What kind of yoga was this?

[juneau]

I went to a class today at my local gym. I haven't done yoga for years, but I used to really enjoy it. This class however, was different to anything I've done before. It was ALL just lying on the mat, doing some sitting up and lying down, lying and twisting (banana asana!), and at the end of it I felt like I'd hardly done anything at all. It was literally an entire hour of being horizontal on the mat and I felt really disappointed.

The type of yoga I used to do, which I really enjoyed, was a class mainly done while standing on the mat and doing the poses from a standing position. I remember it started with a series of sun salutations and then flowed from there - but plenty of movement, lots of twisting and balancing, holding a pose and then moving onto the next one. There was a relaxing bit of lying on the mat at the end, but by then I felt I'd earned it!

Can anyone tell me what each kind of yoga is as from now on I'd like to focus on the latter type! I've also done some Bikram Yoga, and this was the same sort of kind of yoga I enjoy, but done in a hot room (and I know its just 26 poses).

My guess would be the one you used to enjoy was ashtanga and the one you was did was hatha. I could be wrong about the latter though.

was it yin yoga?
that tends to involve holding poses for quite long periods
I think yoga has evolved so that in addition to the more traditional styles there are lots of new styles

Wow that sounds weird! The type of yoga you used to do sounds like my Vinayasa class.

I thought vinyassa too, I guess different teachers have their own take on the various styles?

I do a vinyassa "flow" class which is a really good workout. We are never in one pose for long. I love it.

Hatha is breath based.
Yoga as exercise can come from a few different roots, the classes I went to had evolved from Lyenga.

Thank you. Right, so it sounds like I went to a Hatha class today and what I like is Vinyasa Flow. That's good to know. There were a lot of older people in the class, so maybe its tailored to their requirements? Anyway, I now know its too tame for me. I need action! I felt so lazy afterwards that I went next door and did a Zumba class straight afterwards!

Eh? Hatha means "forceful", you do use the breath but it's very much about the poses. Ashtanga and Iyengar are both forms of Hatha yoga.

It's important to bear in mind that if your teacher doesn't have an official designated yoga qualification, then they can teach you pretty much whatever they want to and stick any label on it they want. If it was at the gym then presumably they have insurance, but it's worth checking teachers out to double check they are qualified and insured...

Surely all yoga is Hatha? Yoga without breath is just exercise.

I also do vinyasa flow and it's very dynamic and I get quite hot doing it.

I do vinyasa flow in a hot room. Bloody love it.

ashtanga is the bee's knees. I used to have a puddle of sweat on my mat at the end of it. Now we have moved and I can't find an ashtanga class anywhere here

A little yoga philosophy on Hatha yoga for you.

All yoga with asana (postures) is Hatha yoga.
If you think of Hatha yoga as being like an umbrella, and the spokes are all the different styles of Hatha yoga.
Such as
Ashtanga Vinyasa
Vinyasa Krama ( sometimes shortened to vinyasa)
Vinyasa in Sanskrit means 'special placing' or Desikachar who coined the term meant it to mean going from A to B with movement and breath in an intelligent way.
Iyengar
Sivananda
Satydanada
Yin, yang, hot,
Etc etc.

Originally the idea behind Hatha yoga was to reach moksha ( freedom from that which binds us...busy minds & lives etc) by using the force of prana our vital energy.
To move our prana though the Main 3 Nadis, pranayama ( breathing practices are used) Kriya (cleansing techniques)and asana the postures we have become so familiar with.
Once a state of Hatha yoga is reached, when the 3rd eye centre (anja chakra) is open at that point we are ready for Raja yoga (meditation)

The word Hatha actually means forceful. Not as in a physical force but as in the pranic force within.

All of the styles of yoga that are practiced now in the west are pretty modern in the yogic scheme of things, not really classic yoga, but that doesn't really matter as long as the essence of Patanjalis 8 limbs comes in to each practice. ( I am sure in many classes it doesn't )
It sounds to me that you were practicing restorative yoga. Postures held for several minutes, most lying down, and pretty gentle.
It could have been yin, the postures can be quite strong here especially when held for a long time, yin works deeply in to the connective tissues muscles & joints, some of the deep kneeling lunges are hard work, and holding pigeon for several minutes each side can be reasonably strong. With a good yin class, you really feel your body has worked deeply afterwards. With restorative it is more a relaxing experience.

Hope that helps.

Chances are that the class was a Vinyasa flow class that happened, that week, to be primarily lying down.

One of my teachers does a different routine every week.
Another one has a lying down routine that, combined with breath control, is really hard.
Another teacher is all about the chakras and the classes vary depending on her mood.

Best bet is to ask the teacher whether the class is always like that and whether they know which teachers in the area do more active postures.

Banana sounds like yin to me. Lovely classes when done properly ( and can work your body more than an "active class". But all the ones I've gone to, the teacher has said upfront this is yin and this is how it works...