Erin Clair
- Oct 25, 2021
- 2 min read

What Is Inside Flow?

Like most people, I began my yoga journey with vinyasa classes where we hit a pose, hold it for a few breaths, then transition with a vinyasa. This style is yoga is great for building strength, endurance, concentration, and body awareness. As the physical practice of yoga has at its core the linking of breath and movement, it has long perplexed me that the breath is not particularly easy to find in most vinyasa classes, especially between the poses. Since injury occurs most often in transitioning between poses (rather than in the poses themselves), losing focus on the breath there seems to me to be part of the issue. The structure of a vinyasa class also makes the pose itself appear to be the goal, which is misleading: the linking of breath with movement is the goal more so than any pose.

So when I discovered the Inside Flow style of yoga, my brain said, "Aha! This is what I've been looking for." However, Inside Flow can be a disconcerting shift for people who have primarily practiced modern vinyasa classes, because Inside Flow is about the movement between the poses, rather than the poses themselves. In fact, we don't hold any pose in Inside Flow; rather, we are continually moving into a pose and out of it in a way that matches the breath. Music serves as the link that keeps breath and movement connected and steady. See, in most music, the first four counts rise and the second four counts fall. Likewise, in yoga, we inhale with movement away from the body (expansion/rising) and exhale with movement toward the body (contraction/falling). So in Inside Flow, there is no need to cue the breath: it happens organically with the movement and the music. Breath, movement, and mind come together without having to force it, without having to remind yourself, and without having to feel like you're doing something wrong.

Because of how Inside Flow transformed my own yoga practice--how it both calmed and energized me, how it made me stronger, and how it helped me to see myself and yoga more clearly--I decided to formally train in the style in order to teach it. Inside Flow is based in Germany, and popular throughout Europe and Asia, and I am now one of only twenty-one registered Inside Flow teachers in the U.S.

If you are interested in experiencing this style of yoga, I teach it every Thursday at 6:30pm at Força. As well, I offer one-on-one sessions in Inside Flow both in person or online. Send me a message and we'll find a time that works for you.

Yoga is a vast and varied practice. The more branches of its tree we can climb and explore, the richer our lives.