Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Maple syrup covered banana

Source 

No that's not something I ate today, but that gives you an idea of where I'm going to.

Ok ok, more than a hint, I already wrote it several times in previous posts, so it's not much of a secret is it?

I cannot believe that tomorrow at this hour I will be in Montreal, Canada. The other side of the world. I mean the other other (ie not Japan this time - it's late here and I still have to pack so humor me please)

That doesn't mean you will be left alone until next week, at some point in the week you will find me over there, so look out peeps!

Have a great week and Halloween :)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

A weekend in the life of...


Oh dear, Sunday afternoon already, where does the time go? Ah yes I know, here is how it goes:

Saturday:
7:28am: wha..? Oh no, gonna sleep some more, mmmmllllffrrr tired.
9:51am: WHAT? Oh dear, time to get up! The famous duo "Bladder & Belly" are singing again... Kriya time, then breakfast.
10:30am: man, I was hungry. Time to shower.
11:15am: whoa, I took my time! What, Lovely Boyfriend is still in his pyjamas? Ok, let's do something useful and get these summer clothes down to the basement and move up the winter coats *cry*, oh while I'm at it summer shoes down (see you next year, lovely sandals), and what a mess in this cupboard, maybe I should declutter a bit in here...
12:30pm: guess it's time to go food shopping, our fridge is empty.
2pm: time for some lunch don't you think?
Pm: read "Heart of Yoga" for YTT, getting inspired, jotting down some notes, oh it looks my book report is almost done here and only needs typing, blogging on Change U Wish, reminds me I have to translate into French one of my posts there for a friend who doesn't understand English, then Twitter, Facebook, yadda yadda yadda...
6:15pm: crap, I was supposed to go running!
6:37pm: off running, 5 minutes walk, 30 minutes run, 5 minutes walk.
7:18pm: aaaaaaaaah, I'm soaking wet because of the pouring rain, but whoa I feel GREAT! Let's stretch a bit (yoga!) and quick shower, then back in my pyjamas and back to the couch.
8pm: Lovely Boyfriend: "eat?". Me: "Yeaaaaaaaaah!" (meaning I'm preparing dinner).
8:30pm: let's watch a movie while eating dinner, why not "Twilight" that we, err, borrowed from the net. Didn't want to go the theatre for this but we're curious.
9:00pm: if I was 15, I would totally drool over this Edward Cullen character. But I'm not 15, so let's behave (and Lovely Boyfriend's sitting right next to me).
9:30pm: WILL THESE 2 KISS ALREADY!?!
10:30pm: a last surf on the net, and I'm off to bed.
1am Sunday: WTF?!!

Sunday:
8:58am: decent time to get up, to "Bladder & Belly"'s last song. Kriya time, breakfast.
9:30am: I know I say that every morning, but man, I was hungry. Time to clean the apartment, yes in pyjamas, don't care, dirty laundry's waiting for them to join the club.
11:02am: we're done. On to some yoga, but first this paperwork stuff that's been bothering me. My fault, I'm late.
11:15am: I should really organize all these papers, sorting them out is a pain in the a**.
11:30am: "return this form electronically", okaaaaay, but where, how, how do I do this?
11:45am: *crying* it's not workiiiiiiiiiiing, the bloody site won't accept my passwooooooord, I'm gonna get fiiiiiiiiiined, I don't understand anythiiiiiiiiiiiing, I want to diiiiiiiiiiiiiie! Oh wait, what does it say here?
12:00pm: maybe I panicked a bit too soon. Maybe. It was easy after all.
12:30pm: yogaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
2:02pm: showeeeeeeer!
2:30pm: eeeeeeaaaaaaaaaat! (yeah Sundays have their own rhythm, we have a different perception of time). Oh yeah, "Life" is on TV, nice. Lovely Boyfriend wants to make the most of the sunny weather to take some photographs, see you later!
3:15pm: let's finish "Heart of Yoga". Watching "Trauma" at the same time might not be a good idea. Oh, it's raining now, Lovely Boyfriend must be loving this. I'm not grinning at all thinking about him outside.
3:45pm: yeah, "Heart of Yoga" finished, hello Wet Lovely Boyfriend! Time to blog a little, let's do something fun. Oh, I'll tell them about the first weekend at home in almost a month, might not be really interesting but I'm doing what I want on my blog, so there.

....

Yeah, that's pretty much where the time goes :)

Hope you're having a nice weekend!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Be kind, rewind

*So finally I'm landing* - let's take it where we left off, where was it again?

Let me see, so Friday I left you with a note saying I was off to the European Summit for Global Transformation. And Sunday I announced the birth of a new blog. Like, what?



What happened in the meantime? I won't tell you that what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam, but I won't bore you with the details, plus you will get to know a bit more the amazing people I met on the other side :-) Let me just tell you about 10 things I've learned:

- Self discovery can be painful, but you have to go through it to be of service to others;

- Corollary : being of service to others is much more efficient when you do it out of love, not out of guilt and pity. Get rid if the guilt, and let the love in;

- You don't have to be a multimillionaire to help people, you have to be you. Whatever you think, you do have skills, there's always a way you can use them;

- Even the smallest act can have great consequences;

- It's fun to find out that you can do things you never thought you could do just because you put your heart into them;

- Confirmation: yoga is awesome - yeah I knew that already, but I'm still amazed at its powers;

- Opening up and breaking down are not weaknesses, know how to use the energy behind, and learn;

- Don't forget to take care of yourself, you are your most powerful ally;

- The world needs some hugs peeps, but there are amazing people who work their a** off to mend a few things and create hope. There is hope, and so much energy :-)

- Nothing is impossible, never give up!

