On a recent holiday to a small cottage I quickly noticed that there was no WiFi! This forced me to have a week (almost) without looking at a screen. I was amazed how much tension was released from my upper back.

I’ve always had tension in my shoulders and I tried lots of different techniques from physiotherapy, acupuncture and massage but none of them had any lasting effect. On the first day back to work, I immediately noticed tension creeping back in my head, neck and shoulders.

Here are some simple tips I used to keep the my neck and shoulders relaxed, even though I was back to the modern world:

1. Rest your eyes

Our sight is of the most stimulated senses so it’s really beneficial to rest our eyes regularly. Staring at screen for long period of time can easily lead to headaches and tension building up in the neck and shoulders. I understand that mobile devices are really useful, but it’s important to try and take some time off whenever you can.

Take the time to relax completely in Savasana (full relaxation pose) for at least 10 minutes every day. Try using an eye pillow or something to cover your eyes to help you to relax more easily. Your eyes and brain are closely associated and it will help to settle your mind. Don’t forget to switch off your mobile!

2. Improve your posture

Our posture has major effect on our body and if we spend a lot of time hunched over our desk, the muscles in our upper body can get tight and unbalanced. Even if you don’t have a desk job, we tend to do repetitious work, which causes tension and imbalance.

Doing regular asana (posture) practice is a great way to improve your alignment and increase your awareness of your posture. Whenever you sit, or do any activity for a long period of time, try to be aware of your posture and encourage balance.

3. Take the weight off your shoulders

We tend to carry lots of tension and stress in our shoulders; this is partly because our head is comparatively heavy for the intricate neck muscles. We easily get into the habit of rounding our shoulders and jetting our head forwards, bringing lots of strain into our neck. We can sometimes grip through our jaw and tense our arms and hands, which also causes the upper-body to become tight.

Pawanmuktasana exercises are designed to release tension in the joints and muscles. Series 1 is especially good for relaxing the shoulders, arms and hands. Many of the exercises are gentle circular movements that are great for soothing aches and pains.

4. Breathe Deeply

Breathing properly is one of the most important ways of reducing stress and tension. Most of the time we should be breathing slowly and deeply, but unfortunately many of us have learnt to breathe shallow and fast. This way of breathing can lead to unnecessary tension in the neck and shoulders, especially when we breathe into our upper chest instead of the diaphragm. It’s made even worse by bad posture: squashing the front body makes it harder for us to breathe easily.

Whenever possible practice abdominal breathing. Remove any tight clothing especially around the chest and waist so that the breath can move smoothly. Make sure that there is plenty of space in the front body, especially your chest and the belly. Visualise breathing down into the belly to slow and lengthen your breath.

“Yoga must not be practised to control the body: it is the opposite, it must bring freedom to the body, all the freedom it needs.”

– Vanda Scaravelli

Scaravelli inspired yoga is a gentle yet powerful form of Hatha yoga that uses gravity and breath to release the spine and energise the body. This approach focuses on ‘the intelligent heart’, an innate sense of our natural patterns of movement to bring harmony and ease to the asanas (postures).

Vanda Scaravelli was born in Italy in 1908 to a musical and artistic family. She actually started learning yoga in her 40’s, but was taught by incredible yoga teachers like BKS Iyengar, TKV Desikachar and Jiddu Krishnamurti. She continued to be an active student and practitioner of yoga until her death in her 90’s. During this time, Vanda wrote one of the most famous Hatha yoga books called ‘Awakening the Spine’. She emphasised listening to the body, rather than working against it. As she advices,

'If you are kind to your body, it will respond in an incredible way'.

Interestingly, Vanda never wanted her approach of yoga to turn into a method or a style of yoga. This is why teachers who currently follow this method of practicing often refer to as ‘Scaravelli Inspired yoga’ or ‘In the Spirit of Vanda Scaravelli’.

To find out more about this interesting practice, we spoke to Kate Fox. Kate teaches monthly Sunday Scaravelli inspired yoga session at the Bristol Yoga Centre.

I discovered Yoga in my early twenties, but it was only when I discovered Scaravelli Yoga, that I began to fully understand what yoga is fundamentally about and how it could help me.

I was always trying too hard, forcing my body to do what I thought it needed, or what I thought it should be doing. Fixed on trying to ‘perform’ what I thought an asana should be, or should look like. But what I began to realise is that it’s not about trying to force the body into a set of rigid poses, it is about learning to let go of tension and habits that limit our movement.

My focus is now on approaching asana from within. When we 'tune in' with the inner-workings of our body, we can begin to move towards each asana with a new awareness that prevents us from imposing on the body.

We can begin to identify any tension, dullness and old habits that exist. With some gentle encouragement, we can gradually begin to disperse these, cultivating new habits that will help to make you physically and mentally stronger. This cannot be hurried and will only get richer and deeper with practice, patience and time.

Scaravelli inspired classes are suitable for everyone including complete beginners. It is also great for experienced students who are looking to deepen their practice.