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February 12, 2011 Day 3 of Love Blogging 21 days in 2011.  Does yoga make you sexy?  Yes it can: when we feel peaceful our faces do look prettier.  And when we are kinder we are more approachable. And when we move more gracefully we are more attractive.  

Practicing yoga also helps us remember to celebrate life. During class we burn off, sweat off, twist off the spiritual amnesia (forgetting what fires you up!) In a nutshell it reminds us about what we love about our life: Dancing, hiking, playing piano, running, cycling, painting, traveling.  Forgetting what you love to do is a form of self-sabotage. If you can forget about your dreams, then you never have to risk failure. But just because you've decided to ignore your passions doesn't mean they no longer exist. Besides life is too short to stop doing what you love.

So today we invoked the Fire Element. Fire in Sanskrit is AGNI. 

“Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs against another, though the fire remains hidden in the firestick. Let your body be the lower firestick; Let the heart be the upper. Rub them against each other in yoga and meditation.”  (ancient writing)

Fire is the energy of transformation or change.  If you think about the power (Shakti) of fire it can take metal and change it into a beautiful gold ring. Fire is also symbolic of rebirth.  It cleanses, burns off the negative and energizes one to light the path forward. Then we move confidently in the direction of what we love with great PASSION. And that enthusiasm and confidence is SEXY!

It is visible to everyone. You can see it.  For instance if Leonardo DaVinci would paint your portrait would he see that fire of passion in your eyes?  Are you living life with enthusiasm? In the words of Philosopher Hebbel, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” And no one else can tell you what fires you up, only you can decide “how to set your life on fire” (Rumi).

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs;?ask yourself what makes you come alive.

And then go and do that.

Because what the?world needs is people who have come alive."~ Harold Whitman

Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it and hold true to your biggest dreams! "Let no doubt into your dreams and intentions. The dreamers are the saviors of the world. Be one of those dreamers." (Dr Wayne Dyer)

This is the time to empower yourself towards transforming your life! Let's make today THE BEST DAY EVER!  Now that's sexy….Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

HIP HOP INSPIRED YOGA PLAYLIST
Fire, Coco De Mer

Hate It Or Love It (Remix), 50 Cent & G Unit

No Rest for the Weary, Blue Scholars

The Fire, The Roots Feat. John Legend

BIG BANK HANK [Main], Blue Scholars

Xoxoxo, The Black Eyed Peas

Just You & I, Dzihan & Kamien

Free Tibet, Hilight Tribe

Strong Will Continue, Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley

Coming Home, Diddy - Dirty Money & Skylar Grey

I Will Be Light, Matisyahu

One Of These Mornings, Moby

Lakshmi, Girish, Donna Delory, Greg Leisz & Georges Lamman

Beyond Time [ambient edit], Blank & Jones

BONUS: I’m Too Sexy, Right Said Fred

WARNING ADULT LANGUAGE: If you are still reading. I came upon this quote today from Bikram “With this one you are fucking until you are 90! You have seven orgasms in a row!” – referring to eagle pose, which he considers the best pose for good sex.  (Yeah we did that one in class today)

Namaste Yogi Friends, 

In yogic mythology NATARAJA, literally the King of the Dance of Existence represents the power of Destruction, Shiva, and yet in it's hands it holds in one the power to destroy but in the other the power of Creation. All of us are dancing between endings and beginnings. 

Some say this Cosmic Dance of destruction and creation creates this vibration which is the sound of OM (AUM), movement, stillness and then something beyond that.

So when we see Nature, which is always one of our best teachers, dance a dance of destruction with Snow (or anything else) we are reminded to appreciate endings as much as we do beginnings.  This is too why we practice savasana at the end of class, we let die a little our petty dramas, our real challenges and well all the rest. And upon rising up, we BEGIN AGAIN. We are creating a new life!

So let's follow the example of nature - we see it is making us pause. ALL CLASSES CANCELED FEBRUARY 2ND, 2011 (our first time ever)  Enjoy your families, your friends, yourself and remember you have been born in this body, this heart, this soul to CREATE something beautiful for your life.  

