Vinyasa Yoga Essay

The concept of modern yoga are like a maze and many find them confusing to begin with. But all styles of yoga practiced today can be traced back to three historical bases.
Religious yoga
Yoga based on Patanjali’s Yoga sutras
Hatha Yoga

They all ultimately stem from the same sources, differing only in their focus. Given the variety of styles that exist, only the best-known ones will be introduced here.

Sivananda Yoga

Sivananda Yoga started when, at the end of the 1950’s, swami Vishnudevananda (1927-93, India) was instructed by his teacher, Swami Sivananda Saraswati, to introduce yoga to the West. He opened the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Montreal, Canada, which still exists today. Sivananda centers can now be found all over the world,

but predominantly in Europe and North America, where the five pillars of the Sivananda method are taught: asana practice (often referred to as the classical Hatha Yoga style) combined with breathing exercises, deep relaxation techniques, vegetarianism and meditation, combined with positive thinking.

Internal Yoga

Swami Satchindanada (1914-2002, India) was also a pupil of Swami Sivananda Saraswati. He became famous at the end of the 1960’s when he encouraged thousands of spectators at the world-renowned Woodstock Music Festival to chant the holy mantra “OM” . He opened the Integral Yoga Institute in Virginia, USA, which followed worldwide. The cornerstone of his style was inherited from his teacher and involved gentle asana practice, breathing exercises, deep relaxation.

Yoga in the tradition of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

T.K.V Desikachar (b.late 1920s, India), son and pupil of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (or KYM) in Chennai (formerly Madras), India. This is a nationally renowned institution where Indian and Western pupils are still being trained today. The yoga taught in Chennai at KYM draws on the therapeutic background of Krishnamacharya, in that it concentrates on the needs of the individual, and the asana and breathing exercises are adjusted to suit the requirements and conditions of the person concerned. As a result, teaching is usually on a one-to-one basis.

Iyengar Yoga

B.K.S Iyengar (b.1918, India), a pupil of Krishnamacharya and the uncle of Desikachar, is the founder of the Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune (formerly Puna), India. Iyengar Yoga is one the most famous styles of yoga and is practiced worldwide. It draws on elements of the therapeutic approach, but places less emphasis on adapting the exercise sequences to the individual than an absolute precision in performing an asana.

Pattabhi Joi’s Asthanga Yoga

Pattabhi Jois (b.1915, India), also a pupil of Krishnamacharya, teaches at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Karnataka (formerly Mysore), India, which was founded by him. He has mainly adopted elements of Vinyasa Yoga, which he works on refining. The distinctive feature of Ashtanga Yoga is the precise sequence of physical exercises developed by Pattabhi Jois, which has remained unchanged. In this exercise cycle- also referred to as a series- each physical posture leads on to the next. There is a progression of series, although few pupils go beyond the first series. The asanas, which are physically challenging, are practiced energetically, dynamically and fluently, and are combined with breathing exercises.

Ananda yoga
Swami Kriyananda (b. 1926, Romania, of American descent) developed this style, which is also known as Kriya yoga and is based on physical and breathing exercises developed by his teacher, Yogananda (1893-1952, USA), in 1917. They direct the energy flow to particular parts or organs of the body. This prepares the pupil for meditation and spiritual training.

Kripalu Yoga
Amrit Desai is the creator of Kripula Yoga. which is based on asana practice. breathing exercises and the flowing style of Krishnamacharya. It challenges the pupil to recognize his or her own strengths and weaknesses. The asanas are practised to begin with, to ensure they are correctly performed, and movement and breathing are coordinated. The individual positions are then held over a prolonged period. in order to learn how to remain calmly in one position. In the third and final stage. pupils develop their own routine in which the sequence and holding-of the positions depends on the needs of the pupil.

Kundalini Yoga
Yogi Bhajan (1930-2004. Pakistan) developed this style of yoga in the religious tradition of Sikhism - a religion practised in India since the end of the 15th century in which the teaching is a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam. The Health. Happy. Holy Organization (3110) he founded in New Mexico is now represented worldwide. Kundalini Yoga is the yoga of energy and aims to awaken kundalini. the serpent, through physical postures and breathing exercises. Karma Yoga, the chanting of mantras, a vegetarian lifestyle and therapeutic use of yoga and Ayurveda are also part of this.

Bikram Yoga
Bikram Choudhury (b.1946, India) is happy to call himself 'Yogi to the Stars’ having taught yoga to a number of Hollywood actors. He is renowned for teaching physically demanding sequences of 24 asanas combined with breathing exercises in a room heated to 30-35 degree C (86-95°F).

Power Yoga
Bryan Kest (b.1966. USA). a pupil of Pattabhi Jois, made the name ‘Power Yoga' famous. With less focus on the spiritual, this style of voga aims for acceptance of oneself and one's own body with highly demanding asana practice. Although pupils are meant to reach their limits during practice, they are taught to listen to their own inner teacher and not cross these, thereby achieving the greatest health benefit for body, spirit and soul.

Jivamukti Yoga
Sharon Gannon and David Life (both from the USA) developed Jivamukti Yoga, which is a spiritual style of yoga. It combines different aspects of yoga: studying the basic texts. Bhakti Yoga, Ahimsa, meditation and Nada Yoga (the incorporation of music. chanting and kirtan - singing of mantras - as well as the chanting of 'OM' at each lesson). Ahimsa in particular plays a central role here, which means that vegetarianism, animal welfare, environmental protection and ethical activism are included. Asana practice in the Vinyasa style is physically extremely challenging.

Vinyasa Yoga
‘Vinyasa Krama' more or less means 'the conscious placement of a step: The aim is to fill the unconscious spaces between events that are consciously experienced with attentiveness and awareness.

The concept of Vinyasa Krama was adopted for the first time by KrIshnamacharya in asana practice.

He knew that thoughts can wander between conscious events.This can happen between individual asanas, for example, so that the next asana is anticipated, but the path leading to it is no longer experienced. To prevent this and to remain aware, centered and present at all times, Krishnamacharya co-ordinated the movement with breaths and a fluent transition.

Anusara Yoga

Apart from demanding asana practice in the Vinyasa style, John Friend (b.1959, USA) above all developed a life-affirming philosophy focusing on joy and harmony that basically seeks the good in life and in all people.

The journey continues

New styles of yoga emerge almost daily, with ever-new focuses: hormone yoga, naked yoga, business yoga, acro yoga (yoga with an acrobatic bias), to name but a few. Yoga is experiencing a real boom - the whole world over! It has also grown to be of economic significance. There are yoga institutes. studios, seminars. workshops, clothes, accessories, yogi foods and much more besides. There is no end in sight to the ever-expanding world of yoga. More and more people are recognizing the wide range of benefits associated with it, because everyone can find their own style and path to inner

freedom.