February 21, 2011 To be happy is DEEP WORK, it is not surface stuff.  And the reality of yoga is that it helps us explore ourselves to find out as Anthony DeMello writes, "there is not a single moment in our life when we do not have everything we need to be happy."  

This concept of already having the life we love reminds me of one of my favorites quotes from the book Immunity to Change “Happiness is really freedom from unhappiness.”  So join me in softening our expectations so we can find the:

• Freedom to be happier than ever before
• Freedom to try new things
• Freedom to meet new people
• Freedom to make happy failures
• Freedom to not play it all so safe
• Freedom to do the unexpected
• Freedom to just see what happens 

In 1948 a study began known as the Framingham Heart Study.  It was the most comprehensive of its kind.  Now 60 plus years later scientists have studied other aspects beyond just heart disease.  One of their findings is related to happiness theory.  And of the factors studied a key part is that happiness is being connected to other people.  We experience happiness through social connections.  And therefore are very much influenced by clusters of other people around us.  Check this out:  a change in one person effects you and all in the cluster, your probability for increased happiness improves 15% if your most immediate friend is happy, 10% if a friend of your friend is happy, and so on until four degrees of separation. 

They are figuring out and measuring what yogis have known for thousands of years:  happiness is contagious.  And of course love is our expression of happiness so Love is Contagious.  Today set yourself free to love more, make it viral. Love everyone, starting with you.  Love yourself more, love your day, love your life! Silvia 

PS When you need to create more space for love try this gratitude breath meditation.

Inhale: I welcome happiness,

Exhale: I am grateful

Inhale:  I welcome inspiration

Exhale:  I am grateful

Inhale:  I welcome love

Exhale:  I am grateful

Inhale: I welcome hope

Exhale: I am grateful

 

February 18, 2011.  The choice to be FREE requires an enormous amount of inner strength.  It asks that we be courageous and believe in our own right to be free.  Yoga Sutras Chapter 2.26 talks about how if we believe we are limited, you will be limited; if you believe you are free, you are FREE.  In yogic terms Freedom is known as Jivamukti.  For whatever reason or reasons you feel trapped in your life know you have a choice to free your mind and heart.  It is always there.

Yoga teaches us that we are sovereign over the democracy of ourselves.  Living in a democracy we all can appreciate a thing or two about Freedom.  So ask yourself what kind of freedoms do you encourage in your life?  Are you afraid to stand up for your rights?  Do you promote shared responsibility amongst the constituents of your limbs, breath, mind and heart?  Do you keep yourself shackled to workaholism or do you imprison yourself with worry or self-doubt or critical self-dialogue, do you allow someone outside yourself to run your life?

In my personal work the greatest prisons I've experienced have been those of my own making.  It has been through the yogic practice that I started to place more daily importance on liberation. With time I embraced how crucial it is to find peace and happiness from the inside.  As we study ourselves the yoga helps us explore through movement a freedom in our bodies and a kind of flowing meditation where we can find peace and tranquility in our minds.   

So right now, sit in a way that elongates your spine and let’s your breath travel more freely.  As you free your breath you liberate your mind.  As the mind opens the heart opens.  You being to realize that you can choose to draw upon your own fortitude to free your heart from pain, to free your body from long held tension and to free yourself of unhealthy mindless habits (samskaras).  It is going to look different for everyone.  And it is a constant practice to remind ourselves that we alone are the most responsible in keeping the peace and joy within the democracy of self.  "You see the wider practice of yoga is not about arranging our life so that it is perfect and easy and non-challenging. Rather it is about using the discipline we find in asana practice to be able to remain “easy” in the midst of difficulty. That is the true measure of freedom. When we learn this then everything we do and everything we say becomes an “asana”, a position of body, mind and soul which requires the attention that brings us into the present."  I know what it’s like to feel imprisoned. I also can tell you I know what is it like to break free.  It’s not easy but I believe all of us can do it. So here I leave you with a final poem to inspire you to free yourself, love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

"May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart
...something good is going to happen to you.
May you find harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing that lies at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May you be set free from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, 
mind you, and embrace you in belonging."    
-  John O'Donahoe

TODAY'S PLAYLIST:

Flow, Sade

Outta Control, 50 Cent

Xoxoxo, The Black Eyed Peas

Au Pays De Gandhi, MC Solaar

Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), Spiller

15 to 20 (Den Haan Remix), The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, KT Tunstall

Every Breath You Take, The Police

Lumière [MAIN], Blue Scholars

Revelation Dub, Kabanjak

Twin Blue, Millions & Millions

Shavasana/Deep Relaxation, Shiva Rea

January 17, 2011.  Here is my playlist from class on MLK Day.  Focusing on freeing up our intentions as the best way to show gratitude for all those like MLK that sacrificed so much in order for us to do our hardest pose of all: be ourselves.  That is the ultimate freedom! Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia www.silviamordini.com

PLAYLIST

Big Medicine, Mari Boine

Lumière [MAIN], Blue Scholars

Nungabunda, Ganga Giri

Grid Lok'd, Govindas

Just You & I, Dzihan & Kamien

Diarabi, Issa Bagayogo

Pitchblack Darkness (feat. Reazun, Paradox), Kyteman

One Moment More, Mindy Smith

Wonderwall, Ryan Adams

Wash Away, Joe Purdy

Child's Eyes (Jenny's Song), Scott Cossu

The Hill, Markéta Irglová

Samba Sadashiva, Donna De Lory

 

***Still time and room to join me in Puerto Vallarta Feb 26- Mar 5! www.alchemytours.com

OCTOBER 22, 2010.

A quick summary of the highlights about Pushing and Pulling, Dvesa and Raga.  Take to heart the words of Judith Lasater who writes, “in life we are pulled between trying to get what you want and trying to avoid what you don’t want.  Pulling and Pushing away both limit our freedom.”  What is freedom? To me is about learning to BE. The aspiration is towards beingness.

Yoga Sutras Chapter 2, Verse 7

Excessive fondness for pleasant experiences causes longing.  Attachment (Raga) which is PULLING

Yoga Sutras Chapter 2, Verse 8

Excessive avoidance of unpleasant experiences causes disdain.  Aversion (Dvesa) which is PUSHING

 

On and off the mat we can be aware of what we are thinking:

Where are your thoughts PUSH energy.  Push thoughts are things like “I don’t want to hold this pose, I don’t want to try this new or difficult variation”.

