Section One – What is Vinyasa?

Section One –

What is Vinyasa?

Vinyasa is one of the most popular styles of Hatha yoga in the western world. The most common understanding of vinyasa is that it is a linking of asana together with the breath to create a flowing, fluid sequence.

The Vinyasa krama approach integrates the mind, body and breath together to create a sense of Dharana/one pointed concentration, in order to move closer to the aim of yoga, bliss state or Samadhi. We should think of it as a “moving meditation”, cleansing the physical body and building up our store house of prana (vital energy) .The word krama means “succession” so a sequence is created, one asana after another with the breath as the thread.

Everything in life has a “flow” or “sequence”. The seasons, the tides of the sea that are aligned to the cycle of the moon, even our human lives have a cycle. When we focus on the breath moving through the body our minds are quieter and we become more present, more here, more now.

The Origins of Vinyasa

The Yoga Korunta or Kuruntha by Vamama Rishi is a 5,000-year-old written text, a “Book about Yoga” This book was said to contain several descriptions of grouping asana together as well as original teachings of Vinyasa, Bandha and Mudra. This was written in Sanskrit and discovered in the early 20th century by Tirumalia Krishnamacharya. It is later stated that no account of this could be located after this time as Krishnamacharya’s only copy was “eaten by ants”. Krishnamacharya then passed down the teachings he had learned from this ancient text to his students at the time Sri K.Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S Iyengar. It is claimed that Jois used it as inspiration to form his own system of yoga “Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama”.

Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama - The Original Vinyasa

ASHTA / ANGA Eight / Limbs

VI / NYASA to place / in a special way or with prescribed parameters

This style of yoga as created by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, follows a set sequence of asana in which “Vinyasa” or flowing sequences connect the asana together.

The practice begins with two Sun Salutation sequences or Surya Namaskara A & B. These are followed by grouped asana sequences, for example, standing sequence, balancing sequence, twisting sequence. Each of these sequences are connected with a vinyasa. There are six series within this system: Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A, B, C and D.

In Ashtanga Tristana, which means “three places of action or attention”. These are Ujjayi Pranayama/ breath practice, Mula Bandha / root lock and Drishti/looking place. They cover the three areas of purification the body, nervous system and mind.

The Bandhas are also an integral part of Ashtanga yoga, they not only unlock and direct pranic energy around the body but are also essential for the practice of Ujjayi breathing. Without bandha control “breathing will not be correct, and the asanas will give no benefit” (Ashtanga yoga) Desikachar, Krishnamacharya’s son who was also a very well renowned teacher wrote, “Vinyasa is, I believe, one of the richest concepts to emerge from yoga for the successful conduct of our actions and relationships.”