“Vinyasa” is one of those Sanskrit words with many meanings.
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Quite literally, vinyasa means “to place in a particular way,” which reminds me of Zen or Mindfulness practice — making mundane actions extraordinary by concentrating deeply on the moment.
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When we hear about “doing a vinyasa” in Ashtanga class, it means one thing, the dreaded “jump-back.”
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I recommend “struggling” through your vinyasa. This means instead of the simplified action of placing the hands forward of the feet for the jump-back, the student places hands just forward of the hips to lift up, then jump back, probably “walking” the feet through the hands.
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Here’s the drill:
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1. Angle the trunk forward for the lift up phase. (In this video, I’m lifting from the L-sit position with legs straight. In the initial phases, you will be better served by crossing the feet in the initial set-up phase as in step 2.)
2. Cross the feet and *important* pull the feet and legs tight into the body. (This is where the bandha kicks in. You’ll have to pull in tight, otherwise those legs will be “too long” to ever swing through.)
3. Tilt the head forward to lift the butt up. This creates the swinging action to get the legs through the arms. Imagine tow children on a see-saw, as one child goes down, the other child goes up.
4. As the head tilts forward the feet will magically swing through the arms to the chatarunga position.
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When moving through the plank, upward, and downward dog, it is essential to refer back to our earlier Mindful practice of “placing in a particular way.”
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This means that the plank, up dog and downward dog are performed with precision, taking time to get the essence from each movement, rather than hurrying through to get to the next posture.
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Interested in more? Visit the link in bio for the full 2-hour video download featuring a 75-minute Ashtanga practice, followed by a 45 minute Mobility workshop. Use the code “yogafriend” for 50% at checkout.
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Upcoming July Workshops in Taipei:
http://www.withinspace.com/workshops.php?c=2018-adarsh-williams
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