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This Stuff Works!
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Svaroopa® Yoga Bliss Bits |
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March 2011
Hello ladies,
I had my baby girl yesterday at 14:03! Margie, thank you for your lessons on how to breath- it helped a lot. I was in labor from 9:00 to 14:03 and pushed only for 5 minutes! Nicole, you will do great, just remember to relax between contractions and breath! I tried to focus on breathing versa pain and it worked!
Thank you again and Good Luck Nicole!
Reeny.
February 2011
I want you to know in particular how much coming back to yoga meant for me at surgery yesterday. My husband dropped me off at the Surgery Center at 7:50, then left for his doctors appointments. I sat in two waiting rooms then laid on the guerney until 10:30 (for my 9:00 surgery). I spent the time doing yoga breathing and visualizing, and spent the time very peacefully. At 10:30 I was wheeled into the operating room and the next thing I knew, I was being released about 3ish.
I was so grateful that I met you . . . and that you mentioned teaching yoga. It was so reassuring to me yesterday while I spent the hours waiting.
November 2010 
The following testimonial comes from Sarah in Maine and was shared on the Svaroopa® Yoga teacher website.
I lost track of how many years I have lived in chronic back pain. I keep telling people '10 years', but I have used that same line for at least 3 years, so I know it is much more than 10 years. I tried minimizing the pain with chiropractic adjustments, Advil, muscle relaxants, and narcotics, as well as basically limiting myself physically - my world and what I could withstand got smaller and smaller. I was clearly contracting. Last fall the pain escalated - I walked with a limp as the pain traveled and settled in my left hip and left leg; I could not turn over in bed without pain nor could I bear weight on my left leg without pain. As a hospice nurse, I know a little too much and not quite enough - I had convinced myself that I had leukemia - fortunately, this fear sent me to my physician. Perhaps after 10 plus years of chronic pain, it was time to get to the doctor.
After some diagnostic testing I had the diagnosis: Advanced degenerative disk disease of my lower spine AKA: severe arthritis. OH MY WORD! - SEVERE ARTHRITIS? I AM ONLY 56 YEARS OLD! My mind had a heyday as it created an image: me in a wheelchair within 10 years. My husband and I discussed the need to change our lives to accommodate this diagnosis as the years progressed. On my follow up appointment, my physician offered three treatments: a steroid injection, more narcotics, or perhaps I should go see a back surgeon. My insides said NO to all three options. I told her I would get back to her.
Well, I am a firm believer of the saying 'when the student is ready, the teacher appears'. Within a few days, a Chaplain that I worked with heard my tale of woe and casually said:
"You know Sarah, you should look into Svaroopa ® yoga. I think it would help you."
The word Svaroopa ® pierced my heart in a way I cannot adequately explain. I immediately went on line to the Master Yoga website and knew within a few paragraphs that I HAD to experience this yoga. More than pain relief, what drew me in was the focus on yoga as a path towards enlightenment, toward awakening to your true Self and living from that perspective. I am an enlightenment junkie and sitting at the feet of several awakened souls and devouring hundreds of books on enlightenment in hopes to quench my seemingly insatiable hunger.
As the closest teacher to me was 2 hours away, I immediately ordered the two DVD's Primary Practice and Yoga for Your Back . I eagerly awaited their arrival as somewhere deep inside of me, I knew this style of yoga held some kind blessing for me. When they arrived, I began my home practice, giving myself the treat of 2 sessions a day when possible. Within a few days, my back pain began to subside - melting away. I arranged for a private class in January so I could be certain I was doing the poses correctly and kept on with my home practice. My leg pain began to subside. I began to experience my body for the first time in my life. I would lie in bed at night and feel the pain as it traveled in my body; it was ever shifting and ever changing and then it would simply disappear!
I began traveling that two-hour drive for weekly yoga classes and my healing continued. Within a few months of practice, I resigned from my high-powered stressful management position and now have a much more gentle and easy lifestyle. And, bonuses of all bonuses, along the way, I began to wake up a bit. I have experienced three 'enlightenment' moments that have kept me motivated so I KNOW there is a whole other reality that is ever present - however, these experiences, like the pain, would hang around for a while and then disappear. Consequently, my spiritual journey has been mainly between my ears - believing in spiritual concepts but not actually realizing them within myself except for passing moments. Svaroopa ® yoga changed even all of that as I through the practice I embody my Self more and more.
I find myself living in a pain free body and enjoying an ever-growing mental/emotional state of relaxed and contented awareness. How awesome is that? All of this happened in less than one year. You cannot make this stuff up! I am truly enjoying life. What a blessing I have been given.
August, 2010
A natural hoof care professional, Amy Sheehy had a numb area to the right of her sacrum at the time she took Foundations, Autumn 2008. Amy was first injured a year and a half earlier when she fell from her own horse. Ten months after that, she was kicked by a client's horse as she filed a back hoof with a 14-inch tool called a rasp. Flung backwards, Amy landed on the rasp's bulbous handle - and the numb place to the right of her sacrum grew larger. Also sustaining a concussion and whiplash, Amy visited a chiropractor for treatment who told her, "You need to do yoga," because her spine was too tight to be adjusted.
