Latest Posts

A post for anybody who is under pressure in life – about breathing

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I saw this and thought of you and thought I share it here where other people can see it also.

I find breathing with mindfulness and intention very difficult. In fact at times I even notice how I simply stop breathing and how I often don’t breathe with regular in and exhalations but how my I often hold my breath as I think, concentrate or daydream. My breath is also often shallow. But the very moment that I draw my attention to breathing I become quite fascinated by it and would like to spend more time learning breathing. I know it sounds strange, but just watch your own breath.. What have you noticed about your breath? Where do you breathe in to, the upper or middle chest? Your tummy? Does your back move slightly as you breathe. Where do you feel the expansions…?

And that is just starting to take a moment to notice things..
Stop a second or a few and breath a little. I hear it’s good for you.

How I try and fix my neck pain

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.. I just woke up this morning because I was in so much pain with my neck that I couldn’t sleep. I tried this yoga video, and while it didn’t fix the neckpain, it did help a bit.

Remember: when you are in pain then the solution may require a few days of regular gentle practice. I think people often want there to be an immediate solution (very understandable from where I am at this morning) but immediate might be even harmful. Think of it this way: it took certain prolonged or repeat actions to cause you this injury or discomfort so therefor it makes sense that it will require some mindful changes to resolve it. What do you think? And do you have an immediate cure for my neck pain? (wink)

… back from over7seas .. (what a wonderful world)

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We have not been back in England for very long and I am working hard at trying to set up an online shop. Right now I am selling great crochet scarves and I am planning to expand into travel photography. I have a few images that I am planning to offer as digital downloads. And hopefully I can soon offer ready to ship prints, too. I would love your support (even just going to take a look makes me happy. Feedback is also very welcome.)

Italy was intense and beautiful, slightly fattening (those beautiful pastries were such a temptation and the gelato was simply irresistible), and Venice was magical as always. We had the great luck to stay with a friend in Murano for free. What a wonderful world! We couldn’t have done it without this help.

With lots of warm greetings from England.
and here is the link: http:www/etsy.com/shop/over7seas

It is time for the weekly: shout-out #3

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So by now you get the idea right? I try and make a weekly shout out about one of the fellow bloggers whom I notice are passing through my pages.

So here is a link to Adventures in Southeast Asia a blog by Rachel Wingo who relocated herself to Cambodia for work in Phnom Penh. I will enjoy taking an occasional look on her blog to see what she has discovered and how her writing develops. Her blog is quite new still as she only just relocated a few months ago. But I love to hear about and from other women who don’t let anything hold them back and try out another way of life.

If you are reading this and are over 30 then I would be particularly delighted to hear about your ‘not-standard-normal’ life. I am currently in a state of flux and have been uncertain which way to move forward for some time. I think it really helps to hear about other adults out there, who live unconventionally but don’t consider themselves drifters either. I am hoping to find a community of other adults who life differently but also have found a way to unite a sense of purpose and responsibility to environment, society and or their own health.  You don’t need to be perfect, if you are still searching like I am then get in touch. Maybe we find a few more pieces of this puzzle and put them in place.

Have you checked Rachel Wingo’s Blog “Adventures in Southeast Asia” yet? What do you think? Could you live in Cambodia if you were offered work there next month?

the power of sleep #1

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The amazing power of sleeping enough hours and the right hours! I feel like a new human being!

I didn’t even go to bed as early as perhaps I should, but the lights were out before midnight and I slept like a bear with many dreams flooding my night. The last dream was a bit stressful and the sound of my alarm clock became integrated into the dream, which is not the best thing really. But I got a full 9 hours of sleep, with a warm mostly asleep cuddle from the person I love at about 7.30 when we had both woken up from the natural light streaming into the bedroom. I fell asleep in his arms and that may have helped, too.

When I did finally get up at 9.15am I felt like a whole new human being. Durianrider is definitely right when he says: “get off the internet and get to sleep & sleep as much as you need.” I know 9.15am is late to many, but sometimes you need to catch the sleep when you can and this morning I could.

The past weeks I have been feeling ratty and down and I know that lack of the right kind of sleep as well as a few things that are NOT good nourishing foods are largely responsible. Yesterday was my first day in weeks that I was sugar and caffein free. And my gosh is it difficult to stop the instincts that drive me towards sugar and coffee..

Have you fallen off the healthy wagon recently? Are you trying to board it in the first place? What do you do to keep the sleeping pattern under control and the cravings at bay?

