In This Chapter

Yoga's sun salutation Yoga's moon salutation Combining postures in a sequence of motion >- How to create your own flow—move and groove!

You're probably convinced by now that yoga can be tough and challenging to your strength and flexibility. But what about working up a real sweat? That's where vinyasa (pronounced vin-YAH-sah) comes in! Vinyasa combines a series of yoga postures into a long, fluid, unified movement. Poses are held within a vinyasa, but the difference is that when you come out of one posture, you flow immediately into another posture. The right flow will give you a great workout, in addition to improving your balance, grace, speed, strength, and agility.

Continuous-flow sequences of yoga postures can be an invigorating cardiovascular workout. Repeating a series of postures in quick succession takes stamina and good lung capacity. A more slowly executed series of poses is also challenging, allowing you to enter each pose fully and deliberately while still engaging in continuous movement, making vinyasa into a moving meditation.

Sweat with the Rhythm

Chapter 16

However you choose to practice yoga postures in a continuous flow, let the rhythm of your body and your breath move you to new levels of mind/body awareness.

Breathe to the Beat

Breath is extremely important in vinyasa. Connecting posture to posture and movement to movement is more than just moving muscles. Every movement and every position of a vinyasa has an equivalent breath: an inhale, an exhale, or a hold. A good general guideline is to exhale when going into forward bends and inhale when going into backbends.

The right breathwork in a vinyasa can make or break the success of a series. Before you begin your vinyasa, determine your pace and your intention. For instance, maybe you decide to do the sun salutation in a slow and languid way this morning, to warm you up. Let your breathing reflect this intention. Inhale and exhale deeply with each movement of this vinyasa. Then, this afternoon, perhaps you do it again,

but this time at a quicker, more energized pace. Again, let your breathing reflect your intention. Breathe to the rhythm of your movements so your breath and your body work together.

Let your mind work with your body, using your breath as a monitor. If you can't breathe slowly enough, deepen your breath or allow for more than one breath in a position. If you can't keep up, slow the pace. Let your breath work for you. It will tell you when you are pushing yourself too hard.

Always remember to breathe with your entire body during vinyasa. Inhale fully, exhale completely. Let the movements, the contractions and expansions, the bends and arches, twists and stretches help your lungs and the muscles in your thoracic cavity to draw breath in and push it out. Feel the breath traveling from your toes to your fingertips, your heels to your head. Let the breath be as integral to the movement as your physical body.

Body/Mind in Motion

Just as your breath works for you during vinyasa, so does your mind. More than your muscles are moving here! Your mind can and should be equally engaged in the movement from yoga pose to yoga pose.

Making a purposeful effort to concentrate on the way your body feels and moves during vinyasa is an excellent way to cultivate mindfulness. Vinyasa becomes a sort of

meditation when practiced with this kind of intense focus. Let your moving body and flowing breath be the center of your meditation. Observe yourself from the inside out. Let your mind become the movement, let the movement become your body, let your body connect back to your mind in a complete circle.

You are one fully integrated, fully functioning yogi—so let's go with the flow!

Uttanatavasan: Leg Lifts

Uttanatavasan (pronounced ooh-TAHN-ah-tah-VAH-sahn), leg lifts, involve a steady-pose. They prepare the body to make the more fluid movements of a vinyasa. Leg lifts strengthen your stomach, which in turn supports your lower back. The deeper your breathing during this movement, the easier and smoother your vinyasa will become. Leg lifts also help prepare your body for a headstand. (Remember the headstand in Chapter 15, "Come on, Body, Let's Do the Twist"?)

Be careful not to let momentum swing your legs up during leg lifts. Keep your movements slow and complete to build your strength, touching the ground and pausing before each lift. Don't separate your feet or bend your knees when you come down. If your back hurts, keep one knee bent, foot on the floor, but keep the other leg straight.

If you have a sensitive back, bend the knee you are not lifting and keep that foot firmly on the ground. This will protect your lower back as you continue to strengthen it with leg lifts. Leg lifts build stomach and back muscles.

1. Lie on your back. Bend your left leg slightly and press your lower back toward the floor slightly to avoid lower-back strain.

2. Inhale as you straighten your right leg and lift it straight up to the sky. When your leg is perpendicular to the floor, push your heel out.

