Tag: calm

Embrace struggle

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„Embrace struggle. While almost all yogis struggle with the poses, the struggle is meant to be a teacher. Wherever you meet your challenge is where your yoga begins.“

(Kino McGregor)

This is not only true when it comes to yoga, but exactly the same off the mat. When accepting this while practicing, the next level is to integrate this approach – or is it an attitude? – into the rest of our lives. 

My call was yesterday. Early morning, my home office desk packed with two laptops and two mobiles and I put my cup filled with hot lemon water on the desk. You guess right…. somehow my hand sticked to that cup when I turned…. yup, my work laptop received a hot bath, while everything else just got a bit wet. I stayed surprisingly calm, but hesitated slightly what to rescue first. It was a disaster. The entire desk turned into a pool. After drying everything, it didn’t seem to be too bad, all was working. Well, for 5 minutes. The screen started flickering and boom, dead. My day packed with meetings and no work emails or work chat on my mobile. I couldn’t tell anyone. Baaam.

IT wasn’t much of a help, as they deal with PC, not Mac. Plus, home office doesn’t really support any quick fix here.

Embrace the struggle. What was it teaching me? That I should get my work emails on my phone? Eventually. What else? To stay calm. To figure out, what I can do, accept what I can’t. The world will continue moving anyhow. My old me would have panicked, making a huge noise, driving everyone mad…. somehow I managed to stay calm, even understanding those who could not help at all or reacted a bit shitty. Overall grateful for an idea that somehow lead to the next and the next and finally to a new laptop. 

Later in the evening, when I kind of collapsed on my sofa, I felt this internal restlessness and it took me hours to release. The effect of keeping countenance all day long. Of practicing yoga all day. Yes, yoga off the mat.

Today I laughed about it. Even though I lost many files and notices. So what. I can’t change anything about it. I’m proud that I managed this challenging situation this way. My yoga is paying off. Very grateful. 

Rest

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You need to slow down before you can speed up.

Who is busier? Who has more important things to do? Are you in a competition of who can get more out of the work day? Obsessed with your to do list? Is this where you find your value? Do you feel comfortable being driven by chaos and fear?

Do you feel something is wrong with you when welcoming the idea of rest?

It may not feel safe to rest for different reasons, but what if you just give yourself permission to? What if you would trust your desire to calm down? To just breathe?

I sometimes feel like living in two worlds. One being the yoga world – no, I’m not only talking about the asana practice, but about all the practices, such as meditation, yoga nidra, mindfulness, breathing techniques etc. The other world being the business work, the daily challenges, high speed and useless competitions. 

Never underestimate the practice of rest and calm. Many years ago, I had a breathtaking experience during a yoga nidra session – I left my body. Relaxing was never easy for me as a named control freak, so you can imagine my surprise. I was fully conscious, feeling, seeing, yes even thinking something like, gosh what’s happening here? It was such an incredible experience and when I told my teacher about it, he just smiled at me, saying, so you experienced your subtle body! Congrats!

It was as if all the theory, all the teachings proved to be true. I’ve got a glimpse. This was just the beginning. I understood, that conscious rest and sense withdrawal isn’t just being lazy and hanging around, but can be an intense experience of another dimension. It doesn’t has to go to the extreme each time, but it is about nourishing the body, recharging, connecting. Meeting your true self. 

So let’s merge both worlds in a sense of implementing the calmness into the crazy.

Let’s do it together, join my 3 weeks course, „The Transformation“. 

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Do you know your values?

The moment when our values have been either fulfilled or infringed, we react with an emotion. The difficult part about that is to not blame the other person! Particularly when anything negative comes up, such as anger. They might have different values and didn’t do anything on purpose to harm you, they just act in conjunction with their own values. 

So what’s the tricky part now? You have to take responsibility for your emotions and reactions. Hmmmm, but the other person did something, said something…. No! Your values, your emotions, your decisions.

Why don’t you get a bit of practice? The next moment you react with an emotion on something someone did or said, ask yourself why. Which of your values has been infringed?

There is something you can do without reprogramming your values. Did you know, those manifest at an age between 3 and 7!  

