I have been in Toffia visiting Diane Long. She was taught by the deeply amazing Vanda Scaravelli, and in my opinion is a master teacher. A teacher of the teachers. Ofcourse when you travel hundreds of miles to visit a teacher you are investing in learning, so I have been trying to find her directions within my body so I can refind these spaces. This is despite Diane explaining one of her key roles is to take us away from patterns into living more on the cusp of life. A pose can start out in one direction and radically transform to another as if on the waves of the breath.

The 5 days have really affected me- emotionally and physically. Diane is very attuned to seeing bodies move and facilitating more freedom. She took me into back arch in a way that felt as light as air, helped me find breathing so blissful. In a very simple way I am refinding space in my lower back for my breath and once I have found that space, allowing it to seep up my spine, bringing with it fluidity and ease. When I say fluidity I don’t mean a nice smooth movement, but a more complex refined movement. It is deep and terrible subtle movements that are not visible to normal human eyes. To me this feeling is as if my vertebrae have become golden balls, surrounded by liquid. So there is a dynamic eternally shifting balance that I breath through.

Here are some pictures of the trip. Fresh persimmons, off the tree, a cat doing a yoga stretch, Diane and I hugging, Judy stunningly fit at 70, a sunset and fellow yogi Gary.

It’s hard for me to know what you’ll get out of this blog and it’s slightly esoteric stuff, so maybe it will just remind you that yoga is very much not body poses, it is not merely the poses and the breath – it is being alive in your body, breath and soul. Yoga should help you feel more alive, more at ease. More yourself.