Revealing the intelligence of the body through the process of enquiry
"From the act of observation in which attention is awakened, arises the art of teaching."
Vanda Scaravelli
The Anne in Yoga with Anne
My name is Anne Vincent and I practise and teach yoga in Poole, Dorset. I have teaching
qualifications from the British Wheel of Yoga (2001) and Integrative Yoga Therapy (2000) and
completed the BWY Pranayama Module (a one year Pranayama Teacher Training and Foundation Course
with Philip Xerri) in 2003. My own practice and understanding of yoga has
been transformed since I began working with Diane Long
in 2004.
After qualifying as a teacher my own practice got stuck in a bit of a rut. Attending a session with Peter Blackaby at the BWY Congress in 2003 was like a breath of fresh air.
The following year I travelled to Brighton each month to study asana with Peter Blackaby in the morning and philosophy with Peter Connolly in the afternoon. It was around this time that I became aware of the work of Vanda Scaravelli and teachers such as Sophy Hoare and John Stirk who had worked with Vanda.
Early in 2004 I went to a workshop in Bristol with Diane Long. Diane is an American living in Rome who worked with Vanda Scaravelli for 23 years. Although my head was resistant to her way of working, yoga with Diane felt a lot more wholesome than what I had been doing up until then. Since that first meeting I have continued to study with Diane in England, Scotland and Italy.
My experience of working with Diane has inspired me to reread Vanda Scaravelli's book 'Awakening the Spine' (several times!) and to study the writings of Krishnamurti who was a lifelong friend of Vanda. Gradually I have come to the painful but liberating realization that through my training and studies I had acquired a lot of knowledge but actually understood nothing. Today, my head offers less resistance; my understanding grows and my body continues to respond in amazing ways.
The words of Krishnamurti and Vanda Scaravelli inspire me to continue to question and to find out for myself. Working with Diane Long has shown me how to do this through my practice.
For more information about Vanda Scaravelli and her influence on Anne's yoga please read Vanda Scaravelli, her legacy and my yoga by Anne Vincent.
"One has to find this out, not ask, "How am I to do it?" - that is such an idiotic questions. People always ask, "How am I to do this?" This shows their mentality; they have not understood, but they only want to achieve a result... There is no "how", there is no method, there is no system, you cannot be told." J. Krishnamurti
