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Home , Jivamukti Yoga, Modern yoga, Srivatsa Ramaswami

CREATIVE VINYASA

The term ‘vinyasa’ traditionally refers to each individual pose in a connective flowing sequence. Vinyasa-style classes are derived from Ashtanga , where each movement is synchronised with the breath and linked together to form a full sequence (series of postures). Vinyasa classes give the teacher more creative flair than ashtanga yoga which is a set sequence of postures with little room for variation. Given that ashtanga yoga also takes up to 2 hours to complete, vinyasa yoga offers further benefit in conducting a class to fit any time frame.

Another positive of Vinyasa Yoga is that it brings attentiveness and you do not become easily bored. As TKV Desikachar observes in his book ‘The Heart of Yoga’:

“If we practice the same over and over again for a long stretch of time, they can easily become mere routine, even if the choice of asanas and breathing is well planned and designed specifically for our condition and goals. Our attention to what we are doing steadily diminishes with this kind of unbroken repetition, and boredom sets in... Staying alert and constantly discovering new awarenesses are essential features of a correct practice. The proper practice of asanas requires our mind to be fully focused; this is automatically achieved by arousing interest and attentiveness through new experiences.” (page 45) Vinyasa Yoga – Definition on findyoga.com.au

Vinyasa (pron. vin-yaah-sa) is a term often employed in relation to certain styles of yoga. The term vinyasa may be broken down into its Sanskritic roots to assist in decoding its meaning. denotes "to place" and vi denotes "in a special way.”

From Static to Flow, the History of Asana styles

The father of is undoubtedly Sri T. Krishnamacharya who was born in 1888 and died in 1989.

Sri Krishnamacharya produced four students who would go on to popularise Yoga. They are BKS Iyengar; Pattabhi Jois; and Krishnamachayra’s own son TKV Desikachar. Iyengar, although universally renowned, is the only one whose style is not based on vinyasa.

Hatha Yoga styles such as practice static asana where each pose is moved in and out of independent of the previous or following posture. The asanas are held for a longer period of time and often involve the use of props. There are pros and cons to the different forms of asana practice. Write down your insights for each style:

Static Posture Classes Pros and Cons: ______

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 2 OF 10 Vinyasa Classes Pros and Cons: ______

Vinyasa and the Breath

Due to it’s dynamic nature, vinyasa classes ask the student to employ breathing (ocean-like sound). This can be a very appealing aspect of attending a vinyasa class as the ujjayi breath can be heard in unison and creates a - like sound (‘so-ham’), encouraging deeper focus and inward movement. Many people report feeling nurtured, supported and protected by the group breathwork in vinyasa class. On a personal level the continuous breath combined with continuous movement leads to a higher level of consciousness as the focus and energy is brought into the present moment where all Universal power truly resides.

The length of each breath should match the length of movement in a vinyasa class. Even if holding the pose for a few breaths, the length of the in-breath for example should last the length of the internal adjustment – eg. in , the in breath matches the time it takes to draw energy along the spine, the out-breath matches the time it takes to twist from the navel centre etc. As a general rule, the inhalation is used for expansive, upward movements (eg raising arms above head, lifting the chest, looking up), the exhalation for deepening the pose and downward movement (eg. grounding the feet, dropping the shoulder blades down the back, squeezing deeper into the pose).

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 3 OF 10 Types of Vinyasa Classes

Power Yoga – most classes are done in a heated room with shorter duration in each asana. In fact, some power yoga styles continue the sun salute concept of one breath per pose. This makes for a very dynamic class with a continual flow throughout the practice. The breath work in these classes needs to be exact and can lead to a blissful feeling at the completion of class. The downside is that not enough time is given to find correct alignment within each pose and for a beginner it would also seem like the class is moving too rapidly. Baron Baptiste is the founder on Power Yoga and has his protégé, Duncan Peak here in Sydney Australia.

Prana Flow Yoga – similar to power yoga with the one breath per asana concept, Flow Yoga was founded by American , . With an almost dance-like flow to the movement, Prana Flow Yoga encourages the practitioner to allow prana to move the body to a level that suits the person’s physical and metaphysical body on any given day/moment.

“Prana Flow is also: an evolutionary method of embodied transformation and radiant health cultivating inner and outer strength and fluidity skill and intuition vital energy and relaxed being activation and receptivity through balanced and creative fluid sequences (vinyasas) a catalyst for transforming old patterns and paradigms of the body, self and the world to discover the potency and creativity within a way of liberating the natural flow of the spontaneous intelligence a cultivation of the art of yoga including movement, music, sound, visual arts and poetry to deepen the flow a way to ride the waves of breath, change and life rhythms living, loving, serving life in all forms” Shiva Rea Prana Flow® is a registered trademark of Prana Vinyasa

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 4 OF 10 – Jivamukti translates as ‘liberation whilst living’. A physically intense vinyasa-style class with emphasis on philosophy saw Jivamukti Yoga rise to popularity in in the 80’s. Known as the ‘yoga to the stars’ Jivamukti Yoga, founded by David Life and have a monthly theme for classes which is taught across the world by all their graduates.

