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The movement practice of Vinyasa is said to begin with T Krishnamacharya who has had the largest influence on how yoga in general is practiced today.

Put all this together and Vinyasa, is a breath initiated practice, that connects every action of our life with the intention of moving towards what is sacred, or most important to us.

While Vinyasa Yoga is one of the most popular forms of the practice in the world today, it is not well understood.

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Characteristics of Vinyasa Flow Yoga

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• Vinyasa Yoga connects one posture to the next using the breath.  This can be thought of as linking or flowing into postures which is sometimes why it’s called “Flow Yoga”.  The opposite of this would be an alignment based class where students engage with a posture, explore it for a period of time and then “break the posture” by coming out.

• “Transitions” are what connect one posture to another in Vinyasa.  They are the in-between part.  What is not always appreciated is that transitions are considered postures themselves.  To move in a more graceful, connected way, allot just as much time developing skill in the transitions as you do in the asana.

• Vinyasa is synonymous with movement.  Moving in and out of postures is the obvious movement but even in stillness Vinyasa is represented by the beat of your heart and inhale/exhale of your breath.

• Move with breath.  Breath initiates the movement of Vinyasa which is why you’ll hear it referred to as a “breath-synchronized” practice.

• Ujjayi Breath is the breathing technique used.  It is done by inhaling and exhaling in a rhythmic manner through the nose.  The overall sensation is one of relaxation.

• Vinyasa practice generates heat and can add a cardiovascular component not always present in other forms of postural practice. 

• Often equated with high-energy, there are many ways to approach Vinyasa from rapid to slow.  Build strength, coupled with flexibility, by emphasizing and exploring slower options.  Doing so will help you create a sustainable, life-long practice.

• Vinyasa Yoga is a more complete type of class as it typically moves through all of the various asana families in a single session.  The families, also called categories or classes, are the groupings the postures belong to such as standing postures, backbends, forward bends, etc.

• Contrast this to alignment based classes that cycle through the asana categories over a series of weeks, instead of every class.  The benefit is greater depth of postural understanding, in a particular class, at the expense of single session balance.

• A hallmark of Vinyasa Flow classes is the variation in sequence from class to class.  (A sequence is any time two or more postures are strung together.)  No two classes are alike.

• A variable form system, like Vinyasa, exists to help us see what is changeless and permanent throughout all of the change.  This might be an intention or purpose, a way of thinking or connection to something greater than ourselves.

• One other key aspect of the variation is it keeps your interest.  Many practitioners move from the fixed forms to Vinyasa because they become bored.

• Vinyasa meets you where you are—which in today’s world is usually high energy, going in a million directions at once.  It meets you there and leads you by the hand back to an inner peace that exists within you

• Vinyasa Flow can induce a Flow State, a type of consciousness defined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as, “That place of being fully absorbed and highly focused,” on what we are doing.  During “Flow” everything feels easy and connected, what yogins call “effortless effort.”

• Vinyasa ends where it begins.  We start in a posture, such as tadasana, travel through a myriad of options and come back to tadasana.  If we listen, though, and pay close attention, the experience changes us.

• Considered a “moving meditation,” Vinyasa is about harmony and balance, grace and fluidity.  We move and notice how we are moving and what moves us.

• In Vinyasa we move together to support one another.  This reflection reminds us we are all in this together and that the practice, and life, is bigger than ourselves.

 

Why Vinyasa Flow Yoga

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The practice of linking breath and movement to flow through postures invites us into an expression that is sometimes missing in other forms of the practice.  It the experience of being alive, connected and free.

It reminds us that everything is connected and interdependent.

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The Bigger Story of Vinyasa

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In Vinyasa we move from child’s pose to death pose (savasana) and experience an entire lifetime.  Vinyasa serves as the metaphor for our own life, as we move from one situation to the next.

How we enter each posture, or stay, or leave is sacred for it reflects how we do the same everywhere else in life.

Skillfully navigating, and even appreciating these places on the mat helps us in tangible, practical ways.

For instance, we can befriend the in-between places, as represented by the transitions.  These pertain to the ambiguous and unknown parts of life.

We can learn to be content with what we’ve been offered, despite when we aren’t where we want to be but are thankful we are not somewhere else?  We don’t have the job, house, relationship we want, but do have work, a place to live and people in our life we care about.

If everything is connected, then the thing we spend so much time looking for must also be present here, in this moment.

This wisdom is revealed through watching ourselves move through postures and the world in general.  “How” we move takes on a greater importance than “what” we are doing.

To miss this is to be unaware and unconscious of our movements.  This leads to us to a state of “going through the motions” but not learning anything.  We just keep going round and round.

We journey and strive, as if we are going somewhere, but ultimately the practice brings us back to where we started.  Hopefully, though, our attention and vulnerability allows our experience to inform us.

On a bigger scale we are moving energy, described as prana or life force.  The process of moving invites us to feel alive.

Flowing from pose-to-pose also underscores the temporary nature of everything.  This is the only time ever you will have this moment.  It is the only time you will get to live this life–it’s not a dress rehearsal.

“The core idea of Vinyasa Yoga is to shift emphasis from posture to breath…the only thing permanent in the practice is the constant focus on the breath.”  And the breath is a metaphor for what is permanent in our ever-changing life—the universe, infinite consciousness or, most of all, love.  Gregor Maehle

Instead of trying to hold on or get “attached” to it, enjoy it fully–like a sunset–and then let it go.  Life is short.  That makes it so much sweeter and precious and is a reminder to focus on what’s most important.

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Physical Benefits

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While you don't always hold a stretch for a super long time in vinyasa yoga, by repeating postures and movements you do accumulate the 60 seconds recommended by ACSM to benefit, flexibility-wise.

This active yoga practice also gets you moving -- a tremendous benefit to the average American who sits an average of 13 hours per day, according to research from the company Ergotron, published in 2013. Sitting so much makes your joints stiff, contributes to weight gain and chronic disease, say studies, including one published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2015.

This flowing movement of vinyasa also burns calories, which helps you maintain or lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume a day. In 45 minutes of vinyasa, a 150-pound woman burns 415 calories -- more than the 334 calories burned in 45 minutes of jogging or 214 calories in 45 minute of jumping jacks. To burn the 415 calories, you should be actively flowing the whole time -- not just for short periods and resting in Child's pose for others. Vinyasa beats out other slower forms of yoga in terms of calorie burn, too.

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How it works 

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Sessions are held in Yoga Teacher Trainings in which you will be certified either by the Yoga Alliance or the Government of India  .During our group sessions you'll receive strategic recommendations and actionable plans, as well as instructions into how to transition from one asana to another one, contraindications as well as structuring of a class, and cueing recommendations  in order for you to find that inner peace that you are looking for .

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Investment: Depending on the Teacher Training and in which country  is being held 

(includes video & material, welcome kit, food & accommodation, airport transportation  as well as recommended reading list  ).

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