Australian Yoga Journal – July 2019

MAP MY SEQUENCE

80

july 2019

yogajournal.com.au

PHOTO:

AMANDA

FRIEDMAN;

HAIR:

LINDSEY

GLENN;

MAKEUP:

EMILY

HARDINGER;

CLOTHES:

MODEL’S

OWN

Lear

Schuyler Grant

“MEDITATION IN MOTION” is a recurring

trope when teachers speak about

vinyasa. I confess to using it regularly

myself because it perfectly describes the

magical elixir that has kept me hooked

on this particular way of practicing yoga

for almost 30 years. But using posture,

breath, and attention to attain a

meditative state is easier said than done.

Linking posture and breath isn’t

suffi cient. There must be intention and

intelligence behind sequencing, or fl ow-

style yoga becomes tedious at best,

injurious at worst.

My introduction to yoga was Ashtanga

Yoga. I loved the practice for its rigor,

straightforward approach to spirituality,

and the reliable access to a state of fl ow

that came from a set sequence of

postures with a priority on the breath.

But I developed as many injuries as I

overcame and craved more breadth and

knowledge. Stage II of my evolution was

a love affair with the Iyengar Yoga

tradition. Since then, I’ve developed and

refi ned a way of sequencing that artfully

weaves the two infl uences, creating a

rigorous practice that heals the body and

tones the nervous system: Kula Flow

(which is what is taught at the

Wanderlust Hollywood studio today).

I’m often reluctant to talk about what I

love to do on the yoga mat as a brand.

For many years, the notion of

“branding” yoga completely turned me

off; it seemed silly and presumptuous to

put a stamp on a particular way of

serving up asana. My New York City

studio, Kula, had been open 10 years

before the issue of branding came up.

During that time, students continually

asked our teachers what style we taught,

and we all said, “Um ... I dunno ...

vinyasa...” And they would say, “No.

This is different.”

Eventually, I conceded that names are

powerful, that in its purest sense

branding is simply naming and that by

codifying my style I could more clearly

communicate with students and the

teachers I train. What is yoga if not

communication? The illumination of the

unseen? As a practitioner, this dialogue

often involves observing the ego and

happens among brain, body, and,

especially the breath. As a teacher, you

are the guide for students on this same

journey.

My hope is that a Kula Flow experience

is both visceral (sweaty and present-

moment focused) and smart

(alignment-heavy and aspirational);

that the lower and upper chakras are

both well served; and that through the

practice we fully express the defi nition

of vinyasa—to place in a special way.

Place the mind on the breath. Place the

breath in the body. Place attention to the

nuanced transition of thoughts,

movement, and energy—illuminating

the seemingly mundane as exquisitely

special.

Schuyler Grant, co-creator of Wanderlust and founder of

Kula Yoga Project, shares sequencing strategies for inversions.