Levels & Styles > About Vinyasa Flow
About Vinyasa Flow
Vinyasa Flow Yoga originates within the teachings of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, a yoga master whose teachings affect all modern day yoga practitioners and teachers. Three of his students became the heads of the main forms of classical hatha yoga today: Ashtanga Yoga (Pattabhi Jois), Iyengar Yoga (B.K.S. Iyengar) and Viniyoga (T.K.V. Desikachar). As Western students began to study these forms and bring them back home over the last 3 decades, new forms began to emerge, including Vinyasa Flow. Vinyasa Flow could be described as a Western synthesis of the best of these three main hatha yoga forms and truly reflects our American experience of being exposed to diverse influences and our propensity to find a way to integrate and express this diversity.
From Ashtanga:
Moving through poses in an unbroken flow
Rhythmic breathing coordinated with movement
Building heat to detoxify the body
Using counterposes to balance the effects of the poses
From Iyengar:
Vinyasa Krama, an intelligent organization of poses progressing towards a goal
Focus on proper alignment
Use of props for different levels of experience and injury prevention
From Viniyoga:
Using several smaller sequences of poses towards a specific aim
Sequences vary based on the needs of the group and the individuals within it
Posture modification for different levels of experience and injury prevention
Erich Schiffmann and Shiva Rea are widely considered Flow "pioneers"; generous River Guides that help yogis navigate towards the bliss that comes from practicing a dynamic form of hatha yoga that gives you the freedom to find your expression in a way that feels authentic and fresh.
