CHENNAI: The ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that calms your mind and paves way for holistic living is yoga. Yoga itself has many kinds and types, and one of it is the Power Vinyasa Flow Yoga. As the name suggests, this is the kind that requires a lot of vigorous exercises that require a lot of stamina. Malavika Ananth will be conducting a workshop in the city today.
“Here you connect different asanas in a flow. It simply means that you go from one asana to another, without pausing,” she explains. This is extremely energetic and is practiced by connecting the breathing movements as they move from one posture to another.
It differs from traditional yoga in intensity, workout style and pace. “I incorporate gym workouts like lunges and squats. So in Vinyasa Yoga, you’ll hold a posture for 30 seconds then transit to another posture, revisit the first one and change. This transition builds body strength,” she says.
Unlike normal workout where one focuses on only one part of the body at a time, in Vinyasa different postures and workouts are incorporated. “While doing squats, I add another asana which is good for thyroid, then transit to another which is good for PCOD, and so on. So the postures are beneficial,” she explains.
Fitness regimes often require one to follow a diet plan but not if you’re doing Power Vinyasa Yoga. “The best thing about Yoga is that your body tells you what it wants. If your body feels something is not needed, it will tell you. Each body reacts to different things in different ways and you gradually become healthier,” she says.
Malavika is also a mathematics teacher, and since yoga was compulsory in school, she started practicing it. But she became serious about it only two years ago and is now a certified teacher. She follows the Ashtanga Mysore School of Yoga. She is conducting her second workshop in the city today, and says, “Vinyasa is like a graceful dance movement. In fact you will find music playing in these classes and people flow according to the music. This way, they are more involved and focused. They also get the postures right. And I am confident people will enjoy this workout and also see results,” she smiles.
The Power Vinyasa Flow Yoga workshop will be held today from 5 pm at 136.1 Yoga Studio. For details call 9884051361. Her Instagram handle is @indian_yogini_malavika