First Class Free

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 5TH:  A reminder of my personal manifesto I've made the focus of my new years intentions every year since it first formed.  I hope it inspires you to try to life your life more fully this year!  Love, Silvia

MANIFESTO "There is no such thing as failure.  Please trust this. You can’t really fail at anything. If you go up to bat and miss the ball it’s not a big deal. You produced a result so then act upon that result and try again.  This is why I love Vinyasa Yoga, (1) anyone can do it and (2) you can’t do it wrong.  There is no failure. Now that’s a big shift coming from a reformed perfectionist.  This goes to show the yoga works to inspire a REBEL SPIRIT in all of us and reduce our fear because through this practice the self-abuse of perfectionism is diminished. 

There is no failure.  Maybe there are some happy mistakes? But as the song by Teitur goes, “All my mistakes have become masterpieces.” 

Now you’re probably asking how do I engage my REBEL SPIRIT? Well lift your heart up and shift your mind down (let it rest). Don’t think but feel. If we convince ourselves to decide only with our minds we will talk ourselves out of the best experiences of life.  It is possible to over analyze any situation or decision all the way into procrastination or fear. However, if we let our heart consciousness take an active role we’ll find we become more decisive and present.

I know this is scary. Feeling is always more vulnerable than thinking. But making decisions from the inside is the only way. Rumi says “If you want to find the greatest treasure, don't look outside, Look within, and SEEK THAT."  We can collect opinions from others but they will always be only opinions. No one can decide for us what actions to take in our lives. We can try to give up our choices to others but this will only lead to frustration in the end. No one else knows our hearts the way we do so know its ok to be afraid. Susan Jeffers writes, “Feel the fear and do it anyway!’ 

So get started on your life now with a Rebel Spirit. "All glory comes from daring to begin." (Eugene Ware) The key to raising your vibration to this level is to stop worrying about the outcome.  Just try to be patient and trust that life keeps flowing and keep going up to bat!  Don’t be afraid to keep going “dream like you will live forever, live like you might die today.” (James Dean)

Flow, flow, flow!  And remember on the mat and off. “It is you who must raise your sails – the winds of grace are blowing.” (Tagore)  May this inspire you to find your own Rebel Spirit so you love yourself more, so you love your day more, so you love your life more!"