First Class Free

  By Laura Mills

  With Halloween just past I’ve been thinking about disguises.  Like most kids I loved October 31. Over the course of my younger years I disguised myself as, among other things, Pebbles Flintstone, Raggedy Ann, a princess, a witch, a hippie (several times!), and a cat. But Halloween, of course, isn’t just for kids; for plenty of adults, dressing up as someone or something else is just...FUN.  

  Putting the festiveness of Halloween aside, I’m wondering why we love disguises so much. Not only on Halloween—after all, a disguise doesn’t require a mask, whiskers and a tail, or even unfamiliar clothes. However we go about it, we find comfort in fooling others about our identity, in others’ not knowing whom we really are. Think about it…as children, who among us didn’t at one time or another want to be invisible? Then, with time dawned the knowledge that we couldn’t make ourselves disappear, but we could do anything but. Now, short of donning fake fangs or a wig, we devise countless ways of hiding the person we are on the inside. Maybe it’s the tremendous relief from self-consciousness….

  Years ago, when I taught high school science, every October at least one student would ask me about my upcoming Halloween costume. I would always joke, “I’m going to be a chemistry teacher.” Today, I see the actual seriousness of that statement. The most difficult disguise to wear is no disguise at all. Appearing as the real you—heart, soul, and everything in between, within and without—is more frightening than dressing up in even the scariest Halloween costume. But I have no doubt it’s also the most worthwhile way to let the world see you. 

  By Laura Mills

  For several years I made a habit of drinking one diet soda every afternoon. It was my pick-me-up, my simple indulgence in the middle of the day to add a little flavor to the hours that followed. I enjoyed diet soda and never considered my one daily can a terribly unhealthy habit. But what bothered me is that I often pulled one out of the fridge just because the clock said 4:00 pm. I didn’t contemplate whether I wanted it or not; it was just something I had gotten used to doing.

  Completely eliminating my afternoon pick-me-up just left me irritated, so to remedy the situation I sought a more gentle approach and switched from diet soda to something less automatic: tea. I had always kept a few varieties of tea on hand, but now I stocked up. I reasoned that tea requires intention, that I would never be able to pull a hot, ready-to-drink cup out of the cabinet at 4:00 pm or any other time. I would instead have to gather the tea-making items, wait at least a few minutes for the water to boil, and then wait another few minutes for the tea to brew. In other words, I would have to REALLY want that tea.  

  So far, my new approach is working well. I still keep a few emergency sodas in the fridge and pull one out every now and then, but I’m noticing that the more I drink tea the more I enjoy it. In addition to tea’s flavor and warmth, I appreciate the experience of consciously choosing my afternoon pick-me-up, another small way of savoring even the simplest moments.

INTERMEDIATE VINYASA - PEAK POSE VISMAMISTRASANA - NOVEMBER 14, 2010

One wave taught and practiced from my video. Philosophical theme is not judging, letting go of self-consciousness

http://totalbodyyoga.smugmug.com/Other/Yoga-Video/14626334_ctxSf#1088205682_EJPLo-A-LB

WAVE 1

Childs pose

Wrist Stretches: Finger tip table floss shoulders, turn one hand around face knee, switch, turn back of hand around to face knee, switch

Half Thread the Needle

Thread the Needle:  Hold then dynamic keeping shoulder quiet-  all core action obliques

Half Thread the Needle dynamic

Thread the Needle side 2: hold then dynamic

Downward Dog

WAVE 2

Half Spinal balance to child's pose dynamic alternating each side

Full Spinal balance hold, 

Kneeling Side Plank

Gate Pose

Half Warrior B

Half Triangle then unsupported niralamba

Kneeling Side Plank

Flow 3 x's

Hold Kneeling Side Plank to Full Side Plank

Plank - basic vinyasa

Side 2

WAVE 3

Reverse Half Vinyasa: Upward facing plank to Dog pose repeat and flow (add optional chatarunga, plank)

Walk the dog to Uttanasana (forward fold)

