Intuitive Yoga with Diane Long in Italy

Diane Long, a tall sassy American, now aged 71, fizzes with potential.  You never know what is going to come out of Diane’s mouth as her eyes twinkle and she moves in an unexpected trajectory.  Either towards some unsuspecting student or contorting her own body to express the inexpressible which is yoga inspired by Vanda Scaravelli.

I am fortunate to be spending 1 week in the old rambling hilltop town that is Toffia, an hour and a half’s drive from Rome or as in my case a 1.5 hour train ride and then a 25 minute taxi from Fuimincino airport, Rome.  Diane teaches over the summer months from her beautiful, compact home surrounded by hills, her plantation of almond and walnut trees, vines, stream and a shaded terrace.

We are a small intimate group, practicing almost on top of one another as Diane makes her way round to each of us, showing us with her words, her touch, her song how to move out of our restricting habits and into the aliveness within, that connects via the earth up into the spine and radiates through our bodies.  She attempts to transform the inert, unyielding and fixed body to something beyond itself that speaks of beauty, love and serenity.
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To work with Diane is to be in the presence of a master.  And a master demands our full attention and at the same time our full compliance.  I am challenged to let go of goals, ideas, analysis and judgement.  I am taught to explore with intelligence, to wait, to listen, to play and trick the body.  To move my attention to and fro, releasing one part down to the earth and then to lighten another part away and upwards.  To rest and to connect.  To move deeply into an arm joint then move through the hand to find and release the spine before heading into a brand new unknown downward dog pose.  It is bewildering.

I am tossed into a world of having to trust the body because the mind does not compute.  The mind does not know what the body knows and I am challenged to create the conditions for the body to reveal itself to me, occasionally leaving me speechless and full of warmth and appreciation.

Diane’s body is lithe, strong and alive.  She is telling us all by her presence to ‘wake up’ and ‘get with the programme’.  The programme of what?  That is why I am here.  To get with the programme of life.  To move with a little more awareness.  To question my thoughts and my repetitive verbiage.  To dance more, laugh more, sing more and be gentler.

Thank you Diane.  I am blessed with those who surround me and nourish me.  I hope you reading this seek out those who bless and nourish you and have the courage to let go of those who do not.

With love