Sequence
What is Vinyasa? Flowing with the Breath
Vinyāsaविन्यास· vin-YAH-sahto place (nyāsa) in a special way (vi); breath-linked movement
Vinyasa is the linking of movement with breath — flowing from one pose to the next, each transition led by an inhale or exhale. This page explains the principle and the basic 'vinyasa' itself: the flow through plank, chaturanga, upward dog and downward dog that connects poses in a practice.
Step by step
- 1
Understand the idea
In vinyasa, every movement is paired with a breath — you inhale to open or lift, exhale to fold or lower. The breath sets the rhythm.
- 2
The basic vinyasa: Plank
From standing or a fold, step or jump back to Plank.
Breath: Inhale / hold
- 3
Lower (Chaturanga)
Lower halfway with the elbows hugging in (knees down to build strength).
Breath: Exhale
- 4
Upward Dog / Cobra
Roll over the toes and lift the chest into a gentle backbend.
Breath: Inhale
- 5
Downward Dog
Lift the hips up and back; pause for a breath or more.
Breath: Exhale
- 6
Flow on
Step or jump forward to continue — this transition is repeated to link poses throughout a vinyasa practice.
Poses in this sequence
Benefits
- Links breath and movement for a focused, flowing practice
- Builds strength, especially in the arms, core and shoulders
- Creates smooth, mindful transitions between poses
- The foundation of vinyasa and flow-style classes
About this practice
Vinyasa literally means 'to place in a special way' — arranging movement and breath together with intention. In practice it refers both to flow-style yoga and to the specific transition (plank → chaturanga → upward dog → downward dog) that stitches poses together. Once the breath leads the movement, a sequence becomes a moving meditation.
Related practices
Video transcriptIn this session, Joshna Ramakrishnan explains Vinyasa and demonstrates the breath-linked Chaturanga to Up Dog to Downward Facing Dog transition, including an easier variation.
Namaste everyone, welcome to Yoga & You. You're with me, Joshna Ramakrishnan. Today we're going to learn about Vinyasa. What is Vinyasa? Vinyasa is a combination of the movement and the breath.
The most common Vinyasa you see in your asana practice will be from Chaturanga to Up Dog and then to Downward Facing Dog. So these three postures combined together forms a beautiful sequence to develop strength in your shoulders, in your core, strength in your back muscles and feel more strong in your body.
Little bit challenging but I'm going to give you variations to do the Vinyasa practice as well. Do as much as you can. Don't push yourself. Take it easy. See which is comfortable for you and just do that practice. Slowly over time you can develop your practice and become more stronger.
So first we'll start the Chaturanga. So from here we already learned how to do Chaturanga in our previous video. So we go directly to the position and do a transition from there to Up Dog. So we start with high plank. You draw your navel in, squeeze your glutes together, strengthen your quads and you're going to go forward and down to Chaturanga without dropping your knees. Your chest is open. Now push forward, rotate your toes and lift your chest up into Upward Facing Dog.
Now from here as you exhale, you're going to push your hips up. Do not bend your knees, push your hips up, point, keep your toes like this and when you're completely up into Downward Facing Dog, you can roll your toes and you're going to place your heels down. This is your transition from Chaturanga to Up Dog to Downward Facing Dog.
But if this is difficult for you, you can drop your knees down, go to Chaturanga without touching the floor with your chest and reach forward, keep your knees down in Up Dog, back up as you exhale. You can bend your knees, tuck your toes, lift up and go to Downward Facing Dog.
So here, now we have to learn the breath in all these three transitions. Now when you go from plank to Chaturanga, it's exhale. From here, it's inhale. Again from here, it's exhale. So it's exhale, inhale and exhale.
This will help you to build more strength and work your overall body and make your body more together, more like a unit. We'll work together as a unit. We'll have more awareness on your body, your breath and your mind.
Frequently asked questions
- What is vinyasa yoga?
- A style of yoga in which poses are linked in a continuous flow, each movement paired with a breath. The word means to place the body in a conscious, sequenced way.
- What does 'take a vinyasa' mean in class?
- It usually means to move through the linking transition — plank, chaturanga, upward dog, downward dog — before continuing to the next pose.
References
- Traditional Hatha/Ashtanga lineage; see B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga for component poses · Book — Reference for the component postures.