Podcast #1 Carla from Localholic

Rodrigo and I started a podcast about people we find inspiring (more on how it started and the details in another post!)

Carla was our very first guest this month and it’s been so much fun interviewing her and equally fun to go through the whole video again to write this!

If you are on an entrepreneurial journey or if you are thinking about it, this podcast is for you!

Headphones on: listen to it HERE

About Carla :

She is originally from Lake Constance. She used to be in event management in Hamburg and landed in Basel a few years ago where she created Localholic, a company that makes you experience Basel differently – a beautiful way to discover the city as well as local products & services aka Local Heroes. She also brought Creative Mornings to Basel and has many more projects in the making!

This is how her week looks like:

• 3 days/ week Localholic (office in the AM and meetings in the PM)
• 2 days/ week Creative Mornings
• Sunday Carla-ME-Time (likes to go for a run in Dreiländereck, spends time in Nature & with friends, likes to cook, read or listen to podcasts!)

What she learnt on her entrepreneurial journey : 

• Focus on yourself
• Give yourself time, don’t rush towards a goal that you think you need to attain
• Business Visions change constantly if not every day!
• Constantly ask yourself: what do i really want? Keep this question in mind but keep moving forwards.
• Reflect your work in small steps and know that you can do it from past experiences.
• Know your strengths (she lists 5 in the podcast!)

The best investment she made:

• Find out about herself and her skills

working for yourself = working on yourself

Advices to anyone wanting to start a business or project :

• DO IT! Don’t let your doubts stop you, invite your doubts as questions. Give yourself deadlines and go fully into it!

2 words to your younger self :

• TRUST YOU

Listen to what she does when she experiences fear. It’s brilliant!

What would she do with more money?

• Invest in more skills

(when I talk about my friend ‘the social media pro’: it’s Bianca Fritz) 

What would she do with more time?

• Start new projects

What she does when she gets stressed : 

• She comes back to her weekly schedule and writes it again. This helps her refocus (with a coffee or a tea)

How the world will look like in 20 years and what we can do to make it better:

• Come back to local products /services
• Travel less > people travel to find themselves but it’s important to find yourself at home and in your ME-time
• Reduce your needs > minimalist mindset
• Take the speed out *

The 2 books she is currently reading: 

• ‘Schön dass es dich gib’ Laura Maria Seiler
• ‘Start something that matters’ Blake Mycoskie founder of Tom shoes. 

One podcast she listens to:

• Hotel Matze 

Her motto: 

• LESS IS MORE

*My fav quote or one of them:

‘The speed is in the head but if you are yourself, if you know yourself better, focus on yourself, know your skills, needs and fears maybe you don’t need the speed anymore?! When you know your skills, you focus on them and your network is full of people who can do things better than you which makes it easier to let go of what you are not good at, because then you just ask your people!’

The power of knowing yourself and community!

 

 

Meet her at Creative Mornings this Friday!!!

If you missed it, connect here: 

Facebook @localholic.ch & @CreativeMorningsBasel 

IG @localholic & @cm_basel

 

 

One more thing that you won’t hear in the podcast:

The magic behind our first encounter

Carla was visiting one of her Local Hero Haenowitz and Page and having coffee. I was finishing a photoshoot for Yoga, Coffee & Journaling. She saw my yoga mat and we started chitchatting about yoga. I invited her to the event with H&P and she gave me her business card and that’s when I went like: ‘Wow!!! Let me introduce myself again!’ (I didn’t actually say that or maybe I did who knows?!). Why it was so awkward: a few months prior to that weird introduction, I did my very first Yoga & … event. It was Yoga & Wine at Vinigma, a wine company in Gundeli. Valentin, the owner, advised me to connect with Localholic which I, of course, never did! I went on the website though but never reached out. That’s why I was so surprised by Carla’s business card! Synchronicity or the fact that Basel is so small, you always bump into people you know? We’ll never know but I like to think it’s the first one.

(You can find the projects we did together in the ‘Past Events’ Section of this website. Bad Taste Yoga Party & Flohmi and Yoga auf dem Rhystärn) 

 

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#IGChallenges or The art of creating Habits

The 1st of November, Jelena Joksic launched a 30 day green smoothie and plank challenge on Instagram. I have to be honest, I didn’t read properly (for my defense it was in German) and thought it would be a 5-day thingy. It’s only after a couple days, that I realized: I was in this for 30 days!!! But it was too late cause I already started posting! 

