The Relevance of Vinyasa

 

Edward Clark of Tripsichore Yoga will be in town October 5-6, 2013 for workshops, lectures, and practices (read more details by clicking HERE).
  
One of the lecture/practices is on Vinyasa and it's relevance in the larger context of Yoga and the Practice.  I asked Edward to write a few words about the workshop, and I think you'll find it interesting.  Read on...

 

VINYASA 

Though Vinyasa and "Flow" forms of yoga are among the most popular practices, their lineage and place in yoga orthodoxy are rarely articulated.  This workshop looks at the ways in which the Tripsichore vinyasa practice integrates pranayama and philosophy to make possible the accomplishment of difficult work on the mat. 

 

The concept of vinyasa as applied to yoga philosophy could either be considered very ancient or radically new.  In either case, vinyasa seems to be the great contribution to yoga of this particular generation of yogis.  Most yoga discipline has worked on refining one's self in the direction of greater stillness - an absence of movement in the mind and body.  Superficially, vinyasa would seem to contradict this.  However, the mental focus and physical technique needed to bring about continuous fluid movement can also bring one to a "seat" of great stability and clarity. The stability is not only in the posture, but in the transition between postures - to the point where there is no distinction between movement and stillness.  The place of vinyasa in the history of yoga is yet to be determined, but as yoga has become a worldwide pursuit, it is probably safe to say that its importance now also lies in how people begin to apply it outside the more traditional places it has been practised.  

 

VINYASA, in our definition, is the evenly metered flow of movement, breath and thought resulting in a smooth, uninflected state of being.  The vinyasa techniques are pursued to bring about clarity and stability to one's thoughts and actions.  

 

In seated meditation, there is an inclination to go inward. Looking inwardly has been a major thrust of yogic practice. But one has as many inward distractions as one has outward distractions, so I am a little bit inclined towards harnessing the senses rather than get rid of them. In vinyasa yoga, you don't stop in a posture, you stay in a flow. There isn't a pause of any kind. And so the idea of eka grata is focusing on the flow itself. 

 

 

This makes more sense if the idea is understanding the totality of the universe which must contain within its singularity many things which appear to be contradictory. When we talk about things like cosmic consciousness, it's not just the cosmos of the inner landscape we're talking about, it's the enormity of the universe, and that's not just something that takes place within our own vista locked in the cranial vault. 

 
 ~Edward Clark

Join us October 5th and 6th!
  
See you soon and keep practicing!
Liz
//LizDoyleYoga.com