Vanda Scaravelli: Her Legacy

(Is it a New Yoga or are we truly returning to our original yoga roots?)

Vanda came to yoga in her mid-40’s. A personal tragedy and an all-time low in her life opened  the door for something to fill the void. a chance meeting with BKS Iyengar was the change  that took place.

Vanda was a very talented pianist. She was also a very sensitive and creative person. Living in  the Tuscan hills surrounded by olive groves, clean air , Nature was in abundance. She was  great friends with the musician Yehudi Menuhin and the philosopher Krishnamurti.

After 3 years of periodically studying yoga with Iyenga, Vanda met Desikachar who opened her world to the breath. As with Iyengar, Vandas studies with Desikachar became fewer and further apart, leaving her to become her own teacher.Using her closeness to Nature and the skills she had learned from Iyengar and Desikachar Vanda noticed that during her practise sessions, the less she tried “to do” the postures and gave up the wanting of a perfect posture, the more effortless the posture became. By listening to her body, feeling the connection to gravity, and following the journey of the breath, the more her spine released, producing a movement of total beauty . This beautiful movement originated from deeply within her. Vanda and Krishnamurti used to practise yoga sessions together and they noticed that by working in this way, the exhaustion from doing and achieving the yoga postures disappeared leaving a feeling of energy and calm, balance and grounding. Vanda used Krishnamurti’s philosophy of ” keep it simple” as a guideline throughout her practise. Krishnamurti used to say “the mind needs to be clear and as empty as possible. Fill it with techniques and instructions and we’re back to the doing” This wisdom is at the base of the yoga teaching.

Vanda also drew inspiration from observing ancient Egyptian and Greek drawings and statues. She only ever worked with 6 main students who teach world-wide now. Her dying wish was NOT to form a school of Scaravelli yoga as this would confine the evolving nature of the work. Each student will bring their own individual ray of light to the work, keeping the philosophy and principals the same.

So, as a teacher of this wonderful way of experiencing yoga, I am so fortunate in having been taught by 5 of the 6 of Vanda’s original students. I keep asking myself is following Vanda’s path really a new yoga or are we returning to yoga’s ancient roots. The deeper my own personal practise becomes and the more I teach the work, I feel the experience is something very old and wise.

If we remember the ancient Gurus had no intellectual or electronic stimulation to pull them away from their roots. Travel was probably to the next village and back. Life was S-L-O-W and grounding which automatically improves the quality of the breath, let alone the lack of pollutants we have to deal with today, every time we inhale. The Gurus studied Nature on land, sea and sky and they developed the yoga asanas through the observations of animals and the elements. They felt the effects of these observations in their bodies and minds. They had no anatomy books from which to study. If they moved like a dog the effects on the nervous system be different from moving like a cobra. The overall observations and realisations of these movements were that the movements originated from deeply within to without the body. Executed slowly (their normal pace of life) these asanas gave them a greater feeling of well being, centeredness and flexibility resulting in their ability to sit and meditate in total comfort for longer periods of time.

Is this not the very essence of what Vanda rediscovered in the yoga? Is this not what she has passed down to us? No Rushing, no Thinking, no Effort. Can we allow a complete integration of the mind and body and breath to develop and blossom into a single movement. That movement reaching it’s completion we let go and watch the process repeat itself in order for another movement to be born

The asanas become slow and meditative. “Give it Time, Relax and soft are 3 phrases often used in a class or workshop. As we learn to let go to the Earth, the breath changes and spaces and releases occur in the spine. The Spine pulsates and becomes alive and energised.

The teaching cannot be formulaic as each student needs to be carefully watched and guided with words or touch into and out of the asanas. To see students blossoming and flowering is such a joy.

I feel very passionate about keeping to the truth of Vanda’s philosophy. Using the awareness that I have gained from a classical ballet background as well as a career in massage therapy and healing adds to the richness and wisdom of an ancient rediscovered way of experiencing yoga.

Ingrid Kottler Aug 2005: Workshop held @ Tracey Ireland’s Wholebody Studio ingridkottler@hotmail.com