Vanda Scaravelli’s name comes up a lot in embodied and Scaravelli-inspired yoga classes, but many people only know her through a few quotes or the title of her book, Awakening the Spine. She was an Italian yoga practitioner and teacher who quietly changed the way many of us understand asana, even if we don’t realise we’re influenced by her.
She was born in Florence in 1908 into an artistic, musical family, and didn’t start yoga until mid‑life. Friends of her family, including philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti and violinist Yehudi Menuhin, invited B. K. S. Iyengar and T. K. V. Desikachar to teach them at her home, and Vanda joined in these private sessions. Over time she absorbed Iyengar’s precision and Desikachar’s focus on breath, but what she did with those teachings was quietly radical: she began to explore yoga in her own body, on her own terms, for decades.
Later, in her seventies and eighties, she became known for the photographs in Awakening the Spine, showing her in strong backbends and forward bends, apparently without strain. What inspires me most is not just that she could do these postures in older age, but the quality of them: light, unforced, almost playful. That quality sits at the heart of the Scaravelli‑inspired approach that I love and share in my own teaching.
What Scaravelli‑inspired yoga means to me
You’ll often see “Scaravelli‑inspired” or “in the spirit of Vanda Scaravelli” rather than “Scaravelli yoga” as a fixed style. Vanda was very clear that she did not want to create another branded method or organisation. For her, yoga was a living, evolving enquiry, taught one‑to‑one and discovered afresh in each body, not something to be packaged.
Even so, there are some clear threads that run through teachers who draw on her work (including people like Diane Long, and, in a broader British context, influences such as John Stirk, Gary Carter and Peter Blackaby, who also emphasise intelligent, embodied movement). These are the threads that speak to me most strongly in my own practice and classes:
- Gravity
Rather than “lifting up” against the floor, Scaravelli‑inspired yoga starts with yielding down. I invite students to allow the weight of the bones to drop towards the earth, especially through the feet, legs and pelvis. From that grounded base, a natural rebound or lightness can arise through the spine and upper body, like a plant sending roots down and a stem up. - Breath
Breath isn’t something we force or count; it’s something we listen to. Over time, as tension eases, the breath can deepen and spread through the body. Many people describe a sense that the spine gently lengthens or “waves” with each exhalation, rather than being pulled straight by effort. - Spine
Vanda’s work is often summed up as “awakening the spine”. I think of the spine as the central organiser of movement, rather than dragging arms and legs into place. The focus is on fluid, wave‑like motion, subtle rotations and a feeling of space between the vertebrae, rather than on pushing into maximum range. - Undoing, not forcing
Instead of striving for a pose, we “undo” unnecessary effort and gripping. The work can be surprisingly intense, but it comes from releasing old habits and finding more efficient ways to move, not from muscling our way deeper. I come back again and again to Vanda’s reminder: “Do not kill the instinct of the body for the glory of the pose.”
How this feels in my classes
If you’re used to faster vinyasa or strongly alignment‑driven classes, this way of working can feel very different at first. On the surface, not much may seem to be happening. There might only be a handful of asana in a session, with lots of time spent exploring how you enter, stay and leave each shape.
In practice, I might invite you to:
- Notice the contact of your feet with the floor and how that changes your whole posture.
- Allow the weight of your pelvis to drop and see what that does to your spine and breathing.
- Use simple images – roots growing from your heels, or the spine moving like a wave – to shift the quality of your effort.
Rather than correcting you into a “perfect” pose, I’m more interested in helping you become your own best teacher: to feel when you’re pushing, when you’re collapsing, and when you’ve found that sweet spot of grounded ease and alertness. It’s not about doing more; it’s about doing less, more intelligently.
Who this approach is for
I find that Scaravelli‑inspired work can meet you at many stages of your yoga journey. It often appeals to people who:
- Have practised other styles for a while and sense there is “more” to yoga than chasing stronger, deeper shapes.
- Feel stiff, sore or a bit burnt out from fast‑paced or competitive environments.
- Are curious about nervous‑system‑friendly, sustainable practice that they can continue into later life.
Because the emphasis is on sensitivity rather than performance, I can adapt this way of working for a wide range of bodies and experiences. The challenge isn’t in doing fancy poses; it’s in staying present, patient and willing to question your usual habits.
How it shapes my teaching in Liverpool
My own approach in Liverpool sits very comfortably alongside Scaravelli’s spirit of inquiry. I’m influenced not only by Vanda Scaravelli, but also by contemporary movement thinkers such as Gary Carter and Peter Blackaby, who bring in fascia research, biomechanics and a person‑centred view of practice. The common thread is an interest in how you actually feel and function, rather than how you look in a pose.
In my classes you can expect:
- Space to slow down and notice, rather than rush from posture to posture.
- Clear, down‑to‑earth guidance that encourages you to explore your own responses.
- An atmosphere that welcomes questions, curiosity and a bit of experimentation – or ‘play’!
If you’ve practised yoga before and are ready to take it to another level – not by working harder, but by working more intelligently and kindly with your body – I believe Scaravelli’s legacy is a rich place to explore.
A gentle invitation
If Vanda Scaravelli’s ideas of working with gravity and breath, awakening the spine and “doing less to feel more” resonate with you, I’d love to share this with you in person. I offer Scaravelli‑inspired, embodied yoga in Liverpool for students who want depth, nuance and sustainability in their practice.
If you’re curious, have questions, or simply feel it’s time for a different relationship with yoga, you’re very welcome to get in touch to find out more about my current classes and one‑to‑one options in Liverpool, and see whether this way of working might be a good next step for you.
Not based in Liverpool? My online course, ‘From the Ground Up’, is a six-part, self-paced journey through some of the fundamentals of an embodied practice. Including class themes such as Grounding, Fluid Spine and Spirals, this is a great place to start your journey with Scaravelli-inpsired yoga.