The second day of the #greensmoothieandplankchallenge, since I was already on my mat, I figured I could add some meditation to the combo. I’ve been trying to have a regular meditation practice for so many years!!! I would always drift away from it, as soon as I’d change routine or environment. But this time it wasn’t going to happen because I had the best accountability coach: INSTAGRAM. 

Having to post the green smoothie every day (almost, i missed 2 days of IG stories so far BUT still had them!) involved that I did the planks and the meditation also, it became my motivation and priority.

Here are a few changes I noticed after only 1 week: 

1. I can do much better with time management, meaning I get early to appointments instead of 5 min late (I’m sure it has to do with 6.) 
2. I’m more centered and focused throughout the day
3. I feel strong physically and mentally from the planks and the discipline/routine.
4. Thanks to the green smoothie, I make healthier food choices throughout the day (I’m still having my dark chocolate and occasional croissant) but I notice less food cravings + the food prep makes me go to the shop almost daily for the greens which makes me buy other fresh food for other meals (BONUS)
5. I don’t need to get entertained as much and I need more quiet times > especially before bed 
6. And this is a huge one: I spend less time on IG/ my phone in general 

 

The details:

Green Smoothie 

Spinach, oat milk, 1 banana, almond or peanut butter. Sometimes: kale and overnight chia seeds 

Planks

1 min plank, 1 min forearm plank, 1 min dolphin (down dog on your forearms). Finishing with a nice childspose or even doing childspose for a few breaths in between the planks. 

Meditation

set a timer to 6 minutes, find a comfortable seated pose, lengthen the spine, relax the shoulders, jaw and forehead. Count to 21 on each exhalation and backwards to 1. If you loose the count, start over! If you don’t loose the count, you will be done before the timer goes off and in that case you can observe the breath for the couple minutes remaining. 

When I have more time, I add some journaling, reading, roll & release and stretches. 

All of it ideally before you get out of the door and even more ideal: before any device is switched on. If you really don’t have time in the AM, do it in the evening. I recommend though: waking up between 5am and 6 am and trying to go to bed ‘early’. If you are not an early bird, just try getting up 1 hour earlier than you already do. Or even 30 min. And if you are reading this thinking ‘waking up even earlier?!’) try 15 min or even 5 min. Step by step. No worries. 

I’m far from being an early bird myself but noticing the changes of adding only a few minutes of healthy routine before I start my day has been so rewarding and worth the few seconds of discomfort every time the alarm goes off! Plus getting up early will give you much more time to do all the things on your never-ending-to-do-list. 

 

A couple more tips:

If you are the type of person who watches TV or Youtube videos while you eat or before bed, try switching to podcasts instead, your eyes and nervous system will thank you especially if you are on the computer the whole day already. If you don’t know what to listen to, our first podcast is on its way 😛

Instagram was/is my accountability coach but you can use any method that works for you: a friend, partner, colleague (I actually tried to motivate my colleagues at the office but it didn’t quite work yet!).

Research shows that if you want to integrate a new habit, your environment is going to be key. Meaning: surrounding yourself with people who do what you aspire to, will help you tremendously. True for careers and any kind of behaviors also!

The amount of time it takes until that new habit blends naturally into your daily routine is a bit controversial. Some say it takes 21 days, some 30 or 40 but apparently it takes up to about 66 days. AND it’s going to be very different for everybody. It could even take up to 6 months or a year depending on the task and your aversion for it 😉

The key is to start with a couple minutes a day, whatever it is.

For example I do a 6 min (only) meditation because my aim is simply to get used to sitting down and to remember to do it every single day.

More on habits with this awesome podcast

It’s definitely daily hard work but it’s transforming us into our best versions!

 

So with that in mind, one of my aims is to extend the meditation challenge until

X-mas. That’s almost 60 days! Who is with me? 

 

What kind of habits do you wish to integrate or give up? 

 

Remember: together it’s easier!

