Vinyasa Flow
This style is often referred to as "power yoga" popularized by Brian Kest. Now don't let the name "power yoga" mislead you... this can be a powerful demanding practice but yoga teachings still guide this practice and tell us to find our personal expression of postures and rest when we are tired. Brian Kest embodies this concept in his teaching style. The vinyasa style was inspired by the Astanga Vinyasa style but has no set series of postures. There is no standard that makes a Vinyasa yoga class and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The word Vinysa in sanskrit can translate to- "to place in a special way..." T.K.V. Desikachar, "variations", "linking movement with breath", or in an Ashtanga or Vinyasa practice the word makes reference to part of a sun salutation (lowering down from plank pose, up dog and into down dog see link below). I like to think of the "vinyasa" as the chorus of a song. As with Ashtanga, we place this vinyasa action in between various standing and sitting postures but in a Vinyasa practice you may get more guidance and modification for injuries, more variety in postures and possibly a more light hearted experience. Many instructors teach varied sun salutations influenced by other styles of yoga such as Edward Clark founder of theTripsichore Vinyasa style and my personal mentor. So what can you expect???? It's up to the creativity, inspiration and personal yoga influences of the instructor. Vinyasa yoga has become a melting pot of yoga postures with a few sun salutations thrown in. So be in the experience and try to keep the purpose of each posture in mind...
Other well known "Vinyasa Yoga" Intructors
Shiva Rea
Seane Corn
Ricky Tran
Baron Baptiste
Click here for a link to a cool very descriptive article about the Vinyasa Style
What's a Sun Salutation????
In sanskrit, we call it Surya Namaskar. Surya is the sun god but maybe you're a little touchy about gods and stuff. In that case it's a great simple way to move the spine trough simple forward and back bends while warming up the muscles and ligaments from head to toe.
Click here to download a guide to Surya Namaskar A and B