Modern yoga styles, and what links them to the tradition

The yoga of the texts names a handful of great paths. The yoga of the timetable names dozens of styles, each with a founder, a date and often a trademark. Most were born in the West in the last sixty years; a few in India. Knowing who founded a style, when, and what it keeps from the tradition is the best way to choose a class without being sold a label.

How to read this page

For each style: who, when, what a class is, and the honest link to Indian lineages. The great traditional paths are on their own pages: hatha, raja, karma, bhakti, jnana, kundalini yoga. The major modern schools have their own pages too: ashtanga, Iyengar, Sivananda, vinyasa, yin, power, hot yoga.

Integral Yoga: Sivananda's disciple in America

Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002), born near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, was ordained a monk in 1949 by Swami Sivananda, his guru of many years. In 1966 he went to New York, where his students founded the Integral Yoga Institute. In August 1969 he gave the opening address at the Woodstock festival. Its headquarters, Yogaville, is in Buckingham County, Virginia, where its LOTUS shrine opened in 1986. Integral Yoga follows Sivananda's "yoga of synthesis": gentle hatha classes, breathing, deep relaxation, chanting, meditation and service. In 1991 protesters accused him of sexual misconduct with students, and several former disciples said he had used his spiritual authority to coerce them into sexual relationships; these allegations were never judged in court. See Sivananda yoga for the root of this lineage.

Jivamukti: liberated while living

The name comes from jīvanmukti, liberation while still alive, a concept of Vedānta. Sharon Gannon and David Life opened the first Jivamukti Yoga Society in New York's East Village in 1984. They trained in India, including with Pattabhi Jois in Mysore from 1990. A class combines a flowing, vigorous posture practice with chanting, music, a reading from the texts and meditation, around five tenets: śāstra (scripture), bhakti (devotion), ahiṃsā (non-harming), nāda (music, sound) and dhyāna (meditation). The method advocates ethical vegetarianism and veganism, and animal rights. In 2016 a student's accusations of sexual harassment against one of the school's senior teachers became public; her lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. Of all the Western styles, it is one of those that most explicitly brings the texts into the class: see the Yoga Sutras and the yamas and niyamas.

Laughter yoga: an Indian invention of the 1990s

Hāsya yoga (हास्य, laughter) was introduced in Mumbai in 1995 by the family physician Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri. Groups meet, often in parks, and laugh deliberately through playful exercises, combined with yogic breathing and a moment of quiet. Laughter clubs now exist in many countries. It is Indian, but modern: it uses breath and group practice, not postures or texts. Reviews of the research describe short-term improvements in mood in some studies but low-quality evidence; we make no health claim for it.

Anusara: alignment and "flowing with grace"

Anusāra means following, conforming to; the founder rendered it as "flowing with grace". John Friend, an American teacher trained mainly in Iyengar yoga, founded Anusara in 1997, combining his "Universal Principles of Alignment" with a philosophy he called Shiva-Shakti Tantra. In February 2012, anonymous allegations about his personal conduct were published online; he resigned as director of the company that spring, and many senior teachers left. The school changed its name that year (Anusara School of Hatha Yoga) and still teaches its alignment principles. A class: heart-centred opening theme, careful alignment, playful postures, a short meditation. Its alignment roots are those of Iyengar yoga.

AcroYoga: yoga with a partner, in the air

AcroYoga was founded in 2003 by two groups independently: Eugene Poku and Jessie Goldberg in Montreal, who had used the word informally since 1999, and Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein in California (who first called it ContactAcro and adopted the name AcroYoga in 2005). It combines yoga postures and acrobatics, practised with a partner. There are three roles: the base, usually lying on the back, who supports; the flyer, lifted on the base's feet or hands; and the spotter, whose only job is to make sure the flyer lands safely. Its link with tradition is loose: the L-shaped basing it uses was already practised by Krishnamacharya in 1938, without the name, but the practice as such is modern. Learn it with a teacher and a spotter, never alone.

Aerial yoga: postures in a hammock

Aerial yoga mixes yoga postures, Pilates and dance in a fabric hammock hung from the ceiling, less than a metre from the floor. It was developed by Michelle Dortignac in New York in 2006, while Christopher Harrison, founder of the acrobatic company AntiGravity, launched AntiGravity Fitness in 2007 and claims to have created what became known as aerial yoga. Other brands followed from 2009, among them Fly Yoga in France. Benefits claimed, such as "decompressing the spine", rest on anecdote: the published literature reports no clinical trials. It has no textual link to classical yoga.

Is a new style less authentic?

Not necessarily. Iyengar and ashtanga were new in their time too. What matters is honesty about origins, a teacher who knows what they are transmitting, and whether the style leads you towards the deeper limbs of yoga, ethics, breath, attention, or away from them. A good question to ask any new style: what does it say about the eight limbs of yoga?

Before you start

Finding a good class

Most of these styles have their own trainings and teacher lists; check that a teacher is listed by the organisation whose name they use. Ask how long they trained, with whom, and how they adapt for beginners. For the first steps, read the levels of practice and start with the beginner postures. All the schools and paths: the paths of yoga.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Satchidananda Saraswati, Wikipedia (Sivananda disciple, New York 1966, Woodstock 1969, Yogaville 1986) checked October 16, 2026
2. Jivamukti Yoga, Wikipedia (Sharon Gannon and David Life, New York 1984, five tenets) checked October 16, 2026
3. Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, Wikipedia (John Friend, 1997, Universal Principles of Alignment, 2012) checked October 16, 2026
4. Acroyoga, Wikipedia (Montreal and California, 2003; base, flyer, spotter) checked October 16, 2026
5. Aerial yoga, Wikipedia (Michelle Dortignac 2006, AntiGravity 2007, no clinical trials) checked October 16, 2026
6. Laughter yoga, Wikipedia (Madan and Madhuri Kataria, Mumbai 1995; reviews of evidence) checked October 16, 2026

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