Basel Top 5 Cafés

Café Vonlanthen 

Café von Lanthem is my absolute fav for 3 reasons:

1. it’s overlooking the Rhein,

2. they have Oat milk that blends so perfectly with their homemade coffee &

3. their gluten-free chocolate cake is out of this world

@cafevonlanthen

 

Café Bar Rosenkranz

Cute vintage decor, quiet terrace, great food AND if you are lucky: amazing oldies music ❤

Latte Freddo is my Summer pick:

Café Bar Rosenkranz 

 

Ferry Tales

Can we applaud the wordplay?! Ferry Tales is really cool if you are running errands in the city center and fancy a coffee to go. You cannot really sit there but if you take a 30 second-walk, you will be able to enjoy a nice view of the Rhine from the Garten der Alten Universität, while sipping your Haenowitz & Page Cappuccino.

The + side : they have happy hours between 8am and 10 am and 4pm and 6pm. 

@ferrytales.ch

 

Café frühling 

&

Kaffee-Mobil

Café frühling in Klein Basel aka the hipster corner as I like to call it. A great place to work on your computer like everybody else. The coffee is great and it is around the corner of all the cool Feldbergstrasse places including The Looking Glass Basel.  

 

Kaffee-Mobil belongs to the Unternehemen Mitte family and is located at Marktplatz or am Rhy close to Wettsteinbrücke. Great coffee and cute settings.

@marktplatz

Damatti Café Bar

A recent discovery. I enjoyed the quiet terrace, the healthy food from @happybowls.ch and again the great latte freddo. Plus, indoors the decor is pretty cool. 

@caffebar_damatti

French holiday

BELLE ÎLE EN MER

 

Galettes, crêpes and cider

Sun, waves and white sandy beaches

Turquoise water 

Stone houses & hydrangea

Sailor tops

Pine trees

Ferry rides

Quiberon

 

Ferry rides:

To get to this little paradise, you will need to take the ferry from Quiberon with Compagnie Océane.

• If you are planning to take your car to the Island (which I highly recommend although there are many options once you are there, see Commute below), book your tickets in advance because space is limited.
• If you are leaving your car behind in Quiberon, no real need to book in advance. There will be a big parking lot with a Bus system taking you straight to the Ferry.

You’ll most probably arrive at Le Palais, the main town with Supermarkets, Restaurants and Shops. Get an ice cream or a galette as soon as you get off the boat 😉

Cafe Littéraire in Le Palais

 

Commute:

You can be everywhere on the Island in 15 to 20 minutes so if you have a car/ scooter/ ebike, not a problem. If you only have a bicycle I hope you trained before getting there cause it’s a hilly Island 😉 Also renting 2 bicycles is pretty much the same price as renting a scooter so unless you are super öko, consider option B, you’ll thank me later.

 

Must see or rather what we saw:

• La Citadelle de Vauban
• Les Aiguilles de Port Coton 
• Le Phare de Goulphar

Phare de Goulphar

 

Galettes & Crêpes:

Our fav crêperie is Les Embruns. Their ingredients are mostly organic. The service is fast and good, the portions are perfect and the food delish. Plus there is a really cute view on the harbor of Sauzon. This town was definitely a highlight. A big thank you to our friends who showed us this gem. 

A door of Sauzon

 

Beaches:

• Plage de Vazen: dreamy! Not many people and full of little secret spots. Be aware of the tide though. You will understand when you get there.
• Plage de Donnant: the only beach where you can surf! Between 2pm and 7pm, the lifeguards watch the beach so it is CROWDED and no surf lesson is allowed during those times. There are not many people in the early morning and late evening though (the sun sets around 10pm in the Summer which gives you plenty of time). You can easily be the only one in the water then! Wear a wetsuit 3/2 minimum. You can rent boards at the local surf school although they won’t rent anything during their class times (basically the whole morning until 2pm and after 7pm). So the best option is to either BYO or to rent in Le Palais. We rented at Moonbreak, great customer service, cool clothes and the best board ever: a Notox cork board, we all fell in love with!
• Plage des Grands Sables: for all water sports! There you can rent Stand Up Paddle boards and they even had SUP/Yoga classes.

