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MARCH 19, 2011: This time of year as we transition from Winter to Spring our To Do Lists seem overstuffed. While we have more ways to make our lives easier through technology we insist on overwhelming ourselves on purpose by engineering these massive lists of stuff “we have to do” this Spring.  

So today I invite you to create a TO BE list. 

Say to yourself “how am I going TO BE no matter what gets done, or the outcome of this situation.” 

When we focus on a TO BE List it is giving ourselves permission to do the hardest pose of all which is TO BE YOURSELF. And I can promise you that being yourself is the most important decision anyone can make. There is a serious paradigm shift that must take place especially if you’ve been used to trying to be who everyone else wants you to be.  And as a result you will temporarily disappoint some people. Especially if you have been consumed on making your To Be Lists to prove your self-worth to other people. 

To me the motivation for moving away from To Do Lists towards To Be is that it returns us to place where we can make peace with ourselves.  That space of radical self-acceptance that demonstrates unconditional self-love.  We are all a work in progress but that awareness of letting ourselves be who we are is vital to positive mental, emotional and spiritual health. Eckhart Tolle in the book A New Earth says it like this on page 184:  "Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment. It is part of the isness of the Now. You can't argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer."

This is isness of now is where we allow ourselves to surrender into being: no fighting, no resisting, no arguments.  I can tell you during times of challenge the mat was the only place I felt like I could BE myself. And I mean my real self. And where I felt safe to laugh or cry or both at the same time.  And the more we accept ourselves in this state of beingness the more we know how to accept others being themselves.  It is a straightforward spiritual law.  You cannot offer to others what you don’t practice for yourself.  If you don’t have peace you can’t make peace, if you don’t love yourself you can’t really love someone else, if you don’t fully accept how amazing you are, you WILL NEVER accept others, if you don't know how To Be you won't allow others To Be either.  

So today practice making a To Be List. And the first thing on that to be list is BE YOU!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

PS If you need time off to help your To Be List then come on retreat with Alchemy Tours. Allow us to support you unconditionally. It will transform your life!  www.alchemytours.com

March 30, 2011

“Yoga is the practice of creating the conditions for opening to occur.  We learn to relax and open up to more feelings than just those that are comfortable or familiar.  This kind of opening allows us to being to make friends with the variety of our own human repertoire of experiences.” This explanation from Cindy Lee of Om Yoga really hits home. 

I have learned through this practice that I create my reality from the inside out.  Or as James Allen writes "The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs." I come to the mat to purposefully create the conditions that I want to experience in my life.  If I want more ease then I practice the poses in an easeful way. If I want more enthusiasm then I perform the asanas joyfully! If I need more courage then I face my fears going upside down and stoke my courage.  Whatever I want my world to be more of I try out on the mat so it is reflected back to me when I go out into the world. 

And I have learned that the conditions I create in my mind relate not just to the next moment of my life but sequentially to the moments that follow.  Or as the Buddha says, “All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” 

Today take responsibility for your life! Create the conditions that serve you best and renew your commitment that this is the day we no longer blame situations or people or things for our happiness but we see the world from the inside out.  I wish you all your own best courage, gentleness and clarity.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

YOGA PLAYLIST

Yellow, Jem, Sweetheart

River Flows In You, Yiruma, First Love (Yiruma Piano Collection)

Gobinday Mukunday, Spirit Voyage Artists, Yoga Living Series - Temple Spa

Ardes Bhaee, Mirabai Ceiba, Jamtse - Love & Compassion (An Offering for the Tibet Fund)

Song for You, Alexi Murdoch, Away We Go Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

New People {Empire Remix}, Blue Scholars, New People {Empire Remix}

Hate It Or Love It, 50 Cent & G Unit, The Massacre

Morning Mr Magpie, Radiohead, The King Of Limbs

Karaoke, Drake, Thank Me Later

Still, Wade Imre Morissette, Strong As Diamonds

Gayatri Mantra, Bruce Becvar & Nada Shakti, Samadhi

Chandra (The Moon), Michael Mandrell and Benjy Wertheimer, Anjali

River Flows In You, Yiruma, First Love (Yiruma Piano Collection)

