By TC (Tattvananda) Richards

When I first started doing Svaroopa^® yoga poses, I hated Lunge.  Now it’s my cure-all for life.  I use it for every ache and ailment.  I do Lunge when I’m not feeling well and when I’m grouchy.

I actually began Svaroopa^® yoga with individual Embodyment^® sessions and vichara (guided self-inquiry).  Later, for a home practice, I relied on recorded guidance to do Four on the Floor.  I avoided Lunge — the third pose in the sequence — I just lay in Shavasana instead.  When I attended an asana class, naturally, I would have to do a Lunge.  It did get easier with repeated classes.  Then I took the Foundations of Svaroopa^® Yoga course, and everything changed.  I found a love for Lunge.

Because Foundations is a five-day introductory teacher training, you learn to teach the primary poses to others.  Thus, you stay in poses longer and learn more about alignments and propping.  That’s when Lunge became my favorite pose.  With extra support to meet my personal needs, I was able to relax into the pose.  Then I could feel its benefits profoundly.  My legs and spine expanded.  And expansion spread into my heart and mind.

While I did not take Foundations in order to teach, the program was hugely beneficial to me.  I experienced profound opening.  I learned to prop myself in my home practice more effectively.  My feelings for Lunge morphed into love. Overall, I experienced more deeply the transformative effects of releasing spinal tension.  And I learned more about the importance of precise alignment and customized propping to meet my individual tensions.  Lunge as well as other poses in my home practice are delightful now.  It’s amazing to have such reliable tools for living life to the fullest.