Star Wars

Sometimes books fall into your hands and you are really meant to read them. This has just happened to me last week. Indeed, I was listening to a lovely Australian lady advising the person next to me about the very book I have in my hands. It is like “The Secret”, that you have probably heard about, except that this one is funny and gives simple experiments to verify the power of your beliefs, your thoughts. Ok ok, you already want to know the title: E-Squared from Pam Grout. I highly recommend it.

More importantly, as I was going through this book, I couldn’t help but copy the following sentences:
“God is more like the force in Star Wars, a presence that dwells within us, a principle by which we live. That’s why Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have become such a phenomenon. Star Wars is a myth that speaks to us at a deep, gut level. Some part of us knows that “the force” is with us and that we, through our words, thoughts, and deeds, create the world.”

For those of you that have come to my yoga classes, you know that I sometimes welcome you to a “Star Wars class”. Indeed the deep breathing we do makes so much noise, especially at the beginning when we are learning. It could even make us think to Darth Vader, anyway I think of it particularly with my own breathing. Max Strom, from which I am largely inspired speaks more poetically of it as “Ocean breathing”… and the yoga jargon refers to it as “Ujjayi Breathing”. (Victorious breath in sanskrit)
However breathing that deeply is a fantastic remedy against stress, and more importantly it helps connecting to ourself. I really enjoy Pam Grout’s comparison with this life force, because that’s the exact reason of this breathing. We become so focused on our breath, we release so much tension that we connect again to the “force”.
I hope that you can either enjoy and read this book, or go to yoga class where you breath deeply and connect to this life force within, or even better do both. Whatever your choice is, I would love to know your opinion about it.

Community is everything

Community is everything. I truly believe that we connect and create communities among the people we know.

So how do we define a community? I mean how do we define a community on a relational point of view? Is it only about sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common?According to McMillan and Chavis, the sense of community can be defined as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

We somehow all create our own communities. They meet our basic human needs for
love and belonging, respect, structure, involvement and ultimately, meaning. Having had the chance to live in different countries, I have build what I have called “my tribes” in those different places. I am indeed always keen on connecting people and sharing moments or knowledge.
I want to keep on building a community wherever I live. Lately I have tried to gather all the wonderful persons I get to know, trying to link those persons and enlarge this community. I am convinced that it is an ongoing process based on:

  • Caring and supportive relationships
    Those relationships rely on the values of compassion, understanding and respect. They are grounded in attentive listening and trust.
  • Positive and high expectations
    This allows me to highlight strengths and assets as opposed to problems and deficits.
  • Opportunities for sharing and meaning
    A community is based on gathering people that share common interests, even passions like yoga. I know that I always create international gathering, sharing moments of I hope joy and laughter.

Where are your communities? Where do you belong? What do you get from it?

 

The Power of Words

It is interesting how synchronicity works. Today I have had a few interesting philosophic discussion with different people. We were developing our thoughts about life perception and, with our different backgrounds and experiences, we were agreeing on how important it is to look at things in a positive way. We all know that eventually all that we experiment is a way to teach us how to better interact with people and to learn more about ourselves. (Actually I feel I could sometimes benefit of a break from those learning experiences, don’t you? )

And I have just been remembered of the power of words as I have received the Goop update, that I encourage you to read as it expresses perfectly what I want to share with you. It is all about Dr. Emoto’s experiences of words and music over water. Yes our body is constituted of 70% of water in average, so words have a huge impact on us. So when we discuss about looking at things in a positive way, let’s start with expressing ourselves and communicating with positive words.

I let you enjoy this article!

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The Art to Disconnect

I am addicted, or at least I was.

Until that weekend where I decided to disconnect. Disconnect but from what? I had simply decided to shut down my computer for two single days – and actually my (smart)phone as well.

I was flabbergasted! Indeed, I have then realized that I was totally addicted: I missed checking my phone – messages, different social networks – as soon as I woke up and just before going to bed. And I have re-discovered how much more time I have on hand with none of those constant distractions. It is interesting to observe the possible negative impact of our interaction with the Internet and social medias in our life, on our well-being, and on our relationships with others.

Back at university, everyone started to get a cell phone, and as I was studying in Italy, it was said that some people even got a fake one, just to show how “in” they were. I remember that sunny day, where a group of friends and me were gathered at a beautiful terrace. We were all having an entertaining conversation (and nice drinks…) I felt happy and privileged to share this moment… until someone decided to send an SMS to a friend to join us, which seemed a good idea after all. That led all my friends around the table to do the same, one after the other. And I suddenly saw them all looking at their phones, escaping this moment. Watching that, I promised myself never to get a mobile phone. Obviously, despite my reluctance, a few years later, I had to adapt and I eventually got a smartphone! But am I becoming this this very person checking her phone despite nice social interactions? Hmmm, it seems so.

We are massively connected nowadays, yet virtually connected. I am always surprised at the number of messages, phone, email, Skype, What’s app, Facebook. Studies show that  our concentration span diminishes, and our feeling of loneliness increases.

Should we then completely disconnect and unplug all our devices? I don’t believe so, yet I believe that we can use technology in a wiser way that serve us, instead of “slaving” us. Here is an article of the benefits of technology http://www.trendhunter.com/course/technology-keynotes

So this weekend, let’s get off the phone. Still looking forward to meeting you so we can watch our phones together. Kidding, simply looking forward to sharing, enjoying and living every single moment at the fullest.

Love is all we need

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself you have built against it.” —Rumi

This is the quote of today’s meditation, from the 21-Day Meditation Experience with Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra. By the way, I can only recommend this “Finding Your Flow” meditation experience.

“Et voilà”, today I have kept playing the song of the beatles in my head: All you need is love

And it is true, what is more important in our lives than love. All we need is LOVE. However it starts with SELF-LOVE. Too often, it seems that we seek love from an external source, from a partner, our family, our friends – what I would call our extended family. In order to love someone, we must love ourself first.

