Awakening the Spine: The Stress-free New Yoga That Works with the Body to Restore Health, Vitality and Energy

By Vanda Scaravelli

Awakening the Spine: The Stress-free New Yoga That Works with the Body to Restore Health, Vitality and Energy

According to Vanda Scaravelli, author of Awakening the Spine, "we have lost contact with our bodies, and re-establishing this connection is what we try to do. The body should respond immediately to the requests of the mind. The less the gap between the two, the more efficient the action will be."

Scaravelli, in her beautifully illustrated book dedicated to B.K.S. Iyengar, her first Yoga teacher, makes these suggestions for developing respect for our bodies:

"Do not fight your body. Do not carry the world on your shoulders like Atlas. Drop that heavy load of unnecessary baggage and you will feel better."

"Do not kill the instinct of the body for the glory of the pose. Do not look at your body like a stranger, but adopt a friendly approach towards it. Watch it, listen to it, observe its needs, its requests, and even have fun. Play with it as children do, sometimes it becomes very alert and swift."

Gravity, explains Scaravelli, puts us in contact with the spine. All movements we do against the flow of gravity are negative and the ones along the pull of gravity (where the ground receives our weight) are positive. When one can abandon to gravity, 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 its parts."

Scaravelli use several analogies to water explaining the double movement of force and antiforce. First, the action that is present in waves of the sea with their wide extension over the sand and their rebounding while sucking the water back from the shore and secondly, the rebounding explosion of a waterfall which, after dropping down at high speed and then springing up again with incredible strength, it transforms and sublimates its journey by dissolving the water into ever lighter sprays creating a swirling cloud.

Brief discussions and illustrations convey important messages about the importance of focusing on the elongation of the spine (Nerves), on the proper way of walking to re-establish order (On Walking), proper sleeping and eating habits (Practical Suggestions), working with the body rather than against it (Meeting of Body and Mind), and breathing naturally (Breathing). Part II includes explanations with photos and illustrations of 30 asanas (poses).

From her chapter on "The Advantages of Doing Yoga", Scaravelli offers:

" Your everyday activities will improve and become more efficient. You will have less time for useless occupations that are constantly in the way, preventing your contact with more essential things;

You are going to have a better digestion if you do some poses before eating when you are tired;

You will need to sleep fewer hours, as your body will be more relaxed during the night;

You will gain a few inches, eliminating that curve along the back of the spine, and therefore you are going to be a little taller;

You will be able to stand for hours without getting tired, if you gravitate properly on your heels with the knees straight;

You will be able to improve the poses, as there is no end in progress;

You are going to straighten yourself if one part of the body is weaker than the other, by paying a lot of attention while doing your poses, and by continuing this attention throughout the day you will reach a better balance;

You will no longer be a slave to your body, as the independence from it is the greatest gift your can receive."

From these basic health benefits, Scaravelli continues into the more esoteric benefits:

"It changes you and therefore the way you relate to other people and influence your environment; When the body is open, the heart is open; there is transformation in the body's cells; they work in a different way and a new growth is possible; and to re-establish contact with our body is to be in contact with Nature, is to be in contact with the Cosmos."

 Book Review by Cynthia Morin. This article was first  published at Dance of the Soul and is copyright by the author, and Seeds for A New Humanity. All Rights Reserved. Contact author at cynthia@studio8creations.com