This week I did a Vinyasa
flow class. It’s probably the most popular class at my gym back home. It’s most
similar to Ashtanga because it is very sequenced, and focused on breathing. We
started out with sun salutations they called their Vinyasa. It was a sequence
of planks, chaturanga, and upward facing dog. The instructor kind of set the pace, but then
let us preform it on our own. After the salutations we moved into more complex
sequences that the instructor took us through. She kept reiterating breathing
and being efficient. The whole class seemed like a commercialized ashtanga, but
I think I liked it just as much as our in class practices. It was challenging
but laid back at the same time. The tempo was easy to keep up with, and the
poses had beginner poses if you couldn’t do the real one.
This week I practiced Ashtanga yoga and it kicked my butt. An instructor came into our class and took us partway through the first series of Ashtanga yoga to help us get a feel for that form of practice. I enjoyed it. The practice was very physically demanding and the position our instructor has mastered was down right impressive. I can’t even imagine being able to contort myself into the shapes she could get into. With that being said, not only were the poses different from many yoga classes but the way she ran it and the things she emphasized and said were a little different too. She was big on doing the positions and doing them correctly. She didn’t want anyone to do them kind of how she said; she wanted them to do it exactly how she said. She also focused heavily on stretching for five whole breaths every time you did a pose. You breathe in for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, and repeat that five times. She also talked a lot about strengthening. This class wasn’t just abo...
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