Richard has a long history in the creative arts, dance and movement. His dance experience is broad, embracing contemporary, contact improvisation and Butoh (Bodyweather). He has also practiced Yoga for many years and this now becomes central to his journey. His passion for sharing the wisdom of the body has grown since meeting and training with Yoga teachers in the lineage of Vanda Scaravelli. His training in paramedicine also adds to the wealth of anatomical understanding that he brings to the practice. He currently teaches in the UK, Malta and Goa.

Vanda Scaravelli writes:

‘There is a way of doing Yoga poses, what we call ‘Asanas’, without the slightest effort. Movement is the song of the body…This song, if we care to listen to it is beauty… We sing when we are happy and the body goes with it like the waves in the sea.’ 

(Awakening the Spine: The Stress-free New Yoga that works With the Body to Restore Health, Vitality and Energy’, Harper Collins, 1991)

The practice of Yoga is a joyful celebration of the dance towards stillness and expansion; the meditative space. The teaching is influenced and inspired by Vanda Scaravelli, working with and not against, the body. Focusing on the relationship between the breath, the spine and gravity, this approach leads us to discover that when the body is not pushed, pulled, or treated aggressively, greater relaxation and mobility can be discovered. An awareness of the deep ecology of the body begins to emerge from the perspective of a compassionate inner witness. The natural and primal movement that is invited through listening to the body in this way she calls ‘the song of the body’.

The work is intuitive, creative and rooted in safe and responsible practice. We work slowly and deeply through mobilization and posture, always inviting exploration. Conscious Touch plays an important role in my teaching by gently guiding the body in posture or simply encouraging the breath. We emerge, restored, relaxed and with a fresh perspective on the miracle of the body. It is my purpose to share this passion for the body and the unending enquiry into inner space. I invite a journey in which the form is not the goal but authentic awareness of the body.

Richard has a passion for the human body and works with various embodied practices and touch modalities gleaned from different trainings over the past three decades. These include free dance, yoga, Qi Gong, Holistic massage, shiatsu, and Yoga massage. He has trained in the UK, Brazil, india and Japan. He practices bodywork alongside, and integrated with, Yoga and Movement. 

ARUN Conscious Touch provides an overarching container for all the work he practices by focusing on the qualities of ‘touching with presence’ and developing the practice as an inter-active meditation of enquiry. The participant literally being invited to watch inside the body and perceive through heightened feeling senses the movement of life and consciousness within.

Each session is as individual as the person receiving it. Working intuitively with the Human Energy Field the session may incorporate table work, floor work, or a combination of the two. A conversation at the start of the session will determine what is most appropriate. The receiver can be fully clothed or unclothed depending on the type of touch.

If the session is predominantly table based using oils for massage then unclothed and draped for modesty is the preferred option. If the work is movement oriented then clothed is preferable. The touch can be off-body, light or deep, including joint mobilization, rhythmical, rocking and vibratory movements. There may be craniosacral touch. We may use oils or creams during flowing massage sessions.

This experience can enlighten both giver and receiver to new levels of appreciation for the miracle of the human body, easing tension, reducing pain, and building presence.

The session could also incorporate simple Yoga asana into the flow of touch if the receiver is interested in using the session to deepen their practice.