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The Five Main ingredients of Vinyasa Flow Yoga
YogaLondon on 30 September, 2010 | 
All of the Vinyasa yoga styles -- be it Ashtanga Vinyasa, Vinyasa Flow or Power Yoga - are based on five main ingredients: Breath, Bandhas, Drishti, Asana and Vinyasa.
1) Breath
There is a direct link between the breath and the mind. When the mind is calm the breath remains steady and peaceful. When the mind becomes agitated the breath to begins to change pace and rhythm. It is not only the state of mind that affects the breath, but also the breath that can influence the state of mind.
While practicing physical yoga postures the type of breath used is called Ujjayi or Victorious breath.
Method:
Ujjayi breath is practiced with the mouth closed and the air moving in and out through the nostrils. As you breathe a soft hissing sound is created in the throat. The nostrils, jaw and throat remain soft throughout and the breath is equally metered on the inhale and exhale.
During your yoga practice retrain yourself to listen to the breath. By doing this you can drown out the internal dialogue that constantly runs through the mind. On each inhale hear the sound "so" and on each exhalation hear the sound "hum."
Yoga poses are commonly thought of as stretching exercises. Each day, when you start your practice, work on stretching the breath first. Stretching out the physical body can follow.
Benefits of Ujjayi Breath
- This breath creates heat in the body. It works to detoxify the body with an internal fire (unlike Bikram which heats from the outside).
- This breath quiets the thinking mind.
- The focus is brought into the present moment.
- Breath is the food of the spirit, and it nourishes the body and the mind. If you miss sessions from your six day practice you starve yourself and are left ‘running on empty’. You can feel irritable and have a lack of concentration (just like when you're hungry).
2) Bandhas
Bandhas can be considered the intelligence of a yoga practice. The three bandhas or "locks" are called:
Mula Bandha
Uddiyana Bandha
Jalandhara Bandha
These locks help guide energy (Prana) through the body. They also work as vital cues for correcting alignment in physical yoga postures (asana). The application of bandhas during asana practice can help the practitioner balance in standing postures, find stability in inversions and maintain energy during seated poses.
3) Drishti
The third main ingredient to the practice is the focal point of the eyes known as Drishti. It is used to create mental focus in the class/practice. There is a specific gaze in each pose and a total of 9 different placements of the gaze during asana practice.
How to do it: Each pose has its own official gazing spot. Get into the pose and then direct your eyes towards the desired spot. You should never strain your eyes to look in the 'correct place'. If you can't turn your head and eyes to that place with ease, then send your eyes in that general direction. Don't stare ferociously - Keep the gaze soft.
4) Asana
Asana means posture. The asanas are the many postures you contort the body into during a yoga class. But it is worth remembering the original definition of asana made by the father of Classical Yoga, Patanjali. He stated, ‘Sthira Sukham Asanam’, which translates as ‘Asana is a steady, comfortable posture’. (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; Book 2, 46). Comfort and steadiness are essential in every practice.
It is also important to remember that the asanas aren’t the goal. They work to keep the body in optimal health, and to facilitate meditation. Some days you may find that all the asanas come easily, while other days everything is a struggle. The key is not to be discouraged by this and to keep working on the inner ‘feeling’ of the pose rather than what the pose looks like on the outside. In the end it is the act of practicing that is important, not what you do in the practice.
5) Vinyasa
Vi translates as "in a special way" and Nyasa as "to place". In the context of Vinyasa
Flow yoga it refers to the specific sequence of poses that are placed between each asana.
Unlike other forms of yoga, both Ashtanga Vinyasa and Vinyasa Flow place importance on the way in which poses are linked together. By choreographing movement with breath the whole practice becomes a moving meditation. There is no time to adjust the clothes or hair, or to check the time. Each asana develops into the next, with breath acting like the guide throughout.
The performance of Vinyasa also creates heat in the body, allowing the practitioner to move deeper into each asana.
Using the Five Ingredients
As you do your practices, bring your mind to these five ingredients. It can be overwhelming to think of all five at the same time, but you can begin by focusing on one at each session. With time, each of the ingredients will become an indispensable part of your yoga routine.