What is Vinyasa Flow Yoga?

Ailsa Burns
May 31
2 min read

What is Vinyasa Flow Yoga?

(a quick overview)

Vinyasa Flow Yoga Explained

Vinyasa Flow Yoga was developed in the 1930s in Mysore, India by the father of modern yoga, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. After studying with his guru in the Himalayas, Krichnamacharya cultivated a dynamic yoga practice that combined hatha yoga postures, British gymnastics, and Indian wrestling. The term 'Vinyasa' can be translated as 'arranging something in a special way' and is also used to describe the specific sequence of postures that link poses in a typical Vinyasa Flow class (Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog to Downward Facing Dog).

Vinyasa Flow Yoga practised in the West resulted from teachers breaking the rules of Ashtanga Yoga after Pattabhi Jois brought it to America in 1974. During a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class, students are invited to link movement with the breath, creating a powerful and dynamic practice that builds both strength and flexibility in the body. There is no set sequence for this style of yoga which means teachers have a huge amount of creative freedom and they can customise the class to their style of offering. You can expect to sweat and build heat in the body and each class will incorporate an element of challenge and play.

I began practising yoga in 2008 and completed my Vinyasa Flow Yoga teacher training with Frog Lotus International in 2017, which has a very distinctive style of Vinyasa Yoga developed by their founder, Vidya Jacqueline Heisel. Frog Lotus style classes are characterised by a strong focus on pranayama (or breathwork), thorough warm ups at the start of the class and intelligent thematic sequencing. Frog Lotus teacher trainings have their lineage from Iyengar Yoga which Vidya began practising in India in 1975. Over the years, I have combined this foundation with my own unique approach to create a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class that promises to leave you feeling light, revitalised and equally stretched and strengthened. Not only will you build heat and energy, you will also have space to quiet the mind, soothe the nervous system and relax the body. You can try several of my Vinyasa Flow Yoga classes via the videos below.