Student Stories
Please send us your personal story of how Svaroopa® Yoga and the Aptos Yoga Center has made a difference in your life. We will feature these stories on our website and in our newsletter. Thank you for sharing your experience and insight with our community.
Svaroopa® Yoga has Given Me a Unique Sense of Physical Release and Spiritual Opening
Since the age of 17 I have experienced many different styles and traditions of yoga. Svaroopa® yoga has given me a unique sense of physical release and spiritual opening that embodies the true meaning of yoga as union. Instead of presenting yoga as a Western-style exercise, Svaroopa® yoga dwells on releasing the core spinal tensions that block freedom of motion, emotion and mindfulness. Through the guidance of the loving teachers at Aptos Yoga, I have discovered a practice that has improved by physical wellbeing and deepened my connection to all living things. Whether you are seeking to add another dimension to your current practice or want to try yoga for the first time, Svaroopa® yoga will transform your experience of yourself and leave you with a feeling of bliss, freedom and purpose. – Maia Madden, Former Editor of Yoga Journal
I Feel a Measurable Difference in Body and Mind
Since starting Svaroopa® yoga, I feel a measurable difference in body and mind not only during class, but also afterwards. In addition to learning about the Svaroopa® yoga practice over the weeks, I have also enjoyed learning about myself. – By James T.
Savaroopa® Yoga was the Critical Step I Needed
Savaroopa® yoga was the critical step I needed to release my tight hip and lower back muscles. I would highly recommend this form of yoga to my patients as a complementary technique in healing sports injuries and reducing stress. The instructors at Aptos Yoga Center, our area’s Svaroopa® Yoga Center, are a welcome addition to our local community. – By Michele Kraft, Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Just Say “Yes” to Svaroopa® Yoga!
I have been athletic all of my life and have never really given yoga much thought, until recently. My partner has been going to Aptos Yoga Center for awhile and has felt a lot of improvement and recommended I give it a try. I thought of myself as not really the yoga type, but that has completely changed. I have been to 4 classes and already feel improvement in my back, hips, and mind. I have tight shoulders, a touchy low back, tight hip flexors & hamstrings and Svaroopa® yoga is helping loosen all of these areas and then some. I really enjoy this type of yoga because most of the time you are sitting or lying down and you feel like you can really relax into each pose. I feel immediate, positive results with the movements they teach and the instructors I have worked with, Chudala & Kalavati, are absolutely wonderful. They really help you with finding the correct position for each pose and are there for you 100%. I was needing more balance in my life and I have found it with Svaroopa® yoga. – By Stephanie Vomvolakis
My Orthopedic Surgeon Called My Lower Back Problem “a Mess”
When I walked into Aptos Yoga Center with lower back problems, I was badly tilted and I couldn’t stand up even to hold a conversation. More and more frequently I would tweak my back, sometimes just from a head turn, which would require a few days in bed. The tweak caused a quick, searing pain and induced a sense of helplessness. I tried several years of conventional Yoga from wonderful teachers; physical therapy from a very competent therapist who I would recommend unconditionally; a gym workout regime from a sensible coach who knew health and diet; treatments from osteopaths; a back stretching machine from an osteopath (who I would also highly recommend); acupuncture treatments; massages; pills; etc. Almost everything made me feel better, often much better, but my back still hurt. Then I experienced Svaroopa at the Aptos Yoga Center. The teachers explained how the back worked (so did the osteopaths) – muscles, tendons, nerves, what to do to heal, and how to do it. My back now works well. Svaroopa has guided me to meditation, breathing exercises which are a story in themselves, and physical practices. Svaroopa is much, much more than healing backs, but that’s where it starts. After 50 years of abuse it will never regain its youth, but it has returned to me from its ‘hospital ward’ condition. – By Peter Slattery
Svaroopa® Yoga Enabled Me to Surf Again
I returned to surfing after a 38-year hiatus at the age of 57. My first day back in the ocean went great except at the end when I turned my back on it a moment too long and it gave me a corrective slap on the knee with my board. The injury seemed fairly innocuous at first but got steadily worse instead of better over time. I was resigned to having arthroscopic surgery when a friend introduced me to Liz Darling’s Svaroopa® yoga class. I began taking Liz’s classes and additionally had her give me individual yoga therapy treatments. After four classes and two therapy sessions my knee began feeling better. I was relieved that the therapy required no manipulation of my knee and was painless. By the tenth session my knee was healed and I resumed surfing. Interestingly, my knee now has more flexibility and range of motion then before it was injured. I tell everyone Liz healed me but she insists she just released tension blockages allowing my body to heal itself. That statement reveals more eloquently than I can the essence and spirit of Liz and Svaroopa®. Namaste Liz and thank you again. — by Tom Reed
My First Svaroopa® Yoga Class
In the first pose in class today, Shavasana, my tailbone was uncomfortable. I don’t have much padding down there! Our instructor, Chudala, rectified that with a thin cushion and predicted that by the end of the class I might not need it. She was right: at the closing Shavasana pose, my back muscles were so loose, I relaxed right into the floor. It felt great. I have taken other styles of yoga instruction in the past, and Svaroopa® yoga is very different. It is a series of comfortable poses, many done lying down that gently stretch out the muscles in an area and release deep tension. After we did an exercise with one side of the body, Chudala asked us what we were experiencing. Each time, I was aware of how loose and free the first leg or hip was. I look forward to learning more poses and understanding how Svaroopa® yoga works. What I am most excited about is discovering how my new yoga practice will enhance my life. – By Patti Bond
In the first pose in class today, Shavasana, my tailbone was uncomfortable. I don’t have much padding down there! Our instructor, Chudala, rectified that with a thin cushion and predicted that by the end of the class I might not need it. She was right: at the closing Shavasana pose, my back muscles were so loose, I relaxed right into the floor. It felt great.
I have taken other styles of yoga instruction in the past, and Svaroopa® yoga is very different. It is a series of comfortable poses, many done lying down that gently stretch out the muscles in an area and release deep tension. After we did an exercise with one side of the body, Chudala asked us what we were experiencing. Each time, I was aware of how loose and free the first leg or hip was. I look forward to learning more poses and understanding how Svaroopa® yoga works. What I am most excited about is discovering how my new yoga practice will enhance my life.
By Patti Bond