Slow Flow: 9 Reasons to Go Slow in Your Vinyasa Yoga Practice

NOVEMBER 22, 2018                    CYNDI LEE

9 Reasons a Slow Vinyasa is Worth It

1. You’ll be able to practice vinyasa yoga for the rest of your life. If you want to be flowing on your mat many moons from now, it’s wise to start practicing with sustainability top of mind. In Slow Flow, you’ll learn practices that increase the functionality of body parts that often begin to fail us with age.
2. It won’t hurt… Yoga shouldn’t have to! “For a few years, I was experiencing a lot of pain in my hips (especially the right one), but I didn’t really know why,” Lee says. “I started modifying my entire practice—making it simpler, more specific, more attentive. I wanted to figure out what I could do that wouldn’t hurt in the moment or wouldn’t hurt an hour later.” Lee discovered having options for each pose is key.
3. It can prevent injury. Unfortunately yoga injuries like Lee’s have become more and more prevalent. Lee looked at hers as an opportunity to reboot her whole practice with the principles of Slow Fashion in mind. Her thinking: T-shirts shouldn’t be disposable, and neither should our joints. Many of the yoga styles we love for their athleticism may be good for our muscles and bones in the moment but not so much for our joints in the long-term. Sustainability and injury prevention go hand in hand.
4. You’ll have the opportunity to deepen your relationship with your Self. “My body has always been my vehicle for cultivating a relationship with my Self,” Lee says. By slowing down you may be able to start listening a little more carefully to what your inner voice is saying.
5. You’ll stop taking the body you have for granted. Not only do we only have one planet, but we each have only one body. Two hip replacements made Lee start looking at hers and her yoga practice a little differently. Slow Flow will help you cultivate appreciation and gratitude for everything your incredible body cando.
6. Your practice will become more mindful. Flinging and flying and using momentum on the mat aren’t sustainable, but deeply grounded movement can be. As a Tibetan Buddhism teacher, Lee will guide you into applying an advanced awareness to your practice in order to find the safest, most sustainable option for you in every pose. Bonus: You’ll become even more mindful of your body’s needs day to day.
7. Your practice will become more precise and specific. Sustainability in a vinyasa practice is all about being super engaged and embodied. Slow Flow will teach you how to bring a new kind of precision and specificity to your practice. Sustainability in a pose might mean dialing the angle or your hand, foot, or knee a few degrees one way or the other.
8. It’s even more challenging than your usual vinyasa. Think that slowing down equals an easier practice? Actually, Slow Flow is advanced work! Approaching vinyasa yoga with this level of precision and mindfulness will elevate your practice—and you’re going to feel the difference right away.
9. It feels good! If you just love that vinyasa vibe, Slow Flow is the secret to never having to give it up. It’s a sustainable approach that you can take to your mat each day. Linking breath with the kind of precise, specific, therapeutic movement will leave you feeling at 48, 58, 68, 78 the way you did at 28. Who doesn’twant that?