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OCTOBER 17, 2010.  "People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them."  The Alchemist

This is about Fear.  That we limit ourselves mentally, emotionally as a result and unless we can see the fear as illusion, just a mental game we are playing it will paralyze us, stiffen us, make us brittle.  As the Alchemist also goes on to talk about how the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering.  It is NOT about whether or not we are afraid. Of course! We all are afraid of something.  But instead how we either allow this fear to stop our experiences of life or let it fuel the bouncing back.  We try, we experiment, we get a result, maybe not the one we wanted but still a result a karma and we bounce back to try again.

What is your bounce back factor?

Do you allow things to scare you so much that you ignore them, freeze, run away, fight them?  Today the family of poses we used to help us move beyond the illusion of fear was arm balances.  Learning to concentrate regardless of what was physically achievable.  Learning how to attempt the impossible to see that this opinion was only a thought...nothing more or less. And just as easily we can change that thought to believe in the impossibility of things.  You can by facing your fears learn to talk to yourself differently.  So here below was our class plan (not as cleaned up as usual but for sake of time I wanted to share it with you as is).  I hope you enjoyed the practice and that you see how deserving you are of living life FULL BLAST, get past the veil of fear and try for your most important dreams!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

Theme: Solving the "mystery" of arm balances. If this family of asana have you spooked or scared let's face that fear together and see what's really going on.

CLASS PLAN

 WAVE 1

Twist

Supine Bridge to Waterfall abs with brick

Core cultivation:  

Brick in inner thighs

cobbler abs, two bricks

step on brick get the twist

Pigeon abs

(Side 2)

Bridge

WAVE 2

Upward Facing plank, hands on bricks

--- pull backs

Janu sirsana forward, parsva janu sirsana

Vasistasana variation kneeling

Parsva Vasistasana other wise

Marichyasana C

Pascimotanasana

Side 2

Upward facing on bricks

Malasana (move bricks forward)

WAVE 3

Sun Sal A variations hands on bricks (3-4 times)

Half Moon A - different each time

WAVE 4

I leg dog

High Lunge to transverse lunge back foot

Standing splits, baby eagle once

High lunge, lunge push up, up fold in half repeat 3 x's

Revolved Lunge

Transverse lunge: bind, sit inside like parsva janu sirsasana

Face back

Basic vinyasa

Jump forward finish like Sun Sal A all the way to Down Dog

Right leg up again

High Lunge to transverse lunge

Standing Splits

HIgh Lunge, lunge push up to hands to ground standing splits 3's

Last time transition from standing splits

Pyramid

Revolved Triangle

Revolved Prasarita

Jump to prasarita

Exit back to front, right foot

Standing Splits

Crane to 1 leg pigeon chair (hands on bricks - prep for arm balance)

Plank, basic vinyasa with bricks all the way to down dog

Begin mandala side 2

WAVE 5

Frog

Malasana

Bakasana with head on brick, lift head

Downward Dog

I leg dog, hip open

Pigeon - twist and hold back foot for backbend

Swing back leg forward Janu sirsasana

Seated Pigeon

-- twist it

Stand from tip toe balance to Eka Pada Galavasana

Plank, basic vinyasa

Side 2

WAVE 6

Bhujaphidasana

Tittibasana with partner to crow or crow jump back

CLOSING WAVE

Cooling postures

Savasana

Meditation

PS CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW FALL TEACHER TRAINEES WHO ARE FACING FEARS AND CHALLENGING THEMSELVES TO LOOK WITHIN!

MARCH 17TH, 2009:  “The trick to juggling is determining which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass.”

I love folks that have jovial, bright attitudes about life. No matter how down things get they are able to see the uplift in any situation.  I am one of those people. Well, let me say it like this, Yoga has helped me become one of those people who have this “bounce back factor”. 

So I ask you today what is your BOUNCE BACK FACTOR?  Do you look for the uplift in situations or get pulled into negativity and stay there?  Do you bounce back, reregulate, recalibrate quickly or not so much?  How long do you stay mad? How long do you stay upset or sad?  Do you let something unexpected ruin your week, or your weekend, your anniversary, your vacation?  If you are not yet a bounce back person, the answer could be as easy as practice more yoga! 

Why does this work?  It’s the big MO.  Each small victory in not freaking out or getting out of whack for less time is exciting and lets us take larger steps to our highest best self.  Each little victory creates momentum.  When you throw a ball you need momentum to make it go farther right? Well its like that.  More bounces, less effort.  As I always say WE GROW GREAT BY DEGREES.

Now the bounce back factor also requires that we see ourselves as co-creating with the universe as well as recognizing that true happiness is an inside job.  Basically its like this what we say to ourselves on the inside is what we see on the outside. The world is not created out there and then experienced inside us. It's the other way around. What you see on the outside is the reflection of what you've created on the inside through your thoughts. what we say to ourselves on the inside is what we see on the outside. The world is not created out there and then experienced inside us.

Especially essential in promoting a stronger bounce back factor is accepting that there is NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE.  There is only experience and observation of our experience.  We just can’t get bogged down in fear or negativity. "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move."  Thit Nhat Hanh says, “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong.  Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”

Ultimately bouncing back is like the practice of contentment not for wimps.  We have to engage some tapas and put some effort into it, just like throwing a ball.  So together, let’s practice and you will get stronger, more steady, and your ability to bounce back will improve exponentially!  GO BIG, LOVE BIG, DREAM BIG!  Silvia