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February 13, 2011.  Day 4 of Love Blogging 21 days in 2011.  Here is a super simple fact about energy: It is attracted to the same kind of energy.  Like energy attracts like energy.  When we breath, feel, live from our heart energy we attract more of the same. And I can prove it.  (Science supports this too.) This is otherwise known as the law of attraction.  And interesting enough when you feel good you are more attractive. Yoga teaches us that our natural state is one of happiness.  We are born that way and meant to live that way.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying life!

A great way to test this out for yourself is to practice SMILING MORE.  This was #11 on my list of 11 Things to Say Yes to in 2011 (an earlier blog posting).  Develyn Steele says, "Smiling changes your attitude, raises your confidence, and makes you more attractive."  Whether you believe it or not smiling changes how you feel.  If you doubt this then start smiling and thinking positive thoughts and see what develops.  You will find that you can't help but have a more elevated attitude (Pratipaksha Bhavana) when you smile or even think about when you were last smiling.  Today we practiced a guided visualization with our left side to experience what it feels like physically to smile with each part of our body. Then we could sense for ourselves how the right and left sides of our bodies felt differently from one another.  From there we used different types of movement (both jala water influenced flow and fire agni) to see what impact both had on our feeling state as well as how planting a smile here in there influenced the poses like plank.

You see smiling affects our emotions because of a body-brain connection.  It triggers scientifically measurable activity in the left frontal cortex of the brain where happiness is registered.  And what is even more fascinating to support this theory of the law of attraction or how we attract similar energy is that of the 44 muscles of the face that allow us to create more than 5000 different types of expressions, each of those expressions will have a unique affect on the way you feel and how OTHERS feel about you.  

When you smile with your heart and with your thoughts you cultivate a naturalness towards positive thinking at the same time. Here's a real life example: I didn't always believe in green lights.  Then I practiced smiling more both on the mat and off.  All of a sudden I started to believe in the possibility of green lights.  From there through the power of positive thinking I started to believe I should receive Green Lights everyday, not just sometimes.  And eventually I grew even more confident and started putting out to the universe that I deserved to Green Light my LIFE.  

That is how profound an impact this practice can have on your life.  I know because it's had this amazing impact on changing my life for the better and best.  I smile more and I laugh all the time and truly I do get green lights. And you can too! Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

PS Join me on retreat this year www.alchemytours.com

JANUARY 11, 2011: Everything is energy according to quantum physics. The whole universe is energy: Water, air, soil, light, the stars, even you. And the most powerful form of energy we have, that makes us different than all other living creatures is our THOUGHTS.  Our thoughts are made of energy as well. This is how quantum physics puts it "the object is influenced by the observer". After all, what we call reality is in essence our brain’s interpretations to the data gathered by the sensory cells in our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Without you, there will be no reality, so to speak. We co-create our reality. Our physical universe is ‘shapeable’. 

When you have a thought, it carries (or rather is) energy and goes out all the way to the universe. This energy contains the contents of your thoughts and the Universe starts to manifest it. Yoga is for the mind and is our means of organizing the energy of our thoughts.  

 “In a plain piece of metal, all the molecules are in chaos facing every which way.  A magnet is a similar piece of metal in which all the molecules are perfectly aligned – the north poles facing one way, and the south poles facing in the opposite direction.  Because of this alignment, the magnet gains the power to attract and hold other objects.  If you stroke the ordinary metal and the magnet together in one direction only, the magnet will align all the molecules in the plain metal with itself, causing a second magnet to emerge.  The power to attract and hold has been transmitted from one to the other, while amazingly enough the initial magnet retains its full strength.  As we align our energies this way through regulating our breath with movement we maintain calm through the ordinary emotional roller coaster rides we encounter each day.  We find that when we are upset, everything around us reflects the same disturbance, as if it is somehow contagious.  When tranquility prevails, it magnetizes everything with the same sense of calmness.” (Story from The Secret Power Of Yoga.)  

I teach yoga to be a magnet for all my students.  I pass on to them what has been shared with me by my teachers who served as my magnet.  I want all that come to my classes to feel the power they hold within themselves to attract their best life ever.  We accomplish this by organizing our breathing, our thoughts in a way that designs the future that serves our truest potential. 

Even after just one class together you become a magnet for positive thought and experience in your life!  And then you share this with your families and friends and the yoga works through you to make the world a better place based on the energy of Love.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia  

*Join me magnetize yourself more on yoga retreat www.silviamordini.com or www.alchemytours.com

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 11, 2010 NEWSLETTER

Salutations Friends on the Path!

