"Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, what's the difference?"

I get question a lot — especially because I run a Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training (YTT)…

The short answer:
"They are all the same."

The more modern answer:
"Hatha is gentle,
vinyasa is more flowy,
and ashtanga is vigorous and athletic.”

All of those responses reflect a common misunderstanding on what the terms actually mean.

In truth, Hatha can be quite forceul, and ashtanga can be incredibly slow and meditative. And yet people often have the complete opposite experience in yoga studios

What is Hatha Yoga?

Hatha is a word that refers to a traditional 14th century text we study in depth, the Hatha Yoga Pradipka, which translates to "Light on Sun-Moon Yoga." This includes a variety of forceful (not gentle) techniques to liberate the energy system and free the mind from its conditioning. Including breathing techniques and challenging yoga postures like arm balances.

What does Ashtanga mean?

Ashtanga means "8-limbs," which refers to a holistic way of living, founded on the principle of non-violence (ahimsa), self-study and meditation. Among the 8-limbs are breath-control (pranayama), comfortable posture (asana), and concentrating a distracted mind so it is fit for meditative insight.

What is Vinyasa Yoga?

Vinyasa simply means "to place in a special way," the intention behind the ritual.

In modern times (1930s onward is my best guess), the word was given a new meaning to refer to:

"linking breath with movement in a special way,"
like when you inhale your arms up in a sun salutation, and exhale to fold forward looking at the navel.

How did Vinyasa become a pushup in modern times?

At that time, Krishnamacharya had developed an entire flowing yoga system based on this interpretation of Vinyasa. Years later, he put one of his long-time students Pattabhi Jois in charge of teaching this system, who later branded this method as "Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga." This system involves a sequence of progressively challenging postures, strung together on the breath. It starts with Sun Salutations, a flow of nine postures on the breath, which becomes the foundation of the whole asana practice as practitioners gradually integrate more seated poses, backbends and inversions. Between each posture, a sun salutation vinyasa is performed - so for convenience sake, people started saying, "take a vinyasa," and through years of broken-telephone, this has been understood as flowing through chaturanga, updog, and downdog... Quite a departure from the original sentiment, but the shift started on Indian soil.