Vinyasa/Hatha Flow Yoga

I have never had much of an experience trying yoga while growing up. A classmate and I taught a yoga workshop as part of a non-traditional phys ed activity project in my education degree; but this was just us grabbing some random poses and placing them together in a logical order while creating a yoga-like atmosphere. It was a great experience, but certainly not a genuine yoga one.

In February of this year, I went down to Edmonton for a teacher's conference. I stayed with my very down to earth, amazing cousin while I was there. She frequents the Noorish Yoga studio for all the different types of classes they offer. She invited me out for a vinyasa or hatha flow yoga class. Now this isn't your typical yoga class. Most people think of yoga as hold a pose for two minutes, funny breathing, being calm, cool and collected. Vinyasa does focus on the whole becoming one with your body ideal, but it feels like yoga on steroids. Poses during the actual session are not held for very long. There's lots of transitions and a lot of the poses are very strenuous; so long as you are pushing yourself.

Over the Easter weekend, the Ms. bought a new horse in the Edmonton area, so I joined my cousin for another session of vinyasa at Noorish. After a quick warm-up, there was about an hour of intense transitions and poses. The good thing about vinyasa is that there were sets or patterns in the moves, so it was easy for me to pick up on the moves. There were some common poses we kept going back to; a home position I would call it. There were a lot of chatarunga (low straight plank) into urdhva (hips/stomach on floor, back extension) into downward dog. (See YouTube clip for an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhQJ6oWFh8) 

The downward dog would then turn into a bunch of other familiar poses; one foot moved ahead between hands and then turned into warrior poses. There were some other poses that were neat and unique, like balancing my body on my elbows like a breakdancer. During the February yoga, I remember doing handstands and headstands. There were some neat ones that required a lot of core and lower body strength. (Another clip of what Vinyasa looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIVRCwhH4aU)

By the end of the hour, I was sweating buckets; more than I have in months. Maybe it was because I was using muscles I haven't used often before, but it felt great! For the last twenty minutes, we worked on stretching and breathing. The stretching session felt so great. No exaggeration, it was the MOST flexible I have felt ever. Twas a great feeling. I want to go back and do it again just so I can work on my flexibility more. After stretching was the breathing. This was a little odd for me, but it was an experience. Part of the whole package. One of the breathing exercises was a form of forced exhalation. It kind of reminded me of a cat throwing up a hairball; I know, not the best visual. Another breathing exercise that I did like though was the bumblebee breathing which involved pressure on the orifices of the face while humming.

Overall, great experience. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have gone back a second time. I think I'll be making yoga a regular occurrence when I go to visit my cousin. There are a bunch of other forms of yoga offered I may try out; but this vinyasa is quite the workout and I feel very rejuvenated afterwards. After a week of being sick, this past weekend vinyasa session was a great kick in the pants.