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April 5, 2011.  'We must Namaste everyone."  My parents had us traveling from the time we were newborns to places all over the world. From that I learned through experience that everyone is fundamentally the same.  People everywhere want the same things.  We want to be happy and loved and peaceful.   I know this and constantly work at "living my namaste".  This requires recognizing that all people deserve respect.   So in effect if we are living our NAMASTE we are unlocking the love and respect in our own hearts to include everyone. To see not that which divides us but that which brings us together.  This is the whole point of yoga.

So what does Namaste mean? Well, "Nama" means bow, "as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."  It is a gesture of pure compassion and recognition. That we bow to the true self inside each one of us. Of course there are many interpretations of Namaste including: I see and celebrate the Love that you are.; The Light in me recognizes the Light in You; I honor the light and love within you; I greet that place where you and I are one.; I see and honor in you the place where the universe resides.; When you are at that place in you, and I am at that place in me, we are One. 

If we are to come together united in this world during our lifetime we must Live Our Namaste. We can do that by seeing the good in ALL people whether they are difficult or easeful.  Look for something to appreciate.  Namaste it EVERYONE and you'll change the world!  Voltaire said, “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”  SEE SOMETHING GOOD IN SOMEONE ELSE

So we focus on Namaste, Nama, Namaha and all its variations to honor.  To me Namaha is appreciation, a blessing and a remembrance.  

Namaste is a blessing.  It strikes the perfect chord.  Having grown up in a musical family and having played piano and clarinet for 13 years I have always felt music was a blessing.  Yoga like being in a chorus or a band or any sort of tribe helps us to work together as a beautiful symphony.  We feel this symphony of the body when we practice poses (asanas).  And just like playing a musical instrument the more yoga you practice the more efficient you get.  Over time you feel the harmonies.  No single player more important but everyone equally important. This is a nondualistic view of life.  Where we acknowledge that everyone is valuable in their own way, that we all contribute to make wonderful music.  This is why I always say in class you are like family to me.  I see us as co-creating something amazing each time we come together.  Just like in scriptures, “The diversity of the family should be a cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord.”

Namaste is a remembrance.  Wolfgang Von Goethe writes, “Remembrance of what is good keeps us high in spirit. Remembrance of what is beautiful is the salvation of the mortal man. Remembrance of what is dear will be happiness, if it remains alive.”  So today in class or even by yourself when you unite your hands palms toughing think to yourself Namaste and remember how amazing life is.  It is a respect for our breath, for life itself.  When we share this with another we are saying that WE ARE ONE. That we are all love and truth, freedom and strength, light and peace.  So to each of you from my heart, Namaste!  Love and serve all ways, all days, Silvia

 

Namaste - The ancient Sanskrit blessing defined 

From Wikipedia, freely adapted and editedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste

We can perceive the unique thread that connects us all with the Universe, and all its Beings along with the source of that interconnection. Accepting Oneness, we are accordingly receptive to knowledge that comes to us in the form of examples, advice, and direct teaching. One may awake to the wisdom that opens our eyes to new worlds of possibilities.

When we assume everyone we meet is special and unique in its essence we should always show to all people the same generous level of kindness, care, compassion, and understanding without any thoughts of self-interest or ulterior motives above paying respects wholeheartedly, the way we live our daily lives has an enormous impact on those around us.

Instead of clinging to what separates us, Practicing Namaste enables us to feel less alone in the world. We begin to understand that we must treat all people for what they are, family. We are one with the cosmos whether we realize it or not. Practicing ONENESS we gain consciousness of the more subtle aspects of our being, with the ultimate outcome being a complete identification with the light body.

May all beings find and hold happiness. May they all be free from suffering and sickness. May we all look in the mirror see all others reflecting back. May we be all with one, living in oneness, one family, one heart, a glowing heart of the brightest light of compassion. NAMASTE

 

PLAYLIST TODAY

Hard Sun (Main)	Eddie Vedder
Nogo	Issa Bagayogo
Hope	Shaggy
Temperature	Sean Paul
Vamos A Bailar	Gipsy Kings
Minute By Minute	Girl Talk
Bhangra Fever	MIDIval PunditZ
Jumelles	MC Solaar
Soon The New Day	Talib Kweli Feat. Norah Jones
aint feel nothing	zino & tommy

 

Maybe you've seen the PBS documentary series from Ken Burns these past two nights called: The National Parks: America's Best Idea. As I am watching the stunning images from Yosemite and Yellowstone and hearing the eloquent words of John Muir, I am moved. For I too feel the call of the wild. It is when I am in wilderness that I more easily reconnect to the core of who I am and find my connection with the web of life.


