Doing yoga as vinyasa is like dancing, one movement stitched to another. The movements acquire grace and fluidity. Transitioning from one asana to the next without coming back to samastithi brings about fluidity of movement. I love moving from Virabadrasana 1 to Virabadrasana 2, then to uttita parsva konasana, then to Peaceful Warrior, to Trikonasana, to Parivritta Trikonasana, to Virabadrasana 3, to Parasva Uttanasana, then Uttanasana, Ardha Uttanasana, Vrikshasana, Natarajasana, Plankasana, Bhujungasana, Adhomukhasvanasana, ending in Samasthithi. Doing this right and left side is a lovely dance. What's more, repeating this vinyasa a second time and including a couple more, such as Parivritta Konasana to follow the Parsva Konasana, and a toe lock following the Vrikshasana, makes this vinyasa composition even more beautiful.
Improvising transitions from one asana to the next is where my imagination comes into play. for example moving from standing to sitting postures provides an experience of vertical space. From goddess pose to descending, without breaking the pose, into malasana, then to camel, and balasana is a nice vertical pace. Stitching side bending postures together, such as vasishtasana, followed by bending the back leg and locking it in the elbow after kapotasana bring to relief the body's curves.
I am aware of how I hold my face, its muscles perfectly relaxed--at least that is my goal. I like to imagine my fingers and toes aligned to the pose, head and neck aligned to the spine, shoulders relaxed and down.
Breath is the music that moves us from one pose to the next, so the movements seem effortless, graceful. In this way, yoga can seem like painting or music, beautiful to our inner eye as we practice it.
Improvising transitions from one asana to the next is where my imagination comes into play. for example moving from standing to sitting postures provides an experience of vertical space. From goddess pose to descending, without breaking the pose, into malasana, then to camel, and balasana is a nice vertical pace. Stitching side bending postures together, such as vasishtasana, followed by bending the back leg and locking it in the elbow after kapotasana bring to relief the body's curves.
I am aware of how I hold my face, its muscles perfectly relaxed--at least that is my goal. I like to imagine my fingers and toes aligned to the pose, head and neck aligned to the spine, shoulders relaxed and down.
Breath is the music that moves us from one pose to the next, so the movements seem effortless, graceful. In this way, yoga can seem like painting or music, beautiful to our inner eye as we practice it.
What a beautiful description of being in the moment of transitions and movement in Vinyasa Yoga. Love your part on moving from standing to sitting, giving you an experience in vertical space!
ReplyDelete