3. Exhale and slowly lower your leg back down.

4. Repeat this movement on the same side, connecting each repetition with breath: Inhale as your leg goes up, exhale as your leg goes down.

5. After a satisfying number of repetitions (three or four, more if you are up for it), switch to your left leg.

Begin the double leg lift with your palms facing down and tucked under your tailbone to keep your lower back from rising off the floor. Straighten your arms out underneath you. If you have long arms they may go past the tail-bone, which is fine.

Slowly inhale as you bring both legs straight up while you contract your abdominal muscles, pulling them in toward the floor to further support your lower back.

Exhale as you bring both legs straight down, keeping your abdominals firmly contracted.

Do as many lifts as you can, inhaling as your leg goes up, exhaling as your leg goes down. Then rest.

Surya Namaskara: Sun Salutation

The sun is the center of our solar system, and without its energy and warmth, we wouldn't be able to exist on this planet. This vinyasa is a devotional (not to mention great exercise). Surya namaskara (pronounced SOOR-yah nah-mahs-KAH-rah) offers thanks and greetings to the sun, and although it can be performed any time, it is particularly appropriate and wonderful when performed at sunrise, out-of-doors, facing east. Surya means "sun," and namaskara literally means "taking a bow.

The sun salutation energizes, strengthens, and tones all the major muscles and organs in the body.

Chandra Namaskara: Moon Salutation

This vinyasa restores vitality, strength, and flexibility to the entire body. It also improves digestion through the continual compression of the intestinal tract. Chandra means "moon," and just as the sun salutation greets and honors the sun, so chandra-namaskara (pronounced SHAHN-drah-nah-MAHS-kah-rah) greets and honors the moon. Try practicing this vinyasa outside on a clear evening when the moon is in full view. Serenity!

Quite an energetic sequence of poses! The moon is a lunar/emotional/yin symbol. The strong physical movements in a moon salutation help to balance our emotional side with our physical side.

1. Begin in the mountain pose with your hands in namaste, or prayer position. Center yourself and concentrate on a devotional attitude.

2. Inhale. Raise your arms up over your head and tilt them slightly back, as if you were encompassing the sun with love.

3. Exhale. Bring your hands straight down to the floor. Bend your knees to protect your lower back. Eventually, you may straighten your legs. Bring your palms alongside your feet. This position is a symbol of thanking the earth, where our feet are firmly planted.

4. Keeping your hands down, inhale and step your right foot back behind you. Stay low to the ground and look up. This represents that we are on the earth through the strength of the sun.

5. Exhale. Bring both legs back behind you and balance in the plank pose, as if you were about to lower yourself into a pushup. Push out at the heels for strength. This represents finding a balance between the sun and the earth. Pause.

6. Exhale further. Bring your knees, chest, and chin to the floor. Keep your tailbone up off the ground. You are thanking the earth.

7. Inhale into the upward facing dog pose and look up. Let the sun's warmth strengthen you.

8. Exhale and push up into the downward facing dog pose, lengthening your spine. Let the strength of the sun enter your spine.

9. Inhale as you bring your right foot forward. Look up and thank the sun as you proceed on your journey.

10. Exhale and bring both legs together. With your palms alongside your feet, humbly devote yourself to the sun. Open your moon chakra (located at the back of your head) to the sun's kind and steady energy.

11. Inhale as you bring your arms and body up, tilting into a slight back-bend, again embracing the sun with love.

12. Exhale as you bring your hands back into the prayer position, standing in tadasana, the mountain pose.

13. Repeat the entire sequence again for a complete round. For the second half-round, bring your left leg back first to create a balance.

1. Stand in the mountain pose with hands in na-maste, or the prayer position. Inhale and bring your arms over your head in a slight backbend, keeping your palms together. You are greeting the moon.

2. Exhale and bring your palms to the floor. You are thanking the earth for allowing you to stand on it.

3. Inhale and step your left foot back. Touch the side of your ankle to the floor. Your right leg is lunged forward with the weight of your body on your toes.

4. Exhale and switch the position of your feet. Keep your left knee at a right angle to the floor with your right knee touching the floor. Your weight is now supported by your left foot and right knee. Inhale and lift your arms straight up overhead toward the moon.

