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Toni Reece: Thank you so much for agreeing to join us today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Sanieh: Sure.  My name is Sanieh, and I am a yoga teacher based out of Austin, Texas, here in the U.S.,  of course.

Toni: Well Sanieh, thank you so very much.  I want you to think about that word inspiration and — whether it’s in your professional life or in your personal life — who do you inspire and how do you go about that?

Sanieh: Who do I inspire?  Well, my intention is to inspire anybody whose path I am so blessed to be able to cross myself.  These days I do that through the blessing that is teaching yoga which is, for me, much deeper than the craziness that we can potentially come into as far as the physical form in a body.  I also like to think that I am able to inspire through music as well, being a musician, a singer and songwriter, and guitar player, as well.

Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic!  Do you get the opportunity to play for others, perform for others?

Sanieh: I do.  Well, I do so in class a lot of times at the end of class, and I also play a few Eastern instruments as well.  I don’t so much look at it as performing during those times, but more so as a vehicle to be able to express the depth of my experience, the depth of my spiritual practice through the evolution of my living yoga practice.  So yeah, I do that often in classes actually, so it’s good.

Toni: How would the yoga, teaching yoga, come into play?  How does that, from your perspective, inspire others?

Sanieh: Well, it’s a really great question.  I think it’s a process for us all.  Initially, I came to yoga for the strength, for the flexibility, of course for the esthetic.  There’s so much more behind the word yoga to me and especially when it comes to living yoga.  I think there is this idea in our society that as far as practice, and when it comes to yoga, that it’s showing up to the mat and it is a practice of breath work, often of the physical form, of meditative flow if you will.

But I think really the practice comes to play long after we roll up the mat.  Can we take these teachings of patience, of compassion, of forgiveness, of acceptance, of showing up – the discipline to show up and to continue to develop in the process — long after we roll up the mat, bringing it into our homes, into our lives with our families, into our workplace?  So it’s ongoing.

Toni: I wasn’t aware of what the difference of living yoga was, and you’ve described that beautifully.  When you are teaching yoga, living yoga, how do you think that people — when you are inspiring them during this process — how do you think it helps them to explore their own potential?

Sanieh: Gosh, you have such great questions!  You know, there is a probably a different answer for everybody and, again, I think it’s an ongoing process.  I think there’s enough room for us to be able to explore; it’s like the law of biofeedback.  We have to move.  We have to do something to get a response, and sometimes that response isn’t favorable, it’s not desirable; but it’s better than standing still and being paralyzed and getting nothing in return.

So sometimes we have to move in the direction to realize it’s the wrong direction, in fact, so that we can turn around and go in a different way.  And that’s no different in our body, it’s no different in our life, it’s no different in our goals and our dharmic path, our purpose here on this planet in this body.  So I think it’s a matter of trial and error, and I think that’s really where the growth is.

When I think about the people that inspire me, it’s not usually the person that had it easy and just made it with the first guess every time.  People that had to go through controversy, that had to sort of fall and pick themselves back up to march on forward.

Toni: That leads me into the next question, which is how do you stay inspired?  What do you need for inspiration?

Sanieh: I think it’s really important to continue; and actually I have to give credit to my own teacher, Shiva Rea, who is my primary yoga teacher.  She sat down with me not too long ago in Carola India.  I asked her this question or something very similar, and she looked at me and she said “You know, Sanieh, you need to do something every day.  Move into that space of whatever it is in your life that brings you complete contentment, that space where you lose track of all time, you merge into the object of your doing and become it.”

And for me, that’s nature.  I love nature.  That’s just universal love right there.  I love to sit down and write music and play my guitar and sing and chant over my shruti box.  I now have a dog, so I love to play with my dog.  I believe through experience that it’s most important for me to continue to be inspired by diving in — even if it’s only just 10 minutes a day – into something that I absolutely love, something that absolutely gives me an abundance of joy.  Because it’s from those moments — as short as they may be and as short as they have to be on some days — where that inspiration sort of stirs within, but that will continue to build.

Toni: How do you … when you’re in this space, as you said, and you move into that space and you’re sitting with nature and so forth, are there certain tools or methodologies that you also use to stay inspired and to be inspired?

Sanieh: There are a few things that I do.  I’m really big about writing down … I started this list years ago called Sanieh’s Top 100 — and I didn’t have 100 things on that list — but it was things that I wanted to do in my life.  And I have continued that list, and now I’m also a big goal setter; and I check in with my goals every couple weeks.

