Take back the pride in your stack!

I was talking to one of my dear friends about social media and as usual my friend had a great deal wisdom to bring. Here's a little story (based on true events):

Ziggy's father went out and chopped some wood. When he had done so he was proud of himself and his accomplishments. Later on he saw an image in social media of a greater stack of chopped wood and the proud owner of the stack, yet his feeling for his accomplishments remained the same. Why was that? He told Ziggy that although that pile is much much greater than his and they both exist in this same world, the other one is not a part of HIS world. He did not make it and it has no impact on his life. It's not real to him, only an image from someone else's life.

Now me and many of you may not have much experience with chopping wood, but haven't we all seen accomplishments that we have valued as "greater" than our own? Haven't many of us felt pride over something just to suddenly have it overwritten by someone else's display of greatness?
This can be applied in all aspects of life. In work, self-expression, creativity, appearance, physical and spiritual state of being. I'm not saying deny all that is not directly linked to you. Be inspired, but take caution so it doesn't backfire into the crippling state of jealousy or feeling like "I could never do that". Social media can be a bit one sided sometimes as many use it to enhance their best sides and show the results more often than the road there, flaws and mistakes.

I think this is a great reminder for us to remain proud of what we do. To take caution in comparison, because let's face it there may be someone who's greater than you in some way. But here's the great news: Your greatness can exist at the same time! It does not cancel each other out. It's not a competition. Your journey, your progress, your time and effort should always remain more valuable to you.

Take pride in your stack, whatever it may be.
You have made this.
You've come a long way my friend and I am proud of you.
KEEP DOING YOUR THING!

Life.

Life is an incredible thing. Yet with all these horrors of the world fed to us daily by media and the worried feeds reflecting and affecting our minds it's easy to forget the many wonders of the world. For everything bad I believe there is an equivalent opposite wave of fortunate events, of good will, of magic moments... and the vast opportunities provided to us by life to have your breath taken away by that which is truly genuine.
Today was an awakening day in that sense. I was shown something horrifying and then something marvellous came to me. That reminded me that our power to create exceeds the limits we could ever manage to make up. We cannot fully fathom despite our advanced tools, our science or our philosophy. The beauty of it all is too complex. Today was the day I realised a few more of the many dimensions of happiness, this colourful spectre. The rain did it's best to wash this smile off my face in vain. All this energy... I must make something of it! Tonight I will make my grand first test of the 3D software Maya.

As pieces fall together new spaces seem to appear in this beautiful puzzle of life. It will keep challenging, keep growing and forever tend to link humanity together in the strangest ways.

"Life is school..."

Today's conclusion:

People aren't that bad.

People are that bad.

Flaw gave opportunity for positive feedback. Nothing's ever just one thing. 

Short shift ahead of me then two days off. 

Found a lot of reasons to laugh today, despite the hard work.

Finally signed up for yoga class with work which will be Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday. Lookin' forward to it. Managed only 15 minutes of yoga in the morning, because the body really said no. Have to respect it.

Made it home before the rain came.

Food on the table. Watermelon after. Shower. Nap. Just a few asanas and some meditation. 

Yoga. Work. Eat. Sleep. Yoga. Sleep. Yoga. Eat. Work....

That's what it is right now. So simple.

"Life is school 

and the tests 

will continue 

until you graduate."

Live like you learn

It had been a while since I was last faced with a design related task. Design has always been like lover to me. The incredible passion that fills you with fun ideas and you just want to spend time together. Unfortunately we've kind of lost echother. It had become too destructive. I was giving, but not getting anything back, or rather, giving all I got to the point there was none of me left for me. Then yesterday we met again through the design application for Broby Grafiska which was due today. At once I remembered why I fell for design and why we fell apart. When you get stuck in a destructive relationship there are three different ways you can go:

1. You can go down with the ship.

2. You can leave the ship and either swim for your life or hold onto something else as you watch it sink before your eyes.

3. You can row it ashore and make it better then try again.

And if you can't decide which way to go 

then you can always go for the classic rock, paper, scissors....

(this picture is a detail from the application)

Since I've put a lot of work into this design passion, I'm not willing to let her sink. I'll have the number 3, please!