5. Then exhale into the child's pose (see Chapter 18), a symbol of turning inward.

6. Now inhale and step your right foot back with the side of your ankle touching the floor. Your left leg is lunged forward with the weight of your body on your toes. Exhale and switch the position of your feet as before. Your right knee is at a right angle to the floor and your left knee is touching the floor. Your weight is now supported by your right foot and left knee.

7. Inhale and lift your arms straight up overhead. Thank you, moon!

8. Then exhale and bring your hands back to the floor. Inhale into the upward facing dog pose. Strong and steady, the moon circles us.

9. Exhale into the child's pose again—the moon chakra at the back of your head will open for healing energy.

10. Inhale, bring your hands straight up overhead, and look up.

11. Exhale and bring your hands back to the floor. Inhale, push your hands against the floor, and stand up into the mountain pose.

12. Namaste.

Create Your Own Flow

The sun and moon salutations are popular vinyasa because they combine a series of poses that so nicely balance each other (a backbend, then a forward bend, and so on). But you, too, can create your own series of postures. Just keep them balanced— forward with backward, exhale with inhale, upright with inverted, one side with the other side, an expansion with a contraction, and so on. This will become easier as you familiarize yourself with the postures in this book.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started. All poses mentioned here are described elsewhere in this book or are explained here.

Warm Wonder Vinyasa

Starting in the downward facing dog (Chapter 18, "Take the Forward Path"), flow into the plank pose (Chapter 13, "What Do You Stand For?"), which is like a pushup pose with the arms straight. Exhale, bend the elbows, and lower the body straight to the floor. Inhale, push yourself up into the upward facing dog (Chapter 14, "Bending

Over Backbends"), exhale, push back into the downward facing dog, inhale, push one leg forward, turn to the side, and straighten up into the triangle pose (Chapter 13). Do both sides in the triangle, then exhale as you bend your other knee and bring your hands alongside your foot. Push back into the downward facing dog. Hold for as long as comfortable, exhale into the child's pose (Chapter 18), then rest.

Solar Flare Vinyasa

Start in the mountain pose (Chapter 13), then jump your feet three to four feet apart and assume the warrior 2 pose (Chapter 13). Hold for a few breaths, then change your body position to face forward with your arms overhead in the warrior 1 pose (Chapter 13). Hold for a few breaths. Switch to the other side, doing warrior 1 and 2 in the other direction. Now, keeping your feet separated, turn your entire body to face forward and bend straight over with your knees straight. Bring your hands toward the floor and hold for a few breaths. Come back up, jump your feet together, bend your knees, and place your palms flat on the floor. Bend down into the child's pose (Chapter 18). Rest.

Mild and Mindful Vinyasa

Start in shavasana (Chapter 19, "Dead to the World"). Inhale and bring your hands under your tailbone, lifting up into the half fish pose (Chapter 14). Hold for a few breaths, then come out of the pose, exhaling, and rolling over into the child's pose (Chapter 18). Stay in the child's pose for a few breaths, inhale, sit up, exhale, and move into the hero pose (Chapter 17). Inhale as you move up, then exhale into the staff pose (Chapter 17). Inhale into any meditation pose (take your pick—see Chapter 17), and—you guessed it! Meditate for a while.

Moving with the Universe

While many yoga poses imitate animals or structures in nature (mountains, trees, and so on), vinyasa imitates the rhythm and movement of the natural world, the universe, the cosmos. The human body is like a universe in microcosm, with its own internal rhythms and movements. At the atomic level, the very atoms that make up everything are like tiny universes. Beyond our bodies, the world is full of cycles: the seasons, the years, the moons spinning around the planets, the planets spinning around the sun, the entire galaxy revolving.

Vinyasa helps us to feel a part of this magnificent, intricate, ultimately large and ultimately small cycle. The sun and the moon and the earth all move in concert, and through vinyasa we move in concert, too. Everything is moving to a sacred rhythm, ancient and eternal, and the rhythm wouldn't be the same if any one thing did not move with it. We are all part of a wave in the ocean of the universe, and when we move with the tide, we are doing what comes naturally, what makes us a part of the whole.

