Posts In: spirit

AMNESIA

Once again
I’ve confused rigidity for strength,
domination for embodiment.

I’ve missed opportunities for appreciation
for acceptance
for love.

We know in our minds.
We feel in our hearts.

And yet we forget.
We get lost,
confused.
Amnesia of the spirit.

What if the only purpose of life
is to communicate love?
Through our breath
Through our body
Through our thoughts
Through our words
Through our actions
Through our relationships
Through our life
Through our being

Begin again.
Every day.
Every moment.
Every breath.
A chance to wake up.

*****

BELIEFS

How do they form?
How do they shape and filter
the way we view ourselves,
each other, the world?

We look to some beliefs
to help guide positive thought and action,
such as Ahimsa (non-violence),
or a vision of sameness,
to see ourselves in others,
or to (radically) love ourselves…

But perhaps any belief
comes with a small weight,
what we should be or do.

Maybe the next step
is to let go of the belief.

To realize that we already are the same.
We already are love.
We always have been.
We don’t have to think it,
or believe it,
we can just be it.
We
Are
It.

by Olivia Cecchettini

I turn on the news and all I hear is violence and it stuns my heart
because I have cultivated a life of peace.

It’s astounding to me that we are still killing each other
over race, sexuality, religion, and so on…

The human race has advanced so far
in technology, in space exploration, in medicine,
but what have we learned about our treatment of other humans?

What have we learned about connecting to one’s own spirit?
What is it worth, your spiritual survival?

We are so far removed from our neighbors
from our rainforest
from our compassion
from our hearts
that we are numb to the world around us
and we have lost touch with the world within us.

Every day I see people who suffer physical and emotional pain,
these two are intertwined with little separation.

The body speaks. Listen.

This is yoga – more than physical postures –
yoga connects the physical, mental, emotional selves
into one spiritual Self.

We look outside ourselves,
never thinking that everything lies within.

But the world is changing day by day,
I believe there is a wave of passionate, intelligent people creating change,

The kind of change that starts within –
within our reactions,
within our suffering,
within our humanity,
within our hope for the next generation.

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia’s yoga journey began in 2003. She is certified in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Aerial Yoga and holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. She believes the mind, body, soul connection is sacred and encourages her students explore and expand within their own bodies and consciousnesses.

by Olivia Cecchettini

“The Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing”

by Carolyn Myss

Summary: Caroline Myss is an acclaimed medical intuitive and motivational speaker. In this book she presents her findings on fifteen years of research into energy medicine as a pathway to spontaneous physical, emotional and spiritual healing. In her discussion of the relation of spirituality to energy medicine, she states: “As spiritual adults we accept responsibility for co-creating our lives and our health.”

Anatomy of the Spirit offers a unique model in which she combines the ancient wisdom of three spiritual traditions – the Hindu Chakras, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life, to demonstrate the seven stages of development towards higher consciousness and spiritual maturity. With this model, Dr. Myss shows how you can develop and deepen your intuition, as well as cultivate your own personal power and spiritual growth.

Why I Love It: I love this book because it taught me so much. I strongly believe in the mind, body, spirit connection. In my eyes, we are made up of energy and are all sensitive to it. Our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health is all inter-connected. To stay in harmony and balance we need to look at all four aspects of health equally. This means seeking connection through self-inquiry, which is the goal of Yoga – union, harmony, balance.

Keep an open mind and an open heart when reading this book. It’s filled with interesting facts and information that may be unfamiliar to you, see what you connect with the most and leave the rest behind. Personally, this book taught me how to slow down to connect to myself, others, and all the energy that is abundantly surrounding me all the time. Take your time reading and let it digest.

Recommended For:  I recommend this book for anyone wanting to discover or go deeper into learning about their own energy. Caroline states that everything pulsates with energy and this energy contains information. If you have been feeling more sensitive to energy lately or maybe just curious about energy work in general, this book may be just the thing. It will let you know you’re not alone, expand your knowledge and also give you tools to grow and protect yourself. I hope you enjoy it!

“This book is both an important revelation and a major call to awakening.” – Christiane Northrup

Lots of love this holiday season!
Ciao, Olivia

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia is a yoga teacher based out of San Diego. With a love for people, life, spirituality, reading, and, of course, yoga she spends her days connecting with students and nature. Getting outside whenever she can to enjoy all the beauty this life has to offer.

This weekend, the one and only Diana Beardsley will be down from Los Angeles for a special workshop: Backbends, Hips & Shoulders, Explore and Celebrate Embodiment. You may have heard her name around the studio before because she co-leads the Yoga One Teacher Training. Diana has trained with Ganga White, Anna Forrest, Shandor and John Friend and she’s taught thousands of students herself during a teaching career that spans three decades. We think Diana ROCKS and trust you will, too. Keep reading for a sneak peek into the thematic elements of her workshop this Sunday, May 27th from 3:30-5:30pm and be sure to register online to reserve your spot!

When asked to define “embodiment,” Diana Beardsley wrote, “embodiment is when spirit and matter are recognized as One.” She took the time to share with us her thoughts on embodiment, yoga and how the two practices will work together in her workshop to create one incredible experience.

“Being a body is such a gift! That’s something we often forget as we deal with the challenges of living. Our responses to difficulty, disappointment and pain can lead to the belief that we are alone, that life is hard and that our bodies are alien and a source of suffering. Through Yoga, we realize our wholeness and our connectedness. Our bodies become an expression of nature and a connection to spirit. Through them we experience our connection to all of life and the energy that flows through the body is essentially joyful. When we lose touch with our bodies and our breath, we lose touch with our connection to all of nature and to the present moment.

“During the workshop, we will reclaim and enhance our connection to who we truly are, with what is already present, which is an expression of all existence. Yoga is a “what” but also a “how.” The “what” are the poses that help us open to the bigger flow of energy. The “how” is the culmination of the attitudes we hold and the way we receive our experience moment to moment, which ultimately defines our experience. The workshop on Sunday afternoon will be a full spectrum class designed to open up the entire body to pranic flow, with an emphasis on the shoulders and hips in preparation for backbends. We will examine the breath, moment to moment awareness and the ways in which our habitual attitudes may diminish our daily experience. Through our yoga practice, we will release those negative attitudes and restore the natural joy of embodiment to fully experience being alive.”

Diana is a true inspiration, please join us for this special treat. $35 in advance, $45 at the door.