I'm moving!

People, it's time I moved to a bigger house, so I'm going where the cool kids are. Follow me on wordpress -> http://deshautsetdesbananes.wordpress.com/

Bye old home!

Thank you,

;)

Lesson learned

Prompt of the day: lesson learned - What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

Mmmmh, er, well, quite a few things actually, but my sick body and brain are too tired to think too much, so I'll just write what I remember and then I'll go back to doing nothing if you don't mind.

I learned that I could write.
I learned that I could care.
I learned that I could not care.
I learned that I could run.
I learned that I had more resources than I thought I had.
I learned that I could bend my body in ways I'd never imagined before.
I learned that I was clinging to a vision of myself that is no longer accurate.
I learned that I was enough.
I learned that I could do whatever I wanted.

What choice do I have but to keep going?

Source

Friendship

Prompt of the day: Friendship - How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

Let's reverse the proposition: everyone who's had an influence on me and my perspective on the world this year has become a friend, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not.

'nuff said.

5 Minutes

Prompt of the day: 5 minutes - Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

o_O again.

Allow me to set an imaginary timer, as I am not in a location particularly prone to setting alarms, go figure.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!

The email confirming I was accepted on the YTT: I was off sick that day, needless to say it made my day.
Exams for my business course, the feeling of being a student, and graduating.
A yoga weekend in London in May.
The night of Earth Hour.
Another yoga weekend in London in July with my YTT teacher.
The trip to Tokyo, a dream come true.
Whole Foods London (yeah I know...).
The YTT weekends.
The trip to Montreal, kind of a "let's do it" idea, the colours of the Parc Mont-Royal.
The writing.
The gut-wrenching fears, the painful and joyful path leading me to where I am now.
The support.
The love.

You know what? I'll take everything.

Nothing better to do - take 2

Wanna get some yoga? Wanna get creative? Wanna do something nice?

So check out my new blog, www.thecreativesadhana.com, and join me :)

Appreciate

Prompt of the day: appreciate. What's the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

I can think of not one thing but two: being able to travel far far away, and being a student again.
How I express gratitude for it? By making the most of it, enjoying each and every moment, and working my a** off of course :)

Action

Prompt of the day: Action - When it comes to aspirations, it's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen. What's your next step?

ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME? THAT'S THE HARDEST PART!

*Inhale exhale*

Ok rewind: once upon a time, I used to believe I had no idea. Now I'm starting to realize I had ideas, I just kept burying them with a nice "that's impossible" epitath engraved on their tombstone.
Now I'm starting to realize I have loads of ideas, that are not necessarily utter c**p, that might actually be worth exploring.

So the first step is to acknowledge the idea and listen to my intuition and creativity much more. And give the ideas a go.

The next step would be, well, I can't say right now, that would be revealing my plans for world domination and I can't do that. Call this superstition (am I the only one who will now sing Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" all day long?).

But change there will be :)

Source

Body integration

Prompt of the day: Body integration - This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn't mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?

Man, it's Sunday and I haven't stopped one minute. It's 10:08 pm, and I'm finally sitting down with laptop on, well, lap. Maybe it isn't such a great idea actually. So I'll make this one short, because, ya know, I just wanna sip my cup of organic nettle and peppermint herbal tea (happy hippie me!) and surf the net and do nothing.

One moment?
1. Yogaing
2. Running
3. Sleeping (yes I'm alive and present, thank you very much).

Hasta la vista baby, I'll be back, present, alive and kicking!

11 Things

Prompt of the day: 11 things - What are 11 things your life doesn't need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

I don't need lack of time, I don't need multiple pair of shoes, I don't need self doubt, I don't need people getting poorer, I don't need clothes I don't wear, I don't need war, I don't need clutter, I don't need watching that much TV, I don't need chains, I don't need disrespect, I don't need giving up. Never.

Donate, empower, give, open, free.

Source

Wisdom

Prompt of the day: wisdom - What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

Let me pause and reflect... This year I have been doing a lot of things, according to my own standards. The key word here is "doing". Because it all boils down to one thing: this year, I have decided that it was time to stop thinking and start doing.

Which is why you have seen on the blog a wide variety of activities such as:
- taking a course - evening classes -  in business management. I guess deep down I've always known I was not made to sit at a desk all day every day, working for someone else, and I've been preparing... My fear has been keeping me chained to this desk, but its voice has been slowly fading...
- travelling to Japan and Canada after years of dreaming about it;
- signing up for yoga teacher trainings and not chicken out;
- actually agreeing to teaching a one-on-one and not chicken out;
- writing - a lot;
- attending the European Summit for Global Transformation in Amsterdam and launching a second blog right away;
- new: applying for a freelance translator job with a translating agency - ok that was yesterday, so maybe it will work out, maybe it won't, but at least I've tried.