First get to know your values. Before you react, pause. Reflect. Don’t react as usual. I know, this isn’t easy, but worth a try. And there are little sweet helpers in form of essential oils. They can help to better deal with your emotions. The oils can support in many directions – clarify, soothe, calm, balance, energise, and many more. Even if essential oils won’t make you cool as a cucumber, but you might feel more calm and cool.  

Let me give you some examples of my experiences – with the support of the oils it gets a bit easier to calm down:

  • I love to use the mixed blend „Peace“ in the office – when everyone around me freaks out, I feel like in a bubble, safe and peaceful
  • Before a stressful day, a challenging task, I inhale Adaptiv and I feel calm and confident
  • Any earthy oil, such as Sandalwood, or the mixed blend „Balance“ instantly grounds me, brings me back to myself. Great on the sole of the feet, neck and wrists
  • A few inhales of Bergamot and my smile is back

Learn your values and what triggers them, and be easy with your emotions, the only way to live in peace!

Are you ready to bring pure, natural essential oils into your life? I would love to help you get started! Send me a message to get connected.

Otherwise, read a bit more here about the power of essential oils.

Does your morning routine impact your day?

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Did anything changed for you in this time? Over the last few weeks I managed to implement a new morning routine – thanks to the lockdown. I love working from home! It’s so important how we start a day…. Usually I got up very early in the morning to go to the office before the major traffic makes driving impossible, so I was in a rush. Which means I started into the day already with stress. As I have issues sleeping, there’s no point to even get up earlier, I’m grateful for every additional minute in bed. A catch 22. 

These days are very different. I start with hot lemon water and a shower, I check my work emails, meetings and to do’s for the day and then I sit to meditate for 30-40 minutes. In silence with the only sound of my diffuser, enriching the air with beautiful scents. Additionally I put a drop of either Sandalwood or Blue Lotos on my 3rd eye, crown chakra and collarbones and just sit, doing nothing, not physically, nor mentally. It needs about 15 minutes for me before my body gets heavy, movements are not even possible anymore and my mind to pause with the incoming thoughts. Slowly I start seeing. Images, that can be clear or only show parts or colors. No judgment, no wondering, no questions, no answers. Just taking it in, letting it happen, what ever is there for me. Sometimes I go into these scenes, not being the observer anymore. Sometimes when I see myself, I merge with that part of me to experience this particular moment. This also happens naturally, I don’t force anything.

After that I enjoy a matcha latte outside, no matter the weather. Sitting on my dining table in the garden, enjoying nature and my precious state of calmness. This stillness inside is magic. This moment is magic. Now I’m ready for the day, fully connected to myself, calm and open. Any yeah, still in time for the business world.

I wish I could also fit my yoga practice into the morning, but still, sleep is important. I do this on the weekends and it’s a huge difference to practice in this state of calmness! Anyhow, for now, the yoga practice finds another time during the day or evening. Having this too in the morning might be a next step 😉

What’s your morning routine and how important is it for you?

Life is jingalala!

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Almost 6 years ago. Not sure if I should say already or just. I feel both. It’s like another lifetime and same time as if it was yesterday. The moment my life changed. I went to India to learn more about yoga, not just the postures, but the philosophy. I came back renewed from the inside out. Knowing, this was only the beginning. One and a half years later I went again. Better prepared, but once again, I experienced a huge challenge. 

Even if I started teaching yoga back then, I tried to keep any other changes to myself. Not giving up my job or anything else what I called my life. Over the years this became more and more absurd. A combination that seem to not work any longer. But I kept on going. More learning to be able to integrate this better into my life and my job. My purpose was – and still is – to see the change in people. This beautiful transition into a shining face, the moment they show their true beauty. 

The last days I was once again sitting with my teacher from India, listening virtually to his lectures and practicing together. I wrote about it here. A breakthrough when it comes to my meditation practice and once again the start of something else. I feel the change, not that obvious, but something is going on inside. And I love it. The steps on that journey to my true self became bigger, I can see a glimpse of it, I already touched it. I can smell the ocean, hear it, I can feel the salt on my skin. Not ready yet to be one, to be the ocean, but I know I will. Practice is all it needs. And with this, discipline. I know the path, I’m already going. I’m already connecting.

