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FEBRUARY 2006 TOPIC OF THE MONTH

Vinyasa

A very loose translation of vinyasa is “flow” or connecting movements; when we talk of vinyasa during our practice of postures we are referring to the “connecting” push-up position into up dog and down dog that we practice between our postures.
A more literal translation of vinyasa breaks down to: Nyasa which means “to place”, and the prefix Vi translates as “in a special way”. Thus vinyasa means to place in a special way. We now have a mental and physical way to approach our practice—with Awareness.
During your practice PAY ATTENTION be mindful be present, we have a tendency to flip through up dog and down dog mindlessly, pay attention to take each position slowly with a full breath.

We can also take Vinyasa “off the mat” and apply it to our lives outside of the yoga studio, we can place our thoughts, actions, and words in a special way—with awareness and sensitivity.

Vinyasa is movement and breathing synchronization. In Ashtanga Yoga the entire practice is vinyasa, from the first sun salute to the last hop (or crawl ;) through to savasana, moving in this way makes the entire practice meditative. In other forms of yoga you get into a pose, hold it for 3-5 minutes during that time you are into your breathing and meditative state, then you break the state, come out of the pose, re-align, go into the next pose and get into your meditative state again, etc. In Ashtanga yoga, you try not to break “the state” for the entire practice.
The benefits of Vinyasa:

	Keeps the heat up during practice which is essential for tapas, the cleansing and purifying aspects of the practice
	It resets our body to neutral after the previous posture, clearing the ‘channels’ for the next posture
	It develops strength, endurance, and focus

Pattabhi Jois on Vinyasa
Vinyasa: Vinyasa means breathing and movement system. For each movement, there is one breath. For example, in Surya Namskar there are nine vinyasas. The first vinyasa is inhaling while raising your arms over your head, and putting your hands together; the second is exhaling while bending forward, placing your hands next to your feet, etc. In this way all asanas are assigned a certain number of vinyasas.

The purpose of vinyasa is for internal cleansing. Breathing and moving together while performing asanas makes the blood hot, or as Pattabhi Jois says, boils the blood. Thick blood is dirty and causes disease in the body. The heat created from yoga cleans the blood and makes it thin, so that it may circulate freely. The combination of the asanas with movement and breath make the blood circulate freely around all the joints, taking away body pains. When there is a lack of circulation, pain occurs. The heated blood also moves through all the internal organs removing impurities and disease, which are brought out of the body by the sweat that occurs during practice.

Sweat is an important by product of vinyasa, because it is only through sweat that disease leaves the body and purification occurs. In the same way that gold is melted in a pot to remove its impurities, by the virtue of the dirt rising to the surface as the gold boils, and the dirt then being removed, yoga boils the blood and brings all our toxins to the surface, which are removed through sweat. If the method of vinyasa is followed, the body becomes healthy and strong, and pure like gold.

After the body is purified, it is possible to purify the nervous system, and then the sense organs. These first steps are very difficult and require many years of practice. The sense organs are always looking outside, and the body is always giving into laziness. However, through determination and diligent practice, these can be controlled. After this is accomplished, mind control comes automatically. Vinyasa creates the foundation for this to occur.

© 2006 Bobbi Misiti | Be Fit Body & Mind YOGA