Lift right leg - standing splits, lower

Stand up - lift left knee to crane

Warrior 3

Crane to Standing Pigeon Chair arms open, twist arms wide

Step forward Pyramid

Side 2: stand on left leg crane, warrior 3, crane to Standing Pigeon chair, twist, step back Pyramid

Standing splits left leg is up

WAVE 4 - Sun Salutation C with variation

Step back Half Lunge knee down circle arms up, lower

Step forward half way Pyramid inhale/exhale

Lift chest prepare jump or step back basic vinyasa

Step Left foot forward Half Lunge, pyramid, basic vinyasa

Flow and repeat 5-7 times

WAVE 5

Last time from Pyramid hold

Revolved Triangle

Revolved Half Moon B

Standing Splits

Warrior A with yoga mudra

Humble Warrior

Side Angle 

Warrior B

Dynamic Reverse Warrior to Side Angle Pose - a few times

Basic vinyasa

Side 2 repeat above

WAVE 6

Step to Low Lunge - Quad stretch

Half Warrior 2 prep

Half Splits

Half Vismamitrasana

Koundinyasana 

Basic Vinyasa

Side 2

WAVE 7 - LIKE MY VIDEO

Malasana front of mat

Cobbler (optional Supine Vismamitrasana)

Seated Forward Fold

Marychasana C twist

Janu Sirsasana twist

Kneeling Side Plank

Parsva Vasistasana 1 (variation of side plank legs split)

Sit to Upavista Konasana twist away then towards other leg

Wear leg on shoulder Seated Sundial pose (Seated Vismamistrasana)

Elephant arm balance - thread leg under

Half Vismamistrasana or Full Vismamistrasana

Koundinyasana 

Basic Vinyasa

Side 2

CLOSING WAVE

Malasana

Cobbler

Supine Cobbler

Finishing poses

The Heart is the Sun of the Soul - Shine out!

 November 14, 2010 

 The definition of self-conscious is "to be Conscious of one's self as an object of the observation of others."  There are good things and interesting things about this in that every day the way we live our lives we either serve as a positive example or a warning to other people.  We are under some scrutiny whether we like it or not. As Sally Field says,  "It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes." It is only when we allow the good opinion of other people to be more important than our own, that this self-consciousness becomes deeply detrimental to our happiness.  

 As a result of coming to the yoga mat I have grown both more aware of others judgments and less self-conscious all at the same time.  We step into the poses and we are alert to the presence of others but instead choose to focus on ourselves. We do the practice to be more conscious of our innate happiness and go beyond self-limiting belief.  We move and breath with the freedom that only comes from the light within: our hearts dancing with joy, long-held inhibitions vanishing until all self-doubt is erased!

To be honest this process may take more than just one class.

"We live in the most self-conscious society in the history of mankind.  There are good things in that, but there are also terrible things.  The worst of it is, that we find it hard to give ourselves to the process." - Larry Harvey says.  I agree.  The day I knew this enemy of love, self consciousness was no longer driving my life was when I felt the FLOW of the yoga poses and let the breath move me.  I gave myself to the process.  And everything changed.  I started to drop self-criticism along with being critical of others.  The judgment I feared from others no longer had power over me.  And in this video you can see how this translates into movement. 

http://totalbodyyoga.smugmug.com/Other/Yoga-Video/14626334_ctxSf#1088205682_EJPLo-A-LB

The choices I make I now honor as my own. And with every day I get more expert at doing the hardest yoga pose of all....Being Myself.  This is the pose I want you to learn more than any other too.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia       

May 10, 2010 Nischala Joy Devi puts it like this, “We miss life if we allow others to dictate the direction of our thoughts and feelings.  But when our heart guides the focus of our consciousness, love is ever present in our life.” So whatever the question you are struggling with is in your life the answer yoga teaches us is simple. LOVE IS THE ANSWER. 

If you can accept and embrace that our true nature is joy beyond the ups and downs and complexities of our humanity we are meant to live in love.  In yoga Bhakti means love.  Bhakti is love in ACTION.  Love is active. 