March 29, 2011.  The practice of yoga is not about doing more or asserting more effort it is actually an experience where we try to make the smartest least effort or effortless effort.  There is this space in a pose where we find that sweet space of "doing nothing." That is something I know well from my Father who was born in Italy and the Italian people have a deep respect for the philosophy of enjoyment. This is the idea of IL BEL FAI NIENTE which means "the beauty of doing nothing."  Remember this passage from Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love "Generally speaking, Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure.  Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.  Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused but that's not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment.  Americans work harder and longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today.  Of course we all inevitably work too hard, then we get burned out and have to spend the whole weekend in our pajamas staring at the TV in a mild coma (which is the opposite of working, yes, but not exactly the same thing as pleasure.) Americans don't really know how to do nothing. But against the backdrop of hard work, il bel fai niente, has always been a cherished Italian ideal. The beauty of doing nothing is the goal of all your work, the final accomplishment for which you are most highly congratulated. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this."

"My own ambition, my deepest and truest ambition, is to find within myself someday, somehow, the ability to do likewise, to do NOTHING - and find it enough."  Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

Another way I personally experience this doing of nothing is going to Moab. Utah.  When I am there I understand what Edward Abbey is writing about since that is where he wrote the book Desert Solitaire.  There is a quiet in the desert unlike anything I have found elsewhere in the world.  And the joy of mountain biking or practicing yoga there feels so in the flow of this effortless effort that you come away from any excursion with more energy and calm.  I can't wait to return April 16-19 to introduce a new tribe to the beauty of Il Bel Fait Niente!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

*To join us in April or in October in Moab visit www.alchemytours.com or www.silviamordini.com or facebook Alchemy Tours

March 26, 2011.  "When we understand sensations perfectly, we will see beyond this conditioned world." - Samyutta Nikaya

Do you know which grows first in the human body?  Your heart or your brain? Answer is: Your heart.  

That is a pretty good indication that the energies greater than us want our heart energy to be more predominant than our intellectual capacity to analyze.  And at the very least something within our DNA is saying to us pay attention to both.  You may also find it interesting to know that your heart & brain maintain a constant and conscious 2-way dialogue.  And in this conversation the heart sends far more information to the brain, than the brain to the heart. The heart also generates the strongest rhythmic electromagnetic field in the body & this actually can be measured in the brain waves of people around us.  

So then why do we so often try to rationalize the emotional space of the heart?   Why do we try to over direct our lives with only our brains? And then wonder why this doesn't feel right?

When we come to the yoga mat we are dialing back into our heart's intelligence. And the gateway into the heart is the breath.  The first breathing technique we learn is Anapanasati, awareness of breath: its duration, it's orgination, its temperature, its cadence, its rhythm, is it rough or smooth, easy or labored, where do you feel it and where don't you feel your breath? This renewed sensitivity to our life energy transfers into everything else we do.  And as a result we begin feeling more.  

"The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist." Lord Byron

And of course the asana are on purpose to help us feel both Sensitive and Fierce sensations.  We want to feel the full spectrum of emotion and sensation. Yoga helps us unite our hearts intelligence and intellectual understanding together.  “These two teachings, the supremacy of the heart and the uniqueness of each human being are very important to me.  They give me the fullest understanding of my membership in the human family.”  Robert Muller

The more we feel the more we become expert in our own human experience and then as a result the more expert we are in the overall human experience. We learn to feel what other people feel.  And when the constant dialogue of our hearts with one another becomes a way of life then the more gently we live with one another sharing this beautiful planet without war, without fighting, without aggression. Then and only then will peace prevail.  So please use your yoga to connect to your sensorium of experience and bring peace on earth.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia

"Different winds come from all directions. Some are clear, some carry dusts, some are cold or hot, fierce gales or gentle breezes. In the same way sensations arise in the body - pleasant or unpleasant or neutral. When we see sensations as we do the winds, coming and going, clear or dust laden, fierce or gentle, we will fully understand them and be free from dependence on them." - Samyutta Nikaya

March 25, 2011.  The Buddha says we should “practice as if your hair was on fire.”  This is such an amazing metaphor to remind us to wake up to our lives.  This metaphor in no way implies panic or alarm.  It encourages us stop treating life as a rehearsal for the future or ruminating over the past all the while not awake to present experience.  

No better reason to come to the mat than to stoke our wakeful energy through movement and breath and by taking risks in experience new poses (like handstand).  And what do we use to wake up? Our hearts first and foremost.  For in the wards of Annie Dillliard “If we listened only to our intellect we’d never have a love affair, we’d never have a friendship, we’d never go into business, because we’d be too cynical. Well that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs ALL the time and build your wings on the way down.”  Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia

PLAYLIST: 

Day-O (Banana Boat Song), Harry Belafonte

Tangled Up In Blue, Bob Dylan

Good Day Sunshine, Beatles

Down on the Corner, Creedance Clearwater Revival

I Want You, Bob Dylan

I'm Outta Love, Anastacia

Rolling In the Deep, ADELE

Gangsta Nation, Nate Dogg

Sita Ram, Girish

Stir It Up, Bob Marley & The Wailers

Simple Twist of Fate, The Format

Ripple, Grateful Dead

Teach Your Children (live), Steve Acho

I'll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy Feat. Faith Evans & 112

Every Breath You Take, Carol Welsman

Peace, George Winston

March 23, 2011.  Wishing you a day of effortless effort where you are not feeling pulled or pushed. And a day where you aren't the one doing the pushing or pulling. I know from experience every time you push your partner, he or she will pull back and when we try to pull at them to stay longer they will then push away. It's the win-lose scenario of dualism.  Imagine how strong a person has to be that when you push them they don't react to your pushing while at the same time being careful not to overcompensate for the initial push all in effort to come back into balance.  Whew! That's not fun. 

But when we follow the lead of our breath and stop pushing and pulling at the people in our lives it all makes for living a life of delight.  It is fun.   

We practice on the mat to recognize Pushing and Pulling, Dvesa and Raga, so we can live better off the mat.  Take to heart the words of Judith Lasater who writes, “in life we are pulled between trying to get what you want and trying to avoid what you don’t want.  Pulling and Pushing away both limit our freedom.”  What is freedom? To me is about learning to BE happy with the playful side of life. It's so simple, if you want FUN in your practice you have to put FUN into it. If you want FUN in your life you have to stop pushing and pulling. We learned it in kindergarten and it all still applies.

This concept is from the Yoga Sutras: 

Yoga Sutras Chapter 2, Verse 7

Excessive fondness for pleasant experiences causes longing.  Attachment (Raga) which is PULLING

Yoga Sutras Chapter 2, Verse 8

Excessive avoidance of unpleasant experiences causes disdain.  Aversion (Dvesa) which is PUSHING

On and off the mat we can be aware of what we are thinking:

Where are your thoughts PUSH energy.  Push thoughts are things like “I don’t want to hold this pose, I don’t want to try this new or difficult variation”.

Where are your thoughts PULL energy.  And pull thoughts might be things like “I want another Sun Salutation, I should be able to do 35 vinyasas per class no matter what. Bring on side 2, I'll take it on.”

Maybe that's why I appreciate the website www.thefuntheory.com The site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as FUN is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better. Fun Theory asks us to think about why don't we do more of the things that we know are good for us?  And suggests that if we make those things fun can we get change our behavior. (You should know this initiative is sponsored by Volkswagen.) Go to their website to see how they got folks to take the stairs instead of the escalator and other playfully brilliant examples! Caution this site will make you SMILE. 

