kick start your day!

for me it is totally worth to get up 30min earlier and get moving. here is my mini-morning sequence for YOU! get started :-)

start with a few rounds of your favourite Surya Namaskar (sun salutation)

settle into Adho Mukha Svanasana (downdog)

step your right leg between your hands, coming up to Virabhadrasana I (warrior I)

open up into Virabhadrasana II (warrior II)

straighten your front leg, turn sideways, fold forward - Parasita Padottanasana (standing wide legged forward bend)

turn out the front foot, reach forward, bend down - Trikonasana (triangle)

shift weight over front leg and lift up into Virabhadrasana III (warrior III)

wrap flying leg around standing leg, wrap arms or open them up to the sky (my variation to open myself up!) - Garudasana (eagle)

Tadasana (mountain)

no need to say that you repeat on the other side :-) 

put your own variations in and maybe start my suggestion but your body leads you somewhere else...

don't forget, that it's all good and all you. trust your body will tell you what it needs or not!

rest in Savasana or Viparita Karani (legs up the wall) for at least 5min!

enjoy your breakfast and put a smile on your face!

sending you many smiles and love - enJOy

a recipe!

I did write about this cookies before and I just have to come back to them AND share the recipe with you!

the recipe goes back to Hildegard von Bingen and she called them "nerve cookies" or "intelligence cookies".

so, said cookies, should not be overeaten. Hildegard recommends not more than 3-4 cookies a day! especially for children she warns to not consume too many as they might get too smart for their teachers :-)

though it should be said that the "nerve cookies" are especially recommended to children who tend to daydream a bit too much, especially at school!

as for us grown-ups...

"eat this cookie and all your bitter feelings will soften. your horizon will widen, your thoughts be happy and pure. you'll eliminate any bad and let the good flow through your blood, to keep you strong."

Ingredients:
500g spelt flour
150g sugar
2 eggs
250g butter
5g ground clove
10g ground nutmeg
10g ground cinnamon

knead all ingredients together, roll out to cut out cookies. bake (180C) for about 10min - put into the cold oven!

enjoy, and stay calm!

be gentle

I need to prepare for a "gentle Yoga class" I'll teach tomorrow... and as I sit down to do so I need to ask: shouldn't we always practice gentle?

I guess the answer is clear and also where this question really takes us -  to all the different titles given to Yoga classes this days.

I don't even want to start listing any here, I am sure you've all heard many interesting titles to Yoga classes offered around you.

I have to admit, even I sat over creating a title to one or the other class I taught already. why? I simply think that, because there is such a lot of different styles offered,  sometimes you feel the need to specify in a title. yes, I sometimes feel it too.

sitting here right now I can also tell you that I have been fooled by some titles in the past. so in the end it might be an indication of where it goes, or not. as most of the time one word is used to describe  something that probably needs many words.

so the point for me is. there is a lot of variety out there today. especially in the yoga world you can almost watch different styles pop up.

when I started teaching I wasn't too happy about that and didn't understand the need for all that. still today, I do feel it's all too much.

but in the end. we're all different. different personalities, looking for different things. you need to go out and try (it all or just a few). find your "thing" and call it what YOU want.

and most important of it all. be happy and enjoy, as long as that's what takes you where you want to go...

namaste :-)

Monday Mantra

the Soham mantra is called the universal mantra because of the fact that its vibration is already part of the breath, and we all breathe.

Sooooo - the sound of inhalation

Hummmm - the sound of exhalation.

the basic english translation to So'ham is "I am that" or "that I am". This is a powerful affirmation, which can help us to connect with our most basic essence.