Learning the correct technique for Vinyasa I feel is one of the most important things to nail in your yoga practice. If you consider how many times we move through a Vinyasa during each yoga practice if were putting negative strain through these joints many times within one practice & then many times a week & then many times a year, then were building a large amount of negative load through the body which eventually leads to injury. At Sally Louise Yoga we have a strong emphasis on correct technique for Vinyasa & we aim to teach you the foundation of the Vinyasa through a beginners course, & then we continue to teach you correct technique as your strength builds so your Vinyasa through the Yin Hatha & Hatha Vinyasa classes at the studio.

 

So some of the really important things to remember are:

 

1. Always move with your breath, when your exhale begins so should the movement from plank to chataranga, you hold chataranga position until you inhale begins & then you begin your movement to upface dog.

Its common to shorten the inhale in upface dog, I encourage you to lengthen your inhale, fill your lungs completely, & then when your exhale starts begin your movement to downface dog.

Now that movement from chataranga to upface, & then upface to downface dog I personally feel is one of the most challenging parts of our practice to get right, it takes most people years to really get the strength that is required to do our Vinyasa with full integrity. It is often underestimated just how strong this movement is.

 

Some other great cues that I have learned along the way are: when moving from chataranga to upface dog, to stop your toes getting a crushed feeling, press you toes down firmly on your mat & this will protect your joints as you roll over into upface dog.

 

2. When moving from upface dog to downface dog ,its really important you get your body into a position where you can activate your core strongly before lifting the hips towards downface. A lot of people will over use the their lower back muscles here. So from upface dog start with the head movement & then round the shoulders & get yourself to a high plank position, squeeze on the upper abdominals & then from there press your way back to downface dog.

 

If you have questions about your Vinyasa please ask your teacher, at

SL Yoga we offer a variety of Vinyasa workshops so that you can really work hard on getting this part of your practice safe & integris , so that we can build a great long life practice.