Right now you could be living more in love with your life.  There is no reason to wait for your life to be better when it can be better right now. So why delay? Well what often happens is we start to identify with our grumpy selves or sad or angry or critical selves and even come to believe that it us.  It is not us.  Those are just some fluctuations. To get back to our true nature we have to do something. Love is active.  (Chapter 1 Verse 4)

The Yoga Sutra this is based on is Chapter 1 Verse 3 United in the heart, consciousness is steadied, then we abide in our true nature, joy. The expansion of this joy is infinite LOVE, which encompasses and then transforms everything it touches.  Everywhere we look, we see the reflection of our joyful nature.

Make the practice of Bhakti of actively living in love your experience this week and see what happens, I know what happens…for that’s how I’ve chosen to live every day I have in this earthly body. I don’t want to waste a moment and hope you won’t any longer either. Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

MARCH 22, 2010

March 20th was Spring Equinox, and we know intellectually this means that the shadow of Winter moves on.  But still that lingering bit of heaviness continues to remain, we are still wearing all our layers of warm clothing and you can feel the tiredness in the air.  We have had a 2009 that was colder than usual, a lost summer and finding the getty up and go this Jan/Feb/Mar may have seemed insurmountable because of the record breaking number of grey days.  So let's acknowledge the darkness and see it as the fertilizer making our souls more fertile for the new beginnings of Spring.  We only make a new beginning by acknowledging the endings in our life. 

Often/sometimes/who am I kidding most always challenge rides along side positive change (paraphrased from Sadie Nardini).  Instead of denying we still feel a bit peaked let's stoke our fire gently.  Think about how you want to share in the new beginnings of Spring.  Do you want to see your life from a new perspective? Do you want to make a fresh start of things?

On the mat we practice in waves that each have a beginning, middle and end to feel this natural cycle.  For many of us endings are harder than beginnings. Or maybe you think they're both hard.  I get that.  We have even in each breath a CLEAN SLATE to breath in fresh air and rejuvenation.  And yet so often our human tendancy is to RECREATE THE PAST (breathing in an old way, thinking in old paradigms, living the old stories). Just know you don't have to.

To begin again, to start afresh isn't always popular.  As you change your energy impacts those around you and if they are resistant they may not see you as the superstar you are.  This doesn't mean we have to keep doing what everyone else is doing and letting your life decisions be made by default. That way of life is staying in the Dark. It is living life unconsciously.  Let go of making the opinions of others more important than your own. You're never going to get everyone to agree on how you should live your life anyway.

I didn't transition into teaching yoga to be popular or to be controversial, I simply taught because doing so brought me into full alignment with living a more loving life. When I made this new beginning one Spring many years ago I certainly was going against the grain of popular opinion (why leave a highly paying, glamourous corporate job with international travel for less money, less time, less travel?) But I had to follow the light and make my own choice. Our lives belong to us and so do our decisions. And eventually friends/family who really love you for you will appreciate any new beginning you wish to make.

Know this, when you come to TBY, we come together in Satsang (community) that is like minded. You will be with other people who want to make richer discoveries into who they are and through this self-discovery make more conscious choices.  And that is the well-spring of all new beginnings!  Love your life don't wait. Peace out, Silvia

FEBRUARY 19, 2010:  So today in class some of you are going to think this is the easiest class ever (and you'll blame it on me) and then others of you will think this is the hardest class ever (and blame it on me).  And to complicate matters those of you who might think it easy love that and others will think that's just not so good, and those that think it the hardest class ever will call it your favorite class ever while others will rate it as your least favorite.  What is this about?  Well its about our perspective.  In this practice we see our old mental habits and see what areas we are holding ourselves back from forwarding our lives because of self-limiting belief. Time on the mat helps us to contemplate why we think the things we do.  Do you, for instance, allow yourself to from time to time refresh the way you think about yourself?  It's like wearing the same t-shirt from 8th grade...maybe its time to try something else on?  This practice is neither hard or easy it is often our perspective that is making it more or less difficult. 