I think there’s power to putting things on paper.  No matter how silly they may seem, how crazy they may seem, put them down; and I do that often and I revisit them often.  And so I just like to bring myself into the space of moving into the sensation of how it would feel to already exist in those experiences, if it’s a travel experience or if it’s a new home experience, or a new way of life.  I know so many people that are stuck in an office in a cube and not very happy and dreaming of these things that they want to do, and I think it’s important to really move into that space as best as you can and remember that this experience in this lifetime in this body, there’s so much potential there.

So I think I heard Zig Zigler say once, “Whatever it is that you go to bed at night thinking about and dreaming about and whatever it is that you wake up in the morning is in fact what you were meant to do with your life.”  So I really just cosign on the idea that if it’s there and your heart is really in it, the little things that we do every day to keep us inspired towards that really is the best thing that we can do.

Toni: How does that then translate for you into exploring your own potential?

Sanieh: Yes, I knew that was coming … you know, it’s funny because it’s often easier to give honest heartfelt advice to somebody else than it is to actually drink that juice ourselves.  So you know, I’m no different than anybody else.  The difference between me and maybe the next person is in the work that I get to do in my life.  I get to say this stuff out loud over and over and over and over again.

And really, you teach what you need to know, so I get to all day long reinforce these sort of suggestions, if you will, so it’s constantly on my mind.  It’s constantly something that I’m talking about and constantly something that I’m thinking about and constantly something that I get to do if for no other reason if I want to be good at my life’s work.  But fortunately, my life’s work is a little bit deeper, and it’s definitely on the spiritual path, so I get to listen to that and answer that call over and over again constantly.

Toni: Sanieh, can you help me and others who are listening and reading this interview, can you just take a moment and explain to me what you mean by “you teach what you need to know”?  What does that mean to you?

Sanieh: Yeah, I heard that somewhere a long time ago in reference to yoga, and I have no idea who said it or where it came from — you teach what you need to know.  What I mean by that is, well for me – I have to just say that I’m simply speaking for myself.

I’ll teach a class and have a message behind the class and of course it was great, juicy, physical experience maybe, and somebody will come up and say “You know, I really was able to connect to what you were saying.  I love the message.  I love the inspiration behind it.”  And my response to that when asked is that, you know, I don’t pull this stuff from the sky.  I don’t wake up in the morning and say “Hmmm, I’m going to teach forgiveness or talk about disillusion.”  No, that is a reflection of something that is going on in my life or something that I need to merge with.

I think really when we move into that space of pure honesty and being able to live a life doing what it is that we love to do, what it is that we’re supposed to do, the only place to move from and the only place to teach from is a place of honesty and a place from real life experience and existence, and I think that makes us more touchable and more reachable.

So, when I say that — that we teach what we need to know — it’s maybe in the sense that whatever it is that we are seeking answers to, that’s what we’re spending our energy and our heart space exploring, and so that naturally — if we’re aligned with that, if we’re aligned with our dharmic path, our life purpose — I think naturally that’s the energy and the space that we move from to the space that we share from.

Toni: And how do you think that, as well, translates into the work that you do as far as inspiring others and helping them to explore that potential by you experiencing what you’re doing through inspiration and exploration – how does that translate into what you do for others?

Sanieh: Well, first I have to say that because it’s an honest expression, I think it translates as being touchable and being something that is possible and attainable.  We’re all doing the best that we know how to do in every moment, and sometimes we fail miserably; I know that I do.  We all have moments when we’re face down, tail up, and there’s nowhere else to fall.  For me, I hope that it translates in a way that it is possible to be a Westerner in this culture.

You know, we’re not sitting in a cave somewhere in India or your place of choice.  We are Americans and we are living in this society.  We do have responsibilities.  We do have chores and lives to tend to, but that that can be balanced in such a way where we live mindfully, we live in a place of moving towards expansion, moving towards personal growth at whatever cost.  We’re willing to move in that direction, and we realize also that sometimes it hurts, sometimes it’s ugly.  Sometimes looking in the mirror and seeing truth is quite ugly and painful, but we have to do that.  We have to see the darkness to be able to recognize the light.  We have to fall to be able to get up.

The moon, the sun balance one another.  And I think it’s important for us to be able to know that it’s all and permanent so those moments of pain or those moments of difficulty, those moments of challenge, it’s just a passing moment.  But likewise, the moments of pure joy, of bliss, of love, everything that we love, everything that we do, it’s all changing.  Everything is changing.  So I think it just comes back to being present and realizing that there is balance, but we have to be able to accept that which might not taste so good if you will to be able to recognize the other.

