Flow Yoga

In Flow or Vinyasa Yoga we focus on transitions.

As with other styles that stem from the Krishnamacharya lineage, we pay a great deal of attention to the physical alignment and energetic flow in the individual postures.  This is essential for both physical safety as well as insuring that we receive the maximum benefit from the postures.

In addition, driven by the breath, we let a dynamic flow that is inherent in a pose, put us into motion, so that we find a grace-full transition into our next still posture.

The focus on the movement ‘riding the breath’, like a surfer riding a wave, is what allows us to improve upon the way in which we move from one place to another, both in yoga class as well as in daily life.  We practice gracefully exiting one ’situation’ while we seamlessly move to the next.

With a flow yoga practice, the breath dictates the features of flow.  With the exhales we become more grounded and stable.  With smooth, inspired inhales we stay weighted while finding lightness and more expression.  Between the exhales and the inhales there is a timeless, in-the-now moment, space for a calm, 360 degree awareness.

The flow yoga practice challenges our bodies, improves our range of motion, strength, balance and awareness.  With consistent practice, we shed our acquired movement and postural patterns finding more ability and ease.

TRANSITIONING (in YOGA and LIFE)

By: Jacquelyn Richards (FYTT ‘10)

The world, and the universe in which it spins, is constantly changing. Look around you and you can see natural rhythms and cycles happening everywhere (night/day, seed to tree, seasons, breath, heart circulating blood, birth/death/rebirth). Today’s fast-paced and goal-oriented world has taught us to break up this ongoing movement into goals, time slots, separate compartmentalized parts of life. While it is sometimes easier to understand the infinitely complex world around us (and inside of us) by breaking things down into discrete pieces, we must not forget the universal truths that everything is interconnected and always changing.

Vinyasa Flow Yoga is an embodied way to reconnect with the natural flow of life’s ever-constant movement (especially when practiced with this awareness and intention). Rather than focusing on specific asanas, try flowing with your breath through the series of movements. Notice how you transition when you practice: How do you move from one asana to the next? Can you shift your awareness to the greater flow of your practice? How is your breath as you flow?  Is there a cyclical pattern to how you move (ground, connect, flow)? What happens when you slow down/speed up?

Practicing yoga with awareness of transitions and intention to connect with the greater natural flow of life can have positive/profound effects on our ability to flow through life. It is the way in which we view life that determines whether we are halted by challenges/blockages, or are able to flow and move through the totality of our experience. Although we do not have control over life (we cannot control what happens to us), we can always choose our perspective (compartmentalized or connected, halted or flowing) and, in turn, the way in which we move through the world.