Svaroopa “Bliss Yoga”

"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... New students find this a very approachable style.”

 (above is a description of "Bliss Yoga" from the Plum Tree Yoga Center's website)

Last month, after attending a Nia class at The Open Mind Center, one of the gals came up to me and we started to “talk yoga”. She  recommended this “bliss yoga” and said it helped her so much with creating alignment; more so than any other class. She said that she has always dealt with chronic back pain, and this class aligned her back, where she now is almost pain free. After hearing this, I knew it must be relaxing and a great alignment tool. I have done vin-yin classes, so I wasn’t sure if it was a lot like that or if I was missing something great. I read the website’s description above, but still thought what IS “bliss yoga”? Was the “bliss” part just a marketing tactic? Either way, I had to find out..and who better to have come with me but my one and only BILLJ!  I knew he would benefit the most from this class, since he just had a groin injury in March and always deals with chronic back pain. Well…he was open to the idea, and you know me and my curiosity……I signed us up immediately!!!

 Sunday was our first class of the three class series at Plum Tree Yoga and immediately I did fall in love with the quaint little studio. We started the class with the teacher taking many blankets and she showed us how to fold them a certain way and we “learned how to sit” properly. It was a little different, but felt very good. We went through a series of poses, each very gentle and effortless by the muscles because we were supported by props and blankets. We then incorporated breath, along with certain poses to release energy in the different areas of the spine, starting from the base and working our way up through the sacrum and into the upper neck. It was the most unforced and quiet class I have done in a while.

After the class my body felt very light and  graceful. My breathing was like a ribbon blowing in the wind. I was calm, but very balanced and aware of the flow of movement. It was almost as if I were dancing with every step I took.  Ironically, I was very anxious earlier that day for some reason, and afterwards, I noticed a dramatic difference – some could say I was in bliss!!!

Bill felt very good during the class and noticed a lot less lower back pain and easier movement throughout each step. One thing that was interesting was that in the last 20 minutes he felt very anxious and this is when we were opening up the sacrum along with ujjayi breathing. This is usually where he carries a lot of his pain and I am wondering if there is energy stored up in that area that was released, and then his body was feeling it passing through his system. He is going to ask the teacher next Sunday why this might have happened (will keep you posted).

Overall, we both really enjoyed the first class and have been doing some of the exercises throughout the week. Next week, we get a little deeper into the practice, so stay tuned for our synopsis and maybe even a couple pictures!