Vinyasa and Heart Openers
Vinyasa means łow, or a gradual movement that takes you
from one point and allows you to land in the next. Vinyasa is
sometimes described as breath-synchronized movement,
meaning movement and breath united as one. Ļe word
vinyasa is now used in yoga classes to describe the connection
between poses and can also be used as a collection of
movements, as the ones showed in this chapter. You’ll
recognize the vinyasa as part of the Sun Salutation from
chapter one. A vinyasa, as a noun, is usually practiced
repeatedly in styles of yoga such as Ashtanga and Vinyasa
Flow. Ļe vinyasa strengthens the body, opens the heart, and
creates and maintains heat when we’re practicing on the mat.
It’s extremely important that you learn how to practice the
vinyasa correctly and that you have good posture! Since we
repeat the vinyasa so often in class, you could injure yourself if
you practice a pose like Chaturanga incorrectly. Listen to your
body and adapt the poses when you need to so that you l·nd a
variation that’s perfect for you.
Backbends, or heart openers, do exactly that: they open the
heart. Physically and emotionally. When you open up the back
of the heart and across the chest, you create space for the heart,
which is both valuable and liberating! When you are practicing
backbends, you must try to distribute the space as evenly as you
can throughout the spine, and focus on the right part of the
back. Ļe lumbar area of the spine, the lower back, is usually
very łexible, and we generally need more strength here than