This entry was posted on Mar 26, 2025 by Charlotte Bell.
Vinyasa (aka circulate yoga) has been the preferred type of asana apply for some time now. Based mostly on ideas launched via Ashtanga Yoga, vinyasa encompasses a yoga “routine,” a flowing motion sequence. In hottest lessons, college students circulate via the sequence at a reasonably good clip. Shifting shortly from one pose to the following raises the center price. In some lessons, lecturers flip up the warmth, which induces sweat. This is smart for Western practitioners.
Within the West, train has virtually all the time included these two elements, amongst others. In order yoga has built-in into Western tradition, it appears to be like like a mix of asana apply and Western train. Placing collectively a novel yoga circulate offers lecturers a chance to flex their inventive muscle mass. Surya Namaskar (Solar Salutation) has taken all types of enjoyable and progressive flights of fancy within the creation of vinyasa’s reputation.
However a few of us, old-school yogis and extra meditative sorts, like to chill the temperature. I get pleasure from linking poses in a sequence, however I choose to sluggish my circulate. For me, yoga apply is a time to calm my nervous system via aware motion. I choose 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 circulate fosters the body-mind connection.
Right here’s Why You Ought to Strive Slowing Your Movement Yoga
- Unfolding: If you spend time in every pose, your physique has an opportunity to unwind gentle 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 once we can chill out into the pose that yoga’s “magic” can unfold. That magic is the mixing of physique and thoughts, via 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, lets you make changes so that you could chill out effort.
- Mindfulness: One of many key parts of practising mindfulness is slowing down. Training sluggish circulate yoga offers us time to tune into the ever-changing course of of each asana. Slowing down permits us to really feel the method of respiratory, how the breath strikes our our bodies, and the method of letting go of effort in order that we will “be” the pose reasonably than “doing” the pose.
- Props: It’s fairly difficult to include yoga props into a quick circulate. By the point you’ve set your props up, the remainder of the category has usually gone on to the following 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 manner of slowing the circulate. I consider every vinyasa as one lengthy asana. Moderately than seeing circulate yoga as a succession of poses, I make the transitions between poses simply as necessary 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 Movement Apply
If a fast-paced yoga circulate is your favourite apply, by all means, proceed. However generally, you would possibly wish to attempt slowing it down. Get to know every asana differently. Really feel the transitions. Slowing your circulate apply at occasions would possibly enrich your quick circulate 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 Apply 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 gained two Emmy awards.