Sivananda Yoga

For me Sivananda Yoga, and it's founders, are some of yoga's lesser known heroes. Swami Vishnudevananda, a great character and student of Swami Sivananda, was one of the first to bring yoga to the west in the late 50s/early 60s after his Guru gave him a 10 rupee note and his blessing to spread the word.

After many years of travelling, peace missions and Gump-esque adventures (flying over Berlin on a painted plane to bombard the Wall with flowers, singing his way through Belfast with Peter Sellers, dinner with the Beatles) Swami Vishnudevananda had successfully set up the yoga schools across the west, and published some books on yoga.

It was one of these Sivananda yoga books, the "Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga", that sat on my mums bookshelf. My mum is a keen yogi and has been attending regular classes for decades. At 63 she is the perfect living example of the benefits of a prolonged yoga practice; she can still fold in half and rest her chin on her shins. Flicking through these books as a child and trying to recreate the poses was my first experience of yoga. In 2009, on my extended yoga tour of the world, I had the opportunity to stay in the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam, India. I credit the Sivananda Ashram for, among other things, instilling in me the importance of inversions in a regular practice, and giving me confidence in unsupported headstand.

Sivananda, like other practices such as Ashtanga, is based on a standard series or set of postures. These are organised in order of importance, the idea being that you can work through as far as you can in the time you have, content in the thought you've made the most effective use of your practice.

The series are below. You start off your practice with sun salutations before launching into headstand, and there are typically linking moves (dolphin before headstand, leg lifts before shoulderstand) and more advanced variations and postures you can add in, but it's a simple system that works.

I highly recommend trying out this lesser known style. Unless you have a local centre near you, probably the best way to do this is through a Yoga Vacation at one of their centres through the east and west. During these you'll get the full experience of all limbs of yoga as well as a solid grounding in the series.