Now let's see how all this will play out in 2011!

For those of you stumbling upon this, playing catch up, and not knowing what I'm talking about, check this out, you might even want to join :) :

http://www.reverb10.com

HTML linking has been playing weird lately on this little blog, can't seem to be able to link directly, but that's better than nowt :)

Party

Prompt of the day : Party - What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

Do satsangs qualify as yoga parties?



Yeah, thought so too.



Then I've been partying all year long.

Source

Beautifully different

Prompt of the day : beautifully different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different - you'll find they're what make you beautiful.


o_O
This has been my secret facial expression since I read this prompt this morning. For my American readers: the morning has been over for 3 hours here. And this is still my secret facial expression. Secret because I obviously can't walk on the street and go to work looking like I've just seen E.T. and been hit by a truck simultaneously.

Anyway this is not an easy one. There's "beautiful"and there's "different" in there....

Ultimately, I am as unique and similar as anybody else. We are all, in the end, beautifully different :)

Community

Prompt of the day: community - where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create, or more deeply connect with in 2011?

Community - such a great discovery this year for me, threefold:

- online: helloo, reader :) I can't begin to say how grateful I am for all the amazing bloggers out there, I have learned a lot - and that's an understatement - connecting with you all, so thank you!
- offline: satsang in London, with my fellow YTT trainees. We are all so different, yet we connect during these intensive weekends in a way I've never thought possible. Compassionate, supportive, great teachers in the making, I love them.
- offline take 2: the community of changemakers I met at the European Summit for Global Transformation in October. Nonprofit grassroot activists, social entrepreneurs, people of service to others, working in collaboration because, let's face it, that's the only way to go.

In 2011 who knows what will happen? Not quite sure as I'm typing this...

Source

Make

Prompt of the day: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

Oh I make a lot of things. For instance I am a skilled builder. I build great mind constructions.
For the foundations I use mainly Whatifs and Maybes materials, but I'm trying to switch to something else, as I found out these are porous and tend to crumble in the rain.
There's some new material available, I'm trying to get my head around using it, it's called "Letseffingdoit", heard great things about it but I'm a bit nervous. Anyone there that could give me some feedback?

I am the Queen of the land of Mindsandcastles.

Serendipity: next YTT weekend is end of January. Meanwhile we have to do a 30-day Sadhana project, meaning practicing anything for 30 consecutive days, and journal about it. I see creative journaling in the near future, sounds like fun :)

Moment

Prompt of the day : "Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors)".

I've been staring at this prompt for an hour. My mind went blank when I first read it. I'm going back and forth with this one, so I'd better start typing and see what comes out of it.

I could write about this yoga weekend, the one that changed my life, like an earthquake in my foundations, where I broke down in savasana.

I could write about going back to school for evening classes, feeling and feeding my brain, graduating.

I could write about travelling to Japan with Lovely Boyfriend, making a lifelong dream come true.

Or the moment I started my yoga teacher training.


But truly, now is when I feel more alive. I'm sitting at my desk, struggling with my work, searching for any and every excuse not to do it, instead searching the net to check if it would be possible to work as a freelance admin consultant / translator - proofreader / yoga teacher (yes, all in one - and that's only a brief summary - office yoga classes for the well being of employees, oh yeah!), wearing countless layers in this freezing office, and I can hear my soul screaming. I hear it telling me it's alive and that we need to get out.

My soul is still here, it's alive, I'm alive.

Now I need to give me that slap in the face and that kick in the ass ;)

Writing

Prompt of the day : "Writing - what do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing - and can you eliminate it?"


I could write a novel on writing. I won't, you would be snoring by the end of paragraph 1. So let's get to the point:

• Day job: feels like I'm wasting my time at my desk while I could be doing something else more meaningful. Oh wait, I am sitting at this desk. But time will come, peeps, time will come... Or maybe it already is time, I just still need that slap in the face and that kick in the butt. I'll be the one giving them, nobody's gonna do that for me;
• Self doubt: am I a writer? I have 2 blogs, I write on several websites and platforms, does that make me a writer? Is my level of English good enough? (told you I was crazy, I'm not even writing in my mother tongue, le français) I don't know. What I do know though, is that I love it. Ain't gonna stop. So there.

Music Wednesday - One Word

2010: change



Blind Melon, "Change"

"keep on dreaming, boy, 'cause when you stop dreamin' it's time to die"


2011: freedom

George Michael, "Freedom" 
"But today the way I play the game is not the same, no way, think I'm gonna get me some happy"

http://www.reverb10.com/