And it’s taken me a long time to really, really digest that; and I still, when I’m in those moments, I have to remind myself, and I have to do so often.  But I think out of 10 — if we were unaware of that completely — nine out of 10 times it’s through practice, and it is through practice, it is through the experiential plane, it’s through that we’re able to understand and soften into this practice, say even to seven out of 10 times.  Seven out of 10, you know, that’s a big difference, so we can’t expect to go from one direction to perfection.  It really is about a path of progress.

Toni: Well, absolutely, and I am so grateful to you for coming into this space with us and agreeing to give of your time today.  And the message that I’m hearing through your entire interview — as far as how you approach inspiration but also what you need — is that you have to move forward or you won’t know if it’s a good direction or a bad direction, but you must keep moving forward on so many levels.  And the fact that you shared your journey and this snapshot of time on how you approach this has been incredible, and I thank you so much for that.

Sanieh: Thank you; thank you so much.  I think it’s important to say, too, that sometimes in that moving, sometimes it’s not forward, sometimes it’s actually going backwards and even falling.  But at least you moved and were able to say, “Hey, this maybe isn’t the best direction or this isn’t the right direction or this isn’t the direction that I wanted to go”, but the fact that we actually picked up and moved, we get that feedback so that we can make better choices and continue on our path.  So, the idea is that we move forward but sometimes moving forward means actually falling backwards for a second, too, so that’s part of it.

Toni: Absolutely, absolutely, and thank you so very much.  It’s been a pleasure talking to you, and I hope that we get a chance to talk again soon.  Thank you so much for everything you’ve given us today.

Sanieh: Thank you.  Thanks for having me.

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For more information about Sanieh:  www.saniehyoga.com

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Toni Reece: Todd, thank you so very much for agreeing to be part of the interviews and the project, and before I begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Todd Williamson: Sure, my name is Todd Williamson, and I am a co-owner of OmBase; it’s a yoga studio in Portland, Oregon.

Toni: Okay, well thank you, and I’m sure you have a lot of people that you inspire through the services that you provide.  And that leads us into the very first question for the project, which is, when you think about inspiration, who do you inspire, and how do you think you might do that?

Todd: Well, I thought a lot about the question, and I think the question is really interesting.  I find inspiration to be really contagious, and so whether I inspire somebody or not, for me it’s more important for me to be inspired, because if I feel inspired, I know that it’s going to be contagious and the people who are needing to be inspired will be inspired.  I’ve heard from different people, they get very inspired that I know that when I feel the inspiration myself, and then, you know, you see something switch in them.  You see the light go on and they might not necessarily be inspired to do more yoga, but they might be inspired to go, I don’t know, live their life differently which, for me, is the real yoga, the big picture.

So, it’s an interesting thing, because inspiration really weaves in our language; inspiration is about breathing, so I talk a lot about breathing and how your breath … you can’t breathe for the future, you can’t breath for the past; you really only breathe in the moment so when you fully breathe, when you allow the breath to embrace and infuse itself, it’s like the cells themselves are inspired, literally, and they’re almost compelled, you might say, to move into an affinity, more energetically in affinity with the moment, with now.  And I find when people dare to do that, regardless of what the pose is on the outside … but when they do that on the inside, everything changes and they see everything differently.

And so for me, that would be more how I would sort of relate to whether they’re inspired or not is that are they daring to just kind of let go and move into that place where magic starts to happen?  That to me is what I get to see basically on a daily level, which I’m really grateful for.

Toni: So basically you are inspiring others by the actual definition of the word, from your definition, which is breathing.  And so you are inspiring others by having them — by the yoga that you’re teaching — breathe differently, breathing in the moment differently.  Everything that you just said is really inspiring others by what you teach.

Todd: Well, in essence that’s right.  The breathing can be very mechanical, but what I find is, it just takes one.  And when you’re doing something with other people and one person courageously aligns themselves in a way that is more in affinity with, let’s say, the creative life force or whatever words you want to use, that action of them making that switch inspires everybody in the room.   So everybody might be going along doing some kind of mechanical breathing, but for me it’s more important that they come into their most natural breath, which is a gentle breath, but not a breath that’s contrived to be gentle.

So it’s really learning how to get out of the way, because I feel as though my experience is showing me more and more that inspiration — being inspired — is literally is most … well, it’s like your innate state; so touching that again brings you back into discovery and you see things new.  So it’s really quite remarkable, and it can happen; there are lots of doors in.  Breathing is just one way, meditating.

