JAMIE SILVERSTEIN 

What’s your superpower? / What do you want it to be?

I can lead a mean Macarena.  I think it comes from my years working for a DJ.  I also do sweet things with sugar.  I’d LOVE to have the power of enlightenment.  I think it would clear up a lot of things!  Maybe in another lifetime…

How do you express gratitude?

JFK is quoted in saying:  ‘As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’  I carry his words in my heart.  I’d like to think TGY (and my life really) can be offered as a manifestation of gratitude.  And, it’s not the what but the how.  How can I make things better?  A hug?  A truth?  An ear?  I express gratitude by giving me.

Why do you share yoga?

I share yoga because it is my way to share the human quality of connection.  For me, yoga is alive.  And, yoga practices are tools for people to take off the problems or stresses that shroud them and come home to their inherent beautiful nature.  I share the tools of yoga because I trust that we can ALL connect with our beautiful nature and yoga is my way to do so.  I am inspired and AWED constantly as I witness these connections happen.

What’s your favorite pose?  Why?

I  love me a good pigeon.  Not because it’s always comfortable but because the “[y]our pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding ” sort-of-thing.  It has become such a valuable practice for me to learn to sit with things.  Situations.  Sensations.  And, to watch them unfold and change.  They always do .

When was the last time you laughed out loud?

Today.  Tried to open someone else’s car.  Yup.  I did that.

What always makes you smile?

Flowers.  Hand-written notes.  Tandi-Iman Dupree.  LOVE.  Silly faces.  My friends.

What does flow mean to you?

Flow means change.  And, change means hope.  Change means the world.  Change means that our reality is constantly evolving and we can always reinvent.  We can always un-stick.  We can always take a chance.  Because there will be another…

What can our TGY friends expect from your class?

Heart.  Sweat.  Russian skating anecdotes.  Music you won’t admit you really like.  And, a feeling that life is wonderful.  Life is wonderful!  

Jamie is an E-RYT 500, US Olympian (Ice Dancing), and Health Counselor.