What is Vinyasa Yoga?

Vinyasa yoga is a style of yoga that is focused on breath to movement while flowing through the postures seamlessly.

What does this mean? In vinyasa yoga we create sequences that flow, where a transition takes you from one asana ("posture") to another with a fluent and intentional movement. The thing that guides these movements and thus the flow, is the breath. An inhale is paired with a movement, and an exhale is paired with the next movement. The breath is really what brings out the benefits of the vinyasa practice, like helping calm the nervous system and strengthening the immune system.

A common building block of a vinyasa sequence is the sun salutation. A sun salutation is traditionally more of a ritualistic moving prayer, but today is often used to help warm up & wake-up the body. It consists of a set of movements done repeatedly which also helps "awaken" the breath. Part of the sun salutation is also used as a transition within the practice itself to maintain the heat and reconnect with the breath; this "part" is commonly referred to as a "vinyasa" and includes moving through a chaturanga back into a downward facing dog.

Interested in knowing what all of these words mean and how they look & feel within a practice? Then please join me in my classes :)

May you go forward with grace, gratitude and growth.