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HERE IS A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM MY FRIEND RACHEL DEWAN INVITING YOU AND YOU AND YOU TOO TO THANKSGIVING DAY YOGA AT TOTAL BODY YOGA!  GET ON THE MAT, BREATH, LOVE, PEACE TO ALL, LOVE TO ALL! SILVIA 

Dear Grateful Yogis,

My teacher John Friend says that there are 2 main reasons to practice yoga: 

Remembrance - when we forgot our divinity and we come to the mat to reconnect and to remember our connection to something bigger than ourselves 

Celebration - when we already remember our connection and simply want to celebrate being alive and part of this grand universe

Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season, which should be about celebration but for many of us holds a mixed bag of emotions.  Whether you need help remembering or just want to celebrate I hope you can join me for a special class Thanksgiving Day morning from 9:15 - 10:30am to set our collective and personal intentions to celebrating our lives to the fullest, through the holidays and beyond.   And if that wasn't enough to get you there, as an additional incentive I will come bearing gifts!  

I hope to see you next Thursday for a joyful, devotional practice to remind us of our own awesome-ness, and to celebrate it the best way we know how!   I guarantee it will be a holistic preparation for the holiday season: set the tone for interactions with family & friends, prepare the body for some well-deserved indulging, and open your heart to the real gift of the season - YOU, just as you are.   See you there!

Infinite love & gratitude,

Rachel

Anusara Inspired RYT Teacher

NOVEMBER 19, 2010.  Yoga has without a doubt made me more patient.  Don't get me wrong sometimes it's still hard but for sure I'm better at it.  What's changed? Well I don't want to feel that TUG-O-WAR with myself or with anyone else.  Impatience doesn't feel good and yoga teaches the antidote to impatience is, yes you can guess, patience.  Patience feels good.  It feels like a return to center no matter the chaos or what other people do or don't do. It feels like compassion, peacefulness and a constant return to balance. When I am patient I feel like I can attempt anything and be my most funky self without attachment to the result.  Yoga always teaches that detaching from the outcome through patience will bring peace of mind.

So rather than procrastinating what we really want to try we just do it accepting that the trying is the yummy fun part.  Patience feels like unconditional love and acceptance.  There are no ego issues when we are patient. You know what I mean, that feeling that if something doesn't happen right now in just the way we want it then it's not good enough. When Patient our minds stop playing the old games of pushing, pulling, creating anxiety, distrust, stress or simple heavy expectations.

Gosh if we could just take a lesson from the Moon.  Do you know that that moon's trajectory follows the Sun's trajectory, only 6 months later;  the full moon in winter comes as high as the Sun in the Summer.  And it takes the Moon 18.6 YEARS TO FULFILL ONE COMPLETE ORBIT! I love this!  If it takes the moon 18.6 years to complete 1 cycle well then in downward facing dog we really have 18.6 years to attempt it completely for one full time don't you think?  If the moon requires 18.6 years to process its orbit then we can try anything new we want to and give ourselves 18.6 years to really refine it.  

Yoga is NOT a quick fix.  Yoga is like the cycle of the moon.  It takes a long time, consistent practice and a whole lot of patience is developed while trying.  So today through infinite patience may we all demonstrate unconditional love and excitement for life! Be your FUNKY Self! No need to pressure ourselves, give yourself at least 18.6 years on attempting any one thing.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia 

PS would love to work with you while on retreat through active life coaching and inspiration. Join me with Alchemy Tours visit my website at www.silviamordini.com

OCTOBER 13, 2010.  So today I begin my last Teacher Training at TBY.  What an amazing 9 groups of trainees I've had the pleasure of teaching all these years!  I've learned more from them than they could possibly have learned from me.  
And I have slowly turned over the program little by little to other great local teachers to carry on this legacy.  Rachel Dewan is co teaching this Fall program with me and Mary Scudella and Mara Campbell are taking over the Winter program that starts in January runs until July.  

In the words of the Grateful Dead, "What a long strange trip its been."

And me? Well I will still be teaching teachers. It is my passion, my life's mission and I will do so remotely, virtually and in person in various locations that open their hearts up to me.  I trust my voice will still be heard in helping nurture other teachers to find their own voices.  It was never about fitting a teacher trainee into a set mold, it was always about the organic nature of evolution and individual transformation.  And it still is.

So stay tuned, if you live local sign up for Mary and Mara or Rachel next Fall. And if you want to enjoy a destination Teacher Training then join me in 2011 for some fantastic spiritual adventuring!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia

PS What have I learned in 9 teacher trainings? Be Yourself. The best teachers remain students.  God made you funky. (obviously the 200 hours together went into more detail....)