Since stress is commonly based on our way of handling different situations (or rather failing to do so) I assume I need to change my relationship toward design. If I look at what happens with me when I work with design it's pretty much the opposite of the outcome of yoga. The breath quickens and becomes shallow as if I had ran a marathon, the posture becomes slouchy and hopeless or locked into unnatural unbalanced tense positions for a long time. The perspective tends to change aswell. My own value goes down as the urgency to accomplish greatness goes up. This makes it easy to forget or ignore oneself and ones needs. You "don't have time" for breaks, although deep down you know you work better if you take them. 

The common denominators that can be found in yoga and working with design are that they are both about finding focus to be able to reflect, create, develop and perfect. To reach a higher place. Exceed imagination. Yet, the result for me are worlds apart, atleast when it comes to wellness.

The universe has it's way of bringing us exactly what we need. Although I managed the assignment I still failed myself. Just barely making the deadline, stressed, hungry, worn and still not satisfied with my performance. There were three ways I could look upon it. The same as above. So I decided to row it ashore and make it better... Remember how I said I wish I could bring what I feel on the yoga mat with me as I do other things? Here's some of the best of yoga that I wish to apply on my relationship to the design process:

THE MINDSET - EVERYTHING IS TRAINING

In yoga you're not demanding immediate perfection. Partially because you know it can always get better and because you know you're just a student in training. With this attitude you can be more patient with yourself and give it more time to strive upwards. You'll feel satisfied knowing that you're just doing you're best. 

THE STRATEGY - WISE TIME USE

Yoga is practised in sessions, gradually and smoothly working to reach your goal. The practise is daily and vary from being short reminders of mindfulness to one hour or longer sessions. Limiting your focus time ensures that you're not wearing yourself out, even though you take the time to challenge yourself. 

ONE MORE THING: DO WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DO IT

This is kind of a mantra for me. Yoga when you yoga. Find your space, piece of mind. Quiet as possible, or with music if it helps you relax. Everything I do on the yoga mat is yoga or meditation related. Prioritize yoga. No multitasking. No procrastination. No distractions. No excuses. 

The outcome of working with design related tasks, even though I love it, is so different because I've been doing the opposite. It will take a lot of practise. I've spent many hours building these destructive tendencies. You must know it is not a part of you. If you're aware you will notice the roots of your behaviour before you trip on them. 

Better than reality - bad habit.

I used to be a big time snoozer and honestly the first thought that appears when the alarm clock goes off is still sometimes oh how sweet it would be to fall asleep again. Please just a little bit more... 

NO. 

Why? 

You will not enjoy it as much as you enjoy the thought of it AND it even tends to make you more tired. If it's hard for you to wake up then why on earth would you force yourself to do it more than once? 

The mornings are becoming more sacred. As appreciated as important. I'm always eager to get up "earlier" for morning yoga. This really helps waking up on the "right" side. Good attitude, good connection with the present, body and mind. So get up when you wake up! I clean my mouth and grab a glass of lemon water. Lit candle. Hit the mat. Timer and inspiration book at the side. The best way to feel when the timer beeps is relieved and disappointed at the same time. Because it should be demanding (in a good way.)

The body is used to it now. When I take it away I feel it the same and the next day. Something's missing hmm? Looks like it's finally become a habit, a routine. Getting more and more into the mindset, understanding more, being more present... but of what value is knowledge if it can't be put into practise?
I'm looking forward to when I can bring the mindset out in the "real world". When I can feel around people what I'm feeling in my yogic training... As always the mind is good at the associating game, usually linking things to the past or future, away from the present moment. This time it was the past.
... A few years ago I had enough. I just wanted to up and leave this society. I desperately wanted to find an ashram in India and find that peace. It's a good thought, but if the words of monk Thích Nhất Hạnh "there's no enlightment outside of daily life" are true then... OK, let's say I went to an ashram. Let's say I found that peace, but how would I bring it back with me? How could I fit it into the daily life with all it's stress, pressure and rules? With all the places, faces and things distracting me. It would be easier to find peace in an ashram becasue you would have the perfect setting, the perfect schedule, the perfect peer pressure and the perfect way of life served for you. Devoting your life to peace and making it a priority you would find it faster. Out here it's more difficult. Then again if you manage to center yourself and stabilize despite all the noise of the world around you then you would have no transition problem, no adjusting problem and you wouldn't long for the ashram whenever things weren't heading "your way". You would have the strength of making it on your own. Yes, it is harder to find here but easier to keep because it is tailored for your particular life situation. Don't get me wrong, I would still like to visit an ashram, monks and all, but not in desperate pursuit of peace. If you chase it you can't catch it, but if you sit down patiently it will come to you, no matter where you are.

