“When the abandonment to gravity comes into action, resistance ceases, fear vanishes, order is regained, nature starts again to function in its natural rhythm
and the body is able to blossom fully, allowing the river of life to flow freely through all parts.”
Vanda Scaravelli - Awakening the spine
Everyone has the capacity for yoga and yet I hear people say “I can’t do yoga! I’m not flexible! I’m not good at it!”. At its essence yoga's about “Being” not “Doing”. We’ve all been to classes and seen people forcing themselves into a posture, I’ve done it myself. We are a goal orientated society, wanting the perfect body, competing or longing for an “experience”!
The postures become the focus and yet are simply a means to exploring our relationship to body and mind. There is a journey towards experiencing freedom, finding space for something different when we work with the body, not against it.
“Do not kill the instinct of the body for the glory of the pose”
Vanda Scaravelli
My approach to yoga has been mainly influenced by teachers inspired by Vanda Scaravelli. Having a very real connection to music as an accomplished pianist, she kept company with many great musicians, including Casals. Scaravelli came to yoga quite late in life, studying under two great yogis, Iyengar and Desicachar. She went on to weave her own unique, creative experience into her teaching, uncovering for herself a whole inner world through simple sense observation, awareness and exploration. Yoga is continuously evolving, and she has inspired many to look afresh at how they approach it. Leading the way to a whole new thread that goes on developing. It brings us back to the essence of what yoga is all about. Learning to trust ones own experience through an inward journey that explores “relationship” to ourselves. At its heart is the desire to guide people back to their own authenticity and find freedom from limiting conditioning/patterns, giving us choice.
ROOTS OF YOGA
The history of yoga is patchy, much of the ancient wisdom being passed on by word of mouth hundreds of years before it was put to paper. Yoga has a reputation for anything from mystical chanting with cult leanings, to a keep-fit celebrity workout. It has been branded and patented by many who want to claim it for their own; there are many branches out there. Just like music, yoga belongs to everyone, and has its roots in the elements of what it is to be human.
Patanjali is thought of as the father of yoga. He is estimated to have lived between 500 and 200 BC. Although we know very little about him, his yoga sutras are the defining influence of the yoga tradition. He sets out an eight fold path known as the 8 limbs. Exploring relationship to ourselves and the world around us as a means to find freedom from the mind; all limbs are a preparation for meditation in order to raise ones consciousness.
ASTANGA – 8 limbs
YAMA = attitude/behaviour towards others and our environment
NIYAMA = personal attitude/observance and exploration of self
ASANA = exercises for the body - translates as “posture” and is derived from the sanskrit root “as” which means “to stay”, “to sit” or “to be established in a position”.
PRANAYAMA = exercises that bring awareness of the breath through exploration
PRATYAHARA = the practice of withdrawal of the senses
DHARANA = the practice of focused attention/directing the mind
DHYANA = the practice of meditation
SAMADHI = self-realization/enlightenment!
To me SAMADHI represents an ongoing exploration and unraveling of ourselves that leads to greater freedom.