The Philosophy of the ‘Flow’

One breath and one movement per moment. Moment to moment, breath to breath, posture to posture. When practiced with integrity, vinyasa flow yoga can really bring one into the NOW and therefore give rise to a feeling of bliss. When the mind is trained to let go of the expectation of the next posture and also to surrender the previous posture, a meditative quality is brought to the practice. With the guidance of breath as an internal and external mantra, a deepening of the practice occurs and the practitioner slips further into the inner quiet (soul realm). It is said that we create our lives through moment to moment intention. Vinyasa practice brings great alertness and awareness so that each moment we have fully embodied ourselves and can therefore create our lives consciously. Living life unconsciously means that we can find ourselves in situations where we ask ‘how did I get here?’. With conscious intention that arises from within, we are less swayed by external pressures and temptations and can stay aligned to our highest good.

At a subliminal level the mind is aware of the balance of movement between each side of the body. This balanced practice between left and right body creates a balancing between left and right hemispheres of the brain and energetically

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 5 OF 10 creates harmony in daily life with feminine/masculine equilibrium. The sequences created through vinyasa are said to create a pattern like a mandala or in traditional yoga, yantra. This can create healing patterns for the subconscious mind that benefits from geometric shapes and pictures rather than from words.

“Go Through the Vinyasa...”

Although you can set any series of postures to be the intermediary sequence between your flows, the usual form between flows on right and left side of the body is:

Plank Chatarunga (shortened from the full term, chatarunga ) Up Dog

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 6 OF 10 (upward facing dog, urdhva mukha svanasana) Down Dog (downward facing dog, adho mukha svanasana)

It is useful to instruct experienced students to simply ‘go through the vinyasa’ so they may do so at their own pace. The vinyasa becomes a prayer-like flow when repeated many times and can bring heat, lightness, and a way to ‘unravel’ the body from the previous set of asanas. As each student has a different length breath, going through the vinyasa at their own pace can bring them back to a sense of ownership with their practice and reconnect them to their own rhythm.

Art of Sequencing

The initial vinyasa sequence (flow), after an appropriate warm up and breath connection, has the appearance of a sun-salute. From here ‘layers’ are built on to this original flow with the introduction of standing poses. To keep an easy continuity, it is best to group together asanas that have:

1. Hips squared to the front, a more narrow stance and the back foot at 45%: ______

2. Hips squared to the side, stance can be slightly wider, back foot at 90%: ______

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 7 OF 10 3. Front and back foot at 90%, feet facing same direction: ______

The sequence will be the same on both sides of the body with a vinyasa (plank, chatarunga dandasana, upward facing dog, downward facing dog) in between sides. At the completion of the second side, downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana) will be held for at least five breaths before flowing back through to or samastithi.

For the seated asanas, the return point for the completion of each sequence is usually or dandasana. To ‘go through the vinyasa’ from seated poses, the right leg crosses over the left, feet lift off the ground, hands ground to then either step or jump the feet through to chatarunga dandasana. Continue to upward facing dog (urdhva mukha svanasana), downward facing dog and jump through to sitting ready for the next flow. The usual guidelines apply to the sequencing of the seated postures. are the counter-balance poses to forward bends; inversions come toward the end of the practice for a sense of restoration and slowing the heart-rate; twists before savasana assist the alignment of spine and body for the best upward flow of whilst in final rest.

Multi-level sequencing

It is possible to teach an all-level vinyasa class. For the first round of vinyasa flow, you can instruct the beginners version of the vinyasa and encourage new students and those students needing a lighter practice to either continue with this version of the vinyasa or to even leave out the vinyasa altogether.

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 8 OF 10 Write down the level 2 and level 3 versions of the asanas in this vinyasa flow:

Move through the vinyasa to Trikonasana (level 1 version) L2:______L3:______

Inhale the top arm up to standing and exhale to 11 L2:______L3:______

Inhale and exhale to Parsvakonasana L2:______L3:______

Inhale and exhale the top hand down and around to the floor, turning the front foot in to 90% for Padottanasana L2:______L3:______

Repeat the flow on both sides, move through the vinyasa and come back to Adho Mukha Svanasana L2:______L3:______

Move into Vasistasana on each side of the body (come to Down Dog in between sides) L2:______L3:______

PREGNANY & POSTNATAL ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING STUDENT SOULFUL BUSINESS | PAGE 9 OF 10 Themed sequences

Themed vinyasa sequences are a lovely way to offer originality to your students and can help you to be more creative with both the postures and the philosophy. Sometimes the sequences can be geared toward a final ‘peak’ pose which is an advanced posture. All supporting postures gradually warm and open the key body parts and mental focal points required to execute the peak pose.

Some ideas for themed posture sequences are:

Chakra Vinyasa, Warrior Vinyasa, Moon Vinyasa, Crow Vinyasa, Arm Balance Vinyasa, Splits Vinyasa, Hip Opening Vinyasa, Digestive-Fire Vinyasa, And more...

Some ideas for themed philosophy sequences are:

Yamas, , Om, Releasing Fear, Opening Your Heart, Forgiveness, , Manifestation, And more...

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