Beginning Yoga: Our Top 4 Yoga Choices for First-Timers

Since it's still the beginning of February, many of us are still nurturing our New Year's resolutions. For a vast majority of Americans, a common New Year's resolution is to lose weight. According to Statista, eating healthier, getting more exercise, and saving more money all rank 37% on a poll asking what 1,159 American adults are planning to accomplish as a part of their New Year's resolutions. Getting more exercise can be achieved in a multitude of ways, but one of the most popular methods of exercising is yoga. If practicing yoga has been on your New Year's resolution list, then you're probably wondering how to best approach it. After all, the internet is a sea of knowledge which can provide an overwhelming amount of information!

If you're a beginning yogi or yogini, you might be curious which form of yoga to start off with. To help you achieve your weight loss goals, we've happily compiled a list of our recommended beginner's yoga classes. So, get your yoga mats ready – we'll catch you at the studio!

1. Hatha Yoga

Our first recommendation for a beginning yogi or yogini is hatha yoga. If you're curious as to why we selected this form of yoga first, it's fairly simple: this is a slower course which will help you to adjust easily. For this main reason alone, hatha yoga is absolutely perfect for beginners. In Sanskrit, the word "hatha" means force, which can "force" you into a healthy change by implementing yoga into your life. A big part of hatha yoga is to help you focus on your breathing while learning new poses.

Not only is hatha yoga perfect for any yoga newbies, but this practice has incredible long-term effects, too. Hatha yoga is comprised of many beneficial factors that can truly prove advantageous for anybody. If you practice hatha yoga, there are physical siddhis included. By the way, physical siddhis are known as special powers or bodily benefits. One of the more alluring aspects of these physical siddhis is the ability to slow down the effects of aging. Finally, the fountain of youth has been discovered in the form of hatha yoga!

Aside from hatha yoga's obvious benefits, you'll learn some of the most fundamental poses, such as the Plank pose, Cobra pose, Downward Facing Dog pose, and the Mountain pose.

2. Vinyasa Yoga

Pronounced exactly as it is spelled – vin-yah-sah – vinyasa yoga is another fine example of an excellent beginner's yoga course. With your favorite pair of yoga pants and a comfortable yoga shirt, you'll be happy that you chose vinyasa yoga to start your fitness regimen. Vinyasa means to arrange something in a special way, and that's exactly what these yoga lessons will do.

Similar to hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga coordinates breathing with crucial yoga poses. If you practice vinyasa yoga, you will coordinate your breath to flow from one pose to another. This is a great way to practice the core elements of yoga.

If you decide to begin your yoga journey with vinyasa yoga, you'll want to familiarize yourself with three main poses. These three yoga poses that are commonly used in vinyasa yoga are Chaturanga, Upward-Facing Dog, and the Downward-Facing Dog. They are used in consequential order, so do your research and practice! You'll become an expert in vinyasa yoga in no time. After all, they're frequently used in vinyasa yoga, so preparing in advance can give you a true advantage.

3. Ashtanga Yoga

If you're craving something a little more difficult for your beginning yoga studies, ashtanga yoga is the right choice for you. Ashtanga yoga can best be described as dynamic and it can be a physically demanding practice. However, this is perfect for people who are looking to lose weight faster while learning yoga on a more advanced level. Don't worry – despite it being more advanced, it's still appropriate for the yogi or yogini beginner! By synchronizing breath and movement, internal heat is produced, which is one of the very core elements of ashtanga yoga. You'll be sweating quite a bit if you choose ashtanga yoga, which is why we suggest quick-dry and breathable yoga shorts for your routine. Because you'll be producing a lot of heat, we also recommend yoga tank tops that dry quickly as well! There's no such thing as being over-prepared for fitness courses such as ashtanga yoga, after all.

One of the major benefits of ashtanga yoga is that it will help you to build core strength. It'll also help you tone your body, which is a huge advantage if you've placed losing weight on the top of your priority list. Ashtanga yoga is composed of set sequences, so try your best to remember them since they will be used throughout your classes.

4. Bikram Yoga

Although we said you'll be sweating if you choose ashtanga yoga, bikram yoga will produce very similar results. If you're a beginner, make sure to pack your most sweat-resistant yoga shorts and tops, because you're going to be dripping with sweat! Bikram yoga is made up of twenty-six distinct poses that are practiced in a room which has a temperature of at least 105 degrees. Bikram yoga lasts for ninety minutes, so if you're okay with sweating for an hour and a half while first learning yoga, then we highly suggest trying out bikram yoga! One thing is definitely for sure with bikram yoga: you will lose weight, and pretty quickly, too. Don't forget to rest in between poses when you can, since you don't want to overwork yourself.

Yoga is a disciplined practice that combines breathing with synchronized poses in a mostly consequential manner. If you want to begin yoga, we recommend the four forms we have listed above. Don't forget to pack your yoga mats in some of our high-quality yoga bags before setting off to your class of choice. Whether working out was on your New Year's resolution list – or you simply want to get in shape – yoga is an excellent way to do so, which has incredible benefits for your mind and body.