Scaravelli Inspired Yoga is a form of yoga that can be enjoyed by everyone - the fit and the unfit, the flexible and the stiff, the young and the old. The body loves this kind of yoga and the sense of freedom and joy it brings is delicious. The health benefits are unlimited.
Vanda Scaravelli, was an Italian teacher, originally trained by Iyengar. She went on to develop her own unique approach which she describes in her inspirational book 'Awakening the Spine'. When the book was first published this approach to yoga was described as 'revolutionary' and it still is.
'This yoga is at the forefront of contemporary bodywork in its approach'.
Manual Ponce, Cranial Osteopath
WHAT DISTINGUISHES THIS TYPE OF YOGA?
The approach is nothing to do with stretching, effort, fitness, or forced flexibility.
'Yoga should not be a training for body control; on the contrary it must bring freedom to the body.' Vanda
'Elongation and extension can only occur when the pulling and the pushing stop.' Vanda
Instead of 'performing' poses, pushing or ordering your body into place you seek instead to release tension, work with gravity and free the breath. Vanda believed poses required 'undoing' and unfolded as a process of finding rest and release.
'Yoga is an effortless dance with breath and gravity' Vanda
You make sure parts of the body are not cut off from other parts by being overextended or compressed with tension. In this way you can involve the WHOLE body and so experience the most incredible sense of lightness, freedom and joy.
'In yoga the physical adjustment to the poses is total, we play with our whole bodies.' Vanda
'Relaxed' in Vanda's terms means intensely alert inside.
'An attentive mind makes an intelligent body, a dull mind - a dull body'. Vanda
You work in an unhurried way and come to each asana with an attitude of exploring. You look to allow the natural intelligence of the body to take over rather than impose on the body. When you get a taste of this it is an incredibily liberating feeling.
'Yoga can reeducate the body and bring back supplenesss. When tensions leave the body goes back to its original state and balance is re-established.' Vanda
The spine the spine, the spine. All the work in the postures comes back to awakening the spine. When the spine is alive and working then the natural intelligence of the body can awaken.
'As tension is released and joints become free new deep muscles awaken, increasingly movement takes place in the spine rather than in the large superficial muscles that are accostomed to working.' Vanda
Vanda didn't want her approach turned into a method. She didn't even want a yoga named after her, hence her practitioners call the approach 'Scaravelli Inspired' or 'In the Spirit' of Vanda Scaravelli. There are no set ways of doing poses, no routines. In all the years I have been doing Diane Long's workshops she has never once shown us how to do a pose in the same way.
'Each time it must be new, fresh, take the body by surprise so the body grows and doesn't become dull with habit.' Diane Long
The approach is gentle but the experience is intense and deep.
'Movement is the song of the body.' Vanda
Of course the list is endless and doesn't really capture what it is all about but whether you are a beginner or someone looking to deepen an existing practice there is much to explore.
Fairlie
Forest Hill (SE233ED) South East London, Central London, Yoga Retreats and Holidays worldwide
Tel: 0208 425 0098 Mob: 07770109175 Email: info@freeingthebody.com
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