Sunday thoughts, chapter 2

Yay for Michelangelo

I am selfish. I know it, I've never concealed it. Not selfish in a "I'll march on your head to get what I want" way, but selfish in a "charity begins at home" way.
See, I know myself pretty well, and I know what works for me. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, I know how to take care of myself and I know that by doing so, I'll be in a better place to take care of others.

Knowing this doesn't mean I'm wary or reluctant to change. Although change is not quite the right word here, let's just say evolve, grow, and open. As I know myself pretty well, I can see myself the way I am, get perspective and see what's unfolding. And something has been unfolding.

The latest debate in the yoga blogosphere (the yoga blogosphere... can't believe I'm even typing these words! - oh, and I'm not going to go further into this debate, unless you've lived under a rock for the last few weeks you all know what I'm talking about) has, among other things, addressed the divide between individual and social (you should read this great post by Carol Horton over here).
Now bear with me while I'm trying to explain how I relate to this, it might seem a bit out there and farfetched but my brain sometimes has its own twisted ways to reach conclusions.

Since I started practicing yoga, I have evolved, grown, opened. I am still selfish, but I am more aware. I am kinder, less judgmental (although there is still some work to do there ;-) ), more tolerant. I am not yet a Care Bear  though, don't worry! I've stepped out of my comfort zone a lot this year only, and I guess I'm not done here. I am a disciplined type A personality with a sense of humour, which means yamas and niyamas are not so difficult to implement for me in everyday life. So far I've remained on a very personal plan, living yoga off the mat for me and those around me, being of service to basically myself.

For a few months though, I've been thinking about making it more "social", being of service to others. I still don't know which shape and form this will take, but I'll make it happen. There are so many things to do, and to be honest I am a bit overwhelmed and discouraged sometimes when I see all there is we can do. I can help here in Brussels for the time we have left to live here, I can help on a European, or global, whatever, level.
Now I can't imagine my practice not being connected to some kind of social / political action. I just can't stay here and watch, and not care. This is my awakening, this is my own transformation and evolution, and it has been interesting, to say the least, to watch.
To bring some order back to this crazy brainstorming, Lovely Boyfriend and I* are going to the European Summit for Global Transformation in Amsterdam next month, hoping to be inspired and focused. We can't wait!
And if we have to make, say, adjustments to the way we live now, like moving and / or not working full time anymore, then so be it. We're kind of looking forward to find our purpose :-)

Again, this is my own way, and I am absolutely not saying I am better than anyone, we are all different in our approach or life. But I'm curious people, what is your practice off the mat, in life, what's your yoga?


* For the record, Lovely Boyfriend doesn't practice yoga, on a mat anyway (apart from attempting crow pose when he sees me doing it, because he thinks he's fun. Makes him my first student while I try to cue him so he doesn't fall flat on his face and telling him it's ok if he does), but he's considering changing careers and being of service to others too. He's a yogi in his own right!

Twist and run

source

Some time ago I set a "fitness" goal for myself: I said I would start running. As in, running regularly and being able to run for one minute without stopping and, as we say in French, spitting my lungs out (classy I know).

This was a real challenge to me. I always hated running. Hated with a passion. Speed running for 100 meters, ok. Endurance running, not ok. I remember in high school dreading PE, even more so as our teacher was a female version of Sgt. Hartman. She would have us run for what seemed like ages, and every time I believed I was going to die.

Anyway, back to the now. Let's call this a twist of fate**, or some crazy thought from my twisted mind, but I figured that if I hated it so much years ago, why not give it a try now that I'm in much better shape than I was back then*? You know, just for fun (I have a strange idea of "fun"). And no, I don't run to lose weight I don't need to lose ;-)
Also, to give me an extra kick in the asana, I signed up for a race. A small one (5k), a real one, attainable, not too soon so I can train properly. What makes it even better is that this 5k is in December. DECEMBER, of all months, people. Which means I have to get used to running in the cold. Oh it's not cold yet, but it will come. It's Belgium, so it might as well rain. I have to be ready to face any kind of weather, so running outside it is. I'm ready to cancel my gym membership.

