Meet Sita

SITA CHILLEMI

Namaste.

My name is Sita Chillemi the Director at Yoga for Life.  Every day, I share yoga on and off the mat with many people. The path of yoga has opened my life journey, my heart and my mind. As a yogi, I offer a lot of seva, selfless service, at Yoga for Life. It is my passion. It is my honor to share the Eight Limbs of Yoga with students and to show how its principles can truly change their lives. The Eight Limbs of Yoga reminds us  to constantly be nonjudgemental of ourselves and of others. It is also a little daily reminder to be mindful and compassionate. It’s not always easy, but we must all try to practice more loving kindness.

My favorite book is The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda. With a daily practice of opening the book to a random page, one can implement a daily intention. Nothing has to be complicated about yoga. Reading about yoga or the physical practice of yoga is simple. It is the ego that complicates it. Every time I open the book a new lesson begins.  There have been many new lessons for me to learn by reading the Sutras for many years!   As the months go by, the Sutras allow me to  cultivate an understanding of how life can be embraced by timeless techniques. It allows the mental and emotional being to have a deeper illumination so that the physical body can obtain purification.

I try to teach students that the Eight Limbs of Yoga will not cure you or rid you of illness, yet offer a road map to be different in  life. I am living testament and I have seen it become living truth in many students’ lives as well. The key is that one must take time to be present in one’s own life. One of my favorite quotes says, “Your life might not be different, but you will be different in our life thru good times and bad times (this is the gift of yoga).

When Sal asked that we submit bios about ourselves, I thought, “Piece of cake!” I will just list my many certifications as a nurse, reiki master, hypnotherapist, Kripalu body worker, yoga teacher, reflexologist and many more that make up the collection of my studies. But a list would not connect my energy with you. And, this might be the only time to influence you to take that step into yoga and encourage you to search for the right teacher that can help change your life for the greater good.  Give yourself the Gift of Yoga that you can use both on and off the mat in your every day life.  Join us today by taking a yoga class, getting comfortable and, most of all, allowing yoga to move you into a new life path direction.

Sharing myself with you is my pleasure and my passion. And, if you can catch a glimpse of my energy from this message, then I have accomplished my intention. The greatest gift in my life is my two children and are my greatest inspiration. It is through my children, I take my practice of yoga off the mat and into my daily life. Their conflicts in life teach me to expand my mind to understand their generation and their joys make my heart melt. Observing them experiencing life’s obstacles and allowing them to make their own mistakes allows me to practice pranayama (yogic breathing) and praying.  They, as young adults now, continue to teach me to evolve and learn about myself.

I am grateful Sal did not wait until he retired from the New York City Fire Department to live his passion of yoga. I know he is an inspiration to his fellow firemen and to his community in Astoria, where he grew up. That is the yogi within him. It is wonderful sharing yoga with our community, in Long Island,and helping our members and teachers embrace their yoga journey. Sal is a dedicated man and yogi to our family. It is my sincere pleasure to help him and all our students in their dharma of the yogic path so we can all embrace the abundance of life’s paths and their great lessons.

Sat Nam, and I look forward to meeting you when our paths shall cross.

Sincerely,
Sita Chillemi