Flow Your Own Way
For many years, I thought there was only one style of yoga practice - hatha yoga in the style of BKS Iyengar; then I went to a VINYASA class - and my life was forever changed! At the time I didn’t even know what ‘vinyasa’ was or what it meant - or even how to pronounce it - am I right!? So here I am nearly 20 years later and this style and practice is without a doubt pretty popular, in fact it’s THE most popular style practiced around the world! VINYASA itself means ‘to place in a certain way’, and so it makes sense that this style requires careful sequencing so that everything flows together seamlessly - for me it feels like a kind of poetry in motion; Seane Corn describes vinyasa as a kind of poetry; where asana is the words and the transitions between the poses are punctuation. This description certainly resonates with me when I’m feeling the flow in my body. It feels like an individual expression of who I am from the inside out - and I encourage those in my classes, workshops and teacher training to write their own story or experience through yoga.
While it’s a style that I have embodied for some time now, I feel there are some elements of the practice that are either not well known or perhaps misunderstood. VINYASA is commonly referred to as a set or series of postures: downdog - plank - chaturanga - upward facing dog - however VINYASA is NOT a rule, a method or a set sequence or series of postures - it is ANY series of postures that connect to one another initiated by the breath. Vinyasa yoga is perhaps so popular because it offers variety - no two classes are ever alike. The opposite would be “fixed forms” such as Bikram’s 26 + 2 Yoga, featuring the same 26 postures and 2 breathing practices in every class, or Ashtanga Yoga which has the same sequence every time.
The variable nature of Vinyasa Yoga helps to develop a more balanced body as well as prevent repetitive motion injuries that can happen if you are always doing the same thing every day. While variety appeals to our creative and curious nature, it doesn’t bode well for learning and progressing. We structure all of our VINYASA classes much like a syllabus - each month we pick a pose, a theme or a focus and spend a good 4 or 5 weeks building, exploring and refining that same sequence. I’ve been using this framework to teach my classes since 2015, one that our other teachers have adopted and it's also how I teach the teacher trainees. It’s what I call 80/20 rule where 80% of each class is the same and about 20% of the class is varied to allow for that creative spark!
Here are some characteristics of VINYASA FLOW:
•Vinyasa Yoga connects one posture to the next using the breath; sometimes why it’s called “Flow Yoga”.
•“Transitions” are what connect one posture to another in Vinyasa. They are the in-between part - and JUST as important as the postures themselves.
•Vinyasa is synonymous with movement.
•Move with the breath.
•Ujjayi Breath is the breathing technique used.
•Vinyasa practice generates heat and can add a cardiovascular component not always present in other forms of postural practice.
With the increasing diversity of yoga practitioners, we want YOU to build a practice that is both accessible AND sustainable; adapting asanas to suit YOU, the individual - it’s why we teach with so many props and don’t subscribe to one particular style or method; our inspiration comes from the individuals who walk through our doors! While flow is constant, it is ever-changing, fluid and perhaps most importantly, it is intuitive!
Listen to your body and move in a way that feels good for YOU, it can and will look totally different from anyone else’s; personalise your practice and discover how to VINYASA FLOW YOUR OWN WAY to give you some variations and possibilities of how you might tap into that creative intuition.