By the way, it looks like there will be breakfast yoga three days of the week for the staff at work. Thank you universe!

Sometimes the thought is "better" than reality.

We tend to glorify our bad habits.

Always remember

it's a choice between

what you want NOW 

and 

 what you want the most.

The full breath

We come with a lot of built in mechanisms. One of them is the breath. Our lives are depending on it. We're born with the breath and we will surely depart together with it. We think we know what we're doing but most of us are actually taking shallow breaths, only using the very top of our lungs. This results in quick breathing, less emotional and physical resilience and not getting as much air as we actually could... and should! By using the full potential of our breath we get more oxygen, better blood circulation, immune system and we also become more present. Our mind follows our breath and our body follows our mind.

Why should we breathe through the nose? As he air goes through the nasal passage the temperature and moisture of the air is adjusted to suit our bodies. When you breathe through the mouth it doesn't have a filter like the nose so we're exposed to more bacteria and the mouth becomes dry with an increased bad breath, risk of cavities and gum disease. It is also not possible to breathe as slow and take up the oxygen properly when using the mouth.

So we can reduce stress and boost energy instantly by just adding awareness into what we're already doing? You don't need to sit in a lotus with your hands in mudras (certain powerful hand gestures) and focus on the third eye, but if you can you're welcome to. What you really need is just a moment and focus. Do you want to enhance yourself? The breath is up to you!

WATCH OUT - vitality!

5 in the morning on a race against the clock with too little sleep and too much hormones. Still I am grateful. For the sun in particular. Thank you for having my back at all times. For shining on everyone, especially the ones who are in struggle, out of balance and the ones who are in need of light in their life. Your gold is for every single one of us. You do not judge or separate. All are equal in your light. You give and expect nothing in return. 

We can learn much from you.

As a lady there's one time of the month that's extra challenging... which also can be challenging for the people around us. This is when you need to pick up the mantras and maybe add a few more minutes of meditation to your day. Be in control of your emotions, not the other way around. You don't have an excuse to behave badly. Don't project your pain and frustration onto others. Let them know how you feel or just enjoy the silence. One of my sisters (sounds like I have a ton, there's only three) said that there is an arabic proverb that says "Speak only when your words are more beautiful than the silence". Well... it doesn't have to be that extreme. You can talk if you want, but don't forget to listen. Not only with your ears.

There will be no update from me tomorrow as I am finishing my last math assignments. Finally.
In the mean time I would like to introduce you to Jona Dahlqvist or YogaJona as she's sometimes called. This is the second book I'm reading by her and she's always an inspiration with her playful and simple approach to yoga and using the yogi lifestyle to succeed in other goals aswell. She's apparently involved in triathlon. For fun. Amazing.
Thanks to Jona I have realised a new favorite word:

vitality.

What is vitality to you? What makes you feel vitality?
For me it was a little awakening. I have felt it without knowing it! This enthusiasm! This just random happiness! This energy that keeps me jumping around even after working for 11 hours! That's vitality. It's in us. You don't have to get vital, you are. Maybe you've just forgotten how to bring it out? Your passion is one way. Your friends and family another. Life energy is contagious. WATCH OUT, you might just become more alive!

Yogalife by Jona Dahlqvist

Yoga Logo

I'm happy to anounce that a friend of mine is opening a yoga studio in town, which I got the honor of making the logo for. So the 21st of October, tomorrow actually, there will be a grand opening of Ananda Yoga Studio.You can see the weeks schedule and learn more here. I'm very much looking forward to it and I hope to see you there!

Waves of space

What stormy ocean 

is not the industry in the fabric of life?

What came from our hands

has gone out of our hands

to consume us completely.

 The thread of destiny never seams to end

Still it can be broken at any moment