First Class Free

April 4, 2011.  As an adult I started yoga because I got hit by a car. It was part of my physical therapy.  I love the physical part of yoga. And for a long long time that was all I knew.  And I'll tell you I still love sweating and moving and breathing.  I have never gotten "past that" nor do I want to evolve to a point where I can't enjoy the movement.  

As a more experienced yogi I eventually found out from my teacher Shiva Rea that Yoga is for the Mind.  Who knew? (Well ok if you did, I didn't)

So how does this work exactly if the practice is so physical? Well scientists agree that the best form of exercise is that which involves learning complex movement, including balance and coordination.  That sounds like yoga.  Western science also goes on to say that MOVEMENT provides physiological release that we need to bring our body back into balance while at the SAME time it is also good for our brain where moving helps form more connections between the neurons in our brain.  Other benefits of learning coordinated movements which in yoga we call Vinyasa Krama include: improved mental well-being; increased neurotransmitters; mood regulation; anxiety control; ability to handle stress better; better socialization; ability to better process more information; enhanced attentiveness and improved ability to choose appropriate responses. 

Of all those benefits and ways yoga helps the mind I like appropriateness the best.  I struggled for a long time as an overly sensitive person in appreciating how not to over-react to what others did or said.  Yoga calms my mind and makes me better able to not take things personally (Rule #2 in Miguel Ruiz book The Four Agreements).  I make better decisions when the noise in my brain quiets after practicing yoga.  I need the yoga to impact the ventromedial portion of the frontal lobe of my brain!

Studies show we have too much brain power.  We easily catastrophize and react rather than respond.  When I am on the mat learning, following, trying out a sequence of physical poses and coordinating my breath into that movement I somehow learn how to sequence the thoughts in my mind when not in a pose.  And it's true the primary motor cortex and cerebellum which coordinate physical movement also coordinate movement of thought.  In yogic practice we have then 3 movements:  physical movement (and inside that isometric movement as well as action) and pranic movement (breathing on purpose) and also thought movement.  One impacts the other and managing one fluidly teaches us how to sequence the other.  So that's the scoop, just as we order physical movements in something like Sun Salutation A or Dancing Warrior 1 (which we practiced tonight) we learn how to best order the sequence of our thoughts for thinking our best lives ever. Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia 

Sun Salutation Series A – Overview

Start standing at attention, bringing awareness to your body and posture.  Feet rooting down, inner edges of feet together, lift sternum upward, pull belly in (abdominal lock called uddiyana banda), tilt pelvis pointing tailbone down slightly, knee caps pulling up, inner thigh spinning outward, engage quads and press leg bones down, pull shoulders back relax them away from ears sliding shoulder blades down the back, head centered, ears over shoulders, neck neutral, gaze soft and relaxed

# In Flow	English Name	Sanskrit	Breath
1	Mountain Pose	Tadasana
2	Upward Salute	Urdhva Hastasana	Inhale
3	Forward Bend	Uttanasana	Exhale
4	Monkey	Urdhva Mukha Uttanasana	Inhale
5	Plank	Dandasana	Exhale
6	Four Limbed Staff Pose	Chaturanga Dandasana
7	Cobra or Upward Dog	Bhujangasana or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana	Inhale
8	Downward Dog	Adho Mukha Svanasana	Exhale
9	Walk or Jump Forward		Hold Exhale
10	Monkey	Urdhva Mukha Uttanasana	Inhale
11	Forward Bend	Uttanasana	Exhale
12	Mountain Pose	Tadasana	Inhale
13	Close the Pose	Samastithi	Exhale

Dancing Warrior 1

INHALE -- Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana (1 Leg Downward Dog)

EXHALE -- Place foot down, prepare foundation for Vira I

INHALE -- Virabhadrasana I (Warrior 1)

EXHALE -- Chaturanga Dandasana

INHALE -- Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog)

EXHALE -- Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) (Repeat #1-5, left side)

*DW courtesy of my teacher Shiva Rea

February 9, 2011.  I don't mean this to be dramatic or morbid but if I died today could I say that I've lived well.  And more importantly could I say that I've loved well.  You see today is the anniversary of my Father's death. Enrico Mordini died on this day many years ago, too many to even begin to want to count.  And yet the hardest day of my life is also a day of inspiration.  It is a reminder every year to ask myself am I loving enough?  Am I Creating more love in the world, not just following love but leading the way for love as a Love Warrior so to speak.  

For it's not enough to think about it or follow the leader in love it is also our responsibility to make more love in the world.  Today more than ever!  And yes for me this is also tied up in wondering on this date every year "is my Papa proud of me and how I'm loving my life." Would he think that I respect love enough to salute it every day (like a sun salutation)?  I have to believe he is proud of how valiant my attempts are regardless of the results which are sometimes messy and pretty often imperfect.