There are lots of ways that we access it, but I try a few different doors every class and however we start to get there, we always kind of end up in that same, like Rumi says, in that field beyond concepts of right-doing and wrong-doing.  We’re just all in that place, and that’s where we hang out for the whole class regardless of what we’re doing on the outside; inside, we’re kind of all communicating and coming together and communing and then they go outside with that inspiration and affect the world, which is fabulous.

Toni: So when you talk about what you do to help others explore their potential, it’s that discovery from moving from the mechanical to the natural, and I would like to know a little bit more about that because I would assume that that is the way that you help people to explore their potential.  So can you give us some ways that you do that?  You said one way is to help them breathe, but there’s other ways.

Todd: Well, I use a combination of things, you know — and it’s really kind of experiential — but I use sound, I use movement, guided meditation, I use all those things.  But I find in our culture, in particular, we’re very comfortable at being in our head or hanging out in our head, trying to understand things.  And when you’re doing that, I find that you stay there instead of dropping into the heart which would be the more natural place or the place where you have to find your inspiration.  The heart is in the moment; the head is always about the past, the future, all over the place.

So it’s really trying to give people permission, first off, and feel safe enough to do something different, to do something which may feel like letting down their defenses, letting down the things they are holding on to, the things they believe keep themselves safe, the things they cover themselves with, all the different personas, all the different everything.  And as they start to uncover, they start to discover more and more about themselves.  So there are lots of different ways.  You might start with something familiar, something more mechanical, but the invitation is to settle into familiar without having to settle for the familiar.

So a lot of times it might sound semantic, but as you’re doing it around other people doing the same thing, you naturally, automatically start to mimic and match their energy, and you find yourself literally feeling different.  And it make take a while to connect the dots to realize how you’re doing what you’re doing and, for me, there really is no recipe because if you follow a recipe, oftentimes that’s going to come back to the mechanical.  So it’s really more something you intuited, something you tuned into and really connect to that inspiration is something that … it’s just happening, it’s coming through you.

That’s, to me, like the wave connecting to the ocean.  It’s that point where you realize, hey, I am connected to the ocean, and I’m a wave and the wave is animating me.  The wave is moving me.  You’re a unique expression of the ocean, but you’re part of the ocean; you’re not the whole ocean, but you’re part of the ocean.  So all those things, it’s doesn’t have to be that kind of revelation, but it’s enough to just get out of the automatic stuff that you … away from mechanical stuff, which seems odd because a lot of the yoga can seem very mechanical.  So it’s using a tool a different way, is basically what I like to explore.

Toni: That’s really interesting, and one point of clarification if you could do for me, which might help the readers or listeners of this interview … you made a statement, you said that you go into the familiar but you’re trying to get them to settle for the familiar.

Todd: Well, okay, so basically it’s feeling the difference between settling into something versus settling for something.  I don’t believe we’re ever being asked to settle for anything, because when you’re settling for, you’re really moving outside of your integrity; you’re moving outside the moment.  And so when you’re not in that alignment, when you’re settling for something, you’re perceiving it through filters, your definitions, beliefs, concepts, and so forth.  You’re compromising, you’re acquiescing, and I don’t think that’s the same.

To me, it’s dramatically different if … I call it this way; dropping from your head into your heart, you’ll naturally feel yourself start to settle in and sink more deeply into like the wave, sinking into the ocean.  You’re sinking into more of you.  You get a feeling of more You – the capital Y- You – as opposed to trying to configure or align yourself in some way that seems to be more acceptable for something external to you, some purpose or some person or some circumstance.  So it’s really about tuning in and working from the inside out, and you do it with the breath, you do it with movement, you do it with awareness, all these things.  It sounds very similar and it can be a semantic clarification, but experientially it’s dramatically different.

So, when I started this practice and I started really looking into it and was honest with myself, I was horrified to notice that most of what I did during the day was settle for this, I settled for that, and it was not comfortable, and so learning how to be differently and not settle for, but not be obstinate; it’s just that tuning in.  It’s a listening and then dare to be moved; allow yourself to be moved, to be inspired, which is not operating from your head.  That’s the obstinate part.  So it’s not sticking in your heels and “I’m never gonna do this.  I’m not gonna compromise”, it’s tuning in and being malleable, being flexible, feeling the movement that’s coming through you and daring to move in that way, so that you’re moving with everything around you, not against it, and you’re not trying to contrive it and control it.  There’s a subtle difference, but it’s very dramatic.  Did that help a little?

Toni: Yes, you did, you clarified it beautifully and thank you.  If we go to … with everything that you’re doing, Todd, and the work that you’re doing and living actually in inspiration and so forth, what do you need to be inspired?  How do you keep yourself inspired?