When we aren't pushing away positive change our pulling at it either we remain on easy speed and Fun Theory works in our favor which is always Win-Win.  Life is Win-Win (at least when we stop pushing and pulling). Try it and see!  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia 

TODAY’S PLAYLIST

Rainbow Connection, Muppets

Korean Dogwood, Devendra Banhart

Cold Wind, Arcade Frie

Queen Bee, Devendra Banhart

Days Go By (Acoustic), Dirty Vegas

Rise, Eddie Vedder

Sympathy for the Devil, The Rolling Stones

Just Can't Get Enough, Depeche Mode

Stuck in the Middle with You, Stealers Wheel

Say You Love Me, Fleetwood Mac

Fix, Jack Johnson

Come Out To Play, UB40

Pass the Dutchie, Musical Youth

Lively Up Yourself, Bob Marley

Freedom, George Michael

No Rest for the Weary, Blue Scholars

Lakshmi, Girish, Donna Delory, Greg Leisz & Georges Lamman

Faust Arp, Radiohead

Ocean Breathes Salty, Sun Kil Moon

Sitara Dreams, Rasa

Ahimsa, Baird Hersey & Prana

March 20, 2011.  I often ask myself what is the true test of my Spiritual Growth? Or more simply put I meditate on the question "Am I still growing?"  When I was little my Mom measured us (me and my brother) against the door in our house and marked the little lines proving I was actually growing physically.  You did that too, right? Well, I loved that.  I was sad the day she stopped doing it and I stopped growing.

Well that's speaking to physical growth.  I am as tall as I'm going to be (although to be honest by practicing yoga I've gotten a little taller, just a quarter inch but that's pretty cool).

However what I'm speaking about is emotional and spiritual growth.  My aspiration continues to be that I grow into the BEST version of myself.  And that's what I hope for you too. 

Or as True Nobility is defined: it is not about being better than anyone else, it is about being better than you used to be, much better.  This is the barometer of our ability to raise our spiritual energy. Are you better than you used to be?  Are you growing?

"The only difference between a flower that is alive and one that is dead is that the live flower is still growing."  - Dr Wayne Dyer

For me I received so much nourishment, like a flower, from my daily yoga practice that I wanted more. That's when I started taking yoga workshops: first they were the 2 hour kind, then the half day, then the full day, finally entire weekends both locally and eventually I started traveling all over the U.S to attend 2-3 day trainings and workshops until I went all the way by signing up for a one week yoga retreat in Italy with Sadie Nardini.  Well that did it for me. I could experience for myself that to keep growing I had to keep investing in myself and more time dedicated to evolving my consciousness was required to do that.  And traveling to new places and exploring new territories externally matched the growth I was making internally.  They went hand in hand.

And that's when I made the commitment to start leading yoga retreats combined with other ways to express one's yoga and vitality like cycling and hiking. I want to give everyone a chance to really invest in your own growth and raise your energy by visiting places that support your evolution.

You see, until the last breath, I don't buy into wellness as defined by the AMA as the "absence of illness". I believe in the potential for radiant health (shakti) as the World Health Organization defines wellness.  I am growing! And I am learning. And the higher my vibration the softer I get on the outside. I am kinder, more patient, nicer and easily more loving.  I think we all are when we're growing.  So make that commitment to yourself keep affirming your life! Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia

In the words of Lao Tzu, 

"At birth all people are soft and yielding

At death they are hard and stiff

All green plants are tender and yielding

At death they are brittle and dry

When hard and rigid we consort with death

When soft and flexible we Affirm Greater Life."

CHILL PLAYLIST: equally uplifting but easily so and just easy.

Om Padme Om, Wah!

