Flow yoga, or Vinyasa yoga, synchronizes body movements with breaths to increase stability and mental focus. It is used in various yoga styles, including Anusara, Ashtanga, Bikram, Jivamukti, Kundalini, and Power Yoga.
Flow yoga, also known as Vinyasa yoga, is a term that encompasses various styles of yoga. What they all share is a focus on synchronizing the movements of the body and the breath. This timing results in a very stable workout and increases mental focus.
The concept of Vinyasa, which is central to flow yoga, is that each movement of the yogi’s practice has an accompanying inhalation or exhalation. Similarly, the yogi also uses breaths to measure the time spent in each pose or asana. For example, during a typical sun salutation, a yogi will inhale as he raises his arms above his head, exhale as he places his hands at his feet, inhale as he raises his head slightly, exhale as he moves his feet back, inhale to the upward position of the sun. dog, then exhale as you move into downward-facing dog. Once in this pose, the yogi will inhale and exhale for five deep breaths before reversing the entire process and continuing to attach a specific breath to each movement.
Achieving this breath synchronization ultimately increases the positive effects of yoga practice. The stability of the breath helps the yogi to maintain the proper rhythm of the entire series of yoga. Similarly, breath control ensures that the heart rate remains constant and prevents the yogi from rushing through poses that are particularly challenging. Regulating your breath also helps maintain a constant body temperature, which is particularly important as a yogi engages in poses that require intense stretching, because the added heat allows the muscles to stretch further.
In addition to these physical benefits, flow yoga has the added benefit of providing a yogi with increased mental focus. The constant focus that the breath requires forces the yogi to be very aware of each movement and can therefore help you maintain proper form during your yoga practice. It can also help the yogi block out distractions, resulting in a kind of meditation in motion.
There are several styles of yoga that fall under the category of flow yoga, and some use the concept of Vinyasa to a greater degree than others. Yoga styles that use Vinyasa are Anusara yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Bikram/Hot Yoga, Jivamukti yoga, Kundalini yoga, and Power Yoga. Some of these disciplines use Vinyasa through and through.
Ashtanga yoga, for example, is a style of flow yoga in which the yogi synchronizes each movement of the practice with a breath. If the yogi maintains proper breathing, he could determine exactly how many breaths a set would take before beginning the practice. By contrast, a style like Bikram yoga uses Vinyasa during each pose, but doesn’t necessarily rely on it between poses.
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