Funny thing about death is that the anniversary keeps coming back every year and reminds us that we don't know how long we have on this earth. So if you are thinking about getting started in loving more, creating more love, talking to love, talking about love then you should get started NOW.  Yesterday, in meditation I decided to turn up the volume of love in my life, mostly because I don't feel like I'm yet "doing" enough to promote love.  If I am a Love Ambassador (kind of like a Lululemon Ambassador) I have to get out there and keep the "brand image" of LOVE on the forefront.  I have to take more responsibility.  So I have pledged to write/blog/meditate about love for 21 days in a row (the length of time some scientists agree it takes to build a healthy habit).

Those of you who know me might think this will be an easy love assignment for me, but being actively pledged to love is not easy. It is simple.  Just not easy. That's a long time to be in love with love and maintain a fruitful, spiritually mature dialogue.  I say this because when my Father passed away the first person I was angry with was Love. I screamed and cried and shouted at love in my thoughts and out loud, because I couldn't understand why love would take away the first person on this planet who loved me (along with my Mama too).  Love seemed so unfair to me then.  So you see I haven't always been on good terms with Love, we've argued before and sometimes it's not been pretty.

But here I am, ready to really try to be the Love Ambassador that I want to be and that will make my Papa proud.  You see Love is a skill.  If you practice love, move like love, think love, behave in a loving way then we're bound to get good at it, just like anything else we practice (sadhana) repeatedly over time.

Eknath Easwaren says it like this “Love is a skill, a precious skill that can be learned. There are many other skills that are useful, even necessary, but in the end, nothing less than learning to love will satisfy us. The saints and mystics tell us that life has only one overriding purpose: to discover the source of infinite love and then to express this love in daily living. Without love, life is empty; without love, life is meaningless. The only purpose which can satisfy us completely, fulfill all our desires, and then make our life a gift to the whole world, is the gradual realization of the Self (LOVE) within, which throws open the gates of love. We cannot dream what depth and breadth of love we are capable of until we make the discovery that this divine spark lives in every creature.” 

And today as I dream of love I am just so grateful to breath and welcome a way that promotes living the biggest love possible. So happy am I to have another chance to love more! It comes down to a simple choice (here I really should tell you that my "not so secret" ulterior motive is to build an army of Love Ambassadors worldwide) and I'd like to recruit each of you.  The oath is easy.  You just say to yourself and then to everyone: I CHOOSE LOVE.

May you love yourself more, love your day more, love your life more! Silvia 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009:

 

I AM GROUNDED IN ACCEPTANCE.

 

Today is the Autumn Equinox.  It is a highly auspicious day and there is an amazing energy available to us three days before today and three days after.  But today the peak is at its highest.  “To open deeply we need tremendous courage and strength. A kind of WARRIOR SPIRIT. But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart.” These are the words of Jack Kornfield from a favorite book titled A Path with Heart.  That warrior spirit is always there as are all the most wonderful qualities of the heart.  We need our most inner strength to learn the truth about ourselves. 

 

Taking this literally I am thinking about starting to take up running again.  I haven’t run for some years every since my Father, Papa passed away suddenly at the age of 59 years old.  It is something that we did as a family growing up. He was my first running “coach”.  And I’ve had this fear of the sadness I’d experience by going back to running.  Now over the years I’ve still bought really great running shoes, just in case I just haven’t used them.  But it has come time as I grow up and become more honest with myself and ground myself in my own acceptance that I see the situation for what it is.  I am running away from the strong feelings I associate with my Dad, the sense of loss and hurt not having him here on earth.  I have to face this.

 

“We need energy, commitment and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophical – material or spiritual. We need a Warrior’s Heart that lets us face our lives directly.  Our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.” (Jack Kornfield)

 

So as I face myself I asked a sweet friend who is making their own expansion this question:  ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR LIFE OR RUNNING TOWARDS WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR LIFE?  There is a difference.

 

I am seeking my own Warrior courage to put those running shoes on and get out there face my grief and get on with it.  I don’t want to run away from anything, I’ve tried that you guys and it doesn’t help.  So I encourage you to do the same in some aspect of your life.  The reason why I think this is good is that we can’t choose to close down just one part of our life and expect everything else to open.  Energies are not mutually exclusive, if we are opening to love and peace we must do so in all parts of our life. Jack Kornfield goes on to encourage us,

 

“To live in love:

·         Look at every path closely and deliberately and ask yourself does this path have heart?  If it does the path is GOOD, if it doesn’t it is of no use.

·         Where do we put your time, strength, creativity and love?

·         Does what we are choosing reflect what we deeply value?

·         What might lead me to create openness, honesty and a deeper capacity to love?

