Vinyasa is a Sanskrit word means breathe synced. It is said that vinyasa yoga refers to a where a person practices a type of yoga class to achieve the health target. A person follows a series of yoga postures linked to each other in a flow. Vinyasa yoga is linked with pranayama and postures. A person is instructed to move from one pose to other pose following the breathing process. Hence, it is also called vinyasa technique.
In vinyasa yoga class, you can learn variety of yoga poses. It does not adhere to a particular rule or value. You can gain maximum benefits in vinyasa yoga classes. Styles of vinyasa yoga are- Anusara Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Power Yoga and Jivamukti Yoga.
Yoga poses which have the sequence of postures following the inhale and exhale process are considered as a vinyasa for e.g. Cat-Cow Pose and Surya Namaskar. Cat-Cow is a simple vinyasa yoga pose while surya namaskar is quite difficult.
How to Practice Cat-Cow Pose:
- Come on knees and hands on the floor.
- Keep the hands underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips.
- Spine should be straight and look down on the floor.
- Now inhale, try to drop the stomach and look up to the roof (Cow Pose).
- While exhaling, come to cat pose lifting the back upward.
- Look down to the floor when you are in cat pose.
How to Practice Sun Salutation:
- Stand on the mat and bring your hands in prayer position and breathe out.
- In the next step, take the arms up but keep the hands in the same position and inhale.
- On exhale bend and touch the feet with your hands (without bending the knees).
- Inhale and put the right leg back, look upward and lift the chin.
- While exhaling bring the left leg back as a plank pose, keeping the knees and spine straight. Put the weight of the body on hands and feet.
- Breathing in bring the knees, forehead and chest down (hips upward).
- Now inhale, stretch and bend the torso back like cobra pose.
- Breathe out keep the palms touching the floor, look down and lift the hips upwards.
- While inhaling bring the left leg forward so that the left knee touch the left side of the body and look up.
- Exhale and again touch the feet with the arms.
- Now inhale and bring the arms up and hands in the prayer position; Bend backward taking the arms on the backside.
- In the last step, exhale slowly and come to mountain pose standing straight.
You can see how these two poses follow the moves in sequence while breathing. You would enjoy the continuous movement of vinyasa yoga while breathing. These breathing and moves are beneficial for physical and mental health. It also helps in detoxifying the body. It benefits in maintaining the blood flow and makes the immune system strong. This flow of yoga loosens the muscles and lubricates the joints. Pranayama involved in this practice enables one to concentrate on breathing hence vinyasa yoga is also good for releasing the stress.