What is Swara Yoga?

Energy and Prana in Flow

Swara yoga is a unique yoga style based on the wisdom of traditional Tantra, Ayurveda, Hatha Yoga and Yoga Therapy. It works to enhance the flow of life force (prana) to create radiant health, robust energy, mental clarity and spiritual connection. Mainly practiced through the connection of breath and movement, Swara Yoga creates levels of harmony that are difficult to reach with other yoga styles.

Breath-Based Vinyasa

Our main tool is the movement and flow of the body through the postures, guided by the breath. As breath and prana are the main forces responsible for keeping us alive, we prioritize the flow of breath and its connection to the movements of the body. Starting with simple movement patterns, Swara creates the connection of breath to the expansion and contraction of the body which enhances our powerful, natural flow of life force. Gradually, the breath is joined to more complex flows, which result in a very unique experience of yoga and wonderful results.

Pranayama Mixed with Asana

The classical approach to breath in yoga is called Pranayama, which is done from a seated meditation position. This seated posture is very difficult to maintain for long enough to really gain the profound effects of Pranayama. For this reason, we mix the movements of the body with a variety of pranayama patterns that encourage our breath to truly integrate with our physical body. By creating a sustained and regular flow of breathing, we can create deep and lasting change in our physical body, energy body and even mind and emotions.

For example, we might move from Downward Dog to Plank and then back to Downward Dog in a flowing and repetitive pattern, guided by the breath. The coordination of breath and movement and the repetition of the movement cycle opens the body and engages breath and mind in ways that just don’t happen if one simply moves from Dog to Plank and then onward to another posture. By repeating the movement cycle, body and breath are integrated and one starts to experience connection (yoga) of a very special kind.

In the practice, we might re-visit Downward Dog to Plank Swara pattern later on, but change the qualities of the breath to take the experience of the posture deeper. The next-level cycle might have a longer breath in general (and thus a slower movement) or perhaps a distinctly longer exhalation, or a pause in the breath, or the engagement of the Bandhas, etc. The possibilities for deepening the energetic and breath expression of the cycle are nearly endless.

Swara Yoga Turns Movement into Energy

Since all of the postures and movements are based on the connected flow of the breath, the practice shifts the asanas from simply stretching to an exploration of life-force, prana and vital energy. The postures and the movements of the body support the flow of energy and the flow of breath. As one advances in Swara Yoga, the flows become more challenging and thus create a more expansive and powerful life force in the yogi. The more intense a posture, the deeper the effect when integrated with Swara breath patterns.

The Effects of Swara Yoga

Our goal in practicing this way is to increase the quality and quantity of life force in a person. When we change from a body-based approach to a breath-based approach in yoga, we are able to transform the way we approach life, the way we move, the way we sense and feel and even the way we think and communicate. Prana lies at the heart of all we are (in fact, prana has its home in the heart) and by changing prana, we can change any part of our being more easily.

At the end of a Swara practice, many students experience a much deeper Savasana and easily enter a state of meditation. The sense of inner calm and clarity increases, as does the available personal energy that we need to live fully and completely. Students finish the practice feeling balanced and energized, but also peaceful and calm. Since the breath, body and mind are in a state of cultivated connection in Swara Yoga, the health of the body increases and illnesses can become less common. Concentration increases and the power of memory can also be positively influenced. The body also opens up to the deeper postures because the flow of the breath has created harmony and reduced the blockages that prevent access to the more advanced asanas.

Teaching Breath and Swara

One of the wonderful things about Swara Yoga is that it is both easy to practice and easy to teach. Students who do not have access to poses due to physical limitations can practice Swara without a problem, because the breath can be accessed even in the simplest postures. When the breath is stabilized and deepened, beginning students find that the body starts to open and other postures and practices are accessible, without the pain and struggle associated with opening the body in the normal way.

Because the concepts and practices are, in their essence, simple, Swara Yoga is easy to teach and add to classes. Teachers who are looking for a way to teach breath often use this technique to get students breathing easily. Whole practices can be built on Swara, or it can be used to promote good breathing before moving on to more traditional forms of Vinyasa and Hatha Yoga.

Swara Yoga is Creative and Intuitive

The technique is virtually unlimited in its scope and potential and teachers who know it often create their own patterns and approaches to suit their own teaching style and their students. Instead of being a fixed system, it is a creative and intuitive type of yoga which allows each individual to create their own relationship to the practice. When a teacher understands the tools of Swara and the ideas that support them, it is easy to mix patterns together to create desired effects.

A yoga class at the end of the day might be focused on bringing students down from their busy day at work and calm them. Swara can be modified to help calm the frantic energy of an intense day and balance students so that they leave calm and refreshed.

Learning Swara

Swara Yoga can be learned on one of our 200 Hour Foundations of Swara Yoga Teacher Trainings as well as on our Prana and Pranayama Yoga Teacher Training 100 Hour Module. We also have some videos to help interested students and teachers get the basics down before they join us on a course. Sign up for one of our courses today and change the way you do yoga forever!