Where are your thoughts PULL energy.  And pull thoughts might be things like “I want another Sun Salutation, I should be able to do 35 vinyasas per class no matter what. Bring on side 2, I'll take it on.”

And the way this travels with you into your life is how you treat your family, your friends, you partner.

Every time you push your partner, he or she must pull back, and the pressure is now on them to not only react to your pushing, but to do so with accuracy, without overcompensating for the initial push, in order to come back into balance. Think if you just stopped pushing or pulling at your partner how the beingness would be so much easier.

Peace out, Silvia

Today I meditate on this poem about Freedom. In yogic terms known as Jivamukti.  For whatever reason or reasons you feel trapped in your life know you have a choice to free your mind and heart.  It is always there.  Wishing you courage to choose wisely.  Love and peace, Silvia

"May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart
...something good is going to happen to you.
May you find harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing that lies at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May you be set free from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, 
mind you, and embrace you in belonging."    
-  John O'Donahoe

May 18, 2010, I have this conversation with someone or many folks quite frankly every week without fail.  Is Yoga Spiritual?  And the first thing I do when I receive this question is ask (as I am doing here with you), What does it mean to you to be Spiritual?

What yoga is and what it isn’t is often hotly debated.  My best friend just sent me a link to a movie called Yoga, Inc which also includes this topic.  Our 6^th chakra Ajna sensibility is really about perception. The encyclopedia of events in your life influence how you define the circumstances and attitudes of your life.  To me the key point is that you get to decide what your thoughts are and you are responsible for managing your view of your life.  It’s that old saying:

“Watch your thoughts for they become words

Watch your words for they become actions

Watch your actions for they become habits

Watch your habits for they become character

Watch your character for it becomes your destiny!”

 

My all time favorite definition of yoga that I take on as my own as well is by David Frawley, Yoga and Ayurveda:

“Yoga is one of the most extraordinary spiritual sciences that mankind has discovered.  It is like a gem of great proportions, containing many facets whose light can illume the whole of our lives with great meaning. Yogic methods cover the entire field of our existence – from the physical, sensory, emotional, mental, and spiritual to the highest Self-realization.  It includes all methods of higher evolution in humanity – physical postures, ethical postures, breath control, sensory methods, affirmations and visualizations, prayer and mantra, and complex meditative disciplines.  Yoga understands the nature and interrelationships of the physical, subtle and formless universes into the boundless infinite beyond time and space, and shows us how these also exist within each human individual.” 

So I guess there you have it. You now know for sure I believe this is a spiritual practice, or at least it is for me, and can be for you if you want to make it such.  And if you don’t believe yoga is spiritual you gain all these amazing benefits anyway.  So I say, let everyone do their own yoga. And if it makes us all nicer and kinder than regardless of anything more, we have succeeded in making the world a better place right now.  Love to you all, Silvia

FEBRUARY 24TH, 2010:  Good morning friends! I am subbing for Mara at 10:45am Basics and will teach a class focused on something I know personally all too well....Back pain. When I was hit by the car this was the biggest souvenir I had.  I tried everything to feel better! I would have paid any amount of money, gone anywhere in the world, done anything if you could help me make my back pain be less loud! Finally, I found yoga.  And happily as I practice yoga every day in all these years since the accident I am back pain free. This is not a short term fix. This is a lifestyle choice where you have to make the commitment to work harder than your pain and try some yoga poses and breathing for every day of freedom.  Join me to learn more! Here is a great article to read...Love the day, Silvia

 

Back pain is an on-going problem for the majority of adults in most industrialized countries.  Low back injuries usually heal within weeks, but long term healing is often more difficult to achieve.  Rehabilitative exercise is often the key to developing a strong healthy back.  And, according to a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, yoga is more effective for the treatment of back pain than traditional exercise. 

 

Why is Yoga an Effective Way to Treat Back Pain?

 

1) Yoga helps increase strength in very specific muscle groups and works to strengthen all major muscle groups that support the spine.

 

2) The stretching postures in yoga increase blood flow to the tissues that support the spine, improving the health of the intervertebral discs and muscles along the spine.

 

3) Yoga increases flexibility in your shoulders and hips, which decreases demands on your back, and yoga increases flexibility of the muscles in your back and along your spine, allowing your spine to rotate properly.

 

4) Yoga's focus on breathing and connecting breath with movement improves body awareness, making you more conscious of movements that may contribute to back pain.

 

5) The "spine lengthening" poses in yoga promote good posture and proper alignment of the vertebrae.  When the spine lengthens, it naturally moves towards correct alignment.  Having proper posture ensures that you are not placing undue stress upon your back.

 

Understanding Your Back

To take care of your back or to heal it, you must understand it.  Back problems do not occur in a vacuum.  The spine is not an isolated body part. 

The mechanical function of your spine is affected by the alignment, flexibility & strength of many parts of your body including:

• Foot, knee, leg alignment
• Muscle strength of legs, buttocks, back and abdominal wall
• Abdominal protrusion (as with pregnancy, or a beer belly)
• Hip flexibility
• Position of the pelvis (tilted forward, back or to the side)
• Shape and flexibility of the lumbar (lower back) spinal curve
• Shape and flexibility of the thoracic (upper back) spinal curve
• Shape of the cervical (neck) spinal curve
• Shoulder carriage and mobility
• Position of the head in relation to the shoulders

The state of your back is also influenced by:

• Your genetic heritage, Your home, work, transportation, play, community, Your emotional state
• Nutrition, body weight and fat distribution, Prescription and recreational drugs

 

Key Poses That Heal:

1. 1.       Standing Hip Circles - Loosens low back and hips, Strengthens back
2. 2.       Squatting – Opens the pelvis, Stretches hips and lower back, Tones abs, Stretches feet
3. 3.       Kneeling Low Lunge –Stretches hip flexors, Relieves low back pain, Stretches thigh muscles
4. 4.       Cat/Puppy – Increases suppleness of spine, Stretches muscles of the back & neck, Improves posture
5. 5.       Child’s Pose - Relaxes the back & neck, Stretches the spine, Provides a gentle massage to abdominal organs
6. 6.       Cobra – Strengthens the back, Tones the buttocks, Stretches the chest and abdomen, Increases circulation
7. 7.       Knee to Chest – Stretches Lower Back
8. 8.       Spinal Twist – Strengthens abdominal muscles, stretches hips
9. 9.       Bridge (And Pelvic Tilts) - Looses muscles of the low back, Strengthens abs

Spinal Anatomy and Function

The spine is a series of interlocking spool-shaped bones called vertebrae, supported by a complex system of muscles and ligaments.  The hollow spinal canal protects the nerve tissue of the spinal cord.

