Bonus Yoga: Kripalu Moderate Yoga Flow

Friday, January 20, 2012

Whew. I had forgotten just how physically and emotionally intense true Kripalu yoga can be. I've been doing so much Vinyasa Flow with Kathryn Budig, and I LOVE it, but it's really important to me in my practice to switch it up at least once a week to keep myself fresh, open and connected. It's like this analogy I heard: if you drive a pickup truck down a gravel driveway the same way again and again and again, deep grooves are going to develop in the gravel, and the truck won't be able to go any other way; eventually the wheels will get stuck and spin. So it is in our bodies, when we habitually do the same thing each and every day, which is why we have to iron it out through a yoga practice (assuming, of course, that we want to feel GOOD in our physical lives!) I think it applies on an even deeper level for the serious yoga practitioner and yoga teacher - in order to avoid overuse injuries and creating deep grooves in the body you can't do the exact SAME yoga over and over and over again, day in and day out.

Today I did an audio practice that the Kripalu Yoga Teacher's Association sent me a few months ago, that I hadn't yet tried. It was truly a Kripalu style class - deep emphasis on pranayama, micro-movements, long holds with deeper breath work, and a lot of emphasis placed on STRENGTH and finding flexibility from a place of strength. It was CHALLENGING for me to slow down after so much fast-paced Vinyasa practice. And I really appreciated that slowing down, immensely. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be SORE tomorrow.