Todd: Well, you know, that’s a really good question, and I find I’m answering that daily, because I ask that all the time.   I find that if I settle for what works yesterday and last week, it has diminishing returns, so it’s always got to be something new; and I find the thing that’s always new is me showing up really to teach.

And so I’ve been teaching a lot more recently and so I haven’t had days off, and so recently I was thinking, oh, I really want a day off and so I made a day off, I gave myself a day off, and then I was like sitting around thinking well, what am I taking a day off from?  The very thing that really inspires me?  Why would I do that?  Doesn’t mean I have to teach all the time but really looking at what I give myself permission to do when I’m teaching, and then if I step away from that it doesn’t mean … I can step away from the teaching without stepping away from that alignment that we were just talking about.

So here’s where I’m learning more and more deeply, like how do I do that?  So I keep myself inspired by listening to my guides, by being in class watching my students courageously let go of the very things they believe are keeping them safe, keeping them defended, the things that they believe connect into their lifeline; they let go of these things, even for a couple of moments and they change, and I get to see this dramatic shift.  So I find that to be really the most inspiring thing because it’s life-changing.  It changes their life, and so it impacts my life, so that’s what inspires me probably the most, more than anything.

Toni: This is all how it relates to you and work and the people that you are helping to inspire.  How does it translate to your personal development, to how you explore your own potential?

Todd: Well, because it’s allowing me 1) an opportunity to spend more time practicing, time being for practice; it allow me more time practicing tuning in.  So the more I tune in, the more familiar that is for me, the easier it is to tune in more and more of the time; and the more I’m tuning in, the more I feel like my little ideas I get to put out of the way, put them aside, and then I get to live in that place where I’m literally like riding the wave.  I’m being moved, and that’s exciting because that is not just when I’m teaching; it’s when I’m at the grocery store, it’s when I’m cooking, it’s what am I gonna cook, what am I gonna buy?  I’m not answering any of those questions, it’s just bubbling up.

And so it’s amazing, it’s just a different way.  It’s hard to articulate, but it’s a different way of being, it’s a different way of living so that I feel more alive just by doing that.  So it’s through my teaching that I find the main door of inspiration, and it’s hanging out immersing myself in that feeling and wearing it, and then getting a little more brave and wearing it out not just when I’m teaching but out in the world that things start to magically happen.  And it’s not like I’m doing it; it’s just, they happen.  Like the studio just came together and people came out of the woodwork and built it.  I don’t feel like I had to do it; it just happened.  I had to be present, and I had to be open for it.  These things are what happens more and more in my life and that, to me, is an indication of moving into your alignment, or what I would call your divine design.  These things just unfold.

Toni: But again as you said, you have to be ready for it.

Todd: I think everybody is ready for it in a way, but it’s being brave enough to move into having this and be willing to receive and have, which is different from wanting.  So when you get tired enough with things not working or bumping into obstacles — seeming obstacles, all that stuff — when you’re really ready to embrace the change, then you’re really ready to move into having this, your birthright.

And so for me, there it is again, it’s another seemingly semantic difference, but the shift from wanting something to receiving it and having it is very subtle, but it requires this internal shift and this willingness, this permission that you have to give yourself ultimately — and others around you can inspire you to do that — and that, to me, is what inspiration does; it moves you right into your having it, because then you’re not wanting anything when you’re inspired.

Actually, when you’re inspired, time goes away.  You’re literally outside of time.  The past goes away, the future goes away, you’re just in the moment, so that, to me, is what’s lovely about inspiration, and it can be through a piece of music, it can be through any number of things.   I just happen to do it through this vehicle I call yoga.

Toni: Well, Todd, I have to tell you, you have been an amazing interview because you have put a different and a unique definition to inspiration, and it’s not that it’s better or worse than anybody else’s story, it’s just unique and the way that you’ve described it is fascinating.  And I can absolutely validate being in the moment and inspired, as I am, with these interviews, which is a great body of evidence for inspiration, because as I’m interviewing all of you, I am lost in that 15 minutes and time stands still.  And you’ve done that for us today, and I cannot thank you enough for the information that you have given that people will have to absorb and learn and they will benefit from, and for that and the snapshot of time that you’ve given today, I cannot thank you enough.

Todd: You’re welcome, Toni, and thank you for putting this project together.  I was inspired just reading about it, and I think it’s a wonderful service, and I’m really, really grateful for being able to be part of it, so thank you so much.

Toni: You’re welcome.  Thank you again.

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For more information about Todd Williamson:  www.ombase.org

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