Principles and Benefits of Power Vinyasa Yoga

Vishuddhi Yoga
6 min readApr 25, 2020

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Vinyasa Flow Yoga Pose

Vinyasa according to the definition is a Sanskrit term which means synchronization of movement with breathing.

Vinyasa yoga challenges all the prejudices that one can have about the practice of yoga. The chain of dynamic movements that characterize it has earned its particular popularity in the United States and the West. It undoubtedly corresponds better to the more specific needs of Western populations, to their culture, to their way of life because it is a yoga that one could define as “more physical”. It is nonetheless directly inspired by traditional yoga. The Vinyasa is a wonderful gateway to the disciplines of yoga in general, disciplines increasingly appreciated as one perceives how they achieve a form of physical and spiritual wholeness. An essential need when one undergoes in spite of oneself the daily stress of a city like Paris.

The well-being it guarantees is based on very concrete elements and when we analyze the fundamentals of this practice, we easily understand the reasons for its many benefits.

Vinyasa according to the definition is a Sanskrit term which means synchronization of movement with breathing. Nyasa translating as “place” and Vi “in a specific way”. This is the heart of this discipline which invites us to reconnect with the essential: our inspiration and our expiration which are the engine of everything. They are done through the nose, mouth closed, in a deep, calm, and strong way. We are talking about Ujjayi breathing. In the philosophy of yoga, everything is energy, prana. The breath thus acting as the engine of this energy. This breathing, this circulation of breath must lead to the relaxation of tensions and the suppression of accumulated stiffness.

Inspired by Ashtanga, which consists of a series of postures in a precise order, Vinyasa Yoga in Dharamsala is freed from his academic constraints. Ashtanga is a dynamic yoga and it is not uncommon to see the two terms joined together: Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Yet there is a subtle difference. When Ashtanga is governed by a system of series of fixed and highly coded sequences that must be repeated in order to improve, Vinyasa is more inventive while continuing to rest on the traditional principles of yoga. It is, therefore, a freer variation of Ashtanga. This makes it possible to compose the session according to the audience, their level of practice and to personalize the type of teaching. This is undoubtedly part of his success because this opening towards a less rigid yoga probably appeals to a greater number of practitioners. The freedom of the teacher thus makes it possible to determine themes by session: anchoring,

Between each posture, also called asana, there is a dynamic transition: the vinyasa. We then freely adapt the postures or the asanas, which makes the series of vinyasas endless. And it is there all its richness that to combine magnificently dynamic movements and breathing in perfect harmonization. This causes a rise in body temperature usually accompanied by heavy sweating allowing the elimination of toxins. Through this process, the body purifies itself. Breathing, always at the heart of the movement, increases the oxygenation of cells and organs. Certain pathologies such as respiratory allergies, sinusitis, digestive problems can disappear or at least space considerably.

When we talk about flow

The postures within the framework of Vinyasa yoga follow one another in a choreographed approach always borrowing fluidity and balance. To describe this form of yoga we also speak of flow yoga. It’s not just about the literal translation of streams. When we evoke a “state of flow” we tend to immerse ourselves in an action that is not built on thought but in the action itself. The asanas follow one another like a flow of movements comparable to dance. Some teachers do not hesitate today to accompany their sessions with a musical sequence. This fluidity thus develops an internal consciousness, an awareness of the movement of the breath with the body. A state of awareness of our unity that promotes meditation and mental calming.

Vinyasa yoga postures are particularly physical and the dynamic dimension is also one of the main advantages of Vinyasa for those who would like to combine well-being, flexibility, and muscle strengthening. This intense practice involves our whole body. It summons all of our muscles and allows, through movements always linked to breathing, to draw an aesthetic musculature far from the violence done to our body in the traditional sheathing or fitness exercises to which the philosophy of yoga can in no way to be assimilated. Very gently, the silhouette takes shape, sculpts, refines while preserving and developing a component of physical well-being, our flexibility. Again, respiratory work is essential, because it is always him who guides the movement, accompanies it. Physical and spiritual flexibility which takes its meaning in a column of released air. Muscles and joints are thus stressed so that the mobility of the body is improved and toned.

Vinyasa yoga leads us on the paths of balance

The benefits of Vinyasa yoga or Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga: Physical balance since it allows you to regain your postural alignment. Mental and spiritual balance because it always offers, through the breath, an incredible feeling of calm and concentration. Listening to your body, in detail, and in its entirety. This awareness of the unity generated by the flow of postures. A holistic vision of well-being. A remarkable bias to release the tensions and stress that urban life can generate. Noise pollution, air pollution, saturated transport, professional pressure, small daily worries act like parasites that wear out our organism. And if Paris is an undeniably sumptuous city and rich in opportunities, like most urban cities, it consumes a large part of our energy. Our resisting body multiplies tensions, knots. Headache, backache, digestion problem, feeling very tired or sad, we are the receptacle of many contradictory and invasive emotions. And the benefits of Vinyasa yoga are multiple. It allows to evacuate all of these tensions, to calm down, it promotes states of meditation by the synchronization between movements and breathing. This flow also facilitates the circulation of energies by opening their mediating channels, it thus improves the quality of sleep and strengthens our vitality. And the benefits of Vinyasa yoga are multiple. It allows us to evacuate all of these tensions, to calm down, it promotes states of meditation by the synchronization between movements and breathing. This flow also facilitates the circulation of energies by opening their mediating channels, it thus improves the quality of sleep and strengthens our vitality. And the benefits of Vinyasa yoga are multiple. It allows us to evacuate all of these tensions, to calm down, it promotes states of meditation by the synchronization between movements and breathing. This flow also facilitates the circulation of energies by opening their mediating channels, it thus improves the quality of sleep and strengthens our vitality.

Living in India is rich in many ways, but it is also trying for the body and the mind. Strengthening its capacity for resistance without violence is therefore fundamental. Without violence but not without effort. Vinyasa yoga indeed requires real physical investment and the dynamic in which it is registered allows a real cleansing of the body where sweating acts as a detoxification process. Each movement has multiple and beneficial effects. Strength, endurance, flexibility are called upon at each stage of the session, which considers each part of the body. A physical expense that is never located in performance.

If Vinyasa yoga flow is intense and dynamic and that it is also considered less monotonous or codified than Ashtanga, it is addressed to everyone because the teachers endeavor to take into consideration the field of possibilities of each practitioner. It is not the performance that counts, it is the capacity of each one to carry out the justest movements in the full awareness of its limits and its needs. It is through the sharp and subtle perception of his body and his breathing that the practitioner finds peace and anchoring in movement. Yoga Vinyasa flow is accessible to everyone because the practice can be adapted with many variations. Lack of flexibility or stiffness are not obstacles to the practice of this discipline. On the contrary,

It will be understood, Vinyasa yoga or Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga for others is a discipline within the reach of each person wishing to work for his better being. Its benefits are multiple and easy to observe because the benefits of this practice are not long overdue. At the end of a session, we easily feel the benefits for our body, the new energy that this generates. Therefore tangible results for the novice but and this is the strength of this discipline, the more you practice, the more you improve your ability to develop by yourself the qualities of a well being always renewed. The art of life.

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Vishuddhi Yoga

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