WHY WE LOVE VINYASA FLOW AND WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN OUR CLASSES
Maybe you’ve heard the term Vinyasa Flow many times and taken classes either with us or other teachers, but maybe you wouldn’t really know how to describe it if someone asked you.
As we’re so passionate about it - let us tell you a little bit about it!
In Vinyasa Flow the focus is on the breath and the transitions between the postures (asanas) - not on the poses themselves (which is what Iyengar and traditional Hatha yoga does).
The breath and the transition, moving from one posture to the next, become one.
Almost as if they were dancing with each other, creating something that could be felt as a moving meditation.
This doesn’t mean you’ll never stay in the postures in a Vinyasa class, but it’s not the focus.
The reason why we love Vinyasa Flow are many.
It challenges you on all levels, but in the end leaves you feeling EMPOWERED, STRONG and CALM at the same time.
it’s SUPER CREATIVE!
There are endless ways to sequence a class, which makes it super fun (we think) for both practitioners and as teachers. There is no limit to what you can add to a class or how to sequence a class. With that said there still needs to be a logical, well thought-out sequence that makes sense for the body.
A class can be focusing on building upper body strength.
On core work. Hip openers. Inversions (upside-down poses).
A class can also be built up towards a so called PEAK-POSE, which is a more difficult pose that requires the body to be open in different areas.
A ”peak-pose class” (which is a format we often use as we plan and teach classes) is sequenced in a way that when you reach that certain pose, which will likely to be placed in the middle or at 2/3 of the class, it’s more likely that you’ll be able to do it, or at least be MORE OPEN than if it was just an all-round class.
So what can you expect in our classes?
A creative, well sequenced class where you will be challenged both physically and mentally.
Music. From our own experience as both practitioners and teachers - music is super powerful and we love to use it in our classes! Instrumental, world-music, reggae and acoustic. Sometimes Nazareno will play his didgeridoo in savasana or we’ll invite friends to play live and sing during class.
Hands-on adjustments. We don’t believe in perfect alignment as all bodies are different and everybody has different capacities in terms of range of motion. The reason we offer adjustments is to make your practice safer and/or to stabilise or deepen a pose.
Fun. You’ll have the chance to play like a child again! We like to add in some humor in our classes, along with some playful, sometimes quite weird poses to get you out of your head and into your body, and hopefully put a smile on your face.
Our classes are not for total beginners to yoga.
As much as we love teach those that are new to yoga - our Vinyasa Flow classes, whether at a studio or at a retreat, are not suitable for those who have never ever done yoga.
Vinyasa Flow is physically demanding and if you don’t know the basics and know how to practice it safely - it can hurt you more than it can do you well.
For many years we’ve taught open-level Vinyasa Flow classes (meaning beginners to advanced practitioners can join) around the world.
We’ve never seen anyone hurting themselves in our classes, but you’d be surprised how many people do force and push themselves into postures - even though we as teachers clearly tell them it’s a more intermediate/advanced option.
Yoga has become SO BIG all over the world, and along with a society that’s always making us feel like we need to push and go further - this also gets reflected in yoga classes.
Not only do students try to force themselves into postures they shouldn’t - there’s now also a huge amount of new yoga teachers - people who’ve hardly practised any yoga themselves and who don’t have the skills on how to teach a safe class.
You’ll hear them tell beginner-students to go into poses they’re not prepared for, or even find them in the front of the room “teaching” - but instead of it being about the students - it’s about them and their “perfect practice” performing advanced asanas like gymnasts.
Yoga teacher trainings is a million-dollar business and there are surprisingly very little pre-requisites for many of them.
That, along with cheap rates (you can become a yoga teacher for 1000€) make it easy for pretty much anyone to become a yoga teacher.
We want to be part of raising the quality of yoga, prevent injury and promote safety and have decided to not include total beginners in our Vinyasa Flow classes or at our retreats.
If you are a beginner and would like to learn how to practice Vinyasa Flow in a safe way, we recommend that you take a private yoga class. If you’d like to learn from us we offer private online one-on-one classes. Get in touch and we can chat more about the details!
Got further questions about Vinyasa Flow, your practice or even about teaching? Feel free to get in touch via email, we’d love to hear from you!
Are you a Vinyasa Flow lover or a yoga teacher wanting to deepen your practice!? Then check our CALENDAR for upcoming yoga retreats and immersions in Sweden and Portugal!
