Believe it or not, if you don't really understand what a vinyasa is, you aren't alone. Its very common for students to go to yoga classes and be rather confused about what they are doing. I've even had a student ask me "What the hell is chatturanga?"
I love that my students are comfortable enough with with me to ask questions they might otherwise be embarrassed to ask at other classes. I always like my yoga classes to be friendly and an opportunity to learn.
When I have beginner students who are interested in my group classes, I like to start them with the series, Beginners Basics. A new group started a couple of weeks ago and I thought it would be a nice blog post if I deconstructed vinyasa.
Below I've demonstrated 3 different variations for students to use as their vinyasa. They are in order of easiest to hardest. The last version is a strength building exercise that is helpful not only for chatturanga but can be used by advanced practitioners to gain strength for arm balances. I hope you all find this helpful.
This video is for a beginner showing the breath and names of poses in a vinyasa. This version demonstarates knees, chest & chin instead of chatturanga.
This video is demonstrates a traditional yoga vinyasa with jumping back to upward facing dog