vintage

2011-07-16

Reflections on Happiness

 Yesterday was the evening of the Fullmoon. I decided to take a walk around the lake. It was so peaceful and quiet. Everything seemed so perfect. Each stone were in the right place, each tree were just where it was supposed to be. The feather that I found, the flowers, the birds and the water were all connected. There are so many stories to discover in the nature and it never makes me bored. Every day it looks a little different, it feels a little different, it moves you in a different way...


It is just like when you practice Yoga. Everyday is a new exploration within yourself and in the Nature of being who you are. Practicing Yoga and spending time in the nature really goes hand in hand. Doing yoga makes you more receptive to notice even the smallest happening within and spending time in the nature makes you grounded and feel the connection with nature and the part that have in it. 

After a while, the borders between doing yoga, living your life and being in the nature fades out and it all becomes the same- one melody. People say that the real challenge is to be able to practice yoga or meditation in the midst of all the distractions, that the place you are in shouldn't matter- being in the city full of people or alone on a mountain peak. I would say it Does matter. I do believe that certain environments can support you more, nourish you more and take you so much further on your path than if you would have chosen an other time, place and environment. 

After all, happiness is not about struggling to feel happy (although of course we need to make an effort) it is simply about Being Happy so choose carefully in your life, where you want to be, with whom you want to spend it and how you want to live.                                                        
                         Life is here to support us!

2011-07-15

Sunset the night before Fullmoon

It has been for a while to witness a Sunset like this! 

Yin and Yang in the Sky!

Fragrant Flowers

Lavender picked from bushes that were planted more than 10 years ago !



I was lucky to pick these fragrant Lavenders from my mother's garden just before the rain poured down!  Now they will be hanging upside down to dry up! When the autumn comes they will be stuffed into small cotton bags so that they can share their wonderful scent when the word Summer is just a memory... Thanks for all the small moments that give so much happiness!

2011-07-14

Gifts from the Nature




Look what we found in the forest yesterday! These berries took me right back to my childhood with a great smile! They also remind me of a berry called "Hebi-ichigo" in Japan!  Directly translated that means "snake-strawberry" and it looks about the same but shouldn't be eaten! However, I have seen people in the mountains making natural remedies from them to soothe mosquito- and other -insect bites. I don't know if they are strong enough to cure snakebites though... ? : ) 

Why Yoga?


The Yoginis and Yogis of today are following an ancient path in modern times. Does that sound like a contradiction? No, of course not! The path of Yoga is connecting us way back in history! Connecting us to the history of human kind, to the nature, to the universe and to life with everything that comes with it. At a first glance, the issues we were struggling with 5000 years ago might have looked differently from our issues of today but deep down I think they are still the same…

In our highly technological age we are still carrying the unanswered questions that our ancestors brought forward such as; Why are we here? Is there a meaning with life? What happens after death? Is there a God? What is Love? What is Peace? What is the essence? etc etc etc … 

Great philosophies have sprung from these questions alone and I believe that the world of Yoga helps us to find our own answers through direct experiences. Everything might not be able to be scientifically proved but on the other hand not proved the opposite either. Let's trust our Inner guide!

Instead, practicing Yoga is like having our own mini-laboratory where we do the research ourselves in order to receive the answers to Our most important questions. In other words, yoga helps us and eventually makes us explore our body, mind, emotions and maybe most of all our spiritual heart! 

The real question is; are we really ready to find out?