There is this story about The Problem with Human Compassion by Author Shankar Vedantam about why a dog tugs our hearts more than a distressed nation of millions that makes this point about Perspective.  "On March 13, 2002, a fire broke out in the engine room of an oil tanker about 800 miles south of Hawaii. There were eleven survivors and the Captain's dog, a terrier named Hokget. The crew were rescued but as the rescuers pulled away they heard a dog barking. The captain's dog had been left behind on the tanker."

So long story made shorter, money, people, energy poured in to save the dog.

"The philosopher Peter Singer once asked if you see a child drowning in a pond - and you would ruin a fine pair of shoes worth $200 if you jumped into the water - would you save the child or save your shoes? Obviously a child's life is worth more than a pair of shoes. But if this is the case, Singer asked, why do large numbers of people hesitate to write checks for $200 to a reputable charity that could save the life of a child. Psychologist Paul Slovic at the University of Oregon asked two groups of volunteers shortly after the Rawandan genocide to imagine they were officials in charge of humanitarian rescue effort. Both groups were told their money could save 4,500 lives at a camp, but one group was told the refugee camp had 11,000 people whereas the other group was told the camp had 250,000 people. Slovic found that people were much more reluctant to spend the money on the large camp than they were to spend the money on the small camp."

So in our poses on the mat we learn about our personal perspectives and can view how we react or respond and whether or not it makes intellectual sense.  This gives us the insight to make better choices.  To have a more holistic perspective broadens our scope of knowledge so maybe we would want to save 250,000 people and not just the 11,000 if given the choice.  We will learn Mandala Namaskar in order to help us find this global view within ourselves.

The other take away is that based in sutra 2.46 we can only really teach what we know, what we have integrated and processed for ourselves in this life.  So what you learn on the mat you not only apply in your life but through your actions teach others. This is not a case of do as a I say not as I do.  But all I ask is that you join me today and just learn to be conscious of what you say YES to and equally what you say NO to, and why.  May all beings everywhere be peaceful and free, Silvia

OCTOBER 7, 2009:  We start with a sweet exercise called “The 10 Blessings” by Dr William Holden.  It goes like this, look over the last week of your life and write down 10 blessings you experienced in the last seven days.  It’s not much to ask because all we need to do is find one blessing per 16.8 hours of life.  And if you think about 10 ways you blessed others lives that’s consciously thinking of goodness every 8.4 hours. Now do the math and consider if you could somehow multiply that by 2 so you think of 40 things every week: 20 blessings received and 20 blessings offered that’s something every 2.1 hours. 

This helps us keep the focus on the important questions like:  How can you enjoy the miracle of existence today?  How can I enjoy this moment more? 

The more you are willing to enjoy the moment the more beautiful each moment of your life will be.  Essentially it means you are choosing life. And life only happens one moment at a time.  The more you give yourself to each moment, the more each moment gives something back to you! Please starting now don’t miss a thing! Think about waking up to your life and start naming your day something beautiful!  Love and light, Silvia

 Blessing For Presence by John O’Donohue (To Bless the Space Between Us)

“Awaken to the mystery of being here

And eneter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to

follow it’s path.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of

Soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek

No attention.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven

Around the heart of wonder.”

Navajo prayer to enjoy

“Happily may I walk.

May it be beautiful before me.

May it be beautiful behind me.

May it be beautiful below me.

May it be beautiful above me.

May it be beautiful all around me.

It beauty, it is finished.”

OCTOBER 3, 2009:  In my role as a Love Anthropologist it’s been my experience that the most loving people. You know those folks that sparkle and are excited about life, loving towards everyone they meet, fun to be with…well what makes them unique is that they are PRESENT.

Good news is we can all cultivate this ability and yoga helps us do so.  This is supported in the yoga sutras Chapter 1 verse 23 “Boundless love unite us with consciousness.” 

