Svaroopa Yoga is Bliss

I'm no expert. I'm just a girl who was fortunate enough to work next to a Svaroopa yoga studio. A co-worker enthusiastically recommended it to me, and even convinced our company to pay half the class fees. What did I have to lose? A lot of tension, that's what!

I work at a newspaper, and Wednesday has always been our biggest, most stressful deadline day. The first time I tried Svaroopa was a Thursday morning before work, and I wasn't even aware of how tight my muscles had been until they started to release in the supported poses. At the end of the class, I was practically floating. Instead of trudging through Thursday and pining for Friday to arrive, I was happier and more productive.

Needless to say, years later, I've been back as many Thursdays as possible. That means I get up at 7 AM to reap the benefits of attending the hour and a half class before work, despite the fact that I have never been a morning person!

Svaroopa has not only made me more aware of my body; it has also opened my mind. I like to think I notice more now. For example, I didn't even realize the vines growing in my front yard were Morning glories until I happened to spy them open one Thursday morning. How beautiful! The old adage "stop and smell the roses" is sound advice, after all. Continuing to practice Svaroopa has helped me to stop, breathe, and appreciate my life more.

This unique style of yoga was developed by Rama Berch, who began her training in yoga, meditation, healing, massage and Eastern traditions in 1970, and began teaching in 1976. She is the founder of the the Master Yoga Foundation, the Home of Svaroopa® yoga. Although Svaroopa® is based on principles of yoga that are centuries old, it has only been recognized as one of the primary styles of yoga in America since 1996.

"This style of yoga teaches different ways of doing familiar poses, emphasizing the opening of the spine by beginning at the tailbone and progressing through each spinal area. Every pose integrates the foundational principles of asana, anatomy, and yoga philosophy, and emphasizes the development of transcendent inner experience, which is called svaroopa by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra. This is a consciousness-oriented yoga that also promotes healing and transformation."
Yoga Journal (Winter, 2000)

About Svaroopa Yoga Classes
by Beth Holmes
Excerpt: "Svaroopa's 90-minute classes begin with Shavasana, a reclining pose that induces deep relaxation through guided awareness. As with other poses, blankets and other simple props are used to create individualized support that allows deep internal release. Once this preliminary relaxation has begun to create an inner opening, we teach Ujjayi Pranayama-a breathing practice reformulated through Svaroopa to further open the body's healing pathways."

Breathing practice
by Yoga with Casey
Excerpt: "From yoga's perspective and teachings, when you're feeling tired or depleted; when life just seems hard to keep up with; if you get sick or depressed frequently ~ these are all signs that your reserves of prana or life force are low. When you practice Ujjayi Pranayama you rebuild those reserves, so that when life 'happens' it doesn't take everything you've got - you have a reservoir, a little extra energy or life force, ready to help you out whenever needed.

It's like filling your cup a little fuller. A regular Ujjayi practice will help you feel more lively and enlivened, less tired. Things won't get to you or get you down as much as they used to. Practicing Ujjayi can also help boost your immune system, so you get sick less frequently."

The Magic Four
by Rama Berch
Note: this is a PDF scan of an article that was printed in Yoga International
Excerpt: "This powerfully transformative practice can be experienced with just four asanas, called the Magic Four. They're simple and amazingly effective. They begin by releasing the muscles connected to your tailbone - the pivot point of your body. With enough release in your tailbone, your whole body will realign from the inside outward. The changes will automatically extend down your legs through your hips, knees, ankles, and feet. Simultaneously, a domino effect of release will climb your spine through your sacrum, waist area (lumbar vertebrae), rib cage, shoulders, neck, and skull."

Stretching Into The Yoga of Bliss: Svaroopa Yoga
by Pat Burke
Excerpt: "Phil Milgrom, who currently teaches in Littleton and Warren, MA was raised in an ashram. In addition to an increased understanding of anatomy, he emphasizes that his Svaroopa studies offered him an enriched spiritual base, sourced from the depth and wisdom of many scriptures.

Phil explains the Svaroopa methodology using an image of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A typical approach might be to try to brace it up or repair any visible brickwork. However, Svaroopa yoga works at the foundation, emphasizing the sacrum and tailbone. According to Phil, for many Americans, the back is overworked. The Svaroopa approach utilizes precision and alignment to release the back, not to strengthen or stretch it. The body supports itself. Gravity often provides release and traction. By combining the elements of prana and apana, (expansion and contraction, openness and groundedness) svaroopa yoga offers union, integration, and holism."

A Yogi's Path to Svaroopa® Yoga
by Karla Hudecek
Excerpt: "In 20 years of studying and taking classes in different styles of yoga, Margo said she had never felt such profound openings as she did during her workshop with Rama Berch at the Midwest Yoga Conference last May. The workshop, Opening Your Heart: A Gateway to the Divine Within, resulted in a tremendous release in Margo's midback, as well as openings in all her energy centers. The area behind her heart had troubled her for five years.

Margo now does Svaroopa yoga daily and is treading the path of bliss as an instructor and student of this unique style of yoga. Berch's workshop inspired Margo to take her Foundations and Week 1 of the Master Yoga Teacher Training program in LaJolla, California, in August. Margo is now one of only seven teachers in Illinois who offer this type of yoga.

"Within a short time of practicing and studying Svaroopa yoga, I experienced a multitude of changes within my body, but the deepest changes have been in my meditation practice," Margo says. "The releases in the spine make sitting in meditation very easy, which allows me to go deeper within. I am now able to experience the true bliss of meditation."

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