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.

Iyengar

What It Is: Purist yoga named after founder B.K.S. Iyengar. Props—blocks, straps, harnesses, and incline boards—are used to get you more perfectly into positions. That’s why Iyengar’s nicknamed “furniture yoga.”
Best For: Learning the fundamentals, which builds a superior foundation for other styles. Plus it systematically works every part of your body, giving you great muscle definition, not mass.  
Best For: Patient perfectionists. Detail-oriented folks who want to “do it right” rather than “just do it” will get the most from it, says Roger Cole, Ph.D., a certified Iyengar teacher in Del Mar, California.
Need To Know: If you’re straining to reach the floor, place one of those Styrofoam or wooden blocks so it meets your hand partway. Remember, there’s no shame in this.
Cheat Sheet: These teachers are sticklers for alignment. Wear fitted clothing so they can check your form.
Famous For: Andie McDowell’s rocking 47-year-old figure and Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, the 1966 bible of this discipline.


Anusara

What It Is: Iyengar with a sense of humor. Created by the aptly named John Friend, it’s meant to be humorous, heartfelt, and accepting. “Instead of trying to fit everyone into standard cookie-cutter positions, students are guided to express themselves through the poses to their fullest ability,” says Rama Patella, a certified Anusara teacher at Yoga Mandali in New York City.  
Best For: Mood enhancement, via upbeat vibe; practicing when out of shape, because you won’t be pushed too far; and learning proper alignment to prevent injuries—in all exercises, not just yoga.
Who’s Gotta Have It: Nervous Newbies. It’s nonthreatening and the workout is less intense than Ashtanga or Bikram.
Need To Know: You may be asked to partner with strangers and clap for your classmates, so if that makes you cringe, better to avoid.
Cheat Sheet: Anusara definitely has a spiritual side. As a class you offer yourself “to the light,” or the goodness inside of you. Just go with it. You do have goodness, right?
Famous For: Being the fastest-growing, trendiest yoga du jour, with over 1,000 teachers worldwide. Plus, the Deadhead-like following on Friend’s Mystical Merry Band Tours of the United States.

Gentle or Restorative Yoga

What It Is: Less work, more relaxation. You’ll spend as many as 20 minutes each in just four to five simple poses (often they’re modifications of standard asanas) using strategically placed props.
Best For: Rehabbing an injury, with blood flow and healing pushed to problem areas without straining them. A bolster under your knees while lying down, for example, supports the leg bones enough to let the muscles stop contracting. There’s also psychic cleansing: The mind goes to mush, then you feel like new. And it’s a great option if you’re simply tired one night and not up for a regular class.
Who’s Gotta Have It: New and expectant moms. This gentle approach can even help with menstrual cramps.
Need To Know: Share what ails you with the teacher in private, before class, so they can pick poses that will lessen the pain of a slipped disk, for example.
Cheat Sheet: Slow-mo doesn’t generate body heat, so bring along a sweatshirt, socks, and even a skull cap to stay warm, cozy, and cute.
Famous For: Too low-key to be famous. Should be.


More for Beginners:
Don’t Worry…Start Here
Flow Chart
Speak No Sanskrit? No Worries