This means be present, awake (conscious) turns us on to being more loving. And that love is infinite. We don’t have to pick and choose or dole it out conservatively. We can literally love everybody.  When we are present we see people, I mean we really see them through the eyes of compassion.  As the Dalai Lama says, “through compassion you find that all human beings are just like you.”  So start today.  Get to the mat and practice being more present and then just see for yourself, using your own life as self-study that in order to love more, we need to be more present.

As I’ve spent my whole life studying what brings others together in loving ways, I use this practice to explore myself and as I am present and accepting of who I am I naturally evolve into a more loving human being.  Please join me so we can transform ourselves, transform the world. Love everybody, serve everybody! (words of Neem Karoli Baba)  Love in all ways, Silvia

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2009:  When I was a girl I’d get together with my friends and we’d use the ouija board.  When it was my turn I’d ask serious questions, they’d be things like “Does Craig like me? Will Chris ask me to the dance? Will Ben love me forever so we can get married, have babies and live happily ever after?”  The ouija board had no chance in impressing me. I was relentless in my questioning. And I was only 15 years old.

Now just a few years later it has taken a lot of spiritual maturing to realize that as yoga teaches we experience life not with our mind and all its questions, but with our soul.  That we are something beyond the mind, beyond thought. And why do we need to question everything?

Putting all questions aside today can we in the words of my favorite band, The Beatles, “Let it Be”  Or as Tantric Scholar Christopher Tompkins said during a lecture in San Francisco at Shiva Rea’s teacher training last October at YogaTree, “Don’t try to fix shit during yoga, just be with how you are now.”

Hmmm, ok I have to say I kind of get the feeling of that on a gut level.  It is also helping us to just be present.  So easily said but to actually BE has a learning curve.  The mind wants to question every little thing, rewrite the past, write out the exact detail of the future.  In a way a better understanding of consciousness could be to let go of what we know is NOT consciousness (like what we see, what we think, the numbers of shoes we have, what kind of jeans we wear, etc).  Consciousness, a real awakening to this moment being presented is felt with our soul.

This is why fundamentally Yoga is for the Mind, to help us focus and find ourselves more present. I know we do stuff for the body but that is the gateway and totally enjoyable as well.  Eventually the path of yogic teachings is taking us deeper inside than perhaps we’ve ever been, the Home of our Heart.  May you live in love and today give yourself a break, STOP QUESTIONING EVERYTHING.  Just Let it Be.  Love and light, Silvia

(This meditation inspired by Kishan Shah, visit his site www.kishanshah.com) Om Shanti! 

MARCH 18TH, 2009:  We sat in Vajrasana, rubbed our hands together like to two sticks of wood to create friction/heat and then cupped our eyes. We used this as an opporturnity to open our eyes and look at our hands which acted as a mirror.  Asking ourselves in our outward reflection what did we see? Who is the person staring back at us?  Then we closed our eyes in the warmth of our hands and turned our gaze inwards to view the inner reflection and ask what is our purpose?  Who are we?

And this means it is something more than the role we play at work, the labels we wear like son, daughter, partner, parent.  As a human creatures who are you?  As Stephen Covey writes, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.” So as a human being what is your Lifes Purpose or Dharma?

For its more than what job title we have on our business card or the label people know us by.  Woodrow Wilson, the 28^th President of the United States said it like this, “You are not here merely to make a living.  You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”  So how do we do this?  We get to work on the mat, anchored in our body to try to peal back the layers to look inside where all the answers already exist.  As the Buddha says, “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” 

For that’s the practice knowing our Dharma and contributing in a positive way to the world.  So we partnered in handstand tonight to help us experience this directly.  We also used a variety of flowing poses to help us face our fears such as balance poses and hip openers.  Because that is the harder practice to keep coming back to our purpose and living our Dharma not just for one day, or one week or even one year but forever, in spite of the fear we sometimes face.

Best said is motivational speaker Earl Nightingale who says, “Don’t let fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”  So go inside, see your dreams, believe me when I tell you that you already have all the time, money and energy you need to make these dreams a reality and shine out your Dharma to the world!  Love to all, Peace to All, Courage to all! Silvia