 

We must have the courage to face whatever is present – our pain, our desires, our grief, our loss, our secret hopes, our love, everything that moves us deeply. Each of us will find something from which we have been running – our loneliness, our unworthiness, our boredom, our shame, our unfulfilled desires.  We must face these parts of ourselves as well because to live in the present demands an on-going and unwavering commitment.  Just as it is a courageous act to face all the difficulties from which we have always run, it is also an act of compassion. And compassion is the “quivering of the pure heart.  With greatness of heart we can OPEN to the people around us.”

 

I want for us all to choose wisely and decide to no longer run away from life but instead to run towards it.  Accept where you are and begin again from there.  I will keep you posted on my progress putting on those running shoes and stepping onto the pavement.  As I wish the best for myself I wish you the same and more!  Love and courage to us all, Silvia

 

 

 

JUNE 10:

Today’s Guest Blogger is Chance Olesak

Summer Vacation…..

Summertime is here (although the weather this past Sunday night suggests otherwise) and that is the time of year most everyone enjoys. Long days, warm weather, vacation time for us kids!!! Summer is a great time of the year to unwind, a time let go from all that bogs us down in life. However not all of us are kids or young adults in school. We don’t get a guaranteed vacation for 3 months out of the year. Most of us are 9-5’ers with everyday jobs and find it hard to even sniff at a day off for months to years. Everyone needs time off, a vacation……or do we?? Why should we have to travel to exotic places to be free from work, when vacation could be as far as the next step we take?

"…you can live a whole lifetime, without ever being awake" —Way of the Peaceful Warrior

As it says in the Alchemist; "The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity." I’ve read quite a few books the past couple months and all of them are intertwined. They all share a common ideal of living the moment. You can truly be free at anytime, on any given day, anywhere in this world.

"There are no ordinary moments" —Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Being a collegiate swimmer I initially got introduced to yoga for the physical aspect of it. I’d do a DVD yoga session for 5:00 AM swim practice 3 days a week. Burning a sweat and stretching out my 5’4 body so as to help me swim like I was 6’4! My coach cut out the shavasana part of the DVD and figured it wasn’t important; it was a symbol of my life at the moment. I was missing out on the simple beauty and joys’ of life. My swimming career came to an end after a shoulder injury and I needed surgery to repair it. I was lost, torn and didn’t know where to turn for an answer. I came across the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior". And in the weeks following my mom introduced me to Total Body Yoga.

Through my reading of a couple books lately and my yoga practice I’ve learned to let go. To not dwell on the past and worry about what the future may hold. I love each day as if it were a blessing; I put 100% into whatever moment is placed upon my path, not wasting any extra energy or thoughts on what may or may not happen. I just go with the flow. Yoga then helps teach us to flow like water. "Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and strong, none can withstand it. "–Saltwater Buddha

Go with the flow my friends. We are all faced with challenges and decisions in life. Decide on a path and go down it. Don’t look back, but don’t look ahead too far or you’ll miss out on everything that is going on around you. Most of all do something because you want to do it. Find the joy in whatever it is you’re doing at that moment and in every moment. "The journey is what brings happiness, not the destination" –Way of the Peaceful Warrior Life is what you make it to be. So make it a good one. Physically we might not be able to get away but mentally we can. Be happy, smile, be free, and be present in this moment.

Namaste


My Reading List:
Way of the Peaceful Warrior (It’s also a movie available on DVD!!!)
The Alchemist
Yeah Dave’s Guide to Livin’ the Moment
Saltwater Buddha
Siddhartha

AUGUST 22ND, 2008:  To me the practice of SEVA is that of examining how we are bringing peace to the world.  It starts with simply admitting how much you care about your family, your friends, your world.  How may you serve is the mantra that exists in my heart first thing every morning.  It makes the rest of my day more meaningful.  Here are two quotes that I hope inspire you to see the power in giving of yourself in thought, word and action.  Power to all peaceful warriors making the world better!! Silvia

 

"You do good to somebody, it remains good if you do it in the name of the universe. That is a Seva. If you do it in the name of your own spirit, your own soul, that is Seva. If you do something expecting something tomorrow,  you better not do it. It’s not worth it. It’s not Seva. Seva is a conscious and deliberate service to benefit another person.  You must serve people. You can only serve people if you are mentally very steady; You can take pressure. Somebody is in trouble and you want to uplift that person. How can you uplift that person if you cannot uplift yourself." - SSS Harbhajan Singh Khalsa 

 

Look within.

If you don't see the peace in you, you won't be able to see the peace outside.

You have to have that peaceful vision, because it is you who sees the world outside.

You have been created to serve others. If you know that, then all your desires become selfless.

We are made to live to serve others. - Swami Satchidananda