right Class

By Rachel Grumman

Match your goals with the right form of yoga

The free-range chicken or the glazed salmon? The grounded architect or the passionate rock climber? Iyengar or Bikram? You’re barraged with choices every second of your life. Yes, this is normally a good thing (sometimes you have a taste for salmon and sometimes you feel like devouring an architect). But the problem with options is: Make the wrong decision and you could end up with a dinner entrée you hate, married to the wrong guy, or missing out on the incredible benefits of a yoga class that’s just right for you.

We can’t help you navigate the men or the menus in your life (at least not in this article), but we do have some expert guidance on the yoga front. First, almost all classes you’ll come across are forms of Hatha yoga, an umbrella term for styles that emphasize postures and breathing exercises over the more meditative and devotional aspects. But under that umbrella, there are many, many styles or “brands” to choose from, and they often have names that won’t mean much to you if you haven’t brushed up on your Sanskrit. You’ve seen them offered on the bulletin board in your gym or posted at local studios: Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara, plus that Iyengar business we mentioned, and don’t forget Bikram, either . . .

 We couldn’t blame you if you said, “Screw it," and walked back over to the elliptical trainer (or the Dove bars). But we don’t want that, and there’s no need to quit before you start. Just take a look at this quick primer on five of the most popular types of yoga, and then choose the class that works best for your body, personality, and fitness goals. Don’t be intimidated. Yoga may look like something you’ll never get good at—remember those ballet lessons and, ahem, baton twirling efforts? —but it’s totally doable, and it feels fantastic. We swear. Soon enough it’ll click and you—and your tight little yoga butt—will wonder how you ever lived without it.


Bikram Yoga and Hot Yoga  

What It Is: Yoga poses in a sauna. Classrooms are heated from 95 to 102 degrees. If it’s called “Bikram” (for inventor Bikram Choudhury), it will be a series of 26 postures, each performed twice.
Best For: Weight loss; you can burn 350 to 600 calories in one class. You’ll build stamina as well. “Tolerating the heat is really an athletic challenge,’’ says Donna Rubin, co-owner of Bikram Yoga New York.
Who’s Gotta Have It: Exert-aholics, ex-jocks, and others who don’t think they’ve worked out unless they leave a puddle.
Need To Know: If touching your toes is a pipe dream, take heart: The steamy air will increase your flexibility. However, this kind of heat can be like lots of martinis—you’re too loose. So don’t overstretch and injure yourself, champ.
Cheat Sheet: Leave the modesty at home. To keep your core temperature down, wear as little as possible. A sports bra and boy shorts will suffice. Stay hydrated.
Famous For: Hollywood students like Goldie Hawn, Choudhury’s flamboyant capitalist shtick (he collects Bentleys and Rolls Royces), and outrageous quotes (“I have balls like atom bombs!’’).


Ashtanga, Power Yoga, and Vinyasa

What It Is: Vinyasa means flow, and each of these three systems links poses together in a long, choreographed, rapidly moving sequence.
Best For: Cardio (no such thing as catching your breath between postures), and strength gains without weights. Devised for young jocks in India, this will get you cut, fast.
Who’s Gotta Have It: CEOs, ESQs, CPAs (anyone with three letters after their name, even if they’re OCD). “Ashtanga appeals to Type A personalities—driven, intense people who like its linear quality,” explains Natasha Rizopoulos, star of the Yoga Step-By-Step DVD series.
Need To Know: The poses, before your first class. You can’t flow if you don’t know up dog from down dog. Get some experience at another, slower studio (see Iyengar) before you come here.
Cheat Sheet: Stick with it—four times a week is ideal, but steady gains come with twice weekly sessions.
Famous For: Kate Hudson’s slamming postbaby body and Zen mamma attitude.

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