OCTOBER 8, 2010.Yes we are in the season of Change.&amp;nbsp; Everthing around is us evolving from one thing to another and yoga philosophy reminds us that change is an inherant part of life. Life will move forward nonetheless so for us it is a choice as to how we align with that forward momentum or fight what is here now.&amp;nbsp; This transition, as all transitions in life, is more challenging than actually arriving at one's destination. And during times of transition a more easeful yoga practice is helpful.&amp;nbsp; This is when amadhurya, the "sweetness" of universal intelligence, is calling to us to take our experiences and churn them in the beehive of our hearts.&amp;nbsp; While your heart and mind churn the honey in the beehive you can be more gentle with yourself, allowing the practice to nourish you as things change around you and within you.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;p&gt;I hope to see you return to your yoga practice to nourish the parched places inside and to help you be as elegant as you are in navigating the currents of grace and change herself! Please bring a friend and they will &lt;strong&gt;receive 30 days UNLIMITED yoga for $30 &lt;/strong&gt;and YOU get entered to win 2 months UNLIMITED yoga.&amp;nbsp; The more friends you bring, the more lives you change, and the more times you get entered to win!&amp;nbsp; Help us share more yoga this month.&amp;nbsp; Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia&lt;/p&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;p&gt;*And don't forget $350 off trip to Moab November 4-7, 2010, Alchemy Tours&lt;/p&gt;</p>

OCTOBER 5, 2010.  On October 13th we start our 9th teacher training study group! I know I can't believe it either.  Wow! I've seen so many amazing breakthroughs and incredible growth as a result of facilitating these trainings.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of previous trainees and send them love and gratitude for they have served as my teachers as much as I have been their teacher. And I have been deeply honored to see them all grow in discovering their Dharma, their purpose.  

It's such a simple question: Why are you here? Or let me put it like this, What do you want to be when you grow up? 

If you want to study yourself, then our program is for you. Enjoy this perspective from one of our 2009-2010 Graduates.  Love in all ways, Silvia  

How Teacher Training Helped me Find my Purpose By Guest Blogger Janeen Heinman

Last fall I took the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at Total Body Yoga.  I had only been a student of yoga for 2 ½ years when I signed up for the program, so I was a virtual beginner.  But for me, yoga had opened up so much.  My health was better, my attitude and anxiety improved, and I was more relaxed.  I felt like I had found something totally real.  I spent time reading books about yoga, taking workshops and classes, but there was still so much I didn’t know.  I enrolled in Silvia’s program to expand my knowledge, but I didn’t have a solid idea of what I wanted to do when I finished.

We learned a lot right away in the training, including asanas and how to teach them, yoga history and philosophy and some basics of Ayurveda.  I learned a lot for myself, but even more so, I wanted to share what I was learning.  After all, who couldn’t benefit from practices like a full three-part breath, or viparita karani?  I tend to get anxious when speaking in front of groups, but the training program was a really safe place to practice.  I worked on finding my voice, which in turn led me to discover my purpose.

Through the Yoga Teacher Training, I was able to look honestly at some dissatisfaction I had with my career in psychiatry.  I realized I was not offering my patients enough, in my mind, to truly become well.  Yoga was the next step.  My goal now is to incorporate yoga into my career by offering people tools to help themselves .  The training helped me open to possibility and realize I don’t have to follow the beaten path, but I can chart a new course!

I am only in the early stages of developing my new job description, but I believe the teacher training started me on this path.  The practice itself keeps me open to grace, and I have enjoyed unbelievable support from my colleagues and peers so far.  I was stagnant, knowing I was not fulfilling my true purpose professionally, but fear held me back for a long time.  The teacher training program forced me to look inward, and that practice of self-study has led me to something totally new.  I don’t believe I would have come to this turning point without the support and guidance of my teacher, Silvia, and my fellow trainees.

Namaste!

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010.  I am talking tonight in class about "radical affirmation of the fullness of experience" and how growth results from challenge and makes our hearts grow.  This has everything to do with the law of attraction which simply states that like attracts like.  This means what you think about your challenges is either an opportunity to grow positive energy which attracts more positive energy or negative energy which builds inertia.  The challenge is not the problem, the way we think about it is.  (The resistance to the disturbance is the disturbance.)

When you think about it, there is never any reason compelling enough to hold onto a single negative thought.  Not even one.  Why? Because we don't have time to waste our energy on negativity which only produces more negative energy.  Life is too short to live like that.  We will all experience challenge, it comes in countless forms just this week I have friends and students who have received a diagnosis, lost their jobs, are separated from their partner, kids acting out, are being harassed at work and the list goes on.  However, we only get to live today once.  And to focus on anger, fear or disappointment will only cause you to leak energy, the very energy you long for to make each moment count and help you meet the challenge with grace.

The key things to know about the LAW OF ATTRACTION are:

1.  you don't focus your thoughts they will end up scattered in all directions.  They will be circus like ping pong's stopping and starting and running about.

