Healthfact: Not all stress is bad. There is good stress (called eustress) as well, which has been shown to enhance and improve cognitive brain function, but like everything in life BALANCE is the key. If our usual response to stress (fight-or-flight) isn’t able to set […]
How often do you look through someone else’s eyes or walk in their shoes? How often do you try to look at a situation from a different perspective? The following story and my yoga practice help me face angry and frustrated strangers with a more […]
There are so many aspects to this celestial body but today we will focus on the connection between the moon phases and the menstrual cycle – Men, this will also make your life easier, if you understand the connection between the two!
The moon has a big effect on our planet. It controls the sea with its gravitational pull and due to our high levels of water in our body, it also has an effect on us. If we look at the animal kingdom, we can see a strong correlation between lunar phases in their sleep patterns, reproductive patterns and more. Even when kept in darkness, they will still link their behaviours to the moon cycles.
A study on a group of women, which were kept in the dark for days at a time, showed the same effects. Their melatonin levels were decreasing in certain moon phases and increasing in others. The link to melatonin and menstrual cycles has also been shown in scientific studies, which would explain why the natural female cycle used to be very much linked to the moon. Even birth rates go up during full moon, which many doctors and nurses will gladly testify to.
Due to the increased exposure to artificial lights, electro smog, anti-baby pill and other modern life influences, the female cycle has fallen out of balance. This does not mean that you have to manipulate your cycle to align with the moon phases but if you look at the emotional influences within your menstrual phases, and you look at the energies linked to the corresponding moon phases, you will understand yourself or your female partner much better. You will know what to do and what best to avoid during this time.
Journaling is not a modern day manifestation. It has been around for years. Many famous writers, thinkers and doers, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, have kept a journals throughout their lives. It has helped them to clarify their ideas, thoughts, […]
Hello beautiful souls, and welcome to day 3 🥰 Today we will be using another method from the mindfulness toolbox. We will try to experience our habits in a new way. Our goal is to reactivate our senses. By actively being involved in the things […]
As we have learned from day 1: Our thoughts have the power to change our lives. If we want a positive, uplifting, loving, healthy and happy life, we first need to adjust our thoughts accordingly. This is where we turn to mindfulness.
To keep it short and simply, practicing mindfulness is a great tool to declutter your mind, from everything that does not benefit you on your path. For a more visual example, let’s imagine a blue sky, covered by clouds. These clouds are your thoughts, emotions, habits, patterns etc., that cover your consciousness. These clouds have been created by your upbringing, your social environment, the things you learned from books etc.. If we now look at certain reactions towards people or situations, we maybe sometimes have a thought along the lines of: “Why did I just react that way? I wasn’t even that angry with this person”.
This was a typical thing that used to happen to me, when my brother would do something to annoy me. Even as a grown-up, I would fall into the same reactive behaviour I used to have as a kid. I had repeated this reaction so many times in the past, that I went into autopilot. Practicing Yoga and mindfulness helped me snap out of auto mode and to genuinely feel at peace with many things I used to react to.
The first step, like in an AA meeting, is to recognise, that there are clouds covering our “blue sky”.
EXERCISE: Take two pieces of paper. On one of them, you make a mark, every time you think something positive about yourself or others (i.e. when you look at yourself in the mirror and think to yourself: “damn, I look fly today!”). On a second sheet you will take note of all the unfavourable thoughts (i.e. “what an idiot, this guy is again late for work”). During lunchtime, I would like you to look at these two sheets and spot the difference. Try not to judge yourself (super important in mindfulness practice), but instead, acknowledge what is happening in your mind. A natural change will occur, with regular practice.
For the second half of the day, I would like you to transform the thoughts that do not benefit your life, into positive statements. For example, when you thought about the “delayed idiot”, say “stop” to yourself in your head, and readjust this thought into something more beneficial like: “he is late, but his input always adds great value to our projects and he always is the last to leave the office.” – I’m not saying you should let people disrespect you, so of course, if you feel the need to do so, you should speak to him about it. But the goal of this exercise is to minimise the attention you give to things that pull your energy down. We are gently going to start to readjust our thoughts.
This exercise will first show you some of the clouds that might have accumulated over the years. If you want to go a bit deeper into understanding yourself, it is even worth writing down the exact things you thought. This way, you can analyse the main focus of your thoughts in life: Do you think about physical appearances most or are your thoughts revolving around emotional topics? Are they loving or angry?
If you feel you need more time for this exercise, take it! This can be a real eyeopener and a great help to discover the topics that need most of your attention.
It’s Sunday the FIRST of December. In numerology “1”, among other things, stands for: new beginnings, independence, ambitions, visions, manifestations. So as our first exercise, let’s take these keywords as our inspiration to set our intentions for the next few weeks. Having a clear intention, […]
“Neue Wege” just recently uploaded a post on their website! Check it out, if you speak German and are interested in learning more about Pigeonpose and its variation, one legged King pigeon. Incase you are lost in translation, drop me a line, and I’ll translate […]
This calendar is going to take you through topics which I will also be covering in my OpportYOUniy program. If you are interested in feeling less stressed, more balanced, happy, relaxed and rested, I will share some thoughts, ideas, methods, techniques, exercises, meditations etc. with you within the next 3 weeks.