So in May 2008, Amy began Svaroopa ® yoga. "I immediately fell in love with Svaroopa ® classes," says Amy, "and I complemented them with four Embodyment ® sessions." In September her teacher told the class about an upcoming Foundations course. "It sounds interesting," thought Amy, and she especially looked forward to cultivating "a lot more awareness" -- so she registered. To Amy's amazement, "Foundations wiped the slate clean. I had been able to function with the numb sacrum, so I really thought nothing of it. But after Foundations, to my delight, all sensation has returned; the numbness has completely disappeared! I expected Svaroopa ® yoga to help but never imagined it would be so quickly or fully. I suppose it really just confirms that it all begins in the tailbone!"
Moreover, Amy has found a great difference in horseback riding. Now she can more easily find the timing and rhythm and feel where the horse's hind is beneath her.
November, 2009
So far three regular students (who attended weekly classes for over a year) have reported getting taller. Two students were measured at their yearly medical appointments and each reported being a half-inch taller (rather than shrinking in their 50’s as the doctor expected.) One student measured herself at home and wrote: "You are correct, I am taller! I was curious, so I had [my husband] measure my height when I got home today. 5 feet 5 inches! I think the tallest I ever recall was 5 feet 4 inches in HS so I have always said 5-4. An entire inch! Amazing! Most women my age are getting shorter, not taller! Now that we have a benchmark, it will be interesting to see if it is any different in a few months, since I think there is still some untwisting left to do in my spine."
September, 2009
Ujjaya Pranayama has helped to calm my mind and give me clarity. I feel the best when I am able to do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening.
Working on the Magic Four in my house has increased my flexibility and elevated hit and back pain. I am more aware of the way that I stand and walk. After attending Margie’s classes for almost two years I am standing straighter, in my bones and walking straighter with less of a sway back. Starting my day off with yoga is the best thing that I can do for my sanity! I am not really a morning person, but my job requires me to be. When I am able to start my day with yoga I can go to work with a smile on my face and a calm mind and body (even if the day before was stressful). That has been really wonderful for my students.
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December, 2008
Gosh, I feel normal! Symptoms of headaches and dizziness had led Connie to discover extremely high blood pressure, with a diastolic reading of over 90. Medication reduced it to 130/80. Her cardiologist suggested yoga as appropriate exercise, since Connie is also concerned about cholesterol and subject to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
For the past six months Connie been attending weekly classes and practicing at home daily, both asana as well as Ujjayi Pranayama. This has brought about "powerful, positive change." Her blood pressure has lowered to 122/78, and is consistently staying down. "Gosh, I feel normal!" says Connie. It was hard for her to start a daily Ujjayi practice. "I started in small increments. I did four minutes for a few days and worked my way up slowly to twenty minutes. Now I can say it's a regular and vital part of my day -something I look forward to." Connie is beginning to feel motivated to practice the Ujjayi breath for twenty minutes twice daily, knowing that Ann tells her the practice will eliminate the symptoms of CFS.
October, 2008
Ted hurt his back while volunteering to clean up at a neighborhood park. He pulls out down trees, hauling logs and branches, and more. Now retired, he was a football and baseball player during high school and college and continued playing adult league baseball until a few years ago. He has suffered injuries before, but none like this one. He and his wife were planning an across country driving trip to visit on of their children and he was ready to postpone the trip. While he loves to drive the pain was just too much. Ted signed up for an Overlap Healing Series of Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy, which included learning the Magic 4 Home Practice. He practiced daily. He also learned about and decided to use the sit bone block while driving across the country. Their trip was a “pain free” success and today Ted continues his daily Magic 4 Home Practice.
<---Yes, a turkey at the door of Springdale Yoga! ---
After yoga class this student notices that she must adjust her car mirrors. She is taller than when she drove to Springdale Yoga. She also noticed that after class she can more easily lean her head back on the headrest—something she never could do before.
September, 2008
Lynn recently suffered a very painful shoulder/neck injury while playing tennis and was being treated by a physical therapist for it. In addition, she continued her Thursday morning classes at Springdale Yoga and began twice a week Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy. She went a step further and signed up for the Master Yoga Foundations course which involved forty-five hours of yoga over five days. Just prior to attending the class, her physical therapist measured her ability to move my neck from side to side. It was approximately 45 degrees in both directions. Upon returning from the Foundations course, the therapist, once again, measured the neck rotation. To her surprise, Lynn could move her neck more than seventy degrees both ways. Lynn wrote: I believe that the Svaroopa® yoga is the only reason for that improvement.
August 25, 2008
A year ago, Jeanne had back surgery to remove part of abulging disc. She was experiencing stiffness and pain despite many physical therapies and treatments, like acupuncture. She planned a two-month trip through Europe and worried about making it. After an Overlap Healing series of 9 Embodyment® and Yoga Therapy treatments the stiffness and pain were gone—zero pain levels! She reported: I feel calmer more relaxed and healthier from the inside out. My body (and mind) learned how to relax and say “yes, yes, yes” to being more comfortable and letting go of the pain. My mind will learn as I go in life (and my trip) from the teachings learned.
Update—Jeannie’s trip was successful. She practices the yoga breathing and poses while on her trip. She is now on a second trip to Central America. *(January 2009)*
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