Yoga is a very popular form of exercise as it focuses not only on your physical strength and flexibility, but it is also great for your mental health too which is why it is a much-loved practice worldwide. Therefore, within this blog post we are going to explore a handful of latest trends which we expect to be popular in 2020. So, if you want to find out more about up and coming Yoga Trends for the New Year, then keep on reading.

Yoga HIIT

Yoga is known for its calming effect and slow pace, but recently we have seen this exercise combined with HIIT elements to create the ultimate workout. The theory behind this latest concept is that you can benefit from the deep stretches to loosen up and recover the muscles in-between bursts of high-intensity exercise so that you can benefit from the calorie burning elements of fitness as well as the relaxing side too.

Gin Yoga

Gin has gained its own popularity itself in 2019 where brands started creating unique flavours which captured the hearts of many. But I bet you have never thought about including your favourite alcohol with your Yoga practice? Yoga requires relaxed muscles which the Gin helps with superbly so that you can loosen up and feel the stretches more than before.

8 Limb Method

Yoga also goes beyond the fitness and exercise elements as it can be more of a spiritual journey too. Therefore, people would often find themselves studying the 8 Limb Method of Yoga for a deeper experience. These are:

  1. Yama – Focuses on your behaviour and how you conduct yourself socially. There are five main yamas which you will explore which are: Ahimsa (nonviolence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (nonstealing), Brahmacharya (continence) and Aparigraha (noncovetousness)
  2. Niyama- Focuses on your self-discipline and spiritual observances. There are five main niyamas which are: Saucha (cleanliness), Samtosa (contentment), Tapas (heat, spiritual austerities), Svadhyaya (study of sacred scriptures and of one’s self) and Isvara pranidhana (surrender to God)
  3. Asana – Asanas is the postures which are practiced in Yoga as the body is believed to be the temple of the spirit and taking care of it is important to spiritual growth. And through learning the poses you will improve you discipline and concentration.
  4. Pranayama – This is the practice of breath control where you explore the connection between your breathing, mind and emotions.
  5. Pratyahara – This is the practice of withdrawal or sensory transcendence. This means that you learn to move your focus away from the world and close stimuli so that you can focus on your own mind and body.
  6. Dharana – After mastering Pratyahara this leads onto Dharana which means that you are able to adjust your thoughts and slow them down in order to have a stronger spiritual connection.
  7. Dhyana – Dharana focuses mainly on concentration whereas Dhyana focuses on the meditation element of Yoga which is uninterrupted concentration.
  8. Samadhi – Samadhi is the final limb of Yoga and once all other levels have been mastered then this is the final step whereby you can reach full spiritual connection with yourself.

Karaoke Yoga

For a bit of fun, you could also try out Karaoke Yoga which allows you to feel a deep stretch from Yoga in a happy positive environment. The music distracts you as you sing along so that your body can relax and get the most out of the postures. Why not join a class with your friends and belt out your favourite tunes together?

Broga

Yoga is not often practiced by men but in recent years after the introduction of Beer Yoga (which is similar to the aforementioned Gin Yoga), it has gained attention from men across the globe. The theory behind Broga is that the postures and exercises included in the routines are catered for muscle sculpting and growth as these are often goals for men in terms of fitness.

Chroma Yoga

As Yoga is a very spiritual exercise, you can often find enhancements to the practice from other spiritual ideas. For example, Chroma Yoga sees the poses carried out in a dark of dim lit room which has various light colour changes and music changes to evoke different emotions and spiritual feelings. This is because Yoga can often have a strong connection with your Chakras and Auras which is the colours emitted by your soul which can be affected by emotion or energy. These classes often start with a blue light to mimic the body waking up and end with a red light to encourage a relaxed and sleep like feel. Therefore, this type of Yoga is perfect for those who have trouble sleeping.

How Do You Practice Yoga?

Within this article we have explored a range of Yoga trends which are intriguing. Let us know over on our social media pages if you have tried any of these types of Yoga or how you practice it as we would love to find out! Don’t forget that you can also shop our vast range of exercise clothing and accessories over at Sports Fitness where you can kit yourself out for your next Yoga class.

This article was written exclusively for Sports Fitness by Loren Astbury