Discover the benefits and principles of Vinyasa Yoga in our latest blog post. Learn how this dynamic yoga practice can improve your flexibility, strengthen your body, and calm your mind.

Introduction to Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa yoga, also called "flow" because of the fluidity of the poses, is one of the most popular contemporary yoga styles. It is a broad classification that encompasses many types of yoga, including Ashtanga and power yoga. Here's what you need to know about vinyasa yoga.

What is Vinyasa Yoga?

Vinyasa Yoga is a dynamic and fluid practice that synchronizes movement with breath. In Sanskrit, "vinyasa" means "to place in a specific way," which describes how postures are harmoniously linked, creating a continuous flow. In a Vinyasa Yoga session, the transitions between postures are as important as the postures themselves, encouraging graceful fluidity and present-moment awareness. This form of yoga promotes strength, flexibility, and mental focus while providing a meditative experience through movement.

Benefits of Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa yoga is excellent for your health. Not only does it keep you active, but it also reduces stress, is accessible to many fitness levels, and improves heart health.

Research shows that Vinyasa yoga reduces arterial stiffness that occurs with age, an important factor in improving heart health and reducing the risk of high blood pressure. Vinyasa yoga also helps lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels and improves mood.

Vinyasa yoga has also been shown to improve positive emotional appraisals compared to negative ones. This measure demonstrates Vinyasa yoga's ability to reduce the risk of anxiety and depression. Further research shows that Vinyasa yoga helps people relax and increases their ability to manage stress.

What to Expect from Vinyasa Yoga

Vinyasa yoga allows for a lot of variety but will almost always include sun salutations. Expect to move from pose to pose.

Whether the class is fast or slow, whether it includes advanced postures or is alignment-oriented will depend on each teacher and the particular style they are trained in. Some classes include warm-up stretches, while others launch directly into standing postures.

Some popular yoga styles fall under the vinyasa umbrella, including Jivamukti, CorePower, Baptiste Power Vinyasa, and Modo. If a class is identified as vinyasa yoga, it may incorporate aspects from several different traditions.

The only thing you can be sure of is the flow between poses. The rest is up to the teacher.

Browse your Vinyasa

When a teacher uses the name vinyasa, they are describing a series of three poses that are part of a sun salutation sequence. When teachers say, "Do the vinyasa at your own pace," they mean doing a plank, chaturanga, and upward-facing dog (or their equivalent variations), using your breath to gauge when to move on to the next pose.

If you start to get tired and it's affecting the quality of your poses, it's perfectly acceptable to skip the vinyasa and wait for the downward dog class. You can do a beginner or advanced version of the vinyasa.

Vinyasa Beginner Version

1. Start in a plank position. This is usually achieved by stepping or jumping backward from the front of your yoga mat. If the plank is too heavy for you, you can always drop your knees to the floor.

2. Keep your shoulders stacked over your wrists and your hips aligned with your shoulders.

3. Lengthen forward through the crown of your head and down to your heels.

Below the knees, chest and chin

1. Exhale to lower your knees, chest, and chin to your mat.

2. Keep your butt up and your elbows pointing back along your sides.

This pose is a good warm-up for backbends and helps you build arm strength. Just make sure you use proper form.

Cobra Pose

1. Inhale and slide forward to a low Cobra pose.

2. Avoid moving your arms. As you lower your hips toward the floor, your chest will move forward and lift off the floor.

3. Try to make this lift come from the strength of your back, without pushing into your hands.

4. Keep little or no weight in your hands while you anchor your pelvis and the tops of your feet to the mat.

Downward-facing dog

1. Exhale and curl your toes as you straighten your arms to push back into downward-facing dog.

2. Move onto all fours or transition into Child's Pose if desired. In Downward Dog, your hands are shoulder-width apart and your feet are hip-width apart.

3. Keep your spine long; press your sit bones toward the sky and your heels toward the floor.

Vinyasa Advanced Version

Now let's take a look at the advanced version, which also begins with plank pose. During a flow of sun salutations, experienced practitioners will sometimes return directly from utanasana to chaturanga. In this case, skip plank pose. To prepare to come down from plank, step forward onto your tiptoes.

Chaturanga Dandasana

1. Exhale and bend your elbows back to lower into Chaturanga Dandasana. Your body is in a straight line and your shoulders should be no lower than your elbows.

2. Try not to rush into the next pose.

3. Use your leg strength: Press the backs of your knees toward the sky and press through the balls of your feet to help engage your leg muscles.

Upward facing dog

1. Inhale and straighten your arms, lower your hips, and roll onto your toes to the top of your feet into upward dog. You can turn your feet over one at a time if that feels better.

2. Press through your hands and feet to keep your thighs lifted off the floor.

3. Keep your shoulders away from your ears.

Downward-facing dog

1. Exhale, roll onto your toes and move your hips up and into downward-facing dog.

2. Take several deep breaths before continuing.

Do the version of vinyasa you're most comfortable with. Even if you're very proficient at chaturanga, it's nice to warm up with a few knee, chest, and chin twists at the beginning of class.

Some flow classes contain a lot of vinyasas. If you get tired and your form starts to slip, go back to the beginner version or skip the vinyasa altogether. You can stay in plank or downward dog while you wait. Chaturanga is a tricky pose, and injuries are more likely to occur when you're tired, so be careful.

Is Vinyasa Yoga Right for You?

The strength of Vinyasa Yoga lies in its diversity. This style is worth trying if you enjoy things a little loose and unpredictable and like to keep moving.

In most cases, there's no single philosophy, rule, or sequence that teachers must follow, leaving plenty of room for individual personalities and quirks. Therefore, it's essential to find a teacher you enjoy and can relate to. If your first flow class doesn't thrill you, keep trying different teachers until you find the one that works best for you.

Vinyasa Yoga in Hossegor

Vinyasa yoga is a great way to relax, stay active, and improve your health. Starting with a beginner's class will help you learn the principles and fundamentals of this popular style of yoga.

Discover our Vinyasa yoga classes in our studio in Hossegor !