The arms, legs, chest all attach to the spine, via the shoulder girdle, pelvis and ribs.  The weight of the head is perched on the end of the spine.  Therefore, the spine affects and is affected by every movement your body makes.  For example, if your head is not properly balanced, the natural curve of the neck becomes distorted.  If the arms or legs don’t have full range of motion, the spine must compensate by extra bending and twisting.

Inter-vertebral discs are thick pads of cartilage that separate adjacent vertebrae.  The discs serve as shock absorbers and allow for greater motion between vertebrae, and they distribute weight over a large surface when the spine bends.  When discs degenerate, this weight becomes concentrated on the edges of the vertebrae, resulting in bone spurs.  Discs have no blood supply of their own and are dependent on sponge action for attracting and absorbing nutrients from adjacent tissues.  During non-weight bearing rest, discs expand as they soak up fluid.  In weight-bearing activity, this fluid is squeezed back into the adjacent soft tissue, to be replaced by fresh fluid during the next rest period.  If these normal healing mechanisms are inhibited by poor posture and loss of flexibility, the discs become thin, brittle and easily injured.  This condition, called degenerative disc disease, can lead to bulging or herniated discs.  The movement principles of yoga – “spreading” (creating space in an area), “soaking” (deep breathing during the stretch) and “squeezing” (compressing fluids out of an area) – use the physiology of the disc to help in healing.

Muscles that Act on the Spine

Running parallel to your spine are the erector spinae muscles, deep muscles of the back that support the spine in the upright position.  The erector spinae rotate the spine, bend it backward and sideways, and influence posture by helping create and maintain the proper spinal curves.  If the erector spinae are too tight, they contribute to swayback.  If they are too stretched out, they contribute to a flat back.  If they are overworked, they can go into painful spasms.  Yoga helps maintain back health by both stretching and strengthening the erector spinae.

The lower back is also significantly influenced by three sets of muscles that attach to the pelvis or the lumbar vertebrae: the hip flexors (which raise the thigh toward the chest), the abdominals, and the hamstrings (long muscles on the back of the thigh).  These muscles can create a forward or backward tilt to the pelvis, leading to an increase or decrease in the lumbar curve.  For example, because hip flexors attach to the front of the pelvis, tight hip flexors will tilt the pelvis forward, creating sway back.  Tight hamstrings will tilt it backwards, creating a flat back.  Weak abdominal muscles will allow the pelvis to drop forward and will fail to support the lumbar spine from the front.

Each of your joints is controlled by at least two sets of muscles: the flexors (which bend the joint) and the extensors, which straighten it.  In addition, a number of joints have rotator muscles that twist, turn, or rotate the bones.  Good posture can only exist when the flexors, extensors and rotators are in proper balance.  But often the muscles acting upon a joint are out of balance.  For example, the flexors may be tighter or shorter than the extensors, so that the joint can not be fully straightened; or the muscles that rotate the joint in one direction may be stronger than those that rotate it the other way.  These unequal forces make the joint weaker and more vulnerable.

Many people with back or neck pain suffer from imbalances of the flexors, extensors and rotators of the spine, arms and legs.  With an intelligent program of stretching and strengthening (as with yoga) the muscle groups can be brought back into balance.

 

Namaste Beautiful Friends,

To be happy is DEEP WORK, it is not surface stuff.  And the reality of  yoga is that it helps us explore ourselves to find out as Anthony DeMello writes, "there is not a single moment in our life when we do not have everything we need to be happy."  As we study ourselves the yoga helps us explore through movement a freedom in our bodies and a kind of flowing meditation where we can find peace and tranquility in our minds. This in turn allows our hearts to open to our own best adventure. 

"Exploration really is the essence of the human spirit!"

There is this great story in the book "How We Choose to Be Happy" and the individual being studied for why they are happier than everyone else says this, "I tried my hand at a lot of things. Some of these I liked, some I didn't.  And I have no regrets. The point is, I kept moving. Any one of these choices was far less important than the fact that I just kept choosing. 

I have a philosophy: Any choice can be reversed, but not choosing at all is irreversible."  So this Winter please keep choosing to make time to explore yourself more deeply.  And if you can take a break join me for the Spiritual Adventure of a Lifetime in Moab April 15th (here I am at Arches National Park) or in Tuscany June 20th!! It would be so awesome to take this road trip together.  But no matter what keep finding your own best adventure! Big love in all ways, Silvia

"It's better to have traveled and gotten lost than to never have traveled at all."  -George Santayana

 

JANUARY 19, 2010:  This is dedicated to Todd Bauschke, who suddenly passed away at the age of 56 years old on January 18th, 2010.  Todd was a dedicated student at TBY and because he applied himself to the practice he got really good.  In recent times he had to step off of the mat and do his yoga without the benefit of group classes because this last two years his health was suffering and he couldn't even breath.  "He finally got his diagnosis in early November 2009. It’s a rare disease called Amyloidosis. It can attack different organs. It attacked Todds heart.  The irony is that he was scheduled to have his stem cells harvested and transplanted next week. It was to be a three week hospital stay."

Yoga helps us all remember that our time here is brief even in the best of scenarios....and all to short for Yogi brother Todd.  Please stop any all excuses for why you aren't living your best life. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  Get to the mat, and free your heart so you can embrace the life you are meant to be living, right now.

"Your body is free but your heart is in prison. To release your heart, you simply reverse the process which locked it up. First you begin to listen for messages from your heart—messages you may have been ignoring since childhood. Next you must take the daring, risky step of expressing your heart in the outside world. . . . As you learn to live by heart, every choice you make will become another way of telling your story. . . . It is the way you were meant to exist. If you stop to listen, you’ll realize that your heart has been telling you so all along.  (Martha Beck, "Finding Your Own North Star")

What do you plan to do with your one precious life?

If you can't hear your heart talking to you then consider your time on the mat a mini-retreat. A time to refresh your spirit, rekindle your passions, and cultivate balance in what you think, what you say and what you do with your life. This practice peels back the layers to help us move from self-doubt and uncertainty to a feeling of empowerment and a willingness to at least try at our lives.  Like Todd, if we stay with it and practice moving in and out of these poses or shapes we create with our bodies you will achieve things you thought were impossible. This encourages us to see past our self-limiting beliefs and discover the power within us to realize that nothing is impossible! 

But no one can do this for you, you have to take time for yourself.  And if a yoga class isn't enough then do what I do go on a Spiritual Retreat.  Take a time out for 4-7 days where you don't feel so rushed and you can step off the tread mill of your life to really feel and open up to the changes you want to make in your life. If you don't even know how to start then plan to join me in Moab in April or Tuscany in June or find enough space where you can tap into how to express your feelings and reconnect to your own inner wisdom. The insights are there and self-expression evolves to self-understanding.  But really, DON'T WAIT.  This is the year we have all run out of excuses. All you need to live the life of your dreams is a willingness to grow an open heart and a playful curiosity wouldn't hurt either.  What do YOU plan to do with your precious life?  Love in all ways, Silvia

JANUARY 6, 2010:  It is easy to fall into the Expectations Trap this time of year. You know what I mean?  That conversation we have with ourselves where we set up totally unrealistic expectations (resolutions) that would be impossible to keep. This leading us to disappointment. So right now begin to drop the heavy expectations and ask yourself what is most meaningful to you? 

Allow what you care about most to shape and influence your intentions more gently.  And take the time on the mat to soften the hard edges or extremes of expectations you have of yourself pose to pose.  Let your heart feel the lightness and freedom of letting go of the weight of heavy expectations.  This freedom is about soft expectations so we find:

• Freedom to be happier than ever before
• Freedom to try new things
• Freedom to not play it all so safe
• Freedom to do the unexpected
• Freedom to just see what happens!

 

This is the decade we hold ourselves more gently and live more fully!  Peaceful blessings to you, Silvia

OCTOBER 29, 2009:  This morning I was having a little talk with myself during morning meditation about giving and receiving. I actually reached out to a dear friend about this topic as it relates to putting on hold things in my life I’ve deferred for a while.  As I wrote to her I realized that what I was focusing too much on was what “I don’t want” when as I’ve said to you all many times “stop majoring in minor things” or “stop putting energy into what you don’t want.”  Oh yeah, that’s right. 

 

As soon as I realized what I was doing then I felt a total shift in energy.  I needed to focus more on RECEIVING.  Spiritual maturity has us focus on What We Do Want, not the other way around.  So I ask you What Do You Want to Receive in your Life?

 

·         Acceptance

·         Love

·         Success

·         Wisdom

·         Grace

·         Joy

·         Money

·         Freedom

·         Peace

·         Healing

·         Inspiration

·         Creativity

 

I bet if I took a survey of us all asking “are you better at giving or receiving?” Most of us would consider ourselves best at Giving. But hold on there...Are we really that good at giving if we so often don’t make time for our own well-being.  We have to learn to be brilliant at giving to ourselves which means we have to allow ourselves to receive.  So instead ask yourself, HOW GOOD A RECEIVER ARE YOU?  Could you be more open to the opportunities, jobs, people, places you experience?  Because the spiritual law is this: when you are more receptive to life itself, the more wonderful your life appears to be (Robert Holden, Be Happy)

 

What we can do to become better Receivers is as Robert Holden writes:

Give up the struggle; to receive is to be willing to give up all unnecessary struggle

Give up resentment: shift happens when you let go

Give up fear: stop worrying about the unknown

Give up pride: release your ego

 

This is not asking us to change anything. This is just a simple recognition (like what happened to me this morning). A realization of asking the universe for what we want and that is enough to make us better receivers and welcome all that we desire in our lives!  Now may we have the courage to Ask for what we want to receive.  Love in all ways, Silvia

 

 

OCTOBER 20, 2009:  “You can’t run after contentment it has to find you, all you can do is try to create the space for it. Pay attention to what you can let go of” to create that space. What I think Judith Lasater is talking about as is interpreted by the Yoga Sutras is to drop our heavy expectations. You know those expectations that weigh us down because they are so unrealistic and not even about what we personally want. What is our own truth. 

 

So you guys we can begin right now paying attention to our own enjoyment or CAPACITY to enjoy life:  The Yoga Sutras say “enjoyment is the sweetness of noticing your life right now – smell, taste, feeling, sensation”  What do you want that is meaningful to you?  Well ok then can you simply put that out there as a gentle intention allowing it to come to you instead of pulling at it. Also can you receive it if when it does find you it doesn’t exactly look like what you expected?

 

I put out to the universe what I wanted in my life a little over a year ago.  I thought I was ready to receive it no matter what especially since I consider myself pretty open-hearted and open-minded. But then when what I dreamed was finally offered to me I had that initial moment of “hey that’s not exactly as I wanted it because there is too much distance and some aura of complexity involved.” Come on! But the thing is I’ve learned it is exactly in the way I needed to receive it.  The universe totally knew what was best for me and delivered to me the situation that was the healthiest. And I’ve never been happier.  If I had turned my back on what was right in front of me because it didn’t totally match my strict expectations I would have missed out on maybe the best experience of my life.  How sad would that have been?  And how often have you done that?

 

Equally we learn what letting go of expectations is not:  which Sean Corne says so well, “Well what it isn’t is trying to rewrite the past, we can learn something (even from those that have hurt you or things that didn’t go the way you wanted them to) and move on.”  So today really use the practice to quiet your mind by paying attention to what extremes of your expectations you can let go of.  And most importantly can you try to release your mind from constantly wanting your situation to be different.  There is no reason to make war with what you feel, see or experience.  You have the freedom to open your heart to what you might be missing by relaxing some of the armor like expectations that can form around you

 

In closing here is one of my favorites quotes from the book Immunity to Change is “Happiness is really freedom from unhappiness.”  So join me in softening our expectations so we can find the:

·         Freedom to be happier than ever before

·         Freedom to try new things

·         Freedom to meet new people

·         Freedom to make happy failures

·         Freedom to not play it all so safe

·         Freedom to do the unexpected

·         Freedom to just see what happens

 

Love to you all, Silvia

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009: 

Aren't you tired of being perfect? 

 

I read somewhere once that we are far too rational in our relationships, far too ordered, far too organized and far too predictable in the way we live life.  We get stuck in the mundane instead we should "move into spontaneity and serendipity, a level that includes a greater sense of freedom and risk – an active environment full of surprises which encourages a sense of wonder.”

 

I get tired of being perfect. It is a whole lot more fun being a little messy and entirely more open hearted.  Hey I've lived the abuse of perfectionism and learned that the harder we are on ourselves the tougher we are in terms of our expectations of others.  Through the last 15 years of spiritual practice I've grown kinder, towards myself and everyone else.  Fundamentally we attract the people to us who reflect the relationships we're having with ourselves. 

 

Every day we are asking through our doing.  So what are you asking for?

 

Lately it seems like folks have had a harder time than usual getting back into the swing of this “back to school, back to yoga, back to healthy lifestyle” time of year.  It’s been a tough time getting folks to the mat. The reason may be because our summer was less solar so we are a bit less in our energy. Ok, then we have to live with what life is offering us.  It is not perfect, the summer was clearly a bit deranged and we had irrational weather.  That’s just the way of things, not bad, not good just what was there for us.  So it’s up to us to resolve to find the fun and spontaneity in the scope of the energy we feel.

 

Nature is always our best teacher. A friend shared this story with me today that I share with you here.  It goes like this:

“Today, on my run, I heard some squirrel action.  Do you know the action I am talking about?  It sounded like some pretty intense lovemaking, so I slowed down to see if I could get a view.  They were in a tree about 15 feet above my head, and from the sounds of it, things were quite intense!  Well, sure enough, they were.  The two squirrels were so tightly wound together that it was confusing to see who was who and just precisely what was going on.  The inner voyeur was coming alive in me.  Just as I was thinking I'd best be getting back to things at hand, something slipped--or a small branch broke, or goodness knows what, but the two squirrels came flying through the air at me and landed in a roiling, squeaking, noise of a mess of squirrel ball that immediately separated into two grey streaks and climbed back up the tree to go at it some more!!!  

 

It was pretty intense.”

 

You guys, the squirrels clearly did not over organize their location or over analyze their relationship and instead allowed events to simply unfold, then when things didn’t work out the way they expected they were able to regulate or even co-regulate with one another and get right back to what was important to them. In healthy human relationship our partners/friends help us to co-regulate and resolve to adjust to what life is offering instead of getting stuck in the fact it didn’t work the one way we expected. I’ve been in relationship where the other person could not re-regulate and if something didn’t happen according to the “The Plan” the whole day/week/event was ruined.  The yogic teachings tell us that narrowly defining the outcome of anything in just 1 way is the root cause of our suffering and disappointment.  There is always more than one outcome because life as Emerson writes is life is fluid and volatile. The artist India Arie puts it like this in her lyrics:

 

“Oh God, grant me the serenity to accept the things

that I can not change,

The courage to change the things I can,

The wisdom to know the difference.

And God, give me the courage to love with an open heart,

an open heart, an open heart.

I want to love with an open heart.”  

 

We have the opportunity not to get dragged down in the details of our lives but live in the broad brush strokes. If we fall out of a tree we get back up the tree to keep enjoying our life!  Spontaneity means as my friend Sadie Nardini writes, “If you want love then be love and it will find you exactly as you are experiencing it inside yourself.  You can't treat yourself like crap and get sweet love back, you give crappy love to yourself and you'll get crappy love in return.  Don’t you deserve better than crappy love?” 

 

If you are harsh, overly regimented, and self-critical in how you treat yourself that’s exactly what you’ll get back in relationship and you DESERVE BETTER!  The way you broadcast your life to the world through emotion (lightheartedness, ease, wonder, humor) is then transmitted back to you.  Your heart is the mirror.  Maybe if we all lived like those squirrels our lives would be more filled with spontaneity, sweet surprises, and pure pleasure!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia

 

 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009: 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009:   The choice to be FREE requires an enormous amount of inner strength.  It asks that we be courageous and believe in our own right to be free.  Chapter 2.26 talks about how if we believe we are limited, you will be limited; if you believe you are free, you are FREE.  Henric Frederic Ameil says “the one who has no inner life is the slave of his/her surroundings.” 

 

Yoga teaches us that we are sovereign over the democracy of ourselves.  We are the kings and queens of the kingdom of our lives.  So ask yourself what kind of leader do you want to be seen as?  Are you afraid to stand up for your rights?  Do you promote shared responsibility amongst the constituents of your limbs, breath, mind and heart?  Do you keep yourself shackled to workaholism or do you imprison yourself with worry or self-doubt or critical self-dialogue, do you allow someone outside yourself (your kingdom of self) run your life and keep you in prison?

 

So right now, sit in a way that elongates your spine and let’s your breath travel more freely.  As you free your breath you liberate your mind.  As the mind opens the heart opens.  You being to realize that you can choose to draw upon your own fortitude to free your heart from pain, to free your body from long held tension and to free yourself of unhealthy mindless habits (samskaras).  It is going to look different for everyone.  Freedom doesn’t appear to take the same priority.  It is a constant practice to remind ourselves that we alone are the most responsible in keeping the peace and joy within the democracy of self.  This territory you care for is most vitally important to you. 

 

In the end I hope that as we make liberation important we find from the inside the peace and content with ourselves where we discover joy (Santosha) has always been our natural state (sutra 2.42).  It was waiting for us to break free of our chains, our shackles and the prisons of our own making or imposed upon us by others.

 

I know what it’s like to feel imprisoned. I also can tell you I know what is it like to break free.  It’s not easy but I believe all of us can do it.  And if you want more of my story just call or email or sit and chat after class. I’d be happy to share more.  In the meantime here is a final favorite story to take to heart, to free your heart, to live in love!  Silvia

 

A final story I want to share with you from the Secret Power of Yoga “In ancient Egypt after death, the heart was removed from the body to be measured against the weight of a feather.  If the heart was found to be heavier than the feather’s weight, the person was considered not ready for admission for heaven.  The scale, was thought to reveal the degree of emotional heaviness held in the heart.  The LIGHTHEARTED were presumably permitted entry through a special ritual as their physical heart was given a place of honor in the burial plot.”

 

 

AUGUST 16TH, 2009:  Beauty is everywhere!  Meditating today on Yoga Sutra 2.18 this idea that “if we trust our intuitive wisdom of our hearts the truth is that everything can be enjoyable because we have found the MAGIC WAND to convert everything that life brings into joy.” 

 

I was at the Chicago Art Institute yesterday and so inspired by the beauty of the art, the people looking at the art, the kindness and respect of folks enjoying this sharing together.  Just amazing.  But what touched me most was outside the art institute in Millenium Park the tons of folks with an old blanket, bread, cheese, drinks just kicking back and making their experience a feast!  That to me speaks to this sutra that we all have the magic wand to free ourselves from suffering by changing the way we think about what is being presented to us in each moment.  Hmmm I can change the way I think about something? Yes, that’s it.

 

No different than invoking “wonder twin powers” to change the form of yourself into something else but in this case the change is mentally how we think about a person, situation or thing. You wave your wand and presto!! The way you think about it changes your response, your emotions and your reality.  The sutra reads formally “when understood as illusory (Maya), nature (seen) and her attributes the gunas exist to serve the Divine Self (seer) with both enjoyment and liberation.”  Our nature in other words is to be happy.  This is our way of being. The illusion is to delude ourselves into believing that we want things to be different all the time and are in this state of stuckness.  Nope, no need to preoccupy ourselves like that. Instead be with what is and wave your wand turn all things into joy. Turn some bread and cheese into a party!  See that beauty is everywhere inside you, outside you and in all things (difficult or sweet).  Love your day! Silvia

 

Dear Total Body Yoga Friends,

JULY 3, 2009:  At the beginning of July I’ve always had this feeling of making a fresh start or new beginning - like we are on the threshold of something greater.  Maybe I feel like this because it is my birth month and our birthday’s are like our own new year’s eve or maybe because we’re exactly halfway through the year.  I’m not sure really.  I just know that I intuitively want to think about the choices I’m making.  I use this time to face my fears and celebrate my accomplishments.  In the Alchemist it says “It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the master work.  Now, I'm beginning what I could have started ten years ago.  But I'm happy at least that I didn't wait twenty years.”  The important part is to begin again, just get started and take a small step.  None of us are being asked to jump off a cliff, this is a practice of millimeters that eventually builds quiet momentum.

 

As you breath and enjoy this holiday weekend make time to set an expectation for your life this next half of the year.  Are you on the right path so far?  And whatever you decide just know we are all evolving in the direction of happiness. It is our right.  Freedom and the pursuit of happiness is your destiny!  It is like what’s written in the Alchemist, “Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”  And when you need time to reflect on where you’ve been and where you want to go join me on the mat where you’ll always discover you have the power, the heart and the energy to achieve anything you want!  Love the day, love your life! Silvia

 

JULY 1, 2009:  Now I understand what its like to live life like a prisoner of your own fear, your own mind.  Years back I kept myself trapped in a prison of my own making (I separated myself from love and from this direct experience I promise no good comes of that). I also have some sad examples in my own family of this same thing. I think of my Uncle Victor who was a lover of FREEDOM and a lover of life yet became trapped by his own fears and anger.  Life is not always fair.  You can get sick, cancer can eat your brain, it can take over your organs, you can get run over by a car, you can lose your dad at the age of twenty-five, you can love and lose love but none of this is an excuse to give up and throw away the key.  We do not have to imprison ourselves let alone sentence ourselves to solitary confinement.  This only serves to punish needlessly thereby moving away from the very thing we long for…FREEDOM to love more and find mental peace.

 

So take to heart the words of Joseph Campbell who said, “Life is not about the meaning. It’s about the feeling.”  The Feeling of life even the hard stuff is the beauty.  Tantric views ask us to accept the full spectrum of who we are, denying none of our feelings.  So on the mat we practice feeling the poses.  And the poses are not easy.  Yoga is challenging but as we embrace the feeling of life (even the anger, the fear, the worry) we come alive again and realize the key is in our hand to free ourselves from suffering.  Pain is part of life but we don’t have to suffer endlessly. 

 

Feelings really are more powerful than thoughts and it is through feeling we are one step closer to freeing our hearts.  Those of you who are on the razors edge deciding whether to stay in the prison of your own making or come out the other side please know this, The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain.”  Kahlil Gibran.  You know then you have the capacity to be joyful and FREE!

 

Will we have sometimes sorrowful days, months, or years, maybe. But it’s been my experience that even that demonstrates to us that sometimes its necessary to love peace so much that you are willing to sacrifice for it.

 

So today have the courage to set yourself free!  For Stress paralyzes life; love releases it. Worry confuses life; love harmonizes it. Anger darkens life; love illuminates it.  As Augustus William Hare writes, “The feeling is often the deeper truth.”  Embrace your truth, embrace what you feel and free your soul for love and peace!  With humble gratitude for life, Silvia

 

 

JUNE 28, 2009:  Martin Luther King said, “In every age and every generation, men have envisioned a promised land. Some may have envisioned it with the wrong ideology, with the wrong philosophical presupposition. But men in every generation thought in terms of some promised land.”  This promised land is freedom and yoga teaches us that it is here right now inside us.  All that is necessary to FIND IT is to choose love, to allow yourself to feel more and think less.

Get on the mat, feel the breath, feel the sensations and let your mind unwind.

 

So today have the courage to set yourself free!  For Stress paralyzes life; love releases it. Worry confuses life; love harmonizes it. Anger darkens life; love illuminates it.  As Augustus William Hare writes, “The feeling is often the deeper truth.”  Embrace your truth, embrace what you feel and free your soul for love and peace! 

 

Lokaha Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu (May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts words and actions of my life contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all!)

 

With lovingkindness,

Silvia

 

MARCH 16TH, 2009:  The first week of the year I passed out raffle tickets and during meditation I asked what single word came to mind.  That would be the focus of our practice and our intention for the year.  So tonight we checked back into this.  How are we doing? 

For me the word on my life ticket was FREEDOM.  This means a number of things to me such as:

• Freedom to be happier than ever before
• Freedom to try new things
• Freedom to meet new people
• Freedom to make happy failures
• Freedom to not play it all so safe
• Freedom to do the unexpected
• Freedom to just see what happens

So as you close your eyes and turn inside to your most loving self what sense of freedom to you experience in your breath right now?  The breath, the air element that of the fourth chakra. This is the heart chakra and perhaps that’s why one of my favorites quotes from the book Immunity to Change is “Happiness is really freedom from unhappiness.”  What does FREEDOM mean to you?         

 

Ultimately freedom means that we are living on purpose or as Robin Sharma writes, THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS A LIFE OF PURPOSE.  Everytime we come to the mat we have the right and freedom to explore ourselves more deeply.  This cultivates an intimate connection with who we really are and can we live with what life is offering us right now.  For its about whether life gave us what we wanted today but the fact we have the freedom to respond rather than react. We don’t have to struggle, fight or become disappointed.  We can empower ourselves to make the experience (even if it is painful).  In the book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin Sharma writes, “People who study others are wise but those who study themselves are enlightened.  Those we are truly enlightened know what they want out of life, emotionally, materially, physically and spiritually.  Clearly defined priorities and goals for every aspect of your life gives you direction.  The real source of happiness is stated in the word Achievement – lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidentily in the direction of your lifes purpose.

 

Here’s the coolest part!  You get to choose your life’s purpose.  And you can readjust as your intentions evolve.  So take to heart the words of John Wood from another all time favorite book “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World” who writes, “If you are thinking about making some adjustments in your life my heartfelt recommendation is not to spend too much time thinking about it. Just dive in. I know that all kinds of practical considerations make this advice difficult to embrace. The need for advice from friends and family, and the desire to write a business plan. I am not saying you should not do any of these things – just that you should not spend too much time on them or you will lose momentum.  The biggest risk is that a lot of people will try to talk you out of your dream.  The world has too many people who are happy to discuss why something might not work, and too few who will cheer you on and say, “I’m there for you.”  The more time you spend navel gazing, the longer you give those negative gravitational forces to keep you in their tether.  So sometimes, it’s really important to just dive in.  If there is something out there that you want to do, don’t focus on the obstacles. Don’t ask for permission.  Just dive in.”   FREEDOM MEANS YOU CAN DIVE IN TODAY! Wishing you courage to do so, Silvia

 

 

FEBRUARY 15TH, 2009:  Believe it or not Spring starts in about a month already.  WOW! So this is the perfect time to shed old aspects of ourselves and our lives that no longer serve us.  This allows us to make room for the new growth that comes with the longer days of Springtime. 

Today we devote to Liberation (Jivamukti!) to clear space for change.  What is the ultimate key to liberation? Well it's as Michael Franti sings, "Love will set you free."   Take this practice to liberate yourself, how?  Let go of your worries. Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras, “What you’ve already done, you’ve done – LET IT GO, MOVE ON.”  Now in your next breath just do your best, be kind to yourself. Enjoy these three favorite pieces of inspiration that motivated me to do the work of letting go that changed my life forever and does to this day! Patience and courage to you all! Silvia

 

Let It Go By Danna Faulds

Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold; the holding of plans or dreams or expectations — Let it go.  Save your strength to swim with the tide.   The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in struggle, fear, and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for. 

Let go.

Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days whether you receive it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.  Take this on faith:  the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward nonetheless.  Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace, and certain transformation.

 

A Meditation on Letting Go By Ajahn Chah

If you let go a little

You will have a little happiness.

If you let go a lot

You will have a  lot of happiness.

If you let go completely

You will be free.

 

"Only as high as I reach can I grow,
Only as far as I seek can I go,
Only as deep as I look can I see,
Only as much as I dream can I be."
-Karen Ravn

 

 

JANUARY 19TH, 2009:  I was reflecting on what it means to be balanced. So I looked up Balance in the thesaurus and it said:  stable, steady, together, middle, centered.  The opposite is unbalanced, unequal, uneven.  I might say that this describes freedom too. Coming together. 

So today in honor of Martin Luther King let’s honor this balance and freedom to deeply commit ourselves to coming back to our essential nature which the sutras say is JOY.  Now this at first might seem difficult but we must take the first step, or as MLK Says, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

 

FREEDOM IS FOR US NOW. 

 

In every age and every generation, men have envisioned a promised land. Some may have envisioned it with the wrong ideology, with the wrong philosophical presupposition. But men in every generation thought in terms of some promised land. –Martin Luther King.  This promised land is freedom and yoga teaches us that it is here right now inside us.  All that is necessary to find it is to love peace, to allow yourself to feel more and think less.  Take to heart the words of Joseph Campbell who said, “Life is not about the meaning. It’s about the feeling.”  Even science can measure the infectious nature of positive emotion on ourselves and others.  So on the mat practice feeling the poses.  For when you come from a peaceful and relaxed feeling, you are one step closer to the promised land, to FREEDOM.  And ultimately you regain your joy!  Now will it be easy, not always.  Will we encounter challenge, of course.  But keep on going and heed this advice from George Bernard Shaw who said, “Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.”  Wishing you your best courage!  Peace, Silvia 

NOVEMBER 30TH, 2008:  When I think about the main message I want to give folks about yoga it's this: JUST HAVE FUN.  Find pleasure in the practice.  ENJOY IT!  I don't want you to get all worked about about what you look like, how you practice and whether you're doing it perfectly.  I really don't want your yoga to be another opportunity to practice the self-abuse of perfectionism.   

Just be YOURSELF. This means if you want to cry or laugh or both at the same time, that's just you being you without conditions.  Just like your breath is unconditional.  It will breath us no matter what.  I remember a time in my life where I was not given permission to breath or to be myself, flaws and all, and it felt like I was a prisoner.  YOGA SET ME FREE.  I want it to do that for you too.

Remember REAL YOGA IS WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE.  IT IS INVISIBLE.

So while I know you will find deep benefits from the practice including  greater clarity and a more peaceful demeanor I hope this is achieved while you are enjoying your time on the mat.  That it becomes for you what it is for me, FREEDOM, LIGHTNESS, RECESS FOR ADULTS.    Let the yoga work for you, takes its lessons to heart but msot of all HAVE FUN!  Wishing you all great joy! Silvia

NOVEMBER 30TH, 2008:  When I think about the main message I want to give folks about yoga it's this: JUST HAVE FUN.  Find pleasure in the practice.  ENJOY IT!  I don't want you to get all worked about about what you look like, how you practice and whether you're doing it perfectly.  I really don't want your yoga to be another opportunity to practice the self-abuse of perfectionism.   

