Sivananda yoga was the first form of yoga introduced to the United States and Western Europe. This form of yoga was named for Swami Sivananda and was brought to the United States in the late 1950s by one of Swami Sivananda’s followers, known as Swami Vishnu-devananda.
Sivananda yoga is a form of hatha yoga that focuses on a limited number of asanas and combines meditation, mantra and other principles. This form of yoga uses a series of asanas along with breathing and chanting of mantras in each class.
There are several principles to Sivananda yoga, in addition to breathing and asana. Relaxation, positive thinking through meditation and diet are important elements of Sivananda yoga. Proper diet is defined as a vegetarian diet.
Relaxation begins the class. Mantra chanting and breath control. This is followed by sun salutations and a series of twelve yoga poses. Some of the poses included in Sivananda include headstand, plough, forward bend, cobra, bow, balance and twists.
The practice ends with mantras, a final prayer and relaxation in corpse pose. The classes begin and end with relaxation. People who enjoy restorative yoga and gentle stretch classes will like Sivananda yoga.
The pace of these classes is slow, which allows you to focus on each asana and experience it fully. The movement is slow paced and there is an emphasis on the eventual mastery of the twelve asanas.
The classes are designed for all levels of ability. Because the same sequence of asanas is performed in all practices, each student works at his or her own pace; there are no beginner classes or advanced classes.
At 90 minutes, the classes are a bit longer than the average yoga class. However, because there is frequent relaxation, a slow pace and meditation, it isn’t as physically challenging as a 90 minute Bikram yoga class, for example.