And this opportunity won't last forever.  Let's all give birth to our best lives ever once the blizzard ends.  Make a new beginning!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia   

PS - I would love to have 5 more Yogi Friends come to sunny Paradise with me! See www.alchemytours.com or www.silviamordini.com or email me at info@totalbodyyoga.com. Photos at http://www.xinalaniretreat.com/

Dear Beautiful Friends,

Today is my birthday!  And just this week my friend Steve and I were reminiscing about the lovely birthday party my friend Diana offered me last year.  The point of the conversation was looking back at the past year at how much things had changed.
This is a powerful yogic lesson.  Change is an inherent part of life.  The less we fight this truth and align with it, the easier it is to "Be the Change We Want to See in the World" (Ghandi)

Our birthday's really serve as our personal New Year's.  They remind us to look back at how far we've come appreciate it and endeavor to be clear about our intentions for where we are going.  Join me today in taking 5 minutes to reflect on all you've accomplished since this day a year ago and write down 3 things you want to experience in a year from now.  Then every year on my birthday I will remember to think of not only my own reflections and intentions but yours as well.  This will remind us all to keep tapping into our most unlimited potentiality for the best life ever!  Love yourself, love your day, love your LIFE!  With immense gratitude and love, Silvia

Dear Beautiful Friends,

Today is my birthday!  And just this week my friend Steve and I were reminiscing about the lovely birthday party my friend Diana offered me last year.  The point of the conversation was looking back at the past year at how much things had changed.
This is a powerful yogic lesson.  Change is an inherent part of life.  The less we fight this truth and align with it, the easier it is to "Be the Change We Want to See in the World" (Ghandi)

Our birthday's really serve as our personal New Year's.  They remind us to look back at how far we've come appreciate it and endeavor to be clear about our intentions for where we are going.  Join me today in taking 5 minutes to reflect on all you've accomplished since this day a year ago and write down 3 things you want to experience in a year from now.  Then every year on my birthday I will remember to think of not only my own reflections and intentions but yours as well.  This will remind us all to keep tapping into our most unlimited potentiality for the best life ever!  Love yourself, love your day, love your LIFE!  With immense gratitude and love, Silvia

FEBRUARY 15, 2010:  Today's class is dedicated to three of my friends and longtime TBY students Ashley, Jennifer and John all celebrating birthday's today and yesterday!  Our birthday's serve as a positive reminder that we didn't just arrive to today out of the blue.  We had to take many steps in our personal journey's to be where we find ourselves in this moment.   

Other people's birthday's remind us too to take stock of where we have come from, take responsibility for it (gosh that part is hard), stop trying to rewrite the past but simply acknowledge what steps have been walked and then make a conscious choice of the direction we want this next year to go.   

The very first Yoga Sutra Chapter 1, Verse 1 states "Now begins the study of yoga" or put in real person yoga terms..."Once upon a time."  The story begins where we are but for any and all of us the book of our lives has fallen open to the book of our life already in process.  Now it could be chapter 10 or 29 or 39 but wherever it is the story has much more to be written.  That's where the yoga really comes into play.  And I mean play.  If you believe that our true nature (which yoga suggests wholeheartedly) is to be happy the the world is our playground.  Where do you want to see yourself playing your life story out next?  

This philosophy of starting where you are and building from there STEP BY STEP is one definition of Vinyasa Krama as a life philosophy and a sequencing technique.  Take downward dog for instance.  This one pose is an important step in preparing us for a million or more than a million other yoga poses.  For instance, handstand! But don't freak out...this doesn't mean that the same day we learn downward dog we race to learn handstand within 30 minutes.  This is a step by step process and it takes time.  Yoga is not a quick fix.   

So this week please join me Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday where during each of my classes we will take the foundational steps through the embracing and practicing of downward facing dog to prepare us for taking the step of Handstand maybe in this lifetime or in the next one.  This allows us to work at our own pace and my teaching methods and techniques will be customized to class level, time of day, and what everyone's energy feels like too.  So don't stop taking steps because you read handstand and get scared.   

Don't panic.  

Whatever challenge, hurt, difficulty you are facing in your life please use this practice on the mat to come with you to help you take one step at a time in moving your life forward in the most positive way!  Love to you all, Silvia       

(And I want to say a special thank you to my brother Fred for his continued grounding and my best friend for their undying support and love. What I learned from you both even just today I offer with an open heart to all my students)  

The most difficult thing about change is that we meet our fear.  So we fire up the third chakra to promote feelings of courage and self-determination that help us be with the dynamic dance of change in our lives. Now we could just avoid it all. There is that.  But as Jon Kabat Zinn says about life, it’s like the lottery, you got play to have a chance at winning. Each day we have a choice to show up or not.  We have a constant opportunity to make decisions that guide our lives.  When we avoid what scares us then we turn over all our power to someone else.  They control our lives. And it’s hard to be enthusiastic about life when you’re avoiding making decisions or lack the fire in your belly to run your own race.