Yes but how do we love ourselves? When we love someone, a large part of it is accepting the person “as is”. It is the same with ourselves. This week, I have been told that we are loved for who we are, not for what we do. It sounds so simple, yet it was really liberating for me as I have this tendency to define myself by what I do or what I have done. To come back to this quote from Rumi, it has helped me to find one of the barriers within me.

So a few tips to loving ourselves would be to:

  1. Accept ourselves the way we are right now.
  2. Celebrate our accomplishments…  and also our progresses toward them.
    Sometimes we set high goals and we are moving toward them. We are human and far from being perfect, so let’s celebrate our steps toward our achievements. It also means letting go of the things we have not done yet.
  3. Set healthy boundaries by practicing saying “no”.
    It is okay to say “no” to people when we do not feel like doing something. We have the right to do so and should not feel guilty. We cannot please everyone.
  4. Nurture ourselves.
    We need to set up some time to be by ourselves, just by ourselves. This weekend has been just about it, spending time to nurture myself, it is after all about self care.
  5. Forgive
    This is so important. It starts with forgiving others and letting go of the past. Even more importantly it is about forgiving ourselves, for what we should have done or not done: it is sometimes the most difficult thing to do.

Let’s spread the love…

Is Sugar that bad for us?

During this Easter weekend, it is all about chocolate, bunnies and so forth… It seems so normal to indulge into sweets over the coming days. Actually, I am not so sure about it anymore. Indeed, since last August I have quitted refined sugar. I am realizing that it is almost nine months ago! I confess that at the beginning, I found it extremely difficult, especially the first three days when I went cold turkey. I felt exhausted, had headaches, and was wondering what was happening to me… I was addicted to sugar and sugar was a way to respond to my emotions.

I am very thankful to the friend who has inspired me. She had indeed read a book called Sweet Poison and had explained to me how glucose is good and can be used by every cells in the body, while fructose can be damaging. Fructose? The sugar that we find in fruits, not good for us? I could hardly believe it. Actually in a fruit, where fructose is associated with fiber, it is healthy, while in fruit juices or in a refined sugar, it goes directly to the liver and is transformed into fat. I love this video, which explains it in a funny way: That sugar film teaser but if you prefer there are many articles including this one from Harvard Health publications.

Now, this coming weekend is traditionally all about Chocolate and we should never be too strict, so I might and will most probably indulge in some chocolate and I wish you the same. Happy Easter!

Inspiration – Conscious Breathing

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

Last weekend, I had the chance to attend a workshop with Max Strom. This was fantastic for me, as those of you who have come to my classes know how much I am inspired by his teachings, especially the breathing techniques. This time, I felt very privileged as I have assisted him and could observe the students in the room. Throughout the weekend I could watch the faces becoming more relaxed, the people becoming kinder to each other and this simply with a few yoga classes and conscious breathing. I am feeling so grateful and now empowered to teach those breathing techniques even more.

How many of us could benefit for taking a deep breath during the day when we are feeling stressed or overwhelmed by a situation. Do you sometimes realize in a tensed situation how your breath becomes shallow and sporadic? Yet how many of us take that deep breath? Breathing deeply and consciously helps us to feel more present and anchored.

The “Ujjayi breath” or “ocean breath” is a simple and effective technique to warm up the body and calm the mind. Ujjayi comes from the Sanskrit and means victorious. We simply fill in the lungs deeply and contract the back of the throat, while making a Ahhhh sound. Does simple mean easy? Not always! And yet Max Strom has succeeded in teaching all the students how to do it. Last weekend, I closed my eyes, listening to them breathing deeply and consciously and I could imagine myself on a beach hearing the ocean. Using this technique during the entire yoga practice is powerful, as it really helps to focus and be present.

This is one of the breathing technique that we can use throughout our entire yoga posture practice. I am looking forward to sharing this with you.

The Practice of Surrender

Exactly one year ago, I was coming back to Europe after what I could call a big learning experience. My life had been turned upside down, even jokingly as I was returning from down under. I loved it there and over the last days I confess I have missed Sydney deeply.

A friend of mine had then told me to surrender. We all hear about surrendering, yet how do do it seemed pretty challenging to me. Lately I have felt a bit more vulnerable and I have surrendered to my feelings, to my grief and more importantly to the challenging situations I was facing.

But what is “surrender”? Let’s have a look at the definition:

To agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed

To give over or resign (oneself) to something, as to an emotion

In my experience, I would always try to fight or to resist, so suddenly surrendering helps me to be more present in every situation. I realize that I have to simply let go. I am starting to become detached from the results. I am still acting toward the best, yet I am no more attached to the outcome, I trust that all is going to happen for the best. Instead of reacting, I begin to act in a much more meaningful, peaceful way.

Surrender is about letting go, understanding that we have not much control over situations, let alone people. It helps to release the stress and anxiety and allows to experience the beauty of life. And yet the outcome is even better that the one expected.

A few weeks ago I went to a concert and I have used this song as my wake me up. The song starts with “Surrender!” and every morning I am reminded about the importance of surrendering to the divine. Here is the song “Surrender to Love” of Laura Pausini and Ray Charles :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ0_Y9pMUqs

Our body shapes our mind

Every day, I read Presence Matters, the blog of Suzanne Scurlock Durana and I am always really inspired and grateful for her insights and sharing.

In my turn,  I want to share this great Ted Talk with you on how our body shapes our mind.

Ted Talk from Amy Cuddy. Your body language shapes who you are

This is for me an other great incentive to practice yoga. It is my belief that yoga is a self transformative practice. So let’s start this transformation with our body and our body language.

Enjoy watching it!