Today I came across one of my posts from last year called “A letter to my future stressed out self” .
It was written in a calm period of my life, at a time when I was very close to nature, for future times when I would need inspiration.
It was a very fascinating and uplifting experience to read something written by myself and addressed to myself. And it also reminded me how important it is to leave traces. Like throwing a stone in the water and seeing the ripples come back to you one day 😉
After a long and energy consuming working day today`s inspiration came in the form of a beautiful Bulgarian music video.
Sometimes a portion of soul soothing music is all we need 🙂
I found the palm on the picture about 4 years ago in the garbage area of my apartment building. It had one tiny leaf and a dry branch sticking from its base. At first sight it wasn`t clear whether it is going to survive; the green tints of the tiny leaf were the only indication that it might stay alive and grow.
So I decided to give it a try, took it at home, replanted it and watered it diligently. In the course of the next few months nothing changed. I moved the pot to a different spot. Still nothing. I then decided to examine the leaves. The small one was still green, but not growing. And the dry branch was also there. I gave it a closer look and noticed that there was a top layer that could be peeled off. I did that –a green leaf appeared underneath! I later discovered that this palm formed leaves that initially look like branches and later on unfold into leaf-like forms. It seemed that because of the initial drought the growing leaf had formed a hard top layer which somehow blocked the development of the plant.
Ever since the palm has been growing at a constant pace. Soon it will be big enough to sit underneath and turn it into my special meditation place! Every time that I look at it is a beautiful reminder of the transforming power of love, care and patience. But also of determination and creativity. And a reminder to apply these qualities in other aspects of my life and save more palms 😉
Yesterday`s portion of inspiration can be found here.
Let’s dive deeper into this week with an attitude of openness’s to admit what we don’t know. This is the best way to actually learn it. Remember- there are no stupid questions 😉
Sounds True is a platform for spiritual development where online courses and seminars are held. Today I listened to an interesting talk by a lady called Marie Manuchehri who is an energy healer and one of the speakers in a program called “The Energy Healing Summit”.
In her talk she highlighted the fact that a big part of our thoughts are negative and unproductive and gave techniques on influencing and “rewiring” this negativity, and creating new neuropathways that would allow us to tap into more energy and positivity. These techniques are quite simple and easy to practice and in my view inspiring to share with others. So here they are:
Practicing these will stimulate an internal transformation that enables us to live in a lighter and more positive way and its something worth giving a try.
You can find more insights on positivity here.
It is so easy to forget what we have until we lose it. The best example is our health. We hardly spend time to realize and appreciate the fact that we are healthy unless something happens to our bodies. Only when we are unwell we start contemplating how great it is to be able to do anything you feel like without any restriction or pain.
Let’s start the week with the practice of reminding ourselves that our healthy bodies and minds are our biggest gifts and to also take care of ourselves by taking a nice walk outside, cooking healthy food, taking a relaxing bath or anything that works for us. Let’s appreciate and take care of our gifts 😉
You can find yesterday`s inspiration here.
One of the things that energize me the most is spending time with my friends. Talking to them, hearing how are they doing, giving them advice, getting their advice or simply hanging out brings immense positivity, improves my mood and gives me a great boost J
This post is a means to say a big THANK YOU to my dear ones for staying in my life. And an important reminder to all of us to first of all- cherish our friends and to also think what energizes us and to go for it. Our lives are getting increasingly busy and there is less and less time to do things that we really want.
And these can be many things- sometimes it is spending time with our friends, sometimes- doing your hobby, and some other times- reading a book that you like. There is no recipe for what is “right”, only you have the answer. So find out what it is and go for it – I truly believe that this is what makes our life unique and worth living!
One of my yogi buddies brought her four year old daughter to our for a whole one and a half hour – she was following her mom’s movements and trying to do the same, or coloring her book.
But the most interesting part was the 10 min relaxation that we did at the end when we all lied in Shavasana (corpse pose) with our eyes closed. I can imagine that this can be an extremely boring thing to do for a four year old. But the mother whispered something in her year and the little girl lied down and closed her eyes with a blissful smile.
After the class I asked the mom what was that she told her daughter. “I told her to close her eyes and dream about her life when she grows up. I also told her that if she visualizes it well enough, it is going to come true. She is always super excited to do it.”
This made me think of the last time when I dreamt of something. Well, it was quite a while ago during a holiday. For me dreaming works best when I am on the beach, but somehow not so great when I’m in my working mode. There are so many “important” and “ useful” things to be done. Who has time to dream?
But this is so not true and everyone needs to be reminded of this, including me. If you think about it, the majority of the things that happen to us are first born in our heads during times when we are relaxed- for example, under the shower 😉 For instance- the idea for the blog came to me one morning while waking up.
It is important to take the time and space to relax, dream an renew ourselves. Who knows, the next great thing in your life might be just be waiting to be visualized. Dream on!
A very interesting story that I read in “My Grandfather’s blessings” was the author’s experience with a gifted cancer surgeon suffering from depression. One of her ways to improve his condition was asking him to reflect on the events that happened during the day and to write down the answers to the following questions:
What surprised me today?
What moved me today?
What inspired me today?
The idea behind it was to relive the day from a new perspective and to find meaning and joy.
Initially his answers were “Nothing, nothing and nothing”. But gradually he started noticing more things around him that could answer these questions. At first he would only notice these things a few hours after they actually happened. But gradually the lag became smaller and smaller, and he started to build a capacity for spotting the blessings around him. He soon realized that most of the things that moved and inspired him were related to his patients and their strength, and determination to live.
This newly developed capacity not only helped him to overcome his depression, but also to connect better to his patients and listen not only to their medical complaints, but also to their hearts.
This beautiful story made me think about the discoveries that we are capable of making at any time by seeing the world with new eyes. It is true that sometimes it is best to get out of the situation if thigs don`t work out for us. But there are many other times when we need to seek meaning with a new outlook and most importantly- with our heart, in order to rediscover and cherish what we have.
Today when I asked myself these questions the answers that came to mind were:
So go for it- think about the three questions and share your answers and reflections!
The heartwarming short animation Piper that won an Oscar in 2017 is my inspiration for today and an important reminder on what getting out of our comfort zone can mean to our development.