How is Svaroopa® Yoga Different from Other Hatha Yoga Styles

By Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

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The poses taught in Svaroopa® yoga (like most other styles you will encounter) are ancient Hatha yoga poses. Each style of yoga approaches these in its own way. In Svaroopa® yoga, each pose, or angle is approached in a way where students, with practice, begin to be able to release the muscles that attach to the spine. This release begins a process of healing in the entire body/mind and opens a pathway to finding the deeper dimension of being; the true meaning of the practice (of yoga) in mind/body/spirit.

 

Most yoga classes, whatever the style, are taught in a way that creates stretch and movement for the spine and the rest of the body. However, depending on how the poses are taught — and how the student holds each pose in their body, it is very easy to unintentionally create more tension in the muscles that attach to the spine, even while getting stretch and movement. Most people have very deeply held tension in these muscles already. So much so, that they have very limited ability to perceive it — because the area has become numb.

 

Those of you who come to class have often heard me say, "A tight muscle is a weak muscle." A tight muscle is also a muscle that does not get good circulation and no longer has the elasticity of a healthy muscle. Nor does it even necessarily have the ability to send a sensory (pain) message to the brain that it needs some help!

 

This tension creates compression in the spine, leading to myriad physical/emotional problems. We may not even realize it is there until one of these problems, which originate from spinal tension, surfaces (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, irritability, low back pinched nerves, ruptured or herniated disc pain, sciatica, constipation, knee problems, Yes! even knee problems!). It is easy to create more tension in the spine, because we cannot feel it at its source, and therefore are not aware that we are doing so.

 

Svaroopa® yoga’s focus is on creating lasting spinal opening. Students are taught a fundamentally different way to "tune" into these deeper tensions and release them; giving them the opportunity for the classic Hatha yoga poses to be deeply effective and healthful.