A Beginner’s Guide to the Types of Yoga We Offer (And How to Choose the Right Class)
Photograph by Madelyn Markoe
Walking into a yoga studio for the first time, or coming back after some time away, can stir up a blend of curiosity, hope, and maybe a little uncertainty. With so many styles available, it’s not always obvious where to begin. At Soma Yoga & Wellness, we see yoga as a layered, lifelong practice that meets you right where you are. It’s something we return to again and again, each time with a little more compassion, presence, and breath.
Serving our East Bay community (El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, Richmond, and Kensington) our classes are created for adults who want meaningful ways to manage stress, care for their bodies, and build steady, sustainable well-being. This guide offers a simple look at the styles we teach so you can find the practice that best supports your energy, your schedule, and the season of life you’re in.
Why Different Yoga Styles Exist
Yoga has never been one-size-fits-all. Over thousands of years, different approaches evolved to support different needs: some practices help us soften and unwind, others build strength and stability, and many offer a space to reconnect with breath and inner awareness.
Modern research echos this wisdom. Studies show that:
Slow, steady movement supports the nervous system and reduces stress hormones
Moderate flow practices improve balance, strength, and cardiovascular health
Breath-focused movement helps regulate mood, clarity, and emotional steadiness
Understanding the intention behind each style makes choosing a class feel easier and more intuitive, especially for adults balancing work, family, and community life.
Yin Yoga
For deep release, joint health, and nervous system support
What Yin Yoga Is
Yin is a slow, quiet, deeply grounding practice built around long-held seated and reclining shapes. This practice draws from both traditional Chinese medicine and classical yoga philosophy. Instead of targeting muscles, Yin works with the fascia and connective tissues around the joints. Poses are held for a few minutes at a time, giving the body space to soften and the mind time to settle.
Part yoga, part mindfulness, part stillness practice — Yin invites patience, presence, and gentle inner listening.
What to Expect
Sensation without strain. Spaciousness. A meditative quality. Yin isn’t passive, but it is subtle, and many students find it soothing for an overstimulated nervous system.
Scientific Support
Research on slow stretching and parasympathetic nervous system activation shows measurable reductions in stress and improvements in mobility and joint hydration over time.
Who Yin Yoga Serves Well
Adults managing joint stiffness or repetitive strain
Anyone feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated or burned out
Those recovering from injury or intense movement practices
Kundalini Yoga
For breath awareness, energy balance, and emotional clarity
What Kundalini Yoga Is
Kundalini blends breathwork, rhythmic movement, meditation, mantra, and stillness. Rather than focusing on complex poses, this style works directly with the nervous system, energy, and mental focus, offering a powerful way to reset and regulate from the inside out.
This style is traditionally used to cultivate mental clarity, emotional resilience, and steady energy.
What to Expect
Repetition, breath patterns, and simple but potent movements. Many students leave class feeling clearer, steadier, and more grounded.
Scientific Support
Clinical breathwork studies demonstrate improvements in mood regulation, heart rate variability, and perceived stress. These mechanisms are directly engaged in Kundalini practice.
Who Kundalini Yoga Serves Well
Adults seeking stress regulation and emotional balance
Students drawn to the inner, energetic, or meditative aspects of yoga
Anyone curious about holistic wellness and breath-based practices
Vinyasa Yoga
For strength, coordination, and mindful movement
What Vinyasa Yoga Is
Vinyasa links breath with movement in smooth, continuous sequences. You’ll move through standing postures, transitions, and sun salutations with an emphasis on breath, alignment, and mindful pacing. At Soma, Vinyasa is taught with presence at the center, not performance.
What to Expect
Steady movement supported by breath, with natural pauses for grounding. It’s strengthening, balancing, and energizing without rushing.
Scientific Support
Regular flow-style practices are associated with improved cardiovascular health, muscular endurance, balance, and bone density, significant benefits for adults 35–60+.
Who does Vinyasa Yoga Serve Well
Adults seeking more active or strength-building practice
Students who enjoy. movement that feels fluid and intentional
Deep Flow
For slower heat-building movement with steady breath awareness
What Deep Flow Is
Deep Flow is a Soma Yoga & Wellness signature style that blends the structure of Hatha Yoga with the continuity of Vinyasa. The movements are slower and more deliberate than in traditional Vinyasa, yet they still maintain a rhythmic relationship with the breath.
