First Class Free

Joan Baez says, “You don’t get to choose how you are going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.”

NOVEMBER 20, 2009: I know this much, Life is a celebration and it is our responsibility to enjoy it to its fullest! But I also know to enjoy life you must renounce your fear and anxiety. I spent a good portion of time being terribly afraid (afraid of not being perfect, afraid of what others might think, afraid of failing, afraid someone I loved would leave me if I didn’t do my life right according to them, afraid perhaps of really being fully happy, afraid of being myself). I don’t want that for you. I really don’t. Life is happening right now so stop waiting, stop wasting time, stop being afraid of living it on your terms because life is already here.

Next month I am learning how to surf. I have been doing my homework, reading up, talking to everyone I know that has surfed, watching DVD’s. It both energizes me and sometimes I get a little nervous. However because I feel free in my choices I am not frightened. In February I went skiing for the first time in ages and here at the end of the year I am again in water…why not? These are my soft spots. (Stay tuned next I go rock climbing!)

Rinpoche talked about how we all have a soft spot and that fear and fear like responses such as worry or resentment occur because we are trying to cover up that soft spot. We tend to hurry past pain but this hurrying causes more tension instead of healing. If we spend more time with what we fear we can look into that pain and release some of the tension. We practice vinyasa flow and enjoy the repetition to feel relationship between poses, we feel power of flow, becoming more confident, growing more fearless. Use this to heal and release fear.

When folks ask me how did I get past a way of fearful living I tell them I practiced a ton of yoga. I came to the mat, going upside down, trying holding a pose into sensation like bending my knee deeper in Warriors or balancing on one leg and by facing me fear on the mat I then was able to recognize that fear off the mat and do something about it. The Buddha says, if a person is struck by an arrow and is in a lot of pain there is that but what if a 2nd arrow hit the person in the same spot the pain would be 100 times more intense because he/she was already wounded. If you recognize pain and fear or worry then you can help STOP another arrow of fear or worry hitting you in that same spot.

The time on the mat helps me to prevent the 2nd arrow. I have slowly grown more confident and now I “practice with elegance and openness so as to open the body in a resplendent expression of my hearts inner luminosity.” You see you guys when we cultivate fearlessness we experience our hearts as more open. I also repeat this mantra to myself

I AM FREE
I AM NOT FRIGHTENED
I AM NOT HUMILITATED BY GUILT OR WORRY
I AM IN LOVE WITH THE MY LIFE!


So may we use today to notice our lives right now, facing them as they are, learning how to stop avoiding ourselves but instead BEING OURSELVES. This may be the most courageous challenge we can possible accept. Free yourself, be your own knight in shining armor. You need not be afraid of anything. Love and light, Silvia

MARCH 31, 2009:  I have often asked myself the simple but powerful question, "Am I more afraid of being happy or more afraid of Fear itself?"  How would you respond?

I can tell you that for many years of my life I have been more afraid of being truly happy.  Why? Becaues really being happy day in and day out requires COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, HOPE, INNER STRENGTH and most of all SELF-LOVE. The messages of "I'm not really worthy" or "I don't have time" or "I'm afraid of being hurt again" can show up at any time even in the most spiritually mature person.  It's easier to give in to the conditioned response of Fear than face ourselves and change our mental habits.

Yoga offers us a safe place to get strong, mentally and physically.  It can help us view our habits and make the change from within so that we choose happiness over fear.  And then it is a continuous practice.  If you really want to be happy it requires your committment from this day forward.  In a way it is like deciding that we want to "Marry ourselves".  And part of the vow we take is to promise to at least try to be happy each and every day. 

Believe me, its not always easy but lasting happiness is only found a day at a time anyway.  So I know you can do it.  Face your fears and let LOVE make you strong!  Wishing you your own best strength and courage, Silvia

 

DECEMBER 14TH, 2008: I know you saw FEARLESSNESS and thought Oh No, we re going upside down! So not true. You see for me the greatest practice of fearlessness is being really true to what we want for our lives. Now that s craziness! Balancing on your hands in the middle of the room, not as scary in the comparison.

Yes, I brought marshmallows for everyone to make a point today. Why Because to me our hearts are like marshmallows, they are pretty resilient you know Yoga will help us be strong on the inside so we can be soft on the outside in making choices for ourselves. We can move beyond fear, which is the enemy of love, to a place of fearlessness. Especially if our greatest fear is failure we can realize through yoga that we will bounce back, if you squish the marshmallow it regains its form (it really does, try it). Use this practice to experiment with the 3 P s: persistence, patience and perseverance! So as Rascal Flats sings I hope the day comes easy and the moments pass slow and each road leads you to where you want to go and if you re faced with the choice and you have to choose I hope you choose the one that means the most to you. So be fearless in what you wish for, in setting an intention today...and as the song goes, MY WISH for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to. So take a chance, dream big, your heart is supple and will support you!
BIG LOVE, Silvia Today s Mantra: If I was not afraid I would .
Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. ~Author Unknown