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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

APRIL 12TH, 2009:  It's easy to think sometimes that the universe is working against us but the yogic view is one that says the universe is really always working with us, it is on our side.  The universe (Spirit) wants us to live PEACEFULLY.  Our only job is to say Yes to peace.  So take a big breath right now and let it out slow.  Know you are loved.  Then as you quiet your breath, inhaling love and exhaling peace dedicate today to practicting to love the peace within your heart so that you can dedicate peace to your families, to your friends to the world!

You might say is this really my responsibility?  Yes. (Remember just say Yes)

The Dalai Lama says it like this, "Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace starts within each one of us." From a yogic viewpoint it's not that complicated you guys, its a simple theory: If we are to have true peace in this world, each one of us must find it in ourselves first.  If we don't like ourselves, we probably won't like other people. If we are in a constant state of inner conflict, we will proabably bring conflict into the world. If we are super angry (just plain pissed off all the time), then we are likely going to be angry at everyone around us.  We have to look inside ourselves for the meaning of peace, see our internal struggles rather than denying them, and only then can we create the changes we want. 

In class when we practice peace it's like we're all wearing a PEACE TEE under our clothing like superman or wonderwoman.  It is always our inner most garment, we just forget sometimes that we have it on.  So the practice helps us in some ways strip down to our truest selves and one way to do this is to use poses that offer sensation.  Then observe what comes up from the inside, let it out.  Once we see that our humanness is something to embrace (crankiness, fear, worry, frustration) then we can transcend the dark qualities and move into an everlasting state of peace.  This is why I often say, our lives can make our yoga hard but our yoga makes our lives easier.  Then its a matter of whether or not peace is something you want to choose. Or as Eckhart Tolle in his book A New Earth says, "if peace is reallly what you want, then you will choose peace. If peace mattered to you more than anything else you would remain non reactive when confronted with challenging people or situations."

So join me today, shed light through simple awareness and desire for serenity and peaceful existence on your own humanity.  Then through compassion, which is peace in action, initiate the flow of good peaceful energy into all aspects of your life.  And remember, when self doubt rears its head that PEACE IS LOVE.  So all this really means is that to live peacefully we must love ourselves. 

To listen to a video broadcast about self-love go to the Loving Your Day page of this website.  Love your day, love yourself, bring peace to the world! Silvia

DECEMBER 4TH, 2008:  This is an interesting time of year.  It is considered by many people to be the most sacred, quiet, peaceful time of year.  Yet here we are in the midst of extreme business...so busy it keeps us away from practicing yoga!

In a pose and inside our breath we often ask ourselves as part of self-study what is more dominant, what is not engaged, another way said...what is leading our energy and where are we following.  This awareness is important because we cannot truly know peace until we understand the many tendencies we have that threat our ability to find it, let alone keep it. 

Ask yourself have you during this most quiet time of year been TOO BUSY, following the energy of your neighbors, colleagues to buy more, do more?  If yes then make time for the mat, get into your body which will make you honest and help you take back the lead.  As the Dalai Lama says, "Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace starts within each of us."

Right on!  May I be peaceful, May you be peaceful, May WE be peaceful! Love, Silvia

NOVEMBER 14^TH, 2008:  My favorite Rumi poem begins: "Come for today is a day of festival, Henceforward joy and pleasure are on the increase. Clap hands, say, 'Today is all happiness, from the beginning it was a manifestly fine day.” It reminds me of when we were kids and we’d clap our hands together to celebrate ourselves spontaneously. How great was that!  To clap and celebrate ones own life is yoga!  The Dalai Lama puts it like this when he says “the roots of all goodness lie in the soul of appreciation for goodness.”  When we symbolically clap hands by saying nice things to ourselves through our thoughts we are appreciating our goodness.  Healthy self-esteem comes from seeing our own gifts, unabashedly celebrating them thus making today a day of happiness, a really fine day.

If we seek our happiness outside ourselves it sets us up for disappointment.  Or as Dr Wayne Dyer says "Every moment that you spend upset, in despair, in anguish, angry or hurt because of the behaviour of anybody else in your life is a moment in which you have given up control of your life."  So join me in clapping hands every day (even at the end of a yoga class!)  My hope is that if we can let go of our pretenses we will be able to more easily share the amazing beauty and humor of our real selves. Just try it, spontaneiously express your joy and appreciation for your life by clapping hands, I’m sure it will make you smile!  Love Big In All Ways, Silvia  

SEPTEMBER 26TH:  I love the title of this book by Jessica Weiner, self-esteem expert and author of LIFE DOESN'T BEGIN 5 POUNDS FROM NOW.  That’s yoga!   As our intentions today let’s agree we best keep learning by admitting we don't know everything yet and that we can only grow if we accept that we are not perfect.  Have the courage to change, and let’s stop being afraid of making mistakes. Of course life will have trail and error.  By falling over and getting up many times, children learn that walking is possible.  In yoga, falling many times teaches you to fall without pain; we cannot always avoid falling, but we can often learn to avoid the pain!  So join me in boldly saying the mantra to ourselves I will not let the fear of making mistakes control my life!  Right?  YES!  Let it all be messy and imperfect.  Enjoy your humanness and put others at ease because of this self acceptance.  Rock on my friends! Silvia 

Perhaps this meditation can be a powerful motivation as well as dedication for your practice:

"May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need."
--His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama