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Greetings Friends! 

January 1, 2011  Yesterday I posted my last blog of 2010. I have included it at the bottom of this final newsletter of the year in hopes it inspires your own dreams. And really that is my invitation to you: "dream a dream with me." Time on the mat helps us stay connected to what inspires us.  So here are some of my favorite quotes from a book given to me by my sweet friend Anne titled Dream by Susan Bosak.  May they connect you to spirit so you can awaken your greatest dreams ever in 2011!

 Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia    

 "Whoever would one day learn to fly must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying." - Nietzsche

 "The Possible's slow fuse is lit by the Imagination." - Emily Dickinson

"A hundred million miracles are happening every day." - Oscar Hammerstein

"The difficulty in life is the choice." - George Moore

"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." -Langston Hughes

"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity." - Marie Curie

 

New Years Day Schedule:

5am-7am Sadhana Kundalini (FREE)

10am Level 1 with Wendy

11:30am Level 1-2 with Wendy

1:30pm Restorative Yoga with Samantha

 

PS - Join me January 14-15 Living Your Yoga Workshops

 

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December 31, 2010 Blog by Silvia Mordini: Adventure, Remembrance, Victory!

As I reflect on this past year, which was one of intense personal change one of the things I am most proud of is making a pilgrimage to Moab, Utah twice.  Both times to help nourish my spirit and connect to the quiet sense of adventure that exists for all that visit Moab.  For a while I forgot what it was like to make adventure.  This was the year I remembered again.

And that is really at the heart of yoga.  This practice helps us remember to remember.  We all sometimes experience spiritual amnesia.  Getting on the mat is that reminder of celebrating life and enjoying this time in this body on this earth right now. 

Edward Abbey writes in one of my favorite books about Moab titled Desert Solitaire "Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards." 

I will never again put my heart in a safe deposit box, I'd rather take chances in love, in life, in traveling and even in my poses so I can be a more active participant in driving my best life forward rather than sitting in the backseat waiting for it to happen.  I will until my last breath run and cycle and yoga and explore and discover the small victories that exist in taking pleasure in life! And I hope if you have learned anything from your yoga that you will find this true for yourself as well.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life!  Happy New Year, Silvia

PS Join me on an adventure with Alchemy Tours www.alchemytours.com or visit my website to keep up with upcoming retreats www.silviamordini.com

June 7, 2010: Courage
June 8, 2010: Discipline
June 9, 2010: Persistence and Perseverance, TBY B-day!
June 9, 2010: Mind Body Integration
June 10, 2010: Compassion (Slowing Down)

April 11th, 2010:  This week's book I am basing my classes on is called "In the Face of Fear".  This book is described as showing us how to *remain open, joyful and caring, even when life is stressful; *avoid old behavior patterns that only make things worse; *turn difficult time into opportunities for spiritual development; *discover that our true nature is always awake, wise and good - no matter what is happening.

April 11th Theme: How to Keep Ourselves Present (Ezra Bayda)

April 12th Theme: Happiness Training - Joy and Happiness are born out of concentration (Thich Nhat Hahn)

April 13th Theme: Getting the Bottom of Our Stress (John Loori)

April 14th Theme: It would be a pity to waste a good Crisis (John Tarrant)

April 15-18: I'll be conducting a Yoga and Mountain Biking Retreat in Moab, Utah! 

MARCH 28, 2010:  It wasn't so long ago that I was resistant to all the avenues of social networking. Then once I started I learned I loved it! I read an article about the Yoga of Facebook a couple days ago and something clicked. The way yoga has changed my life is that I now see yoga in everything.  There is a yoga of facebook, the yoga of ordering Starbucks, the yoga of being in line at Target, the yoga of friendship, the yoga is what reminds us about what it means to live in alignment with what truly allows you to be your best self while at the same time serving others as a positive contributing member of humanity.   And from being friends on facebook one of our clients asked if they could have a few minutes of time after class on Sunday to interview TBY students about how the yoga has changed their lives.  Of course I said, that's great! As a result they inspired me to bring this as the theme for class. So during the course of yoga practice I "interviewed" each student, their answers were silent for themselves.  I hope you take a moment if you couldn't join me Sunday and interview yourself about how your yoga has impacted your life.  And if you too have figured out, "it's all yoga."  And to my facebook friends, I love you guys!! Stay human, stay connected. Love, Silvia 

YOGA INTERVIEW:

For how long have you been practicing yoga?

And what kind of yoga do you like the most?

What drew you to the practice?

And what has kept you in the practice? 

What now inspires your current practice?

What changes have you noticed in your life since beginning and/or maintaining your practice?

Have you noticed any changes in your personal relationships (e.g. familial, work, friendships, romantic, random people on the street, pets, etc.)?

When you first commenced your practice did you notice any aspect of your life fluctuating—in good, bad, or ambiguous ways?

Please describe a circumstance in which the presence of yoga in your life has clearly demonstrated how you may handle situations differently.  

 

OCTOBER 26, 2009:  “Exploring life through movement and stillness brings us to our true center!”  Once you make a commitment to yourself this yoga practice keeps us coming back no matter what: rain or shine.  Quite frankly since its been raining so much why not go inside and practice more yoga?  There must be a reason why the universe wants us to go inwards.  As Martin Buber says, All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. 

 

So as much as you do the actions of the poses think of yourself as much a witness of life as you are a participant.  This great journey of life gives us the opportunity to see from both views.  If you think of the practice as taking a photo, we look through the lens and see the details we might not otherwise see.  Through that we hopefully become re-inspired!

 

I was at a Kundalini Workshop with Moses last weekend and he said of the 8,000 kriyas only one is approved to practice at home by oneself. The rest, the other 7,999 are meant to be performed within the love of group practice.  As much as I love home practice every day gosh nothing replaces coming together into a community of yogis and I take classes 6 days per week. I love it!  In the group you experience what Elise Larimer says “I am re-annointed into the diversity and similarity of humanity.  Inspired through these interactions to the planet on all levels, I am refreshed and replenished.”

 

I always hope you feel that the Kula keeps you safe to explore your own adventure and yet the alchemy of being with others also sparks new adventures we haven’t yet thought of by ourselves.  This connection works on so many levels! And truthfully if you make friends with someone in class and you know they are going to show up no matter what, it inspires you to show up too.  We have this unwritten contract with one another as students when we attend regular classes.  We promise to keep the dialogue of our hearts open to one another and somehow no matter what, say to ourselves “I am going on this adventure again today, my friends are waiting for me, come rain or shine.”  So please know I will always be here holding your spot waiting for you to show up and be your most radiant self.  So until I see you on the mat breath and smile!  Love your day, Silvia

 

It’s better to have traveled and gotten lost than to never have traveled at all.”

-George Santayana

 

Namaste beautiful friends on the path,

This week I am inspired to focus on lighting up our imagination! Focusing on how we can create images or visualizations for our life.  Basically I'm talking about making time on the mat this week with me to delight in your Dreams and Fantasies!  As Picasso is famous for saying:  "ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE IS REAL."

My personal inspirations for this week came from a article by Sally Kempton, a dear friend traveling the world and a fellow yoga teacher in Chicagoland along with humble bows always to the first dreamer I knew, My father.  Love to you and see you on the mat! (When I teach is below)

Monday 6:15pm and 7:30pm 

Tuesday 6:15pm and 7:30pm

Wednesday 9:15am and 6:15pm

Thursday 10:45am and 7:30pm

Friday 9:15am and 6pm

Saturday 9:15am

Sunday 7:45am, 9:15am and 4:30pm

 

Hi You Guys,

I want to thank you for all the amazing conversations I have each day with you.  Please keep the emails and calls coming.  I thoroughly enjoy every interaction! And I wanted you to know that I recognize what it takes to reach out. I see the effort on your part to talk, to get to class, to write a note.  Every single one of us matters.  Sometimes we think we don’t but we truly do matter.  And I am paying total attention. 

 

Yoga teaches us that we are all looking for something that will connect us more deeply to ourselves and through that knowing the truth of the spirit self (Atman) there is a recognition that we all leave an imprint on everyone we meet.  When you think of it, in all the random meetings we have with folks each day we can be the ANSWER or BLESSING for another person.  That’s a powerful responsibility.

 

What imprint are you making on the world?  What is your legacy?  Can you take five minutes today to make a conscious effort to consider how you can connect to others in such a way that you can make a positive difference?  I would love for you to join me for FREE tomorrow night July 9^th, 7:30pm-9pm for Yoga and Journaling where we’ll have time to reflect on the things we’ve done this week to uplift another person (an email, a call, a card, a compliment, giving up your parking space etc).  This time to meditate on how we effect others, the “ripple effect” speaks to our greater Intention or personal mission statement.  And every time we align better with our intentions we magnify our efforts.  Moving the body and then journaling is a wonderful way to connect to our true desires, passions and dreams!

 

You deeply inspire me, your life stories make me cry, make me laugh, humble me to no end.  And for all of that I thank you for letting me serve you.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life!  Silvia    (2009)

 

Sunday May 3rd - Discover the Truth of Who You Are

Monday May 4th - How to Nourish Yourself

Tuesday May 5th - LoveFire:  Burn off negative emotional baggage - ignite a love letter to yourself

Wednesday May 6th - Release, Remember, Recycle

Thursday May 7th - There are no Disasters

Friday May 8th - Potentiality: More than 1 Right Way in Life

Love to you all dear friends!

Just got back from healing spiritual adventure in Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.  I feel newly inspired.  Come join me this week for the sweetest rasa of the trip.  From my heart to yours.  Love your day, love your life! Silvia

Monday April 27th:  Get Lost:  Why Getting Lost is OK

Tuesday April 28th:  Facing the Unknown - stare down the fear monster with fire & laughter

Wednesday April 29th:  Drunk on Life

Thursday April 30th:  Are you a Serious or Casual Student of Your Life? Yes or No?

Friday May 1st:  Delight in New Experience

APRIL 16TH, 2009:  Lately the dreams I have in meditation are getting BIGGER and BOLDER all the time.  Many things I've put off thinking about doing I am going for and doing them this year.  I feel this amazing YES inside that I want you to feel the vibration of so you too can say yes to life and DREAM WITHOUT LIMITS.  Yup that's what the theme is tonight.  A very special class from my heart.

And just so you know, next Thursday through Sunday April 23-26 I am out of town on a Spiritual Adventure pursuing one of my dreams. So if we don't have our regular Thurday night date together I won't see you for two weeks.   

In preparation for tonight's class please watch this clip below (3 minutes long).  I want to thank Ned Miller for sharing this clip with me yesterday and changing my life with the creation of our own inspiring video collection called "Loving Your Day".  It helped me shift even more brightly towards dreaming without limits, it is NEVER TOO LATE.  I know it will inspire you, make you laugh, make you cry, make you clap your hands like it did me!  What we can take away from this clip is that it is never too late.  You deserve to materialize your dreams. So "Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going." - Rainer Maria Rilke.  Do not let the Kleshas, the veils that hide our true potential and beauty yoga tells us from speaking your dreams to yourself!  Love you all, Silvia Mordini 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=haxa_popt00us00

 

MARCH 30TH, 2009:  I really believe that we are all benefited by words of inspiration.  Today I am meditating in my own life in trusting that I will have enough.  Enough of what?  Well, enough courage, enough inner strength, enough wisdom, enough energy, enough love, enough happiness, enough peace.  When life becomes intense it is easy to convince ourselves through the prism of mental scarcity that we aren’t going to have enough of anything. More than anything else, even more than love, what I wish for all of us is that we have Enough FAITH.

Through FAITH we can see that although heartache or hurt exists in the world with Faith we will recover.  Helen Keller says it like this, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”  How do we trust in enough? Well first it is to accept that Faith is active, it’s something we have to participate in.  We can’t expect our healing to happen if we aren’t most interested in ourselves first.  I believe Jon Kabat Zinn defines trust as “spiritual and emotional maturity”.  Right on.  I love that. 

At some point in our spiritual evolution we realize we don’t need more and more of anything. Instead having just enough is plenty.  So on the mat we do enough and we save a little for next time. We don’t have to do it all.  Mostly because aren’t you tired of being perfect all the time?  I am. So we appreciate the messiness of life and with just enough faith we let go of unrealistic expectations and let our story unfold.  The universe if we have faith enough to trust in her wants us to be happy, to be courageous, to be loved, to be peaceful.  So I wish you all enough (not more, not less).  With faith in love, Silvia

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough.

 

DECEMBER 1, 2008:  As you close your eyes you turn into the darkness to see that inner light within the untouched place known as maja.  It is a place unblemished by sadness or meanness or anger.  It is the seat of wisdom known as our spiritual heart.  The yogis believe that each of us replicates the world at large, embodying "rivers, seas, mountains, fields...stars and planets...the sun and moon" (Shiva Samhita, II.1-3).  The outer sun, they asserted, is in reality a token of our own "inner sun," which corresponds to our subtle, or spiritual, heart.

So when we practice Surya Namaskar, which is a humble adoration of the insight of the self it namaskar stems from namas, which means "to adore." (The familiar phrase we use to close our yoga classes, namaste—te means "you"—also comes from this root.) Each Sun Salutation begins and ends with the joined-hands mudra (gesture) touched to the heart with the intention behind it of “I adore myself”.

So today no matter the cold, snow or emotional challenges outside you see it is always sunny and sweet deep inside.  Amidst the chaos of life there is an inner calm.  Or as the poet writes,  If the sun were not in love, he would have no brightness, the side of the hill no grass on it.

You light the fire of love
in earth and sky
in heart and soul
of every being.

Through your love
existence and nonexistence merge.
All opposites unite.
All that is profane
becomes sacred again.  

Keep stirring the sunny side my friends!  Love Big, Silvia