 

I wouldn’t be a real french if I would not add some downsides so here they come:

• If you are foreign, be prepared to not get the best customer service. Or like my BF says: ‘it’s not that it’s bad, it just doesn’t exist’. Even though in the french language we say: ‘the Customer is King’, we don’t actually apply this saying like ever. Just be aware that you might perceive some answers as rude 😉
• Between the croissants, crêpes and baguettes, watch out for the gluten overdose 😉 Only the galettes are gluten-free (made with buckwheat flour).
• If you are used to those city hipster cappuccino, you might not like french style coffee (blog post about good coffee in Basel coming soon…).
• If you drive there, know that it’s suuuuuper far + the highway will be quite pricey. Compare the options beforehand: train, plane and car. Book in advance whatever you choose (cf. Ferry §). We split the way each time. More on that below.

 

But in the end it was just as dreamy as I had imagined and I’m hoping to be back soon!

 

Ah hoy

 

Our 2 stop-over:

On our way there: we stopped in Nantes. I’ve been wanting to visit this city for a while and luckily A) it was on the way, B) my friend Mathilde was home and she gave us a tour of the city: first the old town with its Castle, Cathedral and cute streets.  Then we visited Les Machines de l’île and became kids again. Of course there is so much more to discover but we were really looking forward to see the Ocean and that’s what we managed to do in half a day.

Le Carrousel des Mondes Marins

 

On our way back: we stopped in Fontainebleau, THE most famous outdoor bouldering site on the planet. We met people from everywhere, walked on white sand again and faced our fears! Everything you need to know about the place HERE.

L’éléphant

Impressions of a first

Hitchhiking: according to the Merrian-Webster Dictionary: to travel by securing free rides from passing vehicles by holding out your arm with your thumb up as you stand on the side of the road.

Starting point: Bad Nenndorf 2pm Friday June 29th.

Destination: Munich. Estimated arrival time: 10pm Friday June 29th. 

The train departs at 2:05pm but because of me, we miss it. Fight number 1. 

The first step was: taking the train to the next town and first Autohof (usually a resting area off the highway with a gas station, a couple fast food restaurants, maybe even some supermarkets). So instead of waiting 30min for the next train, we started hitchhiking from the train station. The first car stopped and drove us to the Autohof, even though it wasn’t on her way. The fight ceased. 

Once there, the real hunt starts. We start asking people at Macdonald’s but in vain. So we head towards the gas station and there, the first person I ask – a young man our age – is on his way to Berlin. He will take us. Success! This hitchhiking concept isn’t that complicated after all. 

During the first couple of minutes, I thought: ‘he doesn’t really want to take us on board. Maybe he’ll even change his mind after paying for gas’. But he was a great host, genuinely interested by what we were saying and eager to share about his own life. 

Second stop: a Rastätte (resting area on the highway, usually a gas station and maybe a couple fast food restaurants). This one is small, somewhere on the way to Berlin, which is where everybody is also heading when we want to go direction Leipzig. This one is a tricky one and I start thinking that we might have to go to Berlin for the night. It takes us about 1 hour of hard work to find a nice hippy lady with her daughter, driving to the countryside and willing to welcome us in their vehicle. 

I was hoping she’d be a massage therapist or yoga teacher judging by her fashion style (Pocahontas shoes & braid + crystals around her neck) and all the Boho feathers in her car but it turned out she never even took a yoga class in her life. So we small talked our way to the next Rastätte. 

Quickly after arriving at our third stop we realize that, here too, everybody is heading the other way, everybody but one person who is driving home, not sure anymore about the name of his town. All I remember is that he had a crazy German accent. The rolling ‘r’ kind of accent.  

We had dinner in his car and a nap, the constant asking if people were going our way, exhausted me. 

At about 9pm we arrive at our fourth stop, an Autohof again (this one has it all, MacDonalds, Burger King, Gas, DM, Liddl and more), the sun is setting, there are beautiful pink colors in the skies but the smell of gas counter-balances all this beauty. I’m tired of asking people who are going the opposite direction, people who are simply enjoying a coffee or meal, people who are getting gas or going on a toilet break. Some people are nice, some people are less nice. It’s getting dark. I suddenly think of staying at a hotel for the night and hope that my hardcore hitchhiker BF will like the idea because he usually doesn’t stop until he reaches his final destination.

The destination though was still 2 hours away and it was getting late. So at around 10pm, I declared forfeit. On the Macdonald parking lot, I logged into the free wifi, researched nearby hotels, made a couple phone calls, asked a couple people if they could give us a 6 min ride to town. 

