WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
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
FACING UNCERTAINTY: FACING YOUR FEAR
FEBRUARY 4TH, 2009:
William Shakespeare wrote, "Learning to trust ourselves is a worthy practice, the practice of authenticity. This is the work of aligning with our deepest passions and dreams. It's the work of making promises to ourselves and keeping them. It's the work of knowing who we are without judgement."
Take a moment and think about what holds you back from taking custody of your life. Not just temporary custody but really owning your life, your entire life, not just the work life but your heart and soul too. Is it enough to tell yourself that fear of the outcome will prevent you from living more fully? The thing is if you are waiting for a guarantee, 100% certainty of the result you are never going to get it. Life is uncertain.
All we can do is be present to what is in front of us right now and set our intentions for the kind of energy we wish to attract but ultimately we will never know the outcome until its present. We can simply manage our reactions to the details or our lives and just keep paying attention. Best advice I can give is take time every day to BE STILL, BE PRESENT, Silvia