Consciousness in Motion: Vinyasa

Abstract

"Vinyasa" is resultant from the Sanskrit term nyasa, which means "to place," and the prefix ”in a special way"—as in the method of notes in a raga, the steps along a route to the top of a mountain, or the linking of one asana to the next. In the yoga creation the most common kind of Vinyasa is as a flowing sequence of definite Asanas coordinated with the arrangements of the breath. The six sequence of Pattabhi Jois's Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga are by far the best known and most significant. Jois's own teacher, the great South Indian main Krishnamacharya’s, championed the Vinyasa style as central to the transformative process of yoga. Desikachar, Krishnamacharya's son, an author and notorious teacher in his own right, has inscribed, "Vinyasa is, I believe, one of the richest impressions to emerge from yoga for the successful comportment of our actions and relationships." In his book Health, Healing, and beyond, he gives a refined yet powerful case of how his father go to the Vinyasa of teaching yoga. Initiating a Course of Action