Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

using structure and form. The interplay of structure, rigidity, and form with formlessness make up the movement of life.
    Flow yoga usually implies an asana practice in which the movements link fluidly together in a graceful manner with a meditative awareness and attention to breathing. Flow yoga can be practiced in a vigorous, dynamic, and stimulating manner and also as a soft, gentle, restorative practice. Flow is sometimes misinterpreted to mean keeping up continuous movement without holding poses. Constant movement may be used when needed and desired, but individual asanas may also be held for long periods of time in a flowing practice. The dynamic flow of breath and energy continues uninterrupted during the external stillness of the pose, much like peaceful but powerful eddies of the strong river. Flow yoga implies a practice with a theme or purpose with poses linked or associated together. Many possible themes can guide the practice—relaxation, recharging, strength building, endurance, structural alignment, various therapies, focusing on specific bodily areas, enjoyment, or a complete practice, to name a few. Flow yoga uses proper body alignment, attunement with breath, focused attention,and development of a balance of strength, flexibility, and endurance.
    Being in the flow also informs us to stay fresh and alive, like a river, and to stay in touch and present with the flowing changes of the moment in our practice and in our life. The meaning of Flow yoga also implies learning to practice and to “get into the flow” with what is appropriate for our own body in the moment. Most of us live inactive and overly sedentary lives, and we don’t move many of our muscle sets and joints. A good, well-balanced yoga practice will stretch every muscle, move every joint, and work all ten psychophysical systems in the body to build strength, flexibility, endurance, firmness, softness, upward moving energy, and downward moving energy, while bringing a balance between the feminine and masculine within each of us.
    The
Flow Series
yoga practice contains all seven classes of asana discussed later in this chapter. This series is designed as a complete, core yoga practice that can be used regularly. It incorporates a full complement of postures that are accessible to most students and the sequence incorporates the most important asanas and their counterposes. It is designed to build strength, flexibility, and endurance quickly and to provide a well-balanced yoga practice.
    We have already discussed creating a balance and interplay between what we called inner-directed practices and outer-directed practices. Outer-directed forms rely more heavily on established sequences and structures. Inner-directed practices are more intuitive and concentrate more directly on listening and responding to the needs and impulses of the body. Both types are useful and have their strengths and benefits. A well-balanced practice draws from inner-and outer-directed approaches. As we advance in yoga, we learn to use these modalities more appropriately to serve well-being and wholeness. We must also remember that part of the flow is the ebb. Off time, rest, and even periods of nonpractice can be an essential part of balance, long-term flow, and learning.

Intuitive Flow Yoga
    A powerful form of healing and balancing yoga practice is what I call
Intuitive Flow yoga
. Intuitive Flow is strongly guided and directed from within. In this form we try to get keenly in tune with the sensations and messages coming somatically from the body and let those feelings and the body’s inner intelligence guide and direct our movements. It is easier to grasp this concept by seeing that we all have bodily experiences that happen naturally and that seem similar to this description. For example, when you yawn and stretch, usually your movements are directed by inner feelings and impulses. Try it right now: Simply create a yawn and stretch with your arms and let the inner sensations guide how you tense, move, and stretch. It is not hard to let inner bodily feeling create and guide your movements. For another example, recall an occasion when you have had slightly cramped muscles or pinched nerves. When this happened, you probably spontaneously tensed, stretched, and moved, or even contorted, in an unpredictable manner, guided from within, until you felt what was needed to get back into alignment. These are examples of Intuitive Flow. In this yoga form, you create and