Sep 10, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Festival Experience
There’s this beautiful turning point…
in all of our lives where everything begins to click for us. Anything that is no longer resonating with our frequency, serving higher good or purpose, just seems to just dissipate and be no more – while everything we dreamt would be, IS, and we begin creating/manifesting so many more opportunities to live a fantasy-like reality & dream even bigger.
A few years ago, I was cruising through the commencement of this very point in my life (my awakening if you will). I had a clear knowing that I no longer wished to live in big cities modeling and aiming for fame, and meditation was beginning to take over my life (and trust me, no complaints!). It was then that I was driven to the idea to go on a life-long journey; but first, I just ‘had to’ make my way back home to Arizona, head north and be present at the Sedona Yoga Festival. It’s funny how that works, isn’t it? How one thing, idea or mission turns out to be so perfectly aligned with all else – as if by divine timing, or destiny.
Having manifested the trip, made my way and aligned with the coordinators (Marc, Heather as well as Stephanie), I felt at peace and knew this was solely the beginning of so much more to come into fruition. The vision was there, it had always been. I love Arizona – it’s home and it’s magical – but even more so – Sedona is a place I can escape to & discover more of my Self and of the Universe, with each visit bringing to life new parts of mySelf and shining light on different aspects which need cleansing, healing, balancing, focus or simply… Peace & Love.
In short, am completely at awe with the energy Sedona holds, and as I was here amongst many others who too felt it’s pull – I knew one day, and soon, I would return to amplify that very energy.
As mentioned, I crossed paths with beautiful Souls whom I completely loved from the moment of introduction. Everything at Sedona Yoga Festival was what I wanted to do, be a part of, and BE. There were so many things going on throughout the weekend that lured me in – from yoga, meditations, healing, lectures, film screenings – this was it! I felt I had ‘found my calling’ and purpose a bit prior to then, but furthermore – and when I left that weekend, I left shining, brighter, inspired and DRIVEN to come back again with something to offer, gift and spread. That was the mission, and so the journey began…
Life and the Universe conspired/happened soon after, and before you knew it I had started a brilliant Self-Development Program online for meditation through Peace Revolution (a project under the World Peace Initiative Foundation). After completing the initial 42 day Self-Development Program that they offer online (free of charge!), felt beyond connected. I knew this had fallen into my life and path for something beyond that in which could be seen at this moment, and had a continuous strong feeling & knowing to fully confirm that very notion.
From then on, my meditative practice continued to evolve, and my drive & determination towards wishing to be a part of something so beautiful kept expanding. Having gone through the application process once before, knew there was still reasoning behind my desire for involvement. Applied to join in on their fellowship where ‘Peace Rebels’ then become ‘Peace Agents’, and this is what manifested…
I spent a few weeks in an intense (but pure & life-altering) meditation retreat and training with our beloved teaching Buddhist monks in Thailand. Joined together with 29 others from different countries all over the earth, it was an experience unlike any other I had yet had. Our days began before the sun rose; we meditated to welcome in the day, and did yoga upon sunrise at the scenic view to welcome in the Light & Life. We bonded, took in lectures, did activities – all of which taught us valuable lessons – and of course, more and more meditations throughout the day. So much peace was harvested, grown and prepared to be shared as we all channeled to our purpose of spreading sustainable world peace.
As the weeks past by, and my practice which had been put into motion for years now grew even more still & bright – I knew this was home. Beyond the beautiful views, people, energy and values – Peace Revolution, this group of people & organization, were precisely what and where I wished to be – and I was – and it all came together. I was going to be sure I was a big part of this project, and I was going to bring it with me as this ‘home’ was not a location, but more so a feeling of belonging, love of Self and others… this was PEACE.
Weeks, months, and now years, passed. Travels to India to visit His Holiness for teachings, Mother Theresa’s House and tomb for further study and research, Swami Sivananda’s Divine Life Society, cleansings, more teachings, International Yoga Festival, Holi, temples upon temples – visits to sacred spaces and places all over the world to meditate and absorb all of the beautiful energy to eventually come back to reciprocate, reflect and share with the world – it all came down to this very moment, our NOW.
Now here I am, grateful to announce and tell you all of the beautiful alignment which has come to be. I reached out to Sedona Yoga Festival not too long ago (after having been away on my personal journey since our last crossing), and told them all about my visions, and wishes to join forces of positivity, light and love for PEACE – and of course, they are all in! We have now joined together and begun to organize in bringing what shall be the very first Peace In Peace Out (PIPO) event to the United States of America, and will be having a Global Peace Meditation this coming year at SYF!
Am so excited and am ever so grateful for all of the magic that has come, and that shall be – thank you ALL for being here, now, with us. Do hope to see you all in person soon, raise vibrations & hold frequency together to aid in bringing world peace, home.
From my journey, heart & Soul, to your own – may we see that we are all One.
See you in the stars…
Dulce Ruby
Meet Dulce Ruby
Jul 29, 2015 | Sedona Yoga, Sedona Yoga Retreat, Yoga Conference, Yoga Festival, Yoga Philosophy
That’s us… Pondering… Well, I am Pondering, Heather is looking cool. On our way to another EPICasana experience at SYF2016!