I started running about 3 weeks ago, and I have learned a couple of things (I'm a fast learner):
- Much to my surprise, I like it. No, wait, scratch that, I love it. I don't know how this happened, but I'm actually looking forward to my runs. I never ever thought I would say that, let alone write it for the whole world to contemplate;
- Stepping out of my comfort zone is not killing me;
- Running is moving meditation. I swear. I focus on my breath, and there I go, forgetting everything for 30 minutes and above all quieting my mind;
- It's a breathing exercise, first and foremost. My body is able to follow, my legs are strong enough to carry me where I want to go, but if I don't pay attention to my breath, I stop and die. Ok not literally but man do I feel it;
- Yoga asanas come in handy when it's time to stretch;
- I'm stronger than I thought I was.

Not bad after three weeks, eh?

What have YOU learned lately?

* confession: by "back then" I mean when I was 18 - 15 bloody years ago.
** one day I'll make a confession post, and I'll explain.

"Your head must bow to your heart"

This is what my Yogi Tea of the day says, isn't it beautiful?

What I find beautiful too is you the wonderful response to my last post I got from you, dear readers, and the great posts by Linda-Sama, Y is for Yogini, Svasti, and many many others. Thank you everyone for your posts / comments, I guess somehow we should all thank Tara Stiles for the inspiration, it's been a great week of yoga blog reading :-)

Let's not forget that we can react, let's not forget that words are powerful, let's not forget not to take things for granted, let's not accept everything and anything, let's not forget to take a stance, let's not forget who we are and where we come from.

But now on to lighter stuff as we need to get some rest too, right? When I saw this list on Rachel's blog, I figured it would make a nice weekend blog post, so here we go :-)

1) What is your favourite time of day?

I love the morning, because it's yoga and breakfast time. I absolutely love breakfast.

I also enjoy the evening, when the light starts changing and the sun sets over the rooftops, so beautiful...

2) Where and when did you meet the love of your life?

I met him in Brussels, 8 years ago. But he's French too (oh the irony!). I had been living in Brussels for a couple of years, and I went to a party. He had come over from Paris just for the evening, and we hooked up straight away. It took another three months before we became a couple, and a few months after he left his job and apartment in Paris to come over to Brussels and live with me, "because I'm worth it" :-D

3) What three words would your friends outside the blogging world use to describe you?

Funny, smart, reliable. I guess. You would have to ask them!

4) What country would you like to visit and why?

Japan: done; Canada: we're going to Montreal end of October (yeah we're crazy like that). Lovely Boyfriend has always wanted to visit Canada, especially Montreal and Quebec City. Full disclosure: we are considering moving all the way there, so we're going to check it out :-D It will not happen right now obviously, but we're starting to prepare. We'll see...

5) What is your favourite dish to cook?

I have no idea. I would say quiches, I've become quite good, crust and all. But come to think of it, I love cooking my cashew coconut risotto, always a hit. I think I wrote some time ago that I would post the recipe, I promise I will!

6) Salt or sweet?

Sweet. To be more specific, really dark chocolate always wins me over. 

7) What are your must have make-up or beauty items?

I love Nuxe products, but they're not cheap. I'm fond of the "Huile prodigieuse", not cheap but it lasts quite some time, so good investment. Got to get myself a new bottle by the way. I also love their lip balm.

And Lush's "I should coco" soap, love it!

8 ) What are your favourite flowers?

I have absolutely no idea, honestly. I think I love most the flowers that remind me of my childhood, nothing fancy, just the flowers that you can find everywhere in the country: forget-me-nots, daisies, etc. I also love orchids.

9) What do you think are your worst vices, honestly?

Let's see... I am not patient, ouch. And my ego can have trouble shutting up sometimes. And I love dark chocolate, but is this really a vice?

10) At what time of your life were you happiest and why?

When I travel, especially with Lovely Boyfriend. But here and now is also a good place :-)

Have a nice Sunday!

Enoshima, Japan