Thoughts on Full Vinyasa

[Guest guest]

I ain't no Senor, but recent posts inquiring

about full vinyasa have resparked my interest in this

variation of the practice. I would be interested in hearing

what others are doing with them.<br><br>My

understanding is that until recently (about 20-30 years ago?)

Ashtanga was normally done with full vinyasa, but that

time considerations led some leading teachers like PKJ

to stop insisting on them. Perhaps the dropping of

full vinyasa is coincided with the splitting up of the

advanced series, the idea being that us Western

nonprofessional yogis need to get in a practice in 90 minutes or

less. Certainly that's usually the case for this

householder.<br><br>As a college teacher I have more free time in the

summers and I have usually practiced full vinyasa only

during that time. In the summer of 1999 I was on primary

series and found that it helped full vinyasa loosen me

up for the more intense forward bends of that

series. Back then a Primary series with full vinyasa took

about an hour and forty five minutes -- not much of an

extra burden. (But I was holding the seated postures

for only five breaths rather than the

currently-suggested eight.)<br><br>Over the weekend I did Primary

series with full vinyasa and came in just under two

hours (partly because I now breath more slowly). So

it's still manageable, but a bit time-consuming. I do

not feel that the full vinyasa present a challenge to

one's endurance; they remain effective for focus but

contribute less to flexibility as one's practice

advances.<br><br>Second series is a different story. I am not much a

back-bender and usually approach the early backbends of that

series with considerable anxiety, and am somewhat

exhausted by the time I reach bakasana. Again over the

weekend I tried full vinyasa with second series and found

that they provide effective counterposes to the

backbends, and seem to be more in the spirit of Ashtanga

than just dropping into child's pose to rest. I made

significant backbending progress with full vinyasa, and

surprisingly they alleviated exhaustion as well.<br><br>Full

vinyasa are worth a shot if you have got the

time.<br><br>Does anyone know if BNS Iyengar still teaches with

full vinyasa?<br><br>Thanks to all who posted on this

topic.<br><br>Peace and Good,<br>Homer

[Guest guest]

>From what I've been told, vinyasa, along with its

other benefits, is primarily a means to produce and

keep heat. <br><br>That being so, one can usefully

practice full vinyasa on chilly mornings . . you'll be the

warmer for it.<br><br>Full vinyasa is also good for

improving your endurance.<br><br>Full vinyasa (or even

vinyasa on each side) isn't a good idea if the room is

too hot; more heat is not necessarily always better.

The number of vinyasa performed can be adjusted to

how warm one is.<br><br>While there are general

guidelines for the number of vinyasa in astanga practice,

this isn't a ritual carved in stone. The general idea

being, one does 5 A, 5 B, and then vinyasa on each side

throughout the practice.<br><br>So that's a good general

guideline, but in actual practice in Mysore the application

is more flexible. For example, in Mysore, Guruji now

has people just changing sides for each asana, as

many folks are waiting to get into the shala.

Obviously, the 20 minute rests at the end of practice are

also a thing of the past.