One of the things I love about Tantra Philosophy is this idea that the divine is revealing itself through the material world: through each waterfall, each mountain, each sunrise and through each one of us. We don't have to wait for the afterlife to touch the divine's will...there is a temple of nature here for us each and every day. People describing John Muir said he had a "bizarre rapture" with life. He was in love with his world and this gift of having our breath taken away by nature taps us back into this sweet love of life itself.


Similar to nature, yoga has helped me reconnect with a bigger spirit than myself and my thoughts.  As I practice yoga, I begin to slowly peal back the layers of the preconceived notions of who I think I am or who others think I am as I slowly reconnect to a deeper truth. In Tantric Philosophy, we call this forgetting of our true nature, a veil, cloak or mirror that is called Maya. The Maya creates the 'dust' on our heart's mirror and shows up as fear, anger, sadness, guilt and shame. It cloaks the big picture and conceals the truth of who we are so we don't see as clearly. A steady yoga practice can help us start blowing the dust off the mirror so we can begin to reconnect with the fountain of life that is within each of us.


We may not be able to get to a National Park this year but through our yoga practice we can find the wilderness within our very selves. Why not think of your practice today as a chance to go on a journey. What is your body telling you?  Listen to yourself and your soul....what does it want you to hear? What does it want you to remember?


Song- by John Muir
Here is a calm so deep, grasses cease waving.
Everything in wild nature fits into us as if truly part and parent of us.
The sun shines not on us, but in us.
The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing.
The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and; tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song,
Our very own and sings of our love.

APRIL 30, 2009:  Do you find it easier to say Yes or No?  Fundamentally which do you say more of during the course of a regular day?  Yoga is learning to align with nature rather than resisting it or trying to over control it by saying No all the time.  This spiritual practice is about saying YES as the first response to what life is offering us today in each and every moment.  See for me today is the most important day ever.  Can it be for you? Can you be more committed to living in the YES ZONE? 

 

What this would mean is that you are making the promise to yourself to become a more serious student of your own life.  I know the word Serious has been given a bad rap sometimes because we often think of it as meaning: Solemn; Somber; Stern; Grim; Humorless but that’s not it only.  Instead think of the word SERIOUS as meaning:

• Important
• Momentous
• Significant
• Vital
• Sincere
• Genuine
• Honest
• Determined
• Deep
• Profound
• Meaningful

So in this light do you live your life saying Yes as a serious student acknowledging the significance of each precious moment, the deep meaning of each breath the profound effect of each though?  And then take it the next step.  Are you a serious student of your job but just a casual student of your spiritual life?  Isn’t it more important to be serious students of our lives (which is not related to our work life)?  If you are trying to make this shift to serious student of life and need support then get to the yoga mat.  Yoga stretches our mind muscle, it teaches us how to connect with ourselves and accept the sense things make or make sense of things as they are.  Its like working a puzzle which requires concentration and persistence in our bodies and in our hearts. It is not achieved with casual apathy at all. 

So today start with the answer YES to all questions and fall in love with being a serious student of life, not matter what flows in your path my friends!. With heartfelt hope for more YES in the world. Namaste.  Love your life! Silvia   (Check out the Movie YES MAN, super funny!)

 

MARCH 26TH, 2009:  Yoga for me from the beginning, after coming to it seeking physical healing from injury was about self comforting.  I wanted to heal.  I intrinsically did not want to accept what life had served me as a car accident and major life change.  I just was not going to accept limitations!  I now know this was the universe whispering to me to dream of optimal health and to not give up. 

In the Yoga Sutras HEALING is written about as:  A process of rejoining; A rejoining body to heart; A rejoining of spirit to consciousness.

 

What does HEALING mean to you? 

 

What it means to me is a letting go of hurt or angry feelings, an absence of conflict, relief from pain, and a belief in miracles - that things WILL GET BETTER.  Too often we get bogged down in thinking we are alone and stuck in the pain forever, or as Author Alice Walker says "we are being consumed with our suffering."  But we don't have to be.  Yoga gives us that opportunity to realize the healing for ourselves, to self-comfort.  Even right now take 5 breaths and use your thoughts to keep your energy on healing whether it be directed at physical or emotional healing or both.