This week the hot yoga topic in some circles has been about the marketing of yoga to make you slim and sexy. My first concern as a yoga instructor is not so much about sexiness as it is teaching folks that yoga is really about the Science of Happiness. I know that with consistent, regular practice you will reconnect with what you're feeling, learn healthy stress-reducing techniques (like breathing on purpose), appreciate your life more and generally engage the world in a kinder way. 

As yoga teacher Donna Farhi says, "What the world needs are kinder, more compassionate, generous people." The time on the mat is our opportunity to cleanse the mind of all its distractions that make us less attractive.  And as I often say in class, the biggest obstacle to a happier life is our own busy mind, and yoga is for the mind (which we access through the vehicle of the body). 

Does yoga make you sexy?  Well I guess so.  When we are feeling peaceful and centered our faces do look prettier.  And when we are kinder and move more fluidly we are more attractive.  And the yoga does slow us down to make more heartfelt connections to other people. So if you come to yoga for the mental or physical reasons it doesn't matter you are a complete package as a human being and you will receive ALL the benefits: happiness, sexiness, calm.  And most importantly you will naturally engage more unconditional love into your life!  So love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia   

PS Don't forget sign up now for Moab Nov 4-7th, get $500 OFF and next person who registers gets FREE Private with me1

May 25, 2010.  The law of attraction simply states that like attracts like.  This includes all form of energy, including our thoughts.  One of our greatest strengths as human beings is our power to focus our thoughts.  And key things to know are (1) if you don’t focus your thoughts they will end up scattered in all directions starting and stopping and running about.  (2) if we make no effort at all in directing our thoughts to something positive they will tend towards the negative or catastrophic.  A philosopher said, “in a civilized world, if our strength are not determined to be valuable, we spend our life shoring up our weaknesses.”

When we practice yoga we practice focusing our thoughts (which then determine our actions). We on purpose set up our hands flat and wide fingers spread in table or plank or downward dog.  And we stay focused on them otherwise if we don’t check in with the placement of our hands or feet they will get away from us like our thoughts if left unattended.  On the mat we apply our minds to performing the poses and controlling our breath as a means to focus our attention.  Yoga is all about the mind.  We just happen to use the body as the technique to gather this energy.

The other main thing to really commit to memory is that applying the law of attraction means that our thoughts (and all energy) is like a magnet.  The less distracted our thoughts the more powerful they become at attracting similar thoughts.  Undistracted thought energy is highly potent.  It works like this, the longer we are able to hold a positive thought in our mind the more powerful the positive energy becomes around us.  And eventually brain science proves that we don’t need to focus on the action and controlling so much because we are already surrounded by the positive vibrations that draws more of what we want to us. 

Like attracts like.

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. There is never any reason to focus on anger, fear or disappointment. Instead you are in charge of your life, your best life and responsible for making each moment count.  As Deepak Chopra says it so simply, “happy thoughts create happy cells.”  I get that. I apply it, And my life is forever changed for the positive and I want yours to be too! Love yourself, Love your day, Love your life! Silvia

MARCH 29 2010: Positive energy attracts positive energy. You give good and you get good. So simple! But not easy.

I talked about how I read about a California bride yoga teacher who raised $2,300 at her wedding and donated it to Haiti. This is yet another of the daily examples in my life and in others of the law of attraction. We can change the world we live in from the inside out. All we need to do is give good and equally through yoga we learn how to be sweet in receiving. For that too came out in this article this cool girl was so gracious in receiving the kindness that folks gave her.  So let’s try it for one week. Join me and everyday this week just GIVE GOOD and humbly GET GOOD back. I love you all and wish you your own best beauty! Silvia

California Bride Raises $2,300 at her wedding, donates 100% of would-be wedding expenses to relief for Haiti.

My wedding was perfect. I still believe it may have been a dream if it weren’t for the photos.

If you read the first article I wrote for elephantjournal.com, you’ll remember how I described myself as not being “the wedding type.” I decided to have my wedding at Yogaco, where I teach yoga in Santa Monica by donation. I gave up my Sunday slot and turned it into my wedding. I asked that all the guests bring money for Haiti instead of towels, pots and sheets for my new husband Robert and me.

I planned this big hoopla and made it public on Facebook (assuming everyone was on Facebook). I did receive some flack after from people who missed the event because they are not on Facebook. I am still stunned. Not on Facebook? Apparently there are a few people out there who still rely on phone calls rather than texts, on actual communication rather than social networking. Hmm.

I was a bit nervous as to how it would all work out, but I kept reminding myself of the life lesson proven time and time again: It Always Works Out. And It did.

I had 10 buckets from the Santa Monica Red Cross all over the studio, and donated wine from OneHope Wine set up on a bar in back. The sun was shining, the weather was sweet, to quote Bob Marley.

Emmy award winning stylist Brenda Cooper styled me in an amazing gown and jewels and my student Hilla Peer did my makeup.

