Journey Into Power Yoga was a sequence created by Baron Baptiste. At Bright Heart, you can expect this sequence to show up in the majority of our classes. There are 11 sections of Journey Into Power, and in the upcoming weeks, we will take a deeper dive into each section.
As a Physical Therapist, I was drawn to this sequence as it can be adaptable for any BODY. I feel if someone wants to be able to practice yoga, they should feel like it is accessible to them. While the sequence is definitely challenging, it can be modified or intensified to fit your needs in the practice. As teachers at Bright Heart, we meet our students where they are and give them options, so students can be challenged in a way they see fit in class.
When beginning to practice this sequence, I find students often worry about getting the form of the poses correct. And many give up because they feel they don’t understand how to do the poses exactly right. The thing that I really love about this sequence is that it is low impact enough, that if you aren’t doing the poses “right” (we can talk about the word right at a later date) you will not suffer any huge consequences in your body. The more you practice and begin to familiarize yourself with the sequence, the more opportunity you have to really fine tune your form. As you fine tune your form, your yoga practice will become more efficient – not necessarily easier.
The 11 sections of the practice take you from a warm up (sun salutations), to strengthening and balancing poses, to back bends, to a cool down and then finally resting in savasana. This sequence structure is great for several reasons. First, it gets your blood flowing so you don’t necessarily need to bring cardio into your life. This sequence gets your heart rate up. Second, there is a balance of strengthening and flexibility in each of the poses. This is great from a functional standpoint in helping you perform everyday tasks. For example, if you want to pick a box up from the ground, you need strength in your gluteus muscles as well as flexibility in your hamstrings. Journey Into Power ensures your bases are covered in strength and flexibility throughout your day-to-day routine. Finally, this sequence helps to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is considered our “rest and digest” system – opposite from our sympathetic nervous system, also known as “fight or flight.” Most of the day, we are in “fight or flight” mode due to noise from our phones and dealing with life stressors. This isn’t a bad thing, we just also need to create balance within our bodies. Through the breathing techniques and the cool down phase of Journey Into Power, you will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you relax and be in the present moment.
Over the next few weeks, follow along with our blog to learn more about the details of each Journey Into Power section. We will answer your questions about the form of the poses and why we do the poses. I find the more we understand why we do something – the more likely we are to do it. See you next week to break down the beginning of class.