Now if that's not a good reason to do vinyasa every day, we don't know what is!

The Least You Need to Know

>- A vinyasa, such as the sun or moon salutation, is a sequence of postures strung together and performed in a series of flowing movements.

>- A vinyasa is coordinated with the breath and the mind so that body, breath, and mind are integrated.

>- The sun salutation is the most well-known vinyasa, but many others exist, and you can even create your own by doing sequences of poses that balance each other.

>- Vinyasas are great exercise for body and soul!

Part 5

Calming Down: Postures to Quiet the Body and Mind

These postures balance those in Part 4, calming and quieting the body and mind. First are the sitting poses in Chapter 17, "Are You Sitting Down?" including poses excellent for meditation. Sitting poses center the body and are conducive to a calm and tranquil mind.

Forward-bending poses are internalizing. As the body bends forward, folding in on itself, the mind can focus more easily inward. Chapter 18, "Take the Forward Path," describes forward bends, both sitting and standing, for you to try.

Chapter 19, "Dead to the World," is devoted to the most important of all the postures: shavasana. Also known as the corpse pose, shavasana is both the easiest and most difficult, because it involves simply lying on the floor in an attitude of complete and total relaxation. Sound easy? Just wait until you try to clear that active mind and keep that restless body still! Ten minutes of shavasana every day is a great way to manage the stresses in your life.

Are You Sitting Down?

In This Chapter

>- The sitting postures: staff, butterfly, hero, and cow

Special poses for meditation: easy and kneeling >- Finally, the lotus pose!

It's time to take a load off! Lots of great and challenging yoga postures, as well as the meditative postures, are accomplished while sitting. Sitting poses keep your hips and legs flexible. You may even want to adapt some of the following poses for when you happen to be sitting on the floor outside of your regular yoga practice—just one more way to fit yoga into your day!

Everybody turf it! Yes, sit down on the floor. (Perhaps a welcome relief after a strenuous round of sun salutations.) You should feel comfortable in sitting poses, especially the meditative poses, because your body shouldn't distract you from your meditation. If you have a hard floor, a yoga mat or rug (one that won't slide around) will keep you comfortable. A carpeted floor is also fine. Don't use your bed—your practice surface should be comfortable but firm. You'll need the resistance of the floor for many of the postures, and a bed has too much "give." Ready? Set? Sit!

Flooring It

Dandasana: Staff Pose

A staff is a big stick used for support, like a walking stick. It is also a symbol of authority—he or she who holds the staff has the appearance of being large and in charge! Staff pose helps us to internalize this feeling of confidence, increasing our concentration and clarity of focus. Dandasana (pronounced dahn-DAH-sah-nah) is also great for your alignment. Concentrate on your upper body becoming straight and powerful as a staff.

1. Sit on the floor with your feet straight out in front of you. Keep your palms flat alongside your hips with your fingers pointing toward your feet. Keep your knees and toes together, your heels pushed out, your toes relaxed. Your shoulders should be down, your chest open.

2. Push your palms lightly down against the ground to create space in your spine. Lengthen the top and bottom of your body. Center your weight over your hips. Breathe.

If the staff pose is uncomfortable, sit on a folded blanket until you become more flexible. Don't puff out your chest. Imagine, instead, that your head is being pulled upward, which will also keep your back from sinking down and your chin from coming up. Your chin should be in line with the floor.

Literally translated as "bound angle pose," this pose imitates a butterfly resting its wings on a lotus blossom. When holding baddha konasana (pronounced BAH-dah koh-NAH-sah-nah), imagine the delicate beauty of this image of the butterfly. The

Baddha Konasana: Butterfly Pose

butterfly pose opens your hips and Jupiter chakra (the chakra located in your pelvic area; see Chapter 20, "Chakras, Mudras, Mantras, and Mandalas"). It also loosens your knees and ankles.

1. Sit on the floor and bring the soles of your feet together, drawing them toward your body.

2. Open your chest and press your knees toward the ground as far as they will go. Don't bounce your legs up and down. Instead, allow gravity to gently release your hip joints.

