Tag: love

Learnings from the mat

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Let Go

What happens on the mat stays on the mat? Nope. We practice asanas, but we also practice acceptance, we practice letting go. We practice with our body, but we also practice to go internal. As body and mind work together, all physical work has a mental effect too. Like this moment, when all of a sudden or mind gets empty, we’re getting soft while keeping full stability within an asana and with this, all tension releases. It’s working the same way off the mat.

Love

When you practice yoga, it’s about you. There’s no competition. Is your neighbors’ acrobatics and surreal flexibility sparkling onto your mat? Well, that’s not about you. Look at it if you can’t resist, be happy about the show and go back to yourself. It doesn’t say anything about you. Avoid mirrors. Go internal and feel your body. Let yourself be guided by the voice of the teacher and by the aligning hands. Go internal and learn. It’s about you. It’s about accepting yourself with all your strengths, with all your limitations that moment. It’s called love.

Independence off the mat

On the mat you learn to be yourself. Off the mat it’s about integrating these learnings. Do you know this feeling of happiness compared with a huge uncertainness, when you’ve got something new? New within, new outside, it doesn’t matter. Instead of wearing it with a proud smile, all of a sudden we turn into a shy something. The self confident woman ask herself, did I do this right? But what the hell is right? Who is judging? Whatever is new that moment belongs to you. Is part of you, mirrors what that moment is inside of you. No matter if we’re talking about a blood-red lipstick or a new haircut. No matter if it’s about a new pair of fancy leggings or a new tattoo. Even changes that are internal count. They make us strong and same time sometimes uncertain and vulnerable when we show them first time.

Love and let go

Remember what you’re learning on the mat. It’s about you. Free yourself from dependency. Why is it so important what others think? Of course you’re flattered when your surrounding is sending kudos. Wow, you’re looking amazing! You look so happy! Awesome how you’re shining! We don’t want to hear things like, oh, that’s flashy… can you remove that?

Love and let go

Why so thin-skinned? Yeah, it’s all about harmony, isn’t it? It’s so much easier to go with the flow. Inconspicuous. Accepted. Belong to a group. This is where you feed your self confidence from. Get rid of it! It’s a false conclusion, as it only shows how your vis-à-vis operates. It’s not about you!

Maybe your friend is jealous. Maybe simply overstrained. Maybe it’s just not her or his taste. Maybe you developed into a certain direction, which is a different journey. Endless options. And finally the opinion or even judgement about your new whatever, is telling you something about that person, not about you. The more you provoke, the more you learn about that person.

Of course, there are others. Those that are on a similar path. Recently someone told me, your tattoos are so YOU. I loved that. It was not about like or dislike, this person looked at ME, without judging.

My conclusion: do what you want. Be YOU. It’s your story, your journey, your life. If it feels good, it is good. Trust yourself. Aim true. Connect with yourself, connect with your breath, as you do it on the mat. If any uncertainty arises: Love and let go. On the mat, off the mat.

Dedicate your practice

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Did you ever dedicate your practice to somebody? I know lots of yogis do so, but honestly, I was never into this, as I never really understood. I mean, what is the relationship, where is the connection between my practice and another person? And what does dedicating mean in this situation?

Yesterday I heard about a friend, that passed away. Even if we only spend some weeks together, I always felt her beautiful soul. I met her again some month ago in India and she was so happy, in love and just shining. Her death touches me deeply, my chest in pain, my eyes filled with tears.

On the mat this morning I felt the urge to dedicate my practice to her. It felt so right. Same time I was keen to learn what exactly this means. My practice itself didn’t change, reflecting where I am today, with all my strength, with all my weakness, with all my limitations. But there was one thing, that was truly different: I was giving. My breath. My love. I opened myself even more and I felt a strong energy within as well as around me.

I experienced a very strong and calm practice. Simply beautiful. For you Cathe, in love.

Love is the breath within the breath

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Love is the breath within the breath

Inhale the word LET — exhale the word GO

Breathe in suffering and pain — breathe out love and kindness

Inhale your guilt — exhale forgiveness

Inhale the word LET — exhale the word GO

Inhale tension — exhale softness

Breathe in adherence — breathe out ease

Inhale the word LET — exhale the word GO

Let the dedication remain

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Good and bad – even if I don’t really like the weight and rigidity of these categories, we’re all using them. Particularly when describing our days, they seem to be like this, either good or bad, cross the board.

The so called bad days tend to get much more attention. Whether it’s our mind being in a bad mood, stressed or overwhelmed or our body, that doesn’t want to move or bend as we wish.

I ask you to be aware and fully enjoy (yes!) both of them. Your full being is different each day, flexible and strong one day, stiff and weak the other day. Your body and your mind, each nothing but a marvel and the way they work together makes you simply a masterpiece. Whatever they offer, just accept it. Life is challenging you, giving you lessons to learn and opportunities to grow.

Accept where you are that day, that moment. With all your limitations, all the mud you might feel stuck in. Have a look at your wings and recognize what you’re able to do. It’s you. In exactly that moment. Be aware and conscious.

Keep on returning to your mat and practice. No matter what you’re doing, no matter how long. Just do it. And love it.

UNPLUG from age

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Discover the magic
Unplug from the ordinary and discover the extraordinary. Free yourself from the idea of age. Yes, agree, that’s quite a difficult one and I’m struggling myself. Yoga teaches me to believe in myself. As long as you love what you do, don’t care about anything.

There’s just one thing you should be aware of when you passed your 20s and 30s and 40s and are not already a super-duper yoga pro, doing handstand on your index finger: Stop comparing yourself to the 20 years old girl next to you.

It’s not about ‚she can do and you can’t‘. Not about her perfect body and your body showing a tiny little bit the fun you had in life so far (yes, you read it, bloody amazing experiences, I know!).

Our whole body simply works different at certain ages. Our body change and sometimes we might recognize this as something negative. But it’s not. It’s just different. We might get less stable and scarier than we were 10 years ago. Even if you work hard, there are no guaranteed results. Life doesn’t work that way.

Try changing your perspective to one of gratitude over what you can do, right now. Try changing your expectations. It’s not about that fancy posture, it’s about your inner connection and peace. You’ll progress anyway!

The beauty of age is to not care anymore and just do what you want. Becoming a yoga teacher in your 50s? Go for it! Worrying that you can’t do it same way as all the youngsters? True, you won’t. You’ll do it differently and your students will appreciate your approach. Just trust in yourself and do whatever you love. There’s no better guidance as love and passion. Accept who you are. Where you are. Live your dreams, without struggling with thoughts of right and wrong. You are never too old for anything.

Be driven by love. End of story.

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