And en route to our comfortable night of sleep + delicious breakfast. The whole package cheaper than a train ticket with the Deutsche Bahn.   

The next day at 10am – yes we took our time – we start the second and last part of our journey. 

After only a few steps out of the hotel, the first car stops and drives us to the same Autohof as the night before – a little déjà vu feeling – but this time we are lucky. It must be the effect of the good vibe dance we did at the hotel.

I was standing for a good 30 min at the exit of Burger King, showing a cardboard sign that said ‘Munich’ to every person who would want to look.  Some people shook their heads no and smiled and some people tried their best not to make eye contact. 

At some point, straight out of Burger King, a car pauses. He didn’t seem thrilled at first, although he was the one who stopped. He opened up a few kilometers later, sharing his travel & family stories. He told us that he usually takes hitchhikers to have conversations.   Another friendly encounter.

Last Rastätte: We get to work right away and it pays off. Again someone our age going straight to Munich! Victory! 

Before getting into his car, he apologizes that his car doesn’t go as fast with 3 people. 

So 140km/h was the maximum speed limit. Only one of the many differences between France and Germany. 

One hour of career dreams and book discussions later, we finally ARRIVE after 15 HOURS on the road + hunting time. 

I’m so happy I almost cannot believe we are finally there. 

Actual arrival time: 3pm on Saturday June 30th. 

Here is what I learned:

• When you hitchhike, your expectations have to be thrown out the window. You won’t know when you’ll arrive nor when you’ll depart. 
• Patience is key. 
• ‘Focus on your breath’ will finally make sense if it didn’t yet.  
• More gratitude for the simple things (like getting where you wanted to go). 
• More likely to take hitchhikers now.
• More compassion for the people who need to ask for survival basics in everyday life.
• I will be pickier about which itinerary to take even if it means waiting longer to find someone driving the better route. 
• People seem closed or even mean at first glance but they open up after a few minutes, sometimes hours, even to the point of sharing their whole life story with complete strangers. 
• You don’t have to be a Yoga Teacher to wear crystals, just kidding, again it’s about not judging from first encounter and not putting people into boxes. After all we are infinite beings 😉 

At almost 30 and as a car owner, I experienced hitchhiking for the first time last weekend. Of course I hitchhiked in the past but only very short distances. Will I do it again? Maybe, but only with a lot of time, nobody expecting me at point B and if public transportation is too complicated or the price of a downpayment. 

A couple movies on the topic: Weit and Into the Wild by Sean Penn. 

Tinder or 2.0 encounters

Pretty common nowadays right?! It’s almost weird to start talking to people in real life (maybe because I go out in Switzerland haha).

My point of view before downloading the app: ‘WTF?! Is that really what society is like now?! It became too hard to meet people face to face?!’ It made me angry even to talk about it with some of my friends who were on it.

But then I realized you can’t really talk about something you don’t know. Back in October last year it already came to my mind to register JUST to be able to write about it. So one Sunday evening when one of my friend pressured me to sign-up, I did.

At the beginning, I was honest with guys, saying I’m doing an experiment to write a blog post. I really didn’t want to fall into the game. I wanted it to be ‘professional’ kinda but deep down if I could find the one in the meantime, it wouldn’t have bothered me. It’s my romantic side.

My last week at work before my Yoga Summer was super busy taking Dance, Yoga, and Crossfit classes, lots of partying and that’s when my perspective shifted. The whole story started with a super-like from my side and the rest is history. I was going to write about the different dates I had and my brief amazing summer romance. I could actually write an entire book about this, it would be really fun BUT I won’t go into details here. You are gonna have to wait for the novel 😉

What I learned:

Yes you can meet awesome people who have the same interests and vibe as you. It’s a fast and easy way to get to know people when you just moved to a new city or when you are traveling. In some cases it might even end by a wedding!

Most people I met though, want to be free because they are all exploring the world. They want to see everything and do everything ALONE or with friends. Committing is so 20th century! The millennials are very self-centered (me included I have to admit). I personally think we’ll notice a change in about 10 years. But for now forget Prince Charming and focus on something else, especially if you live in a city. He will come, in a decade or so.

