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& Deep thoughts to ponder.
“When āsanas, the sequence of changes, are woven together with breath and conscious intention, we align ourselves with the continuous flow, the undulating rhythm, of the universe.” — Sharon Gannon
VINYĀSA — composed of VI meaning ‘order’ and NYASA meaning ‘placement’.
KRAMA — meaning ‘the uninterrupted sequence of events from beginning to end’.
Together, the translation would be ‘the ordered placement of the sequence of events’. Usually, we simply shortened to VINYASA referring to ‘a flowing sequence of asanas as one continuous movement from start to finish, linked by breath and intention’
Guidelines for a vinyasa practice.
Vinyāsa is a moving meditation, an experience in time integrating five components; intention, gaze, breath, movement, and mūla bandha — when practiced together, we have the potential to get closer and closer to Yoga, Love & bliss.
INTENTION
Always set your intention at the beginning of the practice; like typing in the destination into a navigation system. If we don’t put in a destination, we will likely end up in a place we didn’t want to be. Once we have put our destination in our navigation system, it is necessary to be humble, acknowledging first that we don’t know the way on our own and secondly having enough trust to allow ourselves to be guided.
GAZE
Dṛṣṭi in Sanskrit or focused gaze, is a means for developing concentrated intention. It relates to our vision; to seeing the divine everywhere. Higher intention, devotion — the love of investigating the self in order to understand our interconnection — uplifts the practice from a mundane series of movements to this indescribable experience.
BREATH
Ujjāyī breathing gives us physical sound to focus our listening; it also provides a tempo, a timing for practice. The rhythmic breathing serves as the musical measure or metronome through which the sequence of āsana moves, like a melody. Inhales and exhales should be of equal duration and move the same volume of air. Ujjayi breathing makes the breath audible and easier to regulate. The end of every inhale flows into the beginning of every exhale with no pause.
MOVEMENT
Like with the breath, there should be no pause between movements. As soon as the movement is complete; which is the same time as the in- or out-breath is complete, the next movement begins, so the practice flows seamlessly.
MŪLA BANDHA
Consistent application of mūla bandha, binds the other components together, gives them all an energetic boost, and channels them into a direction. It directs consciousness from the mundane to the spiritual and reminds us of our intention.
Vinyāsa krama illustrates the entire development of a blossom with each moment leading to the next in an unbroken sequence. We are moving through space and time observing all that is changing, the body, the mind, the environment. Studying the nature of change in this way we may also be able to glimpse at that which is unchanging and eternal. – the eternal Self, ultimate reality, the atman, the I-am.
‘A properly executed vinyasa practice can help break the habit of viewing the world around us as a collection of objects or viewing life as a series of distinct events. It mimics the way nature works-always moving, changing, curvy. Events in nature do not just happen, they unfold, they develop. Thus in our vinyasa practice, we do not ‘do’ standing forward bend, then upward-facing dog, then downward-facing dog in a choppy, static way, but rather we let each asana unfold into the next, the way a seed unfolds into a stem, then into a bud, then into a flower, then back into the earth to nourish the next generation. When asanas, the sequence of changes, are woven together with breath and conscious intention, we align ourselves with the continuous flow, the undulating rhythm, of the universe’.
Something Has to End for a Beginning to Arise.
For anything to begin, something has to end. This is the universal cycle of beginning, middle, and end. We can find this cycle everywhere. Whenever we see something new to blossom in nature, there certainly was something else that ended. Summer begins when winter has ended.
Like the flower blossoming or the sun moving seamlessly through the sky. By placing our movements in time we can become conscious of the unfolding of the sequence of life itself.
“In order to transcend time, we must first become a master of timing. We must become musical.” — Sharon Gannon
Inspired by Jessica Stickler and Sharon Gannon’s words.
Read the whole Jivamukti Focus Of The Month here.
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