Now if you allow me, I'm just going to get back in horizontal position on my couch, nasty cold has taken over my body. Self care, peeps!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Nothing better to do

than this: http://thechangeuwish.blogspot.com/

Help me spread the word peeps!

THANK YOU!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Water : life




Water... in our industrialized and "modern" society, do we ever question water and its availability? Do we ever stop to think about water? Do we even realize how powerful water is?

Water is life and death. Too much of it, you die. Too little of it, you die. Too much water consumed, the Earth dies, you die.

A water crisis is on our doorstep. Soon water will be fought over, if it's not the case already. Our resources are endangered. Our overuse of water has impacted the environment. Sounds daunting, right?

Good news is, we can do something to address this crisis. Great organizations are working towards solutions and we, on a personal level, can be a part of the solutions.

Why am I writing about water, on this blog, today? Because today is Blog Action Day and this is my own action, and remember people: together we can move moutains!

Side note: this weekend I'll be in Amsterdam for the European Summit for Global Transformation, I guess Global Transformation starts here :)

Monday, October 11, 2010

Balancing pose

Image found over there - check out the Ananta series, it's absolutely beautiful. I want a mold of the Shiva Nataraja 3D rendering for my future pooja table. 

Balancing poses are bloody hard. That is stating the obvious, yes, but sometimes it's good to write it out loud (how can one write something out loud? well I just did).

Balancing poses require strength in the legs and arms, depending on which limb you choose to, er, balance. They also require core strength. They require focus. They require freedom. They require trust. They require that you take a leap of faith at some point.

Now take all these elements off the mat and bring them to your life. Don't you believe that sometimes life is a big mo'fo' balancing pose? Sometimes you feel free, tall, dare I say grand, like standing on the shoulders of giants. And sometimes your tree is wobbly. Your crow is crumbling and the floor is looking dangerously close.

On and off the mat, there is just one thing to do: breathe and find your tadasana. Let go of the fear, and focus.
And have some chocolate.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Who we are, and where we're going to

It's a time for reflection, transition and changes, a time to check on one's Self, can you feel it too? Delve deeper :-)

Fink - "Sort of Revolution"

We've come so far, it feels so real
All this time, that we've waited for it
And who we are, and where we're going to
All this time, preparing for it.

Come so far
Come so far

So let me know when we get there, if we get there
Let me know when we get there, if we get there

In the dark it feels so real
And all this time, we've been sleeping on it
And who we are, and where we're going to
All this time, spent saving for it

Come so far
Come so far, yeah

So just let me know when we get there, if we get there
Let me know when we get there, if we get there

Come so far, there's no going back
All this time, we've been running from it
And where we are, and where we're going to
We'll organize a sort of revolution
We'll organize a sort of revolution
We'll organize a sort of revolution
We'll organize a sort of revolution

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

One year



One year. How long is one year?

One year is a teeny tiny moment in the life of our Planet Earth. Yet it can seem so long and so short at the same time from a human point of view. So much can happen in one year, and so little too if we choose status quo over movement, satisfaction over risk.

Today my blog turns one. Incidentally my brother turns 28 (full disclosure: yes, he is younger than me). Which gives me two excuses to celebrate, even from afar as far as Baby Brother is concerned.

When I started blogging a year ago, I had been reading blogs for a while, I had been practicing yoga and was toying with the idea of signing up on a teacher training course, I was not very happy in my job, Lovely Boyfriend had been around for several years and still made me laugh. I started this blog as an outlet, it wasn't meant to address one topic in particular, I posted whatever and whenever I felt like it. Oh, and it was in French.

A lot happened over the course of this blogging year: I took a business management course, travelled to London several times for yoga workshops, travelled to Japan thus fulfilling a dream I'd had for as long as I can remember, I did sign up for yoga teacher training.
In the meantime, my blog evolved, from being an embryo of journal to being a yoga blog as I delved even deeper in a yoga-infused life, from French to bilingual to English, which was not a bad move considering my latest and ongoing adventure with The Magazine of Yoga.
That is a lot, to me.

That list is not complete though: over the year I have come to virtually meet a whole community of wonderful people, I don't dare typing the words "friends" here but I strongly feel it. I have learned so much in one year, reading and exchanging, that it is impossible to describe. The conversations and discussions held recently over certain "yoga fails" (you all know what I'm talking about) have also given me a lot of food for thought, and truth be told, looking back, I am glad for these controversies.
Because for one it means the yoga blogging community is not made of brainwashed clones, but of smart articulate beings, and second it made me question my own opinions and reactions. Still processing them, by the way :)
So a big thank you to all of you readers / bloggers / yogis and yoginis!

Today? Well today I'm getting ready for my second teacher training weekend (excited is an understatement). I'm getting ready to travel to Montreal, Canada with Lovely Boyfriend in 3 weeks. Yes Lovely Boyfriend is still around, kudos to him, and still making me laugh. I'm getting ready to change jobs within my company. Again, to be completely honest, I view this job as temporary. More and more I feel I had my time and fun with the corporate world, and now it's time to consider other options.

This is precisely how I envision the coming year. Considering other options. Moving on and forward. My corporate self is slowly coming to its life's end, but I'm not ready yet to take the plunge. I don't know what I would do though, but one day this situation will be unbearable, I know it, it's already showing. I was raised to believe in security over risk, I am now starting to believe that risk is way sexier.
So what I hope for the coming year is that I can be at peace with who I really am, have the courage to let my creative self surface, let go of fear so I can be who I'm meant to be, and be of service to others the very best I can. Starting now!

What are your intentions for the year to come?