Vinyasa - awakening the body by using the breath

Vinyasa is the term to describe uniting the breath with movement.

For example, as the first movement for Suryanamaskara A there is an inhale as the practitioner raises their hands above their head in prayer. This is followed by an exhale as the yogi bends forward and brings the crown of the head to the floor. In Suryanamaskara A there are 9 vinyasas. This means that there are 9 movements to make up the total sequence and each movement is united with the breath.

This can take some time to start to establish for the beginners, but after sufficient practice it can start to flow easily and the benefits can start to be felt by the practitioner.

All postures are made up of vinyasas and some teachers will focus on learning this from the start and some will not. There is nothing wrong with not learning to unite the breath with movement and establishing the alignment first for beginning students. After some time it will begin to be possible to understand and start to work with the breath and movement, this is fantastic and the benefits to body, mind and soul are quickly apparent.

The purpose of vinyasa is for internal cleansing. Uniting the movement of the body with the breath whilst performing asanas will start to heat up the blood. This will then start to make the blood thinner and it can circulate much easier. This thinning of the blood will enable the blood to circulate more easily and freely around the joints, removing many bodily pains. A lack of circulation in the body can enable pain to develop. Thick blood is dirty and can cause disease in the body. This heated blood can then move around the body and through the internal organs far more easily and start to remove all impurities and disease. This is then removed from the body through sweat which will occur during the practice of yoga.

An important product of the vinyasa (united breath and movement) is sweat. As the practitioner starts to sweat as a byproduct of practicing vinyasa, so the disease can leave the body. Yoga is fantastic for heating the body and allowing impurities and disease to slowly leave the body. Slowly the body starts to feel lighter and cleaner, from the inside, marvellous!!!

As the body starts to become cleaner, it is also possible to start to clean the nervous system and then the sense organs. Learning to practice vinyasa can take some time as the concentration needed to unite breath with movment is strong and needs determination. Persevere as the benefits are fantastic and it is the slow and steady practice of yoga that ultimately brings benefits to body, mind and soul.

It is very easy for the body to be lazy and not focus on this practice and just perform the physical asanas. With determination and focused concentration the mind will start to be controlled and this will not only cleanse the body from the inside but also slow the whirling of the mind (chittum vrittae).

Vinyasa is the foundation of the practice of yoga. Keep up the practice and it will follow ! ! ! !.