Which is which? Gravity Yoga, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Yoga Stretch?
My teaching certification taught me that Gravity Yoga is different from all the rest of these practices. Although, in terms of practice - I find them all the same. They all aim to stretch your muscles with the intention of increasing your range of movement and flexibility.
So what it does in simple terms, is you have a variety of yoga poses that you pick and choose from with the intention of going slow-paced. That means, you intend to hold the poses between 2 to 5 minutes.
Based on my experience, Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga are one and the same. So for the purpose of this article, they will be used interchangeably.
The main difference that I've noticed between Gravity Yoga and Yin Yoga is the selection of the poses to hold for those minutes. The poses that are done in Gravity Yoga are far more difficult than the poses selected in Yin Yoga. The intention of Gravity Yoga is to make sure that you develop that mobility in your back, hamstrings and hips; whereas Yin Yoga's outcome is to perhaps make sure you completely relax your body so the poses are fairly simple and easy. In both cases, you still feel that great stretch from the poses. They pretty much operate in the same principle of that passive stretch, that means - you completely relax into the pose and let gravity do the work.
Let's add Yoga Stretch class to the mix. To be fair, I've only attended one class and from what I've gathered, it was more geared to make sure that you get those splits done in no time.
The set up of these classes are mat-based, so all you need are yoga mats, blocks, straps and even pillows.