Every year, as we deepen the experience of the Sedona Yoga Festival, there comes that time when we sit and ponder how it all began and where we are today. SYF has become an event not to miss; it has marked the transformation of many a yogi these past 3 years. In the beginning we saw an epic experience, situated in the Heart of Sedona, AZ that cradled the participant in the healing energetics and allowed for a truly transformative experience. Well, the Sedona Yoga Festival has become that and much, much more.
The 2016 Sedona Yoga Festival is rapidly becoming THE yoga festival to attend next year. Whether you have never done yoga or you have practiced meditation and asana your whole life, there will be something for YOU! Save the Dates and/or get your tickets at Early-Bird Pricing now because you will not want to miss out on this. Some big announcements are coming shortly, but for now, just cruise through the website to see what is coming so far… We have added little bits and pieces, so you yogi sleuths out there can start to imagine just how awesomenasana SYF2016 is shaping up to be.
We’ll leave you with a big blast from the past; Yogini Silvia Mordini honors us with her experience of the inaugural SYF2013. See ya in the ethers, dear friends.
Marc & Heather
First Penguins at Sedona Yoga Festival
February 8, 2013. Feels a little bit like the first day at a brand new school. Starting today, I am presenting at the Sedona Yoga Festival to a whole new group of yogis. It is my first time teaching in Arizona (although I’ve taken many a workshop/training here in my Anusara days).
As always before teaching, my thoughts turn to how will I best touch the hearts and minds of my students. What will they think? Will they understand me? Regardless of your experience, Yoga Teachers still get nervous. I may have over 11,000 hours of teaching experience but today will be my first hour in the teacher’s seat at this first ever Festival!
One of my biggest strengths is my humanness. After leading 15 RYT200 Teacher Trainings, I work hard to keep myself off the pedestal and keep things real. I am imperfect, fallible, sometimes quirky, certainly silly, and a bit earnest when it comes to manifesting happiness. Being born in Ecuador to an Italian father and Ecuadorian mother only adds to my uniqueness.
If you know anyone in Sedona coming to the festival, applaud them! They—like me—are First Penguins. The first penguin is a term coined by the late Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch who offered his last lecture there when he was dying of cancer. Here is one of his key pieces of advice: Be the first penguin. “I encouraged students to attempt hard things and not to worry about failing…failure is not just acceptable, it’s often essential.”
Pausch rewarded his students who took the biggest risk with a stuffed penguin representing how when a group of penguins takes to the water, one of them has to take the FIRST plunge. If that penguin survives in the potentially predator filled, dangerous water, then the other penguins follow.
I am grateful to everyone involved with Sedona Yoga Festival. It is heroic to manifest—from nothing—an entire yoga festival, replete with teachers, searchers and healers from all over the world. To every single attendee, presenter, volunteer, and staff, I present you the First Penguin Award! Thank You Silvia!!!
You are magnificent and your courage to jump into the water not knowing what will happen is inspiring. And that is why I am proud to be involved—even if I am also a bit nervous.
To those who are considering doing something that really scares you this year, be encouraged. Manifest your biggest dream! The world needs more First Penguins in yoga, in art, in science, in relationships, in life. Love yourself, love your day, love your life! Silvia
ABOUT SILVIA MORDINI, Happiness Coach, Yogipreneur, lululemon ambassador, manduka ambassador
Enthusiasm to love your life is contagious around Silvia. Her expert passion connects people to their own joyful potential. Silvia lives her happiness in such a big way that you can’t help but leave her classes, workshops, trainings and retreats spiritually uplifted! Born in Ecuador, raised traveling around the globe she is an enthusiastic citizen of the world and spiritual adventurer. She is a long-time Experienced Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with over 10,000 hours of teaching experience, owned a yoga studio for 9 years and has been teaching and practicing yoga over the last 15 years after being run over by a car and using it to recover physically and emotionally. Silvia will be leading a Tuscan Adventure in Happiness week long retreat in June 2013 and an Amalfi Coast Wellness Adventure in July 2013 as well as offering her Alchemy of Yoga RYT200 Yoga Teacher Training in Costa Rica this August 2013. Silvia is currently writing a book about Prescriptions for Happiness and has a popular blog called Loving Your Life, along with producing her “Loving Your Day” videos.
Connect with Silvia Mordini:
Web: www.alchemytours.com or www.silviamordini.com
Email at silvia@alchemytours.com
Twitter @alchemytours @inspiredyogagal
Facebook Silvia Mordini (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1164596386)
Nov 22, 2014 | Sedona Yoga, SYF2014 Presenters, Yoga Philosophy
We make a point during this time of year to outwardly express gratitude for the good things in our lives. Some take to social media or a journal each day to write about something for which they are thankful, while others specify time for prayer with the theme of gratitude. There seems to be no limit to the quotes, blogs, images, and articles (like this one) available on the topic.
As yogis we often advocate making gratitude a year-round practice. But what is the best way to incorporate gratitude into daily living, and what makes it worth the effort?
