23/07/2026
Urdva Dhanarasana ~ with teacher Elizabeth Pauncz and long time student of Vanda Scaravelli 🧘🏽♀️
This week I had the privilege of learning from the remarkable Elizabeth Paunch, teacher and a direct student of Vanda Scaravelli for 12 years. To hear Vanda’s words, wisdom and way of listening to the body passed on so generously through Elizabeth has been deeply moving. Combined with Gary Carter’s extraordinary exploration of anatomy, movement and embodied understanding, it has been an unforgettable few days of learning.
This video captures Elizabeth guiding me into Urdhva Dhanurasana in the Scaravelli Inspired approach. What I experienced is difficult to put into words: a profound sense of elongation through my spine, effortless openness across my shoulders as they released towards the pull of the earth through these sensational manual assists she gave me, my feet both rooted and incredibly light, the breath took on a life of its own and the mind and body was free of tension. It felt less like doing the posture and more like allowing it to emerge out of gravity to reveal its natural organic beauty.
Grateful to Elizabeth, Gary, Helen and Sharon and to Vanda’s enduring legacy, which continues to inspire my practice and my teaching after 25 years.
“There is always more to discover when we stop trying and start listening.”