Vanda Scaravelli, by Sophie Hoare - on posture, breath and the body of yoga.

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So what is this way of working, and how is it so different from other approaches to hatha yoga? Naturally it is very difficult to define it in words. Sometimes I have said it is about working in harmony with gravity and the breath, sometimes that it is about releasing tension and finding greater freedom of movement, or that it is about bringing the spine to life, awakening the core while relaxing the outer body (which can become as imprisoning as a suit of armour). Sometimes I explain that it is about undoing the grip of the muscles to give better articulation at the joints, sometimes that it is the bringing together of body and mind, or that it is just the most intelligent way of using the body. All these things are true, none of them have real meaning until they are felt, some of them may even be misleading because people may try to apply them directly instead of inviting them through intuitive attention.

At the moment I tend to say that it is about finding a wholeness of movement, a movement which involves the body as an intelligent and harmonious whole in relation to its environment and which the body whole-heartedly and gratefully accepts. When we find this, we are given a sense of freedom and infinity which takes us out of our small selves, transforming our emotional and psychological landscape, and which is natural, profoundly relaxing and healing. From this perspective, many other forms of physical exercise, including typical yoga stretching, appear fragmented and limiting.

Our intent changes, and with it the nature of our attention. Our primary focus is no longer to 'do' the posture or the breath but to undo our body and its resistance, to observe and question and patiently unravel our habits, including the urge to 'do' itself; to undo, to discriminate, to invite, to find rest and rhythm. And as we clear some of the old debris away a new kind of life comes into the body which is vital, dynamic and sometimes very intense; muscles we didn't know we had start to work spontaneously!

There are some parallels with other disciplines: painting, music, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais, Zen, psychotherapy, Tai Chi, Taoist philosophy and aspects of classical Yoga. But it cannot be turned into a method or a technique, and as such it belongs to nobody and to everybody. It is nothing to do with any particular individual. And I say that as one who is full of gratitude to two individuals in particular: Vanda Scaravelli and Diane Long, my two teachers in this creative and fulfilling work.

Vanda Scaravelli, by Sophie Hoare - on posture, breath and the body of yoga.
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Vanda Scaravelli, by Sophie Hoare - on posture, breath and the body of yoga. Page 3

Vanda Scaravelli, by Sophie Hoare - on posture, breath and the body of yoga.

Page 3