Consciousness in Motion
By Shiva Rea
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Vinyasa krama is also the art of knowing when you have integrated the work of a certain stage of practice and are ready to move on. I frequently see students ignore the importance of this step-by-step integration. On the one hand, some students will tend to jump ahead to more challenging poses like Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance) before developing the necessary strength and flexibility in less-demanding postures like Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog), Sirsasana (Headstand), Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand), and other, easier arm balances. The result: They strug-gle to hold themselves up, becoming frustrated and possibly injured. These Type-A students should remember that strain is always a sign that integration of the previous krama has not yet occurred.
On the other hand, some students may congeal around the comfort of a beginning stage and become stagnant; they often become totally energized when given encouragement to open to a new stage which they had written off as beyond their abilities.
The Art of Completion
All of us are better at some part of the vinyasa cycle than others. I love to initiate action and catalyze change but have to consciously cultivate the completion phase. As Desikachar explains it, "It is not enough to climb a tree; we must be able to get down too. In asana practice and elsewhere in life, this often requires that we know how to follow and balance one action with another. In the vinyasa method this is known as pratikriyasana, "compensation," or literally counterpose-the art of complementing and completing an action to create integration. Can you imagine doing asanas without a Savasana (Corpse Pose) to end your practice? In vinyasa, how we complete an action and then make the transition into the next is very important in determining whether we will receive the action's entire benefit. These days I invite my students to complete classes by invoking the quality of yoga into the very next movements of their lives—how they walk, drive, and speak to people once they leave the studio.
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