Second lesson I have been re-learning lately: You attract what you are, or, likes attract. I must be doing something right because I have been attracting the most wonderful people and students into my life. At no other point in my life have I had such kind, generous, loving, and spiritual people surrounding me. Nobody would take money from me. I looked like a movie star and yet I did not pay one cent.

Another example of this Law of Attraction is the angel that showed up right before I got married and healed me.

My back went out before I was to wed. Yes, it sounds cliche, but it’s true. And I teach yoga. All around bad situation. I literally could not move or teach. How was I to get married? I tried doctors, heating pads, ice, rest, no rest, bath, massage, chiropractor. Nothing seemed to alleviate my pain. I finally managed to crawl out of bed to teach my Saturday evening class, where I announced my back was injured and I would not be demonstrating any poses. After class, a woman came up to me who I had never seen before and said that she wanted to help me. She would open her office for me the next day, a Sunday morning, because she was leaving for Japan on Monday. To make a long story short, this woman whom I had never met opened her heart and her doors to me on her day off and cured me. She gave me acupuncture and helped me release whatever it was I was holding onto, physically and otherwise. Mostly otherwise. She would not take money from me. It was as if she showed up just to help me and then disappeared.

I had a professional photographer at my wedding who also would not take money. It was as if all these people were conspiring with the Universe to help me pull this off. And did we ever!

As the people arrived, they brought home-cooked food and champagne. The children took the Red Cross buckets and began walking around to collect donations. Of course no one could resist them so we owe quite a bit to their charm.

Samadhi Bishop sang, I want to hold your Hand with a voice so powerful that people actually started weeping. Erica Rhodes was on cello and proceeded to mesmerize the audience. We had a didgeridoo player and drummer and people got up and said prayers and poems. One woman got on stage and asked everyone if they had seen the movie Avatar. We all nodded. That is like asking if everyone is on Facebook, isn’t it? She had us all gather and touch the person next to us, so the whole room was touching and we could all feel each other. It was a profound experience, much like the film. The energy in the room was palpable, as if it was a living breathing thing, which indeed it was.

One of my students brought tears to my eyes when I saw that he wrote a check to the Red Cross for $1,000. This is the type of person who comes to my class. I feel so blessed to even know this kind of person, let alone be their teacher. All in all, we raised over $2,300 for Haiti. It felt so good counting all that money knowing how far it would go.

I did register at Target because all my friends kept saying that I ” had to.” (I am human and there are a few things that I want. If you recall I mentioned a wok in my last article. Well, I have received seven woks.) After a while however, as you browse the pages of Target registries, all the stuff starts to look the same. I realized: It is Just Stuff. Whereas this $2,300 is going to go very very far in saving lives and helping people with basic necessities such as water. The stuff of life, rather than just stuff.

I figure that if this law of attraction stuff keeps up I won’t ever have to register for anything ever again because amazing things and people will just keep Showing Up in my Life. This is how it works. Going back to How may I serve?

When you give with a pure heart, the pure heart in others reveals itself to you. Case in point: my wedding and all the events surrounding it.

All in all, it was a huge success. I know my father was there in spirit as I felt his presence in the room and it was his spirit which helped me in all of this. It was truly a spectacular celebration with people I knew and people I didn’t know alike, singing and dancing and eating and raising a ton of money.

p.s. Not one person wore shoes!

Jennifer Pastiloff is a yoga teacher based in Santa Monica, Ca, who spends too much time on Facebook, Twitter, and elephantjournal.com. She tries to balance it out with writing poems and being the So Cal Director of Yoga teachers forYogabear, a non-profit that provides free yoga to cancer survivors.

JANUARY 8^TH, 2010:  I was feeling bad for resistance.  I think it usually gets a really bad reputation when maybe we aren’t giving it enough credit. In chapter two of the Yoga Sutras there is all this talk of working towards balance and harmony in our lives.  One example for instance of using the breath is that it has the same “effect as combing our energy” on the inside just like we have to comb our hair on the outside when we wake up. Nischala Joy Devi says “with rhythmical breathing we align and comb our energy, it becomes smoother, calmer, and more focused.”

So it occurs to me in order to brush my hair I have to use some muscular energy in holding the brush and sometimes really work hard to get all the knots out and retame my long hair in the same direction.  The use of the brush is an example of positive resistance.  The chaos of the hair needs to be focused otherwise it is all over the place.  We use the poses and the breath in the same way on the mat.  They teach us there are consequences. Rolf Gates when visiting TBY last year said something like "if we avoid our consequences we won’t wake up and we wouldn’t love as well.”  In life even difficult people serve as a form of positive resistance to help us align our energies in a more focused way towards love and peace.