 

This will go far to remind us that miracles are happening all the time.St Thomas Aquinas writes "MIRACLES ARE SIGNS NOT TO THEM THAT BELIEVE, BUT TO THEM THAT DISBELIEVE.

 

So where does healing come from?  It comes from that still place inside, in the quiet chambers of our hearts.  This time on the mat helps us to hone our visions for our lives.  Ultimate healing is that feeling that we are co creating with the universe and are partnered together in all good things.  At the end of class we then ask ourselves from our own healing, what do you want to bring out into the world? 

 

How do begin the healing process?  Join me tonight on the mat.  We will start with the breath, as we inhale we will say to ourselves inside LISTEN, LISTEN and in the exhale we will start to hear ourselves respond with healing intentions.  A very sweet practice, perfect for you to realize your dreams of peace.  We all deserve a life of serenity and please don't think this excludes you.

 

Love and peace to you all my dear, dear friends,

Silvia

 

 

 

MARCH 22, 2009:  I read this article this morning and it is by a great dear friend and teacher Todd Norian, who I dearly respect.  He visits us once/year and will be end of June 2009. Save the date.  Basically he takes a verse from the sutras and interprets it from a Tantric perspective.  Chapter 1 verse 2 yogas citta vritti nirodah (from April Fit Yoga). 

The summary of the article is this:  When you say NO to something by doing so you are automatically saying YES to something else. 

 

In class today I contexualized  this during the course of the asana practice and brought in my own analogies and examples.  Here I offer you the straightforward article and leave it for your own meditation.  Just know this, I am always saying YES and will support you if you want to live this way too! Love you all, Silvia

 

ARTICLE:  “We assume you can say “no” to something. But in doing that you are automatically saying “yes” to something else.  In tantric philosophy we want to start with “YES”, to open, soften, and receive what the moment is offering. Then, after taking a moment to reflect, we can say “no” as a boundary to what is NOT life enhancing.

 

Yoga is learning to align with nature rather than resist or control it. Instead of viewing our challenges as separate from you and a problem to be solved, the Tantra sees them as a gift of embodiment, the pulse, the very essence of the flow that arises from desire.  Instead of being part of the problem, desire becomes the source of the solution. 

The tantrikas believe the universe is made up of desire. The universe desires to be known by becoming you.  Everything in this universe is awake, which includes the ripples of the mind, like waves on the surface of a lake.  The key is to see beneath the ripples to the bottom of the lake, the deepest essence of self. However the self also appears in the surface waves. Instead of going against the waves we learn how to surf.

 

This is very helpful in navigating the ups and downs of life – learning how to flow with them, embrace them, and know exactly what you’re saying “YES” and “NO” to, rather than pushing them away in the name of freedom.”

 

NOVEMBER 2ND, 2008:  Delight in everything, every detail, every breath, every moment!  Meditate on what it means to taste, touch and feel the sensorium of your experience right now.  LOVE BIG, Silvia 

 MY PLAYLIST FOR TODAY:  very chill, super fun!

Gayeeye Ganapati Jagavandana, Pandit Jasraj Bhimsen

Butterflyz, Alicia Keys

Rock Steady, Aretha Franklin

Use Me, Bill Withers

Yellow Moon, Neville Brothers

Jumpin' Jumpin', Destiny's Child

Foolish, Ashanti

Express Yourself, Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street

Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise), James Brown

Cissy Strut, The Meters

Windmills of Your Mind, Sting

Flow, Sade

In A Sentimental Mood, Nancy Wilson with Hank Jones

Longing, Ty Burhoe

SEPTEMBER 24TH:  It is easy to get paralyzed with seeing the world as unforgiving or dangerous.  Often then our mechanism for skepticism or being overally critical goes into overdrive.  We start to see things in terms of limitations that dampens our confidence in life itself.  A tantric veiw is one of seeing the good.  This is not the same as setting unrealistic expectations which knock down our self-esteem.

The truth is that the world is not a bad place.  It is really a mirror of what we think of ourselves.

So in a real sense the highest practice of yoga is self-acceptance.  The more we can be confident in accepting ourselves as we are the more we can accept the others and their humanness.  So today the practice is to keep dreaming up goals or intentions and work towards them. Letting go of the mistakes we will undoubtedly make along the way.  On the mat, try a new pose and practice not beating yourself up when you don't get it the first time.  Confidently keep trying. 

" Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but for the patience to win my freedom."
Shantideva