I think the best things you can do for yourself are exercise, fresh fruit and vegetables, lights out before midnight, sleep, sleep, and hydrate. I am still working on some of these items on my list, but from experience I know they are all like magic for body and soul. Why one would ever slacken and allow oneself to not get on the wagon or fall off is inexplicable, but it just happened to me, so nobody is perfect. Let’s hop back on. Who’s joining me?

Missing India

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India by Birgit Deubner
India, a photo by Birgit Deubner on Flickr.

I miss this crazy country. Whenever I think back to India I can’t arrive at one conclusion. Such a raw place. I think of it as honest in that all of life, its highs and lows, it’s hopes and despairs are out there to see. India doesn’t appear to hide much. Not a country now that I feel as safe in anymore (as a woman) as I would have done in years past, before the media finally paid attention to the plight of women. But I don’t think that India was safer then, but my own ignorance created illusions of safety. And we all know that illusion can create reality, too.

First Shout-out

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Shoutout:

I think it would be nice to make a weekly shout-out to bloggers whom I notice wandering through my blog pages. I will try and take a look at their pages and if something catches my eye then I will post a shout-out to them here, with an occasional review and always a link.

So the first shout-out is to Lakshmi Loves to Shop. I was attracted to the blog because of it’s title and because of my own occasional magpie qualities (loving shiny things that glitter and glimmer) and of course because I have been to India and India is often on my thoughts.

Such a complex place, beauty and brutal honesty with regards to revealing so many harsh aspects of life, poverty, cast systems, gender inequality that can manifest in cruel ways. But  India is more than I could possibly attempt to capture with a few lines in this blog. Take a look around Lakshmi Loves to Shop perhaps you will be inspired.

Dreams for Change

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If you want it, then I really firmly believe you have to start to dream it and believe it. Whatever it is. Your personal future, the future of the earth we live on, our collective future. A lot of what we take for granted makes actually not all that much sense. Take the value of a piece of paper for example, depending on what you print on it, its value can be none or great, the value is assigned by an accepted agreement to assign it value, one distant century in the past people may have called this an unlikely dreamt up idea.

So go ahead, dream the change you want to see and share the dream. Just remember how women’s right to vote was once a dream, not even so very long ago. Or how flying was a dream and now we all do it (or could do it if we saved up and chose to do so.).

Dream, go, dream and let’s save our world with some inspiration. What do you think about this?

10 minutes Yoga

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I have been feeling a little low and sluggish in the past weeks. Things have been quite stressful and unsettling in life and it has distracted me from eating how I usually do and from moving my body enough.
I have already gotten a grip again on my food and thought I share with you a regular yoga practice that you can follow along to as well. In case you are in a slump you probably already know that moving your body and eating vibrantly will help you get through this. And if you are feeling good: of course you can only gain and feel even better.. I found this video on Youtube and enjoyed the mini yoga stretching session. I feel much better and would like to really recommend that you give it a try.
One word of caution is that the side position, where the yoga teacher rests on the side of her foot and on one palm: this is a bit much for a beginner. Play with it but be careful.
The first rule of yoga is ‘Ahmisa’ = it is a rule of non-harm. This included thought and actions, yourself and the external world.

Let me know if you tried the practice. Have a lovely and vibrantly healthy day!

Journey Journals & Resolutions

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DSC_2414 by Birgit Deubner
Indian Travel Journals, a photo by Birgit Deubner on Flickr.

… when your mind wanders or your body travels then having a journal can be one easily accessible way of keeping yourself grounded. However I often don’t follow my own advice. So right now I am in Italy, staying near Venice, teaching English and feeling especially ungrounded. My yoga mat is rolled up in the other room and I haven’t put pen to paper in a very long time.

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Do you think it might be a good idea to make a new month resolution every month of the year and replace those with the annual ritual of making a New year resolution? What would your resolution be today?

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Escaping from oneself / Sharing viewpoints.

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I haven’t heard back from you yet, about your thoughts regarding travel and traveling with baggage. So perhaps it is as good a time as any to share one my reflections with you.

A friend of mine said that you can’t escape from your ‘self’, but that just perhaps sometimes running away buys you time before yourself catches up with you. And it might just be this time that you needed to get ready to face this self or it’s attached baggage weights.

Another friend of mine would say “Just sit with it”. Such an opposite suggestion when my feet got itchy and my soul yearned for resolutions to issues I felt. One friend would say: go and move while another advocated utter stillness and an inward listening. With time I learnt to understand my second friend and stillness is the greater skill, but it did take me years of movement to understand this. Now I need to still learn how to stop moving so much (in my mind and body, equally).

I think stillness is the best gift that we can give ourselves. What do you think? Do you need more Movement or more Stillness in your life??