3. Tilt your lower back inward to align the spine. Don't let your lower back sway out.

4. As your hips loosen, you will eventually be able to bow forward.

5. Getting Started: Some people find the butterfly pose easy because they have naturally loose hip joints. For others whose hips are less flexible, this pose can be frustrating. If you fall into the less-flexible category, place a pillow under each knee. Press your knees into the pillows, rather than all the way down to the floor. The more you do this pose, the more hip flexibility you will gain.

Wise Yogi Tells Us

While practicing the butterfly, keep your entire back straight. If your upper back becomes rounded as you pull your feet in, leave your feet farther from your body; hold on to your shins or thighs if you can't reach your feet. Concentrate on the image of the butterfly. If you catch yourself frowning with unpleasant effort, loosen the pose a bit, think about beauty, and smile!

Virasana: Be a Hero!

A hero stands tall and proud, even when sitting on the floor! The hero pose refreshes your legs, stretches your knees, and balances your Saturn chakra (located at the base of your spine). Virasana is pronounced vir-AH-sah-nah.

The hero pose also teaches you to expand your breathing space even while sitting. Imagine lifting from the top of your head and anchoring your hips to the floor. Let your breath expand everything in between.

The hero pose can be hard on delicate knees if performed too quickly or attempted before your flexibility allows it. Go very gradually into this pose so you can feel at what point your knees are telling you to stop. If this is hard to do, sit on a telephone book. Every time you practice, tear out one page. In other words, go slow. You'll get a little farther each time.

Breathe deeply ... heroes always breathe deeply. (That's how they stay calm in the face of adversity!) Feel your diaphragm lowering as your body fills with air.

Sit back on your heels, gradually separating your feet until you are sitting on the floor between your legs.

Keep your knees from buckling in, and move your lower back forward without inflating your upper chest.

Gomukhasana: Holy Cow!

To us Westerners, the cow may be less than glamorous. Sure, it may adorn the pot holders, aprons, and cookie jars in our country kitchens, and we may think cows are awfully cute, but we don't take them too seriously. In India, however, the

cow is the most sacred of animals, worshipped for its giving nature—cream, butter, and dung, which is used as fuel for fire. Appropriately, the cow pose is meant to lead to a feeling of openness and giving. It also stimulates the nerves at the base of your spine, aids in longevity as it keeps your lower vertebrae from calcifying, opens your shoulders and chest, and activates your Saturn and Jupiter chakras (located at the base of your spine and in your pelvic area, respectively), helping to raise kundalini energy. Gomukhasana (pronounced goh-moo-KHA-sah-nah) is composed of go, which means "cow," mukha, which means "mouth" or "face," and of course, asana, which means "posture."

1. Sit with your legs in front of you, then bring one knee on top of the other. Draw your heels toward your body in this cross-legged position.

2. Point one elbow toward the sky, with your palm facing back behind you. Point the other elbow toward the ground, with your palm facing out behind you. Bring your hands toward each other, clasping them if you can.

Technically, you can meditate just about anywher you should try to meditate in one of several medi magical about the meditative poses, except that th ideal for meditation. Your spine is aligned so ener laxed and comfortable. Meditative poses should feel so wonderful that you barely notice your bod If a meditative pose is uncomfortable or painful, you aren't quite ready for it yet. Try a different

Placing your hands with the palms down on your knees gives you a sense of grounding and centering energy. Placing your hands with the palms up on your knees gives you a sense of releasing energy, opening, and liberation.

Meditative Poses

Mudras are special hand positions you can use while meditating to channel energy back through the fingers into the spinal column's chakras, directing and rebalancing prana in the body. Choose from the mudras in the following illustration; mix and match mudras to enhance your yoga practice of meditation. (See Chapter 20 for more on chakras and mudras.)

Wise Yogi Tells Us

re and in any position, but ideally, itative poses. Why? There's nothing hey arrange your body in a way rgy can flow freely. Your body is re-

Sukhasana: Easy Pose

Sukhasana (pronounced soo-KAH-sah-nah) is a great meditation pose for beginners. Sukha means "joy," and this pose should feel so good that it fills you with joy! Sukhasana facilitates pranayama, quiets the mind, and stills the body.

1. Sit in a simple crossed-leg position, with either leg on top. Try to sit more often with the leg that is least comfortable on top, to balance your body. Rest your

hands on your knees and breathe. Do not be concerned if your knees do not yet rest on the ground. This will come in time as the hips open.

