7 new yoga trends popping up around the globe

Yoga, as old as thousands of years, is just as trendy with a style being innovated as per the needs of the yogis and aspiring yoga practitioners. This is yoga for you. It is for everyone and it is meant for everyone. You have to design and innovate as per the needs and requirements and so, people come up with styles that work for them, of course, keeping in mind that the essence of yoga, the techniques needed to utilize the power of yoga, remain intact. 

Yoga is not just a workout, it is an experience, and communication between the mind, body, and spirit. It is a science that makes a happy, healthy, and fit human being. The purpose of yoga is to help yogis find the perfect balance between their mind, body, and spirit. What the yogi is trying to achieve may differ and so they go for different yoga styles to achieve those benefits. Some might want to focus more on mental health, some on physical fitness, while some might want to tap into their spiritual potential, yoga has different impacts on everyone depending upon the practice style chosen.  

Let’s explore the top yoga trends that are popping up around the globe. Pick the one that seems the right fit. 

Top Yoga Trends Popping Up Around the Globe

1. Yoga for Men | The Broga

Yup, Broga is for real and we totally love it. Yoga was presumed to be a practice for women and men used to avoid it until athletes began to pick it up for restoring and stretching their muscles. Even though yoga was discovered by male sages, somehow it found more relevance and use among women and so they somehow became the torchbearers of the same. However, times have evolved and so have we. Yoga teachers come up with new styles to practice and suit the requirements of today’s manscape. And so, they use the term Broga for it. Broga is a high-intensity-based training that combines yoga asanas performed in a dynamic motion to work at the muscle groups for the purpose of strengthening. 

2. Yoga for Runners | The Roga

This beautiful hybrid form of yoga style is for runners and athletes. Runners face different kinds of challenges to keep themselves fit. Owing to their high-impact activities, their joint health, and muscular health can take a toll. They even have to deal with different sports injuries such as stress fractures, blisters, muscle sprains, and whatnot. The repetitive use of the same muscles makes it prone to abrasion. Through Roga, runners work towards staying healthier and do faster recovery of overused muscles while also working the underused muscles to achieve overall fitness. 

3. Stand-Up Paddle Yoga 

This is one of the top yoga trends popping up around the globe, SUP yoga, or stand-up paddle yoga is a fun yet equally challenging yoga style ideal for surfers and paddle boarders who know their way around the equipment. There is a lot of core work that goes into SUP yoga as the surfer/yogi performs yoga poses while maintaining their body balance on the board. If done right and safely, SUP yoga is greatly beneficial in building strength, flexibility, and the balance of a tree amid a snowstorm. Way to build great confidence too, isn’t it?

4. Slackline Yoga

Have you tried rope walking? It might be time to try it with slackline yoga. As the name suggests, this yoga requires rope walking skills as it is performed on a slack rope and it is meant for advanced-level yogis only. If you are an advanced-level yogi looking to get into more challenging forms of yoga practices, then get on a 1-inch wide piece of rope made from silk so you would not blister and suspend it from a decent height and get on with your practice. The aim of this yoga is to help your body and mind fall in sync with each other as you learn to regulate stress responses that occur amid dire situations. This is the way to reach a point where you feel a sense of inner calm and remain unaffected by any external calamity. 

5. Aerial Yoga

Similar to slackline yoga, aerial yoga is performed on suspected silk ropes, much wider than slack ropes to make it more fun and less dangerous to practice. It is like performing yoga in a silk swing set where you can restore, build posture, engage the core muscles and have fun along the way. And of course, it is practiced a few feet above the ground. It is an amazing yoga form to increase lung capacity as well. 

6. Yoga for Mental Health

There is a common misconception, especially in the west that yoga is only meant for toning muscles, gaining flexibility, or stretching and recovering the muscles. However, yoga is a science of wisdom and it is designed to offer physically, mentally, and spiritually challenging effects to the yogi’s being. With all sorts of stressors around us, it is easy to feel mentally unhealthy or unfit. There is where yoga for mental health can help. Through a combination of pranayama and restorative exercises, yogis find their way to gain mental strength and agility to go about their lives with ease, and confidence and without getting negatively impacted by externalities.

Every yoga style there, India is the one place where you can find schools and studios that focus equally on yoga for mental health as they focus on physical well-being. While yoga may be present across the globe, you can experience the true benefits of yoga in India. The birthplace of yogic sciences has the most authentic experiences to offer. Sign up for short or long programs at a yoga school in Rishikesh, Kerala, Mysore, or Goa or just come on a yoga retreat and take a journey of positive transformation.

7. Yoga Bites or Capsules

There is no slack when it comes to yoga. And that’s what yoga bites or yoga capsules are here to ensure. There are many times when we are not able to devote ourselves to regular workouts or yoga practices or dedicate ourselves to a single style of practice. Such yogis resort to taking classes at various studios both online and offline. They do not want to be bound by one, instead, they prefer to take yoga capsules of 5-15 minutes and devote this time to each style before moving to the next. 

Apart from India, there are many more places where you can engage in various yoga trends. There are international yoga festivals as well as online and offline yoga retreats where you can explore trial sessions from different yoga teachers. If you can make a tour towards the east then there is Thailand and Bali, close to Nepal and India where you can explore authentic yoga practices. Towards the west, you can explore yoga studios in the USA, particularly Los Angeles where you can experience some of the trendiest yoga styles. 

Author – Ankita Sharma loves sharing ideas and experiences about her two biggest passions: Travel and Wellness. Her blogs and stories are published and loved by readers on various travel, yoga, Ayurveda, and lifestyle platforms in India and abroad.