This makes Deep Flow ideal for students who want the physical engagement of flow without fast transitions.
What to Expect
Time to truly feel each posture, build heat gradually, and stay connected to breath throughout. No rushing, no pushing, just honest, embodied movement.
Who Deep Flow Serves Well
Adults who want strength without intensity
Students transitioning from gentle practices into stronger movement
Those who prefer mindful pacing and grounded movement
All Levels Flow
For accessibility, adaptability, and shared community practice
What All Levels Flow Is
These classes are built to be welcoming for everyone. Teachers offer variations for every shape so beginners, returning students, and seasoned practitioners can practice side by side, each at their own pace.
What to Expect
Supportive, accessible, and empowering. You’ll be encouraged to choose what feels right for your body that day, nothing forced, nothing rushed.
Who All Levels Flow Serves Well
Adults new to yoga
Students returning after time away
Anyone rebuilding strength or rediscovering movement
Photograph by Hannah Franco
Monthly Offerings at Soma Yoga & Wellness
Our monthly offerings invite students to experience deeper nourishment, rest, and reset beyond what’s possible in weekly classes.
Restorative Yoga
Restorative sessions use props to cradle the body in gentle, supported shapes held for several minutes at a time. This slow, intentional practice activates deep rest, supports digestion and immunity, and soothes the nervous system from the inside out.
Sound Bath + Mandala Flow
This unique blend of slow, intentional movement, sound immersion, and mandala-inspired sequencing bridges movement and stillness in a deeply centering way. It’s a full-body reset supported by breath, vibration, and mindful flow.
These monthly experiences offer a chance to pause, soften, and recalibrate in ways that weekly classes sometimes can’t.
Seasonal Offerings: Yoga Retreats & Seasonal Cleanses
Seasonal Yoga Retreats
Our retreats invite you to step out of daily routines and return to the roots of yoga as a holistic life practice. These experiences weave together movement, rest, community connection, time in nature, and guided self-reflection.
Spring & Fall Cleanse (Inspired by Ayurveda & Yoga)
Twice a year we offer a gentle, supportive seasonal cleanse based in Ayurvedic principles and yoga philosophy. These programs focus on:
Gentle purification
Digestive reset
Nervous system balance
Sustainable habit renewal
Aligned with the natural cycles of release and renewal, these offerings help students reconnect with clarity, vitality, and seasonal rhythm.
How to Choose the Right Yoga Class for You
Instead of thinking about what class you “should” take, try asking:
What does my body need right now?
Tight and tired → Yin or Restorative
Stagnant and low energy → Vinyasa or Deep Flow
Overstimulated → Kundalini
Unsure where to begin → All Levels Flow
What does my nervous system need?
Calm → Yin or Restorative
Balance → Deep Flow
Energy reset → Kundalini
Strength and circulation → Vinyasa
What Season Of Life Am I In?
Yoga isn’t static. Your needs will shift with your responsibilities, relationships, energy levels, and life transitions. Choosing the right style helps your practice stay supportive over the span of your life.
A Rooted Practice for East Bay Living
At Soma Yoga & Wellness, we honor yoga as a practice that supports real life: careers, families, aging bodies, busy calendars, emotional complexity, etc. We serve students across El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, Richmond, and Kensington who are seeking depth, consistency, and genuine wellness close to home.
Our offerings reflect tradition without rigidity, accessibility without dilution, and community without pressure.
Begin Where You Are
Choosing the right yoga class isn’t about perfection or achievement — it’s about listening to yourself. When you begin from that place of awareness, your practice becomes sustainable, supportive, and deeply personal.
Whether you’re drawn to Yin, Deep Flow, Vinyasa, Kundalini, or our seasonal retreats and cleanses, your practice has a home here.
Explore our current schedule, monthly offerings, and seasonal programs at www.somayogawellness.com.
Your next breath is your new beginning.
We can’t wait to practice with you!
Image by Madelyn Markoe
