This entry was posted on Mar 26, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
Vinyasa (aka move yoga) has been the preferred type of asana apply for some time now. Primarily based on ideas launched by means of Ashtanga Yoga, vinyasa contains a yoga “routine,” a flowing motion sequence. In hottest lessons, college students move by means of the sequence at a fairly good clip. Shifting shortly from one pose to the subsequent raises the guts price. In some lessons, academics flip up the warmth, which induces sweat. This is smart for Western practitioners.
Within the West, train has virtually at all times included these two elements, amongst others. In order yoga has built-in into Western tradition, it seems to be like a mixture of asana apply and Western train. Placing collectively a novel yoga move provides academics a possibility to flex their artistic muscular tissues. Surya Namaskar (Solar Salutation) has taken every kind of enjoyable and revolutionary flights of fancy within the creation of vinyasa’s recognition.
However a few of us, old-school yogis and extra meditative varieties, like to chill the temperature. I take pleasure in linking poses in a sequence, however I desire to sluggish my move. For me, yoga apply is a time to calm my nervous system by means of conscious motion. I desire weight coaching and strolling in nature to construct muscle and lift my coronary heart price. What I really like about yoga asana is its capability to foster mindfulness. Slowing my move fosters the body-mind connection.
Right here’s Why You Ought to Strive Slowing Your Circulation Yoga
- Unfolding: If you spend time in every pose, your physique has an opportunity to unwind comfortable tissue resistance. It takes time to maneuver into stillness in a pose. Our our bodies and minds want time to regulate to every new place, and it’s solely after we can chill out into the pose that yoga’s “magic” can unfold. That magic is the mixing of physique and thoughts, by means of letting go of effort. Do not forget that “mastery” of asana within the yoga sutras is outlined like this (in Alistair Shearer’s translation): “It’s mastered when all effort is relaxed and the thoughts is absorbed within the Infinite.” Taking your time in every pose, means that you can make changes in an effort to chill out effort.
- Mindfulness: One of many key components of practising mindfulness is slowing down. Working towards sluggish move yoga provides us time to tune into the ever-changing course of of each asana. Slowing down permits us to really feel the method of respiration, how the breath strikes our our bodies, and the method of letting go of effort in order that we are able to “be” the pose fairly than “doing” the pose.
- Props: It’s fairly difficult to include yoga props into a quick move. By the point you’ve set your props up, the remainder of the category has typically gone on to the subsequent pose. Yoga props assist us apply with structural integrity. That structural integrity permits us to let go of effort and be the asana.
- Transitions: That is most likely my favourite approach of slowing the move. I consider every vinyasa as one lengthy asana. Moderately than seeing move yoga as a succession of poses, I make the transitions between poses simply as essential because the formal asanas. Slowing down makes this simpler. Strive giving equal consideration to the actions between the formal poses. This promotes mindfulness in movement.
Your Particular person Circulation Follow
If a fast-paced yoga move is your favourite apply, by all means, proceed. However typically, you may wish to attempt slowing it down. Get to know every asana differently. Really feel the transitions. Slowing your move apply at instances may enrich your quick move apply.
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and commenced instructing in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Aware Yoga, Aware Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third e book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Pink Rock Rondo, whose DVD received two Emmy awards.