Among the modern and popular yoga systems is vinyasa. It is a powerful traditional practice and one of the most effective in hatha yoga. The guardian of its legacy is Sri Pattabhi Jois, who is the head of a yoga school in the South Indian city of Mysore. This practice has rather strict requirements for the health and physical fitness of the adherents. The emphasis is not on plasticity of the body, but on physical strength and general endurance of the body. However, Pattabhi Jois is convinced that relaxing the practice to suit the physical limitations of the practitioners would distort the method, and therefore he does not intend to adapt the system to them. After all, strict adherence to the intended practice is the key to success on the road to beauty and health.
Vinyasa Yoga
This practice is a sequential performance of asanas with special breathing (pranayama), fixation of attention in certain objects-points (drishti), as well as the so-called energy locks (bandhas). During practice, the practitioner’s consciousness is in a meditative state (dhyana). If the exercises are performed correctly, a very high temperature is felt in the body, active sweat glands start their work – this triggers natural processes of purification of the body and rejuvenation of the muscular tissue. Toxins are released, blood circulation improves, the body is filled with power, and the mind gets calm and peace.
Where do you start on the path to health and beauty?
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga consists of six basic levels in strict order. If you decide to start your practice with the first level, lack of meditation experience is not a problem.
Opponents of the method think that vinyasa is redundant because yoga in general is static and there is no need for jumping around or moving around in a dynamic way.
Nowadays a lot of yoga practices are adapted to the low physical ability of the practitioner. New styles are being introduced, however they are not very useful – they are simply an homage to modernity and a way of keeping up with the latest fashions for a healthier lifestyle. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is not just skeptical but strongly opposed to such experiments. He firmly believes that yoga must remain unchanged. The guardian of the vinyasa yoga tradition believes that practitioners should first improve their physical health, stamina, and strength of mind, and then come to yoga.
Important: If you are serious about practicing real yoga, you need to soberly assess your capabilities, start training, and lead a healthy lifestyle.