Just be YOURSELF. This means if you want to cry or laugh or both at the same time, that's just you being you without conditions.  Just like your breath is unconditional.  It will breath us no matter what.  I remember a time in my life where I was not given permission to breath or to be myself, flaws and all, and it felt like I was a prisoner.  YOGA SET ME FREE.  I want it to do that for you too.

Remember REAL YOGA IS WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE.  IT IS INVISIBLE.

So while I know you will find deep benefits from the practice including  greater clarity and a more peaceful demeanor I hope this is achieved while you are enjoying your time on the mat.  That it becomes for you what it is for me, FREEDOM, LIGHTNESS, RECESS FOR ADULTS.    Let the yoga work for you, takes its lessons to heart but msot of all HAVE FUN!  Wishing you all great joy! Silvia

 

 

NOVEMBER 18, 2008:  So here's the thing you guys, you know my history, Run Over By Car, Back Pain Result, Yoga is Medicine, No More Back Pain.  It's a short story.  Now as I've often said in class the physical pain is nothing compared to the emotional toll illness/injury take upon us.  I've been there.  If feels like you're TRAPPED.  Like you can't get out. If feels like what I imagine prison to be like.

So tonight we talked about Freedom as it relates to a healthy back. It was powerful for me and I hope it was for you too.  You see I totally believe in FREEDOM: Freedom from physical pain, freedom of choice, freedom of speech, freedom of feelings, freedom to love, freedom to be yourself.  But really for me it started as a desire to be FREE of back pain, then it moved into a desire to be free of emotional pain.  So here in a nutshell are the key points from tonight's practice. ENJOY!  BE FREE, LOVE FREE! Silvia

Yoga Poses help back pain by improving circulation that brings nutrients to the intervertebral disks while removing toxins..  Disks don't have independent blood supply therefore they depend on movement of surrounding structure to aid in the delivery of nutrients.  Movement causes the disks to be compressed which squeezes out stale disk fluid and then to expand bringing in fresh supply.  Be sure to stretch all major muscle groups around the hip joints: adductors, quads, rotators, hamstrings. When Hip rotators are tight they hold the pelvis too much and the force of movement transfers up to the low back putting strain from there on up the spine. 

 

Best Yoga Pose Focus:  Move spine in all 6 directions (flexion, extension, rotation, lateral flexion); Puppy/Cat Tilt on all fours and in Bridge Pose; Hip Rotator Stretches (Supine Pigeon, Seated Pigeon, Pigeon, Standing Pigeon, Warrior Poses; Gentle Twists (Triangle); Safe Forward Bends (Wide Legged or Supine on your back)

 

Yoga Breathing: Slow deep breaths help ratchet down an overactive stress-response system, which leads to muscle relaxation because it triggers the "relaxation response" the antidote to flight or flight. The focus on all three parts of the lungs (especially deep abdominal focus on exhalations) helps bring in more oxygen.  The wave like undulation of deep inhales and exhales gently massage the spinal column which brings nutrients to spinal disks.

 

"Yoga done right gets more interesting over time.  Good poses don't just improve the functioning of the physical body, they engage your mind.  Bringing your attention to what you are doing, and precisely how you are doing it, builds the ability to feel your body's signals.  This greater proprioceptive awareness (your felt sense of your body position) also allows you to notice changes-this serves as an EARLY WARNING SYSTEM when stress, poor posture or other factors may be leading to back pain."  - Dr Timothy McCall

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008:   My personal philosophy formed from these last 15 years of yoga practice is “LOVE EVERYONE AND TELL THE TRUTH.”

To me these things go together and if you tell the truth you not only have fewer conflicts but those that do arise are more easily able to be resolved.  

When we tell the truth we want to love more. 

When we love more we find it easier to tell the truth

So today we dedicated our practice to TRUTH.  Acknowledging this asks that we try to be ourselves: that we breath honestly, we do the poses truthfully and we start peeling back the layers of truth in our lives.  So right now bring all your attention to yourself and let your body be calm as you go into your own heart where truth is always waiting.  Know the universe is on your side and that you are doing your BEST!

 

So we start with what is UNTRUTH.  When we aren’t honest we feel unsteady, anxious, uprooted.  Who wants that?  Instead truth influences us in amazing ways:

 

1. One of the most beautiful qualities of the truth is that it is very grounding.  A sense of calm enters our life.

2.  The truth reveals, there is something that is uncovered, a place of freedom, something is discovered (we have nothing to hide).

3.  Truth transforms, once you move into the calm, it begins to reveal the beauty based in your heart then you shift to your best life ever! 

AUGUST 20TH, 2008:  I was reading about how bullying and adversity made Michael Phelps, eight time gold medal winner, stronger. People made fun of him, the fact he swam instead of played football, the size of his ears, his height, all of it.  I love that he persevered!  He didn’t give in!  He found a way to meditate - to do yoga, his yoga happened to be swimming.  Instead of getting bogged down or paralyzed by worry about what others thought about him he kept living his life to the fullest.  As a result he is realizing his DREAMS!

 

Take this practice to liberate yourself, how?  Let go of your worries. Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras, “What you’ve already done, you’ve done – LET IT GO, MOVE ON.”

 

Now in your next breath just do your best, be kind to others, include more and more folks in “others” and be kind to them too.

 

And remember the ultimate key to liberation – “Love will set you free” As Michael Franti sings.

 

ANOTHER EASY WAY TO THINK OF THIS IS:

1. Stop giving energy to the things you don’t want.
2. Everything begins with a thought.  Even Einstein says, “The ancestor to every action is a thought.”
3. Once you understand fully that what you think about is what EXPANDS you start to get very careful about what you think about.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

AUGUST 16TH, 2008: It is written in the Yoga Sutras Chapter 1, Verse 13, The practice of yoga is the commitment to become established in the state of freedom. This means that yoga can help us find freedom from chit/chat of our mindstuff (citta). Mindstuff is where we think too hard you know Like when we use our thoughts to torture ourselves, to agitate and so on. It is possible however to move to state of yoga where we allow attention to disengage from all these fluctuations.