What yoga do I start with? asks a friend.

My good friend S, currently living in the Netherlands asks:

I'm hoping you can advise me on something. I've been a bit stressed with work and just life in general lately and I thought maybe yoga could help.  I did one lesson a while ago in a very hot room and didn't like it. I liked the exercises but the temperature just wasn't for me.  Now I understand there are different kinds of yoga but I'm not sure what to try. I was also hoping there are things I could do myself as I travel a lot so could practise in hotels. Can you please help? Perhaps recommend  type of yoga I could try (I'm sure they do all sorts of classes in Amsterdam).
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And my answer is:

Yes, of course yoga helps with releasing tension, when I started practicing yoga before going to work my whole life changed, I felt good, with a strong body, peaceful, centered.  To me yoga has been the most amazing blessing and I wish it on all people.

There is lots of styles out there,indeed. The hot style you refer to is probably either Bikram or Hot Yoga, I happen to not like it either, perhaps because I am mostly a pitta type in the ayurvedic system which means I overheat easily.  Mostly I just find the intense hot temperature disturbing to the body, and the atmosphere in those rooms a little sickening...

I happen to have chosen ashtanga and here you can read the 9 reasons why (9 out of many!).  In particular to your question, it would be effective because:

• If you travel for work then the practice is portable, goes with you, nobody needs to tell you what to do, you "know the routine"
• The Primary Series which is the first series of postures you learn is called "Yoga Chikitsa", or "therapy" and it is the series that restores the body to complete health, it is healing in motion.
• You only add postures when you are ready to add more
• The Mysore style does not have a "fix time to start" if you practice at a studio, the practice is your own and you start and finish when you can (this is really liberating!), and teachers correct you individually.

This practice has transformed my life, and I hope you try it.  However I am keenly aware that it might not be for everybody so if you prefer to choose another style I give some more suggestions later on.

Now, about studios in Amsterdam... hmm.  A fellow blogger whom I read is currently working in Amsterdam and she is having difficulty finding a studio, apparently people in Amsterdam enjoy waking up a little later than the rest of the world, and so there are no Mysore programs (yet!).  Mysore is the name given to the ashtanga classes that happen early in the morning where people do self practice and the teacher adjusts each one individually.  It comes from India, from a city called Mysore, (this is the "mother ship") that is why.

If you wanted to get started with a DVD at home (which is how I started to learn the primary series), then this DVD by Darby is my recommendation.  There are also these other two, one by Kino MacGregor who is wonderful and has good explanations, and another one by Richard Freeman (with a 70's flavor), he is one of the most advanced teachers in the United States.

If Ashtanga is not your cup of tea I suppose you could try studios in Amsterdam, there are a few and I see they are mostly Iyengar based.  The Iyengar system is good and in depth only that the practice is directed by the teacher, and the routines are created as you go, so it is not so portable.  I found that when I started practicing this system I ended up slacking a little because I did not know so many poses and I could not create my own routines yet.  Nevertheless the Iyengar system is revered all over the world, and he studied with the same master teacher that the guru of Ashtanga did...

If you are to try other methods, I recommend going to a few studios and trying teachers.  It is the connection with the teacher that will determine the success of your practice after all, and how you feel.

Here are some Amsterdam studios I found:
Yoga Amsterdam... unfortunately all in Dutch... no idea what they are saying :-(
Iyengar Yoga Amsterdam
Yoga Garden  Here they have something they call a "Modified Primary Series of Ashtanga", wonder what that is, hope you tell me if you go!
Unlimited Health,  here they do not say what type of yoga they do, is just yoga... however, they have an infrared sauna for 5 Euros an hour, worth trying, I know I would!

Oh, and if you do chose Ashtanga and you are traveling check out the teachers section of the ashtanga.com page, I always do whenever I travel, they happen to be all over the world! (just not in Amsterdam, bummer!)

Fellow bloggers, any other suggestions for S?

Oh, and S, thanks for the question, you know I loved answering! :-)