Life is jingalala!

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Yummy workshop!

Deep dive into yourself – pure nourishment. It will be a very gentle and calm practice, where you will be guided into yourself. Releasing tension and allow the process of healing to start. No matter if physically, mentally or emotionally – all you have to do is let it happen.

We will start with Yin Yoga in combination with Reiki, the Japanese hands on healing method (read more about Reiki here) and we will finish with a beautiful Chakra healing, which comes as a guided meditation. I will take you through a beautiful visualization, which will not only be a deep relaxation, but also work on your chakras.

Mark your calendar on the 7th March, 4pm – 6:30pm! Sign up here, places are limited!

It’s that time again

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TUNEin:CALM – WORKSHOP 10th NOVEMBER

Join us if you are in Zürich! Saturday afternoon, time to take 2 hours just for yourself; to feel your body, to flow and stretch, to get quite and eventually immerse into your inner world when deeply connected to your breath. You are your own medicine, get access to it.

It’s time to get quiet. It’s time to listen and slow down, soften and look within instead of around. Let’s tune in. Let’s do it together:

  • Flow – greet the sun – wake your body up softly: By synchronizing breath with movement, you will bring body and mind into alignment, getting into a flow, connecting sequences, calm and steady. You will gently wake your body up, saying hello to your muscles.
  • Yin Yoga – unstick the fascia – release tension: You will then ease into a yin sequence, holding postures for some minutes to reach the connective tissues and the fascia. On the way you might face some tension and this will be the moment to let go and release.
  • Breathwork – connect deeply – use your breath as your medicine: Finally, you are invited to a journey, using the power of your own breath, as a way of treating your body, mind, and spirit to its most rich and healing superfood. Music will support to find your rhythm while you allow yourself to just receive.

Are you in? Let me know and secure your spot here.

To bring: Comfy (yoga-) clothes, something to keep you warm during the breathing sequence, water

Energy exchange: CHF 40.-

10th November, 16:00 – 18:00, Stadtyoga, Zürich 

 

NEW! NEW! NEW!

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Yogis, TUNEin:CALM is opening its doors and will finally start this year!

TUNEin:CALM is about learning certain tools to turn the volume down and tune in. I’m currently planning a series of workshops, which will be run on a monthly base (Saturdays) and take place from 6 participants.

Please let me know if you’re interested — see all details here, so we can schedule this first one. Are you in? Click here to let me know.

Meditation is Mindfulness is Yoga is Meditation

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Mindfulness is not just a hype everyone is talking about at the moment, in these times it’s the key to stay sane. But what is mindfulness? Mindfulness means being in the present moment, in the here and now, without any judgment. The past is gone, nothing we can do about it. The future is not yet there, so why waisting our time with being rather in the past or in the future? We miss all we have, the present moment.

I’m working quite intense on this since some time and during a yoga class I taught recently, I recognized how easy it is for me to be fully in the present moment when I teach. I’m focused and concentrated, no thoughts that don’t belong to exactly what I’m doing. Why is it so easy in this situation and difficult in others? Is there any magic formula to be mindful? Nope. But passion is a good trigger to keep us exactly where we should be, in the here and now.

Luckily there are different techniques that help us learning how to stop the ‘autopilot-mode’ and focus on the current moment. Meditation is one of them. I wrote already a lot about it and my struggles (https://tuneinyoga.com/2016/07/16/meditation-vs-meditation/), but I didn’t gave up, I so much wanted to sit cross legged in stillness. I was looking for this quietness in my head, this emptiness, that I already found when practicing asanas. And I finally found it. In my daily meditation practice, I understood how my thoughts appear in my head and where. Just through moving them mentally to a different place, I can get rid of them. My god, so easy and it took my ages to find out! Well, this is my way and it might not be yours, but I cant tell you, it’s so worth to find out!

The more and the longer I practice meditation, the easier it get’s for me to stop the craziness of jumping between not existing time zones. The present moment is all that counts, all that matters, all that exists.

Give it a try! If you are in the Zurich area, stay tuned, learn how to create calm in your every day life and we will do it all together — soon to come: TUNEin:CALM 🙂