Alignment-oriented YogaIyengar yoga is exacting and precise. B.K.S. Iyengar is often credited with being the first person to bring yoga to the West (I would argue this was accomplished by Swami Vivekananda at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago). It's said to be the most commonly practiced yoga in the West.
Iyengar is great for those who are detail oriented, and have great patience. One can be asked to “wrap the skin of the inner big toe upward toward the perineum” or focus on the exact position of one’s metatarsals for extended periods of time.
The teachers can be somewhat strict, and those who aren't physically detail oriented are sometimes turned off by the seriousness and slow pace of the class, as asanas are done repeatedly and held for extended periods of time, using all sorts of props to help find proper alignment in each pose. As a beginner, I felt frustrated and hopeless in an Iyengar class. But now I'm a great fan, and my primary teacher is a gentle, poetic Iyengar instructor.
Iyengar is an excellent foundation for those who practice fast-paced yoga. The focus on alignment helps the body find it’s place when moving through fast sequences.
Local studio: Iyengar Association of Greater New York
Anusara yoga was created by John Friend in 1997. “Anusara Yoga is a powerful hatha yoga system that unifies a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic Goodness with Universal Principles of Alignment™.” While I’m weary of the way the word tantra is thrown about in the West, Anusara is a great practice. It’s a kinder, gentler, heart-centered Iyengar, focused on alignment, but not rigid or caught up in Iyengar’s alignment cannon.
Local studios: Shri Yoga & Virayoga