Shri Krishna Govinda, Jai Uttal

Beautiful Boy, John Lennon

Sexxy Bicycle, Mad Rad

Nogo, Issa Bagayogo

Diarabi, Issa Bagayogo

Must Must,

It's a New Day, will.i.am

You And I, Wilco

How I Got Over, The Roots Feat. Dice Raw

Down on the Corner, Creedance Clearwater Revival

What a Feeling, Collie Buddz

Karaoke, Drake

Hawa Dolo, Ali Farka Toure

Rero, Ismael Lo

Hors d'œuvre, M?DE::IN::HEIGHTS::

Mahadeva Shambo, Wade Imre Morissette

Peace, George Winston

March 17, 2011.  Wonderful most blessed day!  And our most fun playlist ever.  So grateful to all the yogis that have shared time with me.  Love you all! Silvia

PLAYLIST:

River Flows In You, Yiruma, First Love (Yiruma Piano Collection)

Black Eyed Dog, Nick Drake, Way To Blue (An Introduction To Nick Drake)

Hate It Or Love It (Remix), 50 Cent & G Unit, The Massacre

Gangsta Nation, Nate Dogg           

Catacombs, Poi Dog Pondering, Liquid White Light [Live] [Disc1]

The Donque Song (Ft. Snoop Dogg), will.i.am, Songs About Girls

Buttons, The Pussycat Dolls           

Quiet Dog, Mos Def, The Ecstatic

So Doggone Lonesome, Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line - 16 Great Performances

California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg), Katy Perry, California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)

Police Dogs Bonfire, Lazyboy, Ibiza The Sunset Sessions

Till I Get There, Lupe Fiasco, Lasers 

Jumelles, MC Solaar, Mach 6

Soon The New Day, Talib Kweli Feat. Norah Jones, Ear Drum

aint feel nothing, zino & tommy, Tears From The Moon

POST SAVASANA

Praan, Garry Schyman, Praan - Single

PS Join me on retreat www.alchemytours.com or in class www.silviamordini.com

March 16, 2011.  Yoga is a journey into our own uniqueness.  It is a story of rediscovery for most of us.  What with all the noise, busyness and stress of daily life we often lose track of what is most special about us.  Fundamentally, when we practice I try to share that there is a difference between fitting the pose to the person or the person to the pose.  I want you to feel like your best self, not trying to look like anyone else in the asana.  For this reason I teach in a way that always emphasizes the person in the pose, whereby we Feel rather than worry about what we look like.  Yes our bodies are our instrument to help us navigate more internally. However that journey into our essence (rasa) will look differently person by person on the outside.

We may share the same intentions related to turning on to the beauty and power within our hearts but how we get there is unique.

In fact everything about you is unique, not just your finger prints.  The way you breath is part of your specialness, your nuances, your quirks and your individual expression create an alchemy that make you an Individual.  You are different so why not celebrate that?  Like the song goes, God made us funky.  Be that. Be you. Be your best.

In this way yoga is non competitive (yeah we hear that yoga cliche a lot) but more importantly yoga is noncomparitive.

No one has your unique features, your exact background, your personality.  Your essence is your most valuable gift. And my greatest teaching intention is that you rediscover or discover this sweetness of you and bring it forth into the other 23 hours off the mat day in and day out.  It is in giving ourselves our own permission to be who we are that we by example give permission to everyone else to be themselves.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

March 14, 2011. Today's incredible playlist! Theme is focused on our Perspective and how if we change the way you look at things then the things you look at change. You create your own reality.  Love in all ways, Silvia

Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin, Mothership (Remastered)

House of Cards, Radiohead, In Rainbows

Every Breath You Take, UB40, 50 First Dates (Love Songs from the Original Motion Picture)

Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha, Trio, Da Da Da

No Rain, Blind Melon           

Run-Around, Blues Traveler, Four

Jai Ho, A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer, Slumdog Millionaire (Music from the Motion Picture)

Push It, Salt-N-Pepa

Flip Ya Lid, Nightmares On Wax, In a Space Outta Sound

Mast Kalander, Rehan Khan, Sajid Khan, Salim Shehzada & Shankar Mahadevan, Heyy Babyy