Gratitude is all about perception. As an example, think of the classic “glass-half-full or glass-half-empty” conundrum. One aspect of our yoga practice is learning to become observers of our thoughts and feelings so that we may avoid feeling consumed by the deleterious effects of negative thoughts and emotions. By becoming not the subject, but the observer of our inner monologues, we can alter our perception of transient events, and therefore decide whether to let them affect us in negative or positive ways. Gratitude is a strong positive emotion that we can choose to express whether we really feel it or not. But why work so hard to act grateful at times when we don’t feel grateful? What about when we are stuck in a doom-and-gloom mental cycle, and it seems impossible to think of anything good happening now or in the future?
read more…
Nov 21, 2014 | Sedona Yoga, Yoga Philosophy
Once upon a time a group of Pilgrims sailed from England to America to start a new life that included freedom. The independence they sought provided them with the liberty to believe what they wanted to believe and live the way they wanted to live. However, they were faced with many challenges and hardship, often resulting in death.
In the kinship of human kindness, the Natives of the land decided to lend a helping hand. 
They taught the Pilgrims how to grow and hunt for food, treat illness and care for their families. To show thanks, the Pilgrims invited the Natives to a three day dinner —the first Thanksgiving.
As we have continued to celebrate Thanksgiving for nearly 400 years, we have come to associate this special day with elaborate meals, parties, watching sports and everything else in between. Unfortunately, these lavish celebrations are also often accompanied by unnecessary stress and over exaggerated indulgences.
So how has the celebration of expressing our gratitude for the kinship of human spirit become secondary to the excesses we now know as Thanksgiving? How did it become turkey with a side of gratitude?
…read the rest on Denise’s blog
Nov 19, 2014 | Sedona Yoga, SYF2014 Presenters, Yoga Festival Experience
Living in Sedona and consciously practicing what you preach it’s easy to forget how it is “out there” in the “main land” for most people… I get frequent reminders with clients from big cities visiting for tune-ups and their much needed “Sedona time”. I observe them arrive enveloped in broken grey auras, lower energy centers clogged with what seems like slabs of “concrete” – aka “survival concerns”, dull eyes, lack of presence, stress and drama addictions, constant dependency on their electronic devices, indigestion, anxiety, poor sleep. Their complexion is dull, eyes empty, health in decline. I welcome them, I embrace them, I speak… I know I will have to later repeat everything I’m saying as for the first few days they hear nothing except internal chatter about ginormousness of their problems. And so for the first few days they try to express to me how so important and absolutely unavoidable all of the problems in their lives really are.
And thus our work together begins… It’s a journey back Home, back to their Souls, back to who they really are. The day the cell phone is turned off or
left behind in the room, I know they are ready to embrace the transformation, this is the day of “re-introduction to self”. For those who are ready and willing Source works its magic through Sedona vortex energies, through me and the work that I do, through mystics and healers they meet here, through synchronicities and strangers who say “just the right things”…
Right information assists: becoming aware of conditioning, programming, limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging habits brings “aha” moments and tears to eyes where the next step is change and letting go of what no longer serves. Finding connection with one’s own Soul, one’s true nature, one’s Divine Guidance allows the “big” every day problems to “suddenly” look much less important. Hearing the gentle voice of one’s Heart brings in miraculous synchronicities, lightness and ease into decision-making. Focusing on joy instead of problems and suffering creates more reasons to be happy. A couple more days and the inevitable “aha moment” sweeps them of their feet with inspiration, excitement and determination for change: either big or small, and the “old familiar life” no longer looks like an acceptable option.
I observe expanded glowing auras, shining eyes full of life, tears of gratitude, re-awakened sense of purpose and joy for life, faces clear and radiant, physical sickness removed, years off their spirits and faces, Source shining through with all of its magical brilliance. Off they go and later letters come from the “main land” telling of changed, inspired, incredible lives.
Blessed are brave souls who seek change and transformation as when they do it is always assisted with and given. And so it is.
Oct 28, 2014 | Sedona Yoga, SYF2014 Presenters, Yoga Interviews, Yoga Philosophy
by SYF2015 presenter Hope Zvara
Yoga has taught me a lot about life and living. My mom (also a yoga teacher) and I often chat jokingly about how being awake in the world is a blessing and a curse. As yoga heightens your awareness of the things, people, actions, and words that are around you as well as what goes on inside of you, it can feel like a double-edged sword.
I was blessed to have my first real yoga experience at an ashram. I was guided by a wonderful teacher with whom I contribute much of my understanding of spirituality and truly living in commune with God (or Universal Consciousness). Fast forward twelve years, I have evolved. Yet my roots are grounded in keeping the spirit in yoga and more recently I have added a passion for functionality and deepened core awareness.
Keeping the understanding that when you come to yoga–real yoga–expect to grow radically, expect to be uncomfortable, expect to be challenged in thought, word, and action. Expect to be confused, frustrated, angry, sad, mad, happy, and in sheer bliss. Why? Because… read more on Hope’s Blog!