Be mindful who you share your energy with. Make sure you switch on your intuition. Sometimes it’s hard to notice things when you are fully into the situation. When in doubt, call your BFF! (valid in any life situations).
Give yourself time to get to know the person. It doesn’t mean texting forever before meeting but maybe going on different dates with the SAME person? Just a thought. Remember how it was when people met in normal life? It used to take weeks or months before they’d realize that there was a connection! Too old school?! I’m gonna go even further. Here it comes: for me, meeting more than one person/ week was too much. Even a different person every week was too much. I didn’t have time to process my emotions/ the experience but was already having another date. It felt odd especially when something happened. That’s the reason why I deleted the app. I couldn’t deal with fast-paced feelings.

It’s very easy to fall into the game of swiping and texting 10 different people at the same time, meeting 4 different guys within the same week, etc. We live in a world of distraction. We love to be busy so we don’t have to go inwards cause it’s scary and uncomfortable. It’s easier to party all week long than to sit still for 5 min. Tinder can be just another distraction resulting in superficial relationships if not used with awareness. So like everything, the key might be moderation.

Another lesson: the outside world is a reflection of your inner world. Ever heard that? I knew that concept but it can be a difficult one to get. It only makes sense when you start finding examples in your own life. You know when you become angry when your friend is always late or when your boyfriend doesn’t clean the apartment? Whatever is triggering or bothering you is because you have or used to have the exact same pattern. Pretty disturbing right?! This week I found one of my personality trait through one of my dates. He did express out loud what I was only thinking in other situations. A powerful realization and a pattern I’ll be working on.

One more thing: you never know what’s gonna happen. Don’t draw conclusions too fast, don’t be impatient, let life surprise you, be open and find your shades of grey, everything isn’t black and white (something I need to learn too).

In total I had the app for about a month. Maybe not a long time but enough for me. It’s been a great teacher!

And finally just for fun:

The different guy profiles on Tinder:
– the picture of his car
– the picture of his abs
– often both of the above are on the same profile (without wanting to generalize)
– the picture of his dog/cat (because he knows girls like animals)
– the traveler on a beach in a tropical paradise
– the guy in a suit with an amazing job
– the party boy with all his friends on the picture (so you cannot really tell which one he is)
– the party boy drinking and smoking
– the guy with his girlfriend in an open relationship (hopefully)
– the bathroom selfie

The profiles I tended to like:
– Original/ beautiful pix. Nature is always a good idea.
– Original text
– Humor is a winner
– Or sometimes long curly hair will do 😉

I hope nobody got offended!

What’s your experience with dating apps/ sites?!

 

Are you in Robot mode?

How do you start your day?

Morning routine #1

Waking up wishing you had one more hour in bed (at least) > Making your way to the bathroom and while looking in the mirror thinking you probably should have spent less time on IG the night before and/ or drunk less wine > Rushing out the door without having had breakfast > Wondering why time goes faster in the morning > Crossing your fingers for green lights because you will get to work right on time or probably a few minutes late as usual.

Vs.

Morning routine #2

Woken up by sunlight > Making your hot lemon water > Taking time to read, write and/or move > Cooking your savory breakfast packed with greens and proteins > Starting to work from home or going to work without rushing.

Most of us have experienced scenario #1 at some point and let’s be honest it’s exhausting. If you don’t know any better it feels normal but as soon as you lived #2 for an extended period of time, you won’t be able to do #1 anymore. When I find myself in ‘rushed mode’ for a few days, it usually takes me the same number of days to find my energy back. The more I do, the more I will have to not do plus do things that feed my soul and only THEN creativity will come back and realizations will pop up. Never underestimate the power of time-off!

We live in a very fast-paced environment where it’s ‘cool’ to be busy, it’s cool to work long hours, party hard and sleep very little. But all those things makes us less and less human I find. More stiff in the head and the body. Totally disconnected from our environment and ourselves Running from one place to the next. Phone in one hand, something to drink or eat in the other. But what if the ‘go slow mode’ was the new black? What if less was more?! It doesn’t mean doing nothing and being lazy but maybe being more efficient by focusing on what matters the most. Stopping the multitasking and getting clear on priorities.

All around me though, I’m noticing people launching themselves into new career paths and lifestyles that are more in tune with who they are, forgetting what’s been expected from them their whole life, forgetting what society expects from them, and just going for it. One of my favorite example is a dear friend of mine who became an amazing painter because she took time-off to just be, because she went for it. She is such an inspiration for me. Yes Anne-So it’s you 😉

I think the hardest part is to actually start and let go of the fear of what might happen if we fail – even though there is no such thing. We all have hidden talents. Let’s take time to find it/them! Let’s experiment without getting attached to the results!

It can feel totally awkward to start something new if we are too much in our mind and not enough in the feeling body. We might even wonder why we are there (me at crossfit every single time haha) but if we stick to it >>> magic will happen, we’ll learn so much,  we’ll find new talents, new ideas, more creativity & more freedom.

The uncomfortable will become enjoyable and the comfort zone will expand to farther edges.

My advices for this Month:

• go for this girlfriend date and don’t think you are wasting your time because chances are: a lot of genius ideas will come out of the conversation
• take time for a bath or a massage without feeling guilty
• start a music, dance, yoga, any class
• do one thing that feels uncomfortable (maybe the above dot)
• notice the way you feel emotionally and physically when you work and compare it to when you have time off and do the things you love
• ask yourself if you are living the kind of life you want

And remember:

Energy flows where attention goes

Your thoughts create your reality

No dream is big enough, trust and believe

Less is more

How habits & hobbies can transform or sustain your personality

A couple months ago I discovered Crossfit because I started teaching Yoga at a Crossfit center. I was curious about what the students were doing and wanted to adapt the Yoga classes to their needs. At the beginning I was attending only once a week but this week I registered for a bi-weekly 6 months membership!

My friends cannot believe I do this because ‘this is not me’. In fact I cannot believe myself I am doing this. And to be honest it’s not pleasant at all. I am always really excited to go there, then once the class starts I wonder: ‘WTF am I doing here’ and afterwards I am really happy, I feel proud and strong. But by no means is it easy!

What first started as curiosity ended up as a new addiction (but the good kind of addiction). It gives me physical energy obviously but also the strength to do the things I didn’t dare or was too lazy to do before. It helps me get things done. AND it helps me in my Yoga practice, i am stronger and feel my body more (because I am sore all the time haha nah just kidding). Yesterday when I started crying after class, I realized it also make emotions come up. Maybe something to do with pushing the limits, maybe something to do with my childhood, maybe something else. Who said Body and Mind were not connected?!

Noticing those shifts in my life, it got me thinking: habits, hobbies, jobs, relationships, pretty much everything you do and everybody you interact with, plays an important role in who you become and what you think. I don’t want to focus on big changes like career and relationships here but on the tiny simple changes you can incorporate into your daily life that will help you become a better version of you.

For example, I am extremely Yin & Vata: always relaxed, going with the flow, indecisive, not grounded, etc. It was totally okay to be this way for the past 10 years but today I need to be more Yang & Pitta, to make sh** happen! This is exactly what Crossfit is helping me with. As said in my previous blog post I also decided to get an apartment which helps with the ‘not grounded’ part and on the diet side, I eat more animal proteins now. Food is also important: ‘you are what you eat’.

It works also with daily tasks: wanna be more organized at work? Start making your bed in the morning, cleaning the dishes after each meal, etc. Simple small changes will have a big impact in your life. It’s difficult to believe but it’s worth giving it a try!

We are all different, notice your own patterns.

It’s all about finding YOUR balance.

We tend to do what we feel most comfortable with. What if you started something new today, next week, next month that’s way out of your comfort zone?! It will make you evolve for sure and you might end up liking it or getting good at it (or not), the result doesn’t matter that much!

Ask yourself those questions:

How do I want to feel?

What’s the best version of me?

How will my life look like in 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?

What do I want to achieve in this life time?

2017 the year of change

NOT what I wanted to talk about in my second blog post, like AT ALL. In fact I had written it already way back in October and it went more like: ‘The first steps of making a dream happen’. It might come out later on, who knows. I kept postponing posting because something didn’t feel quite right, until I wrote what follows.

It all started with those posts you see on instagram:

‘Do the thing that scares you the most’

It took me a while to understand what it was for me. I wish it would have been: dropping everything and hoping on a plane to travel around the world but unