29. What is Vinyasa?
Yoga Studies in Five Minutes - Theodora Wildcroft
Marissa Clarke [+]
Marissa Clarke is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh (2021 - 2025) and Visiting
Doctoral Researcher at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (2024). Her research
explores the phenomenology of yoga, the body, and sound. She has an interdisciplinary
background in marketing studies, religious studies, and health research. Her work is funded
by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership.
Description
The contemporary idea of vinyasa can be traced back to Krishnamacharya (1888 – 1989) and his method of vinyasa krama (special sequence of steps) or viniyoga (appropriate application). Krishnamacharya reinterpreted the older meaning of vinyasa to refer to his concept of linking movement with breath through a flowing progression of poses.