I know this is not easy. There is friction in making our own choices since we might make mistakes or fall down.  But at least we know we had the courage or Tapas to try.  This is no different than rubbing two sticks together to great friction, heat, or fire.  To bring this home we hatched a dream we’ve had for ourselves and took time to really give it life. Then was talked about sharing that dream out loud with another person. That by talking to someone about an intention we have for ourselves that’s like the two firesticks rubbing together to create fire. 

“Fire is not seen until one firestick rubs against another, though the fire remains hidden in the firestick. 

Let your body be the lower firestick; Let the heart be the upper. 

Rub them against each other in yoga and meditation.”  (ancient writing)

Fire is often symbolic of rebirth.  Fire cleanses, burns off the negative and energizes one to light the path forward.  This is the time to empower yourself towards transforming your life!  I wish you the courage of your heart, Silvia

JANUARY 28TH:  I am out of town for four days (1/29-2/1) in Colorado "yogaing" and skiing and taking time towards looking within myself to seek a deeper spiritual meaning in my life.  The Sutra that inspires me is Chapter 1, Verse 3: the the seer abides in his/her own true nature which is JOY.

I am a spiritual person by nature. I seriously felt this even as a little girl and it took until I was 25 years old before I even began spiritual babyhood.  Before then I had not given birth yet to my Spirit.  I was really in a gestation period the first 25 years of my life.  As you know many circumstances that brought me pain took place during that gestation period to help reveal who I really am, that sense of wholeness that yoga teaches is within us if we just remove all the outer crap.  But with that said I want you to know that I have never experienced failure at life because there is no such thing, however I did get stuck many times along the way in a state of suffering.  Yoga tells us pain is part of life, YUP.  But suffering is optional.  REALLY?  Yes. Judith Lasater says, "suffering is caused by the emotional reaction we lay on top of our pain."

So I became a spiritual seeker and it wasn't until I was 30 years old that I started to say that out loud.  Before that I was too embarrassed to admit it for fear of what other people would think of me.  I really was afraid folks would think I was a freak or I'd lose "popularity" from more traditional friends.  Then another event happened in my life which resulted in FINALLY accepting responsibility for myself and I officially entered Spiritual Adolescence and finally Spiritual Adulthood where I've been for a while now. 

This trip as my daily practice does as well helps me stay connected to what is important to living spiritually.  Some mantras I speak to myself from my hero Judith Lasater are:

*I am my own authority

*All the answers are within me.

*Life is practice: practice is life

So this trip is my practice.  Hope to see you upon my return where together we will keep at this work in progress we call life.  Please live in the moment, love life for this is the performance!  Silvia

JULY 15TH, 2008:   Today is my birthday! So I've been even more self-reflective than usual and lately through my yoga practice I've had some really deep break thrus resulting in sweet insights.  I have been thinking about what I wish for.  When I was a little girl I don't remember really wishing for stuff.  I just knew I brought my family great happiness and I think I thought that was plenty.  Now in college, during some especially boy crazy years, my wishes all had to do with being liked by a particular boy & living happily ever after. But as an adult my wishes have evolved into a daily practice, not just saved for one time a year.  Now when I wake up each morning I say to myself "I choose peace" and I use this as a gateway to aligning with my heart's innermost intentions (a fancy way of saying wishes). 

So I look back not year to year as much as I do now day to day asking myself "Am I living my best life? And as a result are my thoughts and actions helping bring peace into the world?" I totally see how I contribute to making my wishes come true.  Gandhi says it like this, "Be the change you wish to see"

So really what do I WISH for?  My wish for my birthday (and every day) is I wish for PEACE for all people everywhere and I wish for truth.  The best present I can ever hope to receive is your personal donation to helping my wish for peace come true.  It costs no money to selflessly serve humanity...this is known as Seva. Please join me towards collective healing & peace for ALL! Peace in all ways - all days, Silvia