Another great example comes from nature. You’ve heard or seen stuff about Biodomes right? (And not the movie with Pauly Shore). Well tree’s inside the biodome won’t stay upright without any wind.  They NEED the wind to be held accountable.  In a really great harmonious ecosystem there are consequences.  Some negative resistance might serve as warnings while positive resistance serve as examples.  This is like listening to someone who has a teaching story to tell about how they went wrong, we learn from this and better appreciate why it’s important to comb our energies in a loving way in order to avoid those same consequences. 

I especially can relate to this story from The Secret Power Of Yoga. I hope you get as much out of it as I always do!  Love and peace, Silvia

“In a plain piece of metal, all the molecules are in chaos facing every which way.  A magnet is a similar piece of metal in which all the molecules are perfectly aligned – the north pol,es facing one way, and the south poles facing in the opposite direction.  Because of this alignment, the magnet gains the power to attract and hold other objects.  If you stroke the ordinary metal and the magnet together in one direction only, the magnet will align all the molecules in the plain metal with itself, causing a second magnet to emerge.  The power to attract and hold has been transmitted from one to the other, while amazingly enough the initial magnet retains its full strength. If you now take the two magnets and stroke them so the repelling poles are facing each other, the strength of each will diminish.  The power to attract and hold is gone.  We can see the benefit of being with those that support us rather than neutralize our power (satsang). As we align our energies this way through regulating our breath we maintain calm through the ordinary emotional rollercoaster rides we encounter each day.  We find that when we are upset, everything around us reflects the same disturbance, as if it is somehow contagious.  When tranquility prevails, it magnetizes everything with the same sense of calmness.”

OCTOBER 10, 2009:  Today law of attraction: positive attracts positive. So no matter what the world is offering it is our choice to be happy. Sally Kempton says, "It is actually possible to feel happy regardless of how the world is treating you, or how horrible your childhood was or the fact that all your friends are more successful than you are, you can beven be happy when you’re failing something or when you’re sick.”

You see we create the world in our 60,000 thoughts per day. The world isn’t created out there and then experienced within it is experienced from the inside out.  Einstein talks about the most important decision we make is whether we see the world as friendly or hostile. If you expect the worst you will attract that energy. If you have a positive expectation then positivity draws more things that are positive.  So you choose!  Love the day, Silvia

“The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”  - John Milton in Paradise Lost

This week our focus will be focused on living life WITHOUT LIMITATIONS. 

Monday:  Law of Attraction & Law of Abundance

Tuesday:  Love & Surrender

Wednesday: What happens between Inhale and Exhale - Space of OM 

Thursday: Dream without Limits

Friday: Action of Karma, Shiva/Shakti

APRIL 13TH, 2009: This week join me in class to focus on a philosophy of living life BIG & BRIGHT, without limitations.  Now of course we can't control everything that happens around us or the choices that others make but this need not limit us. You have in a sense a "magic wand' that can transmute even the greatest challenge into an opportunity for greatness. Ghandi said, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Through the energy of your thoughts, which demonstrates your perspective, you can experience your limitless potential for happiness, peace and most of all love. 

The thing is you are already choosing moment by moment what you want your life to feel like, be like, look like. No one else is choosing your thoughts for you.  Consider it like this, (1) your heart and mind create your reality so you must be able to create other views, (2) if you can create different perspectives (victim, martyr, champion, lover) then you must have more than just one choice so that means you can choose which perspective you want. Well then why not accept responsibility to see your life as limitless in passion, prosperity, and Love?

There are two simple universal laws to better appreciate this: The law of abundance simply put says you can't be resentful and receive abundance at the same time. They can't co-exist, you have to choose one or the other.  You either think you're running out of stuff & are being picked on, victimized by the universe or you are grateful for your blessings. You either focus on what you don't have or acknowledge all that you do have.  You see and say YES to opportunities surrounding you everywhere or you force limitations on yourself and say no to life at every turn. These are mutually exclusive.  The law of attraction says Like attracts like. Positivity draws in more things that are positive. Negativity draws in more things that are negative.

What you put out there to the world comes back to you amplified. You can't look to someone else to manage your dreams or to highlight your potential to the world. You must do it yourself.  A boss I had at PwC once said to me, "no one wants to see you promoted more than you do yourself". We can engage in negative self-talk, self-doubt and obsessive worry but these will only create negative energy and won't get you promoted or loved or anything else good. Instead, if you think of yourself as your own "brand" and everyday you have a choice to promote your brand to the world as amazing & brilliant you will attract to you the best life possible.  

The world will give you back what you're sending out. So make this Spring a fresh start shift your perspective to one of INFINITE potential so you love yourself more, so you love your day more, so your love your life more! Silvia