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Yoga: The Glorious Purpose of Vinyasa |
By Melani Ward
 I have been practicing yoga for nearly 13 years but it wasn't until about 9 years ago that I discovered how much I loved Ashtanga. When I first began taking yoga classes I experimented with a variety of styles: Iyengar, Anusara, and Bikram, what I now affectionately refer to as "hot stretch".
And, though I blend lessons from each into my daily practice, it is Ashtanga that sets my heart, body and mind on fire. Like many who have an affinity for this style of yoga, I love the rigorous aspect of it and the structure and discipline of it.
There is a simple rhythm to it and the flow and pace keeps you out of your mind and into the moment. But one of the reasons I really love it so much is because of the vinyasas.
There are 4 fundamental aspects of Ashtanga Yoga: Ujjayi Breath, Bandhas, Vinyasa, and Drishti. Without taking these aspects into consideration, yoga is merely physical movement like any other.
Vinyasa is the marriage between breath and movement. It is
the linking of one yoga posture to another, which allows us to feel the balance of strength and flexibility, movement and stillness, and lightness and heaviness. There is a polarity to everything in the universe and vinyasa is a manifestation of this in its simplest form.
And, what I like even more is that at its fundamental level, Vinyasa is erasing the past and allowing for a more rich future. Vinyasa is a movement done to link postures together and it's as if after each vinyasa we are creating a clean slate.
We complete one pose and with breath and intention move on to the one that awaits us. We do not get attached to whether the previous pose "happened" for us or it didn't. We do not concern ourselves with how balanced we were, how strong we felt or how far we were able to move inside the expression of the pose. We simply move on to the next and appreciate that pose for what it is worth.
When we are able to link the movement and the breath seamlessly, we are experiencing the unity of the mind and the body through breath and that is a glorious place to be.
Yoga is a metaphor for life and each time I am trying to get into a pose or move more deeply into a pose, I think about perhaps another struggle I am having in my life and I realize that if I struggle and strain I may get into the pose, but I will not do so with grace.
The same is true off the mat as well. If I struggle and strain against something, I won't allow myself to learn or grow from the experience. I will get attached to the outcome and attached to an expectation of how something should be.
However, if I open up my heart and take a long deep breath, I will be able to move forward with grace and clarity. I will accept each moment, each breath and each movement as inherently perfect.
In my little mind, vinyasas allow me to create that space of openness and light. A vinyasa is an opportunity to breathe, feel, move, and clean your slate. So, the next time you feel yourself stuck on a thought that doesn't serve you, or you're frustrated by something you did or said or didn't do or didn't say, hop out of your chair and clean your slate. Give yourself the gift of vinyasa.
Find out what storyteller you are dragging around with you at http://www.changingyourstoryblog.com. Melani Ward is a passionate entrepreneur: numerologist, online marketing strategist, lifestyle coach, writer, yogi and runner! She helps women entrepreneurs attract more ideal clients and make a lot more money doing work they LOVE.
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