Ela Mia Nichta, Theodosia Stiga, Greece: A Musical Odyssey

Saï, Kanda Bongo Man, Kwassa Kwassa

New Slang, The Shins, Garden State

Jesus, Etc., Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

You Know I'm No Good, Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

This Years Love, David Gray           

Mere Guru Dev, Krishna Das, Greatest Hits Of The Kali Yuga

Ohpa-Me, Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Jamtse - Love & Compassion (An Offering for the Tibet Fund)

PS Join me in class www.silviamordini.com

March 13, 2011.  Dedicated today's 80's inspired playlist to my best friend who celebrate's his Birthday this Tuesday!  Big love to all, Silvia

Only You, Yaz, Upstairs At Eric's, 1982

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon, Negotiations And Love Songs, 1988

Shock The Monkey, Peter Gabriel, Shaking The Tree, 1982

Saving Grace , Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers                       

Just Can't Get Enough, Depeche Mode, Catching Up With Depeche Mode, 1987

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Michael Jackson, Off the Wall, 1983

Don't Go, Yaz, Upstairs At Eric's, 1982                       

Some Kind of Wonderful, Grand Funk Railroad                       

Walkin' Boss, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman           

Midnight Rider, Brandi Carlile                       

Baby did a bad bad thing, Chris Isaak                       

Mama Told Me (Not to Come), Three Dog Night, The Best of Three Dog Night, 1986

Ananda, Solar Quest, Namaste Experience Ibiza

Java Shiva Shankara, namasté , Magical Healing Mantras           

Be the Change (Niraj Chag's Swaraj Mix), MC Yogi, Elephant Power           

Still, Wade Imre Morissette, Strong As Diamonds        

Join me for regular weekly classes see www.silviamordini.com

March 12, 2011.  Noon class.  Theme was Showing Up for Your Life as the CEO.  Some great French Hip Hop. And the first song really spoke to me.  Really best class ever! Love you all, Silvia

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, Bree Sharp, Live At the Fez

Prayer In Passing, Anoushka Shankar, Rise

Ganga River, Wade Imre Morissette, Sargam Scales Of Music

Assaisin's Tango, John Powell, Mr and Mrs Smith Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Allah Hoo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Monsoon Wedding

Jumpin' Jumpin', Destiny's Child           

Suerte (Whenever, Wherever), Shakira, Laundry Service

Use Me, Bill Withers, Lean On Me: The Best Of Bill Withers

Drive. Ziggy Marley, 50 First Dates (Love Songs from the Original Motion Picture)

Jumelles, MC Solaar, Mach 6

Soon The New Day, Talib Kweli Feat. Norah Jones, Ear Drum

Dreamsome, Shelby Lynne, I Am Shelby Lynne

Misty, Ella Fitzgerald, Compact Jazz

I May Know The Word, Natalie Merchant, Tigerlily

March 11, 2011.  There is this spiritual alchemy where we move beyond wanting life to be different and begin to feel the surrender that allows what is being offered.  We practice ishvara pranidhana as we trust the universal intelligence that hugs us from all directions to know what it's doing.  And once we find this trust we begin to believe that beauty and goodness are within us flowing nonstop and there is no reason to stop this flow for its natural current is to align with the current of grace that is everywhere outside us.  

Beauty becomes our way of life.  Happiness becomes our natural spiritual alchemy when we practice ishvara pranidhana. 

You see when we come to the mat we are like the Alchemist in his laboratory mixing ingredients.  For us as yogis our laboratory is our mat and the ingredents are our bodies, our poses, our breath, our thoughts and the mixing it all together creates a result every time.  For me the hardest practice is wanting to rewrite the past instead of just letting it go.  I waste time wishing things had been different which pulls me out of the present.  And when we are not living in the present there is No trust for other people or the universal energies that support us.  This really messes with my people relationships and so I come to the mat to get beyond this.

 "Sometimes in order to be happy in the present moment you have to be willing to give up all hope for a better past."

Can we practice our life in a way that if something doesn’t work out the way you want it to we don’t fall apart? Can you endeavor to life your best life without attachment to the outcome but instead a trust for what is?  Or as Judith Lasater puts it, “The best practice is that that asks us to believe without proof of the future, without confirmation that the outcome will be what we want it to be. It just is, it is a state of being. A place of being present and allowing the next thing to unfold. Yoga teaches us that place of not knowing.”

This is the idea that we can practice experiencing each moment not needing it to be different but to trust what is unfolding and enjoying it fully in that state of trusting a greater energy, Ishvara Pranidhana. Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

Join me on a yoga retreat www.alchemytours.com stay connected on facebook friend ME! 

Playlist March 11, 2011, 60 minute flow, easeful. Theme Trust and Surrender.

Helplessly Hoping, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, So Far

Fire And Rain, Jonatha Brooke, Back In the Circus

For All Mankind, George Fenton; Ravi Shankar; The Wren Orchestra, Ghandi Movie

Allah Hoo, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Monsoon Wedding

Anand (Bliss), Snatam Kaur, Jamtse - Love & Compassion (An Offering for the Tibet Fund)

Long Nights, Eddie Vedder, Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild

Dust in the Wind, Kansas, Point of Know Return

Buckets of Rain, Bob Dylan, Blood On the Tracks

Old Fashion Morphine, Jolie Holland, Escondida

Dawg's Waltz, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Jerry Garcia & David Grisman

March 10, 2011.  Dedicated to all those finding their best courage in connecting to each other in a time of serious challenge.  And love to those digging out from the incredible Earthquake in Japan. Einstein said it like this, “A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. But he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us. Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

So today as we offer support around the world we also recognize internally how important it is for each of us to feel supported.  It is as Earon Davis says, “It takes community to maintain a human.”  Community, communion, compassion all of these and more that the practice teaches us through the vehicle of ourselves and trying to experience democracy and connection there first before taking it into relationship with others.  One of my personal meditations I use is where I ask myself as much as I reach out to others, “can I be reached?”  

So I ask you, “CAN YOU BE REACHED?”   How easily do you accept support from your breath, from the earth, from your friends, from those that are trying to make your life easier?  If its not so easy then come to the mat even more until you feel it possible within your body and heart and this will ignite the trust to connect with others. 

Quite frankly it's easy to disconnect from ourselves and what we are feeling. Yoga brings us back into a state of connection.On the mat we begin the pose with the mind first and then the breath and body follow.  This is why the sophistication in cuing is so remarkable as a way to "work out" our mind muscle and make it less flabby.  How can we even begin to see the connections between ourselves and the world if our mind muscle isn't strong enough to see the communion or connection within our own body?  And really what are we talking about here?  Why bother at all?  Because a strong mind muscle is what keeps us living lovingly and fully!  It is always about LOVE.  Jack Kornfield says it like this:

"Love creates a communion with life. Love expands us, connects us, sweetens us, ennobles us. Love springs up in tender concern, it blossoms into caring action.  It makes beauty out of all we touch.  In any moment we can step beyond our small self and embrace each other as beloved parts of the whole."

So today, know the more you connect to yourself the more you are able to connect to others. The more you share compassion with yourself, the more you have compassion for others.  And once you find this communion with life then everything becomes about love.  Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia

PS Join me on a yoga retreat www.alchemytours.com and stay in touch www.silviamordini.com

March 5th, 2011. Our playlists for Xinalani Mexico Yoga Retreat. Enjoy! Love, Silvia 

ALCHEMY TOURS XINALANI RETREAT FEB 26-MAR 5, 2011 MUSICAL INSPIRATION: PLAYLIST SUMMARY 

DAY 1 MORNING

DAY 1 EVENING 

DAY 2 MORNING

DAY 2 EVENING

DAY 3 MORNING 

DAY 4 MORNING

DAY 5  MORNING

DAY 6 

DAY 7