2.  if you make no effort in directing your thoughts towards something positive they will tend towards the negative and catastrophic (known as our hard wiring the "catastrophic brain") 

We practice yoga to focus our thoughts.  We practice these poses and breathing to see our habitual pattern of thinking and where we tend to be auto pilot negative.  We practice yoga to apply the law of attraction on the mat so we know how all day long.  What you say to yourself holding a poses is either positive or negative, rarely is it neutral.  And if you can direct your thoughts to be positive in an uncomfortable or difficult pose then you can certainly do that when you encounter challenges in your life. 

Finally, what I'd love for you to commit to memory about the law of attraction and keep forever and share with someone you love is the following:

1. The energy of your thoughts are like a magnet.  The more focused your thoughts are then the bigger your magnet and the more powerful they become at attracting similar thoughts. 

2.  The longer you are able to hold a positive thought in your mind, the more powerful the positive energy becomes around you.  

And brain science proves that eventually by holding positive thoughts longer and longer we don't need to try so hard and control so much of what we are thinking because we are constantly surrounded by the positive vibrations that draws more of what we want to us.  With positive energy hugging us in we find an easeful effort to remain positive. It becomes our way, in spite of life's challenges.  So today love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia, ERYT and ANUSARA INSPIRED teacher

(For more yoga inspiration, life coaching while on yoga retreat or teacher trainings please visit my website www.silviamordini.com or friend me on Alchemy Tours facebook)

TODAY'S PLAYLIST:  Les Enfants Qui S'aiment,  Amoureux De Paris, La Serenissima, Loreena McKennitt, Fire, Coco De Mer, Elusinian Blue, Gabrielle Roth, Believer, M.I.A. MAYA, Nobody's Perfect, Madonna, Il Pescivendolo, Matteo Salvatore, I'm Outta Love, Anastacia, Prayer to Rudra, Krishna Das, That I Would Be Good, Alanis Morissette, Dedication, Kirby Shelstad, Silent Wings, Lifescapes

*1008 humble bows to the opening quote from John Friend at the Anusara Grand Gathering 2010

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010.  My favorite class to teach is where we start by meditating on our open hand.  That in this simple gesture we have the paradox of yoga: to open and to surrender, at the same time.  If we close our fist we are not able to let go of the mental agitations that heavy us.  If we close our fist we are clearly not opening to a greater force beyond ourselves.  

“Grace wakes us up when we are asleep, brings light to where there is darkness and removes obstacles from our path”. -Krishna Das

To Open to Grace, is the first principle in Anusara Yoga, but it applies to all spiritual practice.  To open requires the courage to not remain closed or tight hearted or asleep to our lives.  It is an awakening!  To open to the light of grace and love that exists everywhere as universal support.  I especially like this expression of "Opening to Grace" from Marianne Williamson's book, A Return to Love. "To open to Grace is to ask that only loving, helpful thoughts remain in our minds, and all the rest be let go".   

The concept of Surrender in yoga is really in two parts.  

1.  When we surrender to Grace we surrender to something bigger than ourselves.  Ok that seems to make sense for just about anybody. But the next part is harder for the cynical mind...

2.   When we surrender we do so to a universe that knows what it is doing. 

To trust that what I AM OPENING INTO will love me without conditions and has my best interests at heart is a larger leap of faith.  But it is exactly when we stop trying to over control events when they fall into a natural order, an order that works. At that moment where we allow a power much greater than our own to take over we begin to trust that the power that holds galaxies together can certainly handle the circumstances of our relatively little lives".

So the practice today is to peel back the layers, let the light in, OPEN UP to the truth of who you are and how you want to be living your life.  This requires that you surrender and let go of the past, of the hurt and create space for what comes next.  Even though none of us really knows exactly what comes next.  We must just believe as we co-create our lives with the universal intelligence of love that spirit has our best interests at heart.  We are loved, we are love.  So today take comfort in loving yourself, loving your day, loving your life! Silvia, Anusara Inspired Yoga Teacher, ERYT

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."  - GOETHE

SEPTEMBER 21, 2010 FROM GUEST BLOGGER RACHEL DEWAN

Dear Peaceful Yoga Warriors,

It's Ganesh's birthday, so I hope you can join me on the mat this week to celebrate.  Ganesh is the sweet, gentle elephant-headed deity of Hindu mythology.   He is the bearer of auspicious beginnings, and he has much to teach us.  Generally referred to as the "remover of obstacles" (join me in class to find out WHY...and how he got his elephant head!), the Tantric twist on the teaching is that he represents the obstacle itself.  He is the reminder that challenges come up, that life is often hard, but that WE have the power to transcend and grow.  When we actively engage with the challenges we face, rather than looking for someone (real or myth) to take them away, we live an awakened life of intention.

Join me 4:00pm Tuesday or 10:45am Friday for an empowering practice, facing our challenges head on with a little wisdom from our elephant-headed friend.  Learn the story of Ganesh, delve into the iconography, do a little chanting (kind of like "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" in sanskrit :-), and have an all around rockin' birthday party!

Kisses & blessings,

Rachel Dewan, ERYT and Anusara Inspired