2. If your back starts to arch, put a pillow under your tailbone to align the spine. Think about happiness and joy!

Vajrasana: Kneeling Pose

Vajrasana (pronounced vahj-RAH-sah-nah) is also called the Zen pose, as this is the meditation pose used by Zen Buddhist monks. Vajra means "thunderbolt" or "diamond." Vajrasana aids circulation to the feet, lifts the spinal column, and relieves pressure on the diaphragm.

A Yoga Minute

Zen is a sect of Buddhism in which enlightenment is sought through sitting meditation or contemplating enigmatic riddles called koans, rather than through the formal study of religious texts. Buddhism is a religion with many sects that teaches right living, right thinking, and meditation as a means to enlightenment. For more on Zen, look for The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living, by Gary McClain, Ph.D., and Eve Adamson.

1. Again, breathe! Sit back on your heels, keeping your heels and knees together.

2. Keeping your spine straight, place your hands on your knees. If your knees hurt, go back to the easy pose, and smile! If they don't hurt, enjoy this pose, and smile!

Padmasana: Lotus Pose

At last, the venerable lotus pose! You've heard about it, maybe you've seen it, perhaps you've even tried it. Padmasana (pronounced pahd-MAH-sah-nah) represents a lotus flower open to the light (padma means "lotus"). It keeps the spine from sagging and keeps you comfortable in meditation for longer periods of time than other positions. It also keeps your body from toppling over if you fall asleep during meditation (many wise souls have!). The lotus position keeps your chest open, gives your diaphragm lots of room, and opens your Venus chakra (located behind your heart).

The lotus flower is considered sacred because it is beautiful, symmetrical, and has a long root that reaches down into the depths of a pond. The lotus flower has its roots in the muddy earth, but it works its way through the mud and eventually blooms into a perfect white flower facing the heavens!

It's easy to be so concerned with trying to achieve the lotus pose that you forget the point of being in the pose: to be comfortable in your body. Because yoga is such an internal process, even if you're sitting in a perfect lotus pose in what appears to be quiet meditation, inside you may not be practicing yoga at all. You may be distracted, worried, or suffering. You might be stuck in the mud! True meditation is joyful.

If your ankles or any other part of you (including your feelings) is in agony or pain, meditation will be much more difficult to achieve. Find an easier pose, or postpone meditation in favor of more active postures. (Exercise is great when you're feeling low.) Come back to meditation when your mind is ready—and only then—in a position your body loves.

1. Sit on the floor and begin to breathe deeply.

2. Place your left ankle on top of your right thigh so the sole of your foot faces upward. Then move your right ankle to the top of your left thigh so the sole of your other foot faces upward (or the other way around—and next time, try to switch which foot is on top).

3. Shift a little to center your weight on your hip bones, then place your hands, palms up or down, on your knees. This pose should feel very stable.

4. Ideally, your body will form a tripod, with both knees and your body touching the ground. If you can't get your knees down toward the ground, you can sit on a cushion or pillow. This can also make the pose easier for people with less-flexible hips.

Baddha Padmasana: Bound Lotus Pose

The bound lotus is the same as the lotus, except that your right arm goes behind your back and holds your right foot, while your left arm goes behind your back and holds your left foot. This pose is even more stable and symmetrical than the lotus pose. Whichever arm crosses on top, go the opposite way next time. Baddha padmasana (pronounced BAH-dah pahd-MAH-sah-nah) deepens all the benefits of the lotus pose, and you'll be able to breathe more deeply. This is considered a more advanced pose than the advanced lotus pose. Butterfly pose (described earlier in this chapter) is an excellent warm-up pose to create the hip flexibility needed for stability in regular and bound lotus poses.

The Least You Need to Know

Sitting postures strengthen and increase flexibility in your hips and legs.

Mudras are hand positions that enhance meditation by rechanneling energy that emanates from the fingers back into the body where it can stimulate the chakras.

>- Meditate only in a posture that is perfectly comfortable. Some suggestions: easy, kneeling, and lotus.

>- A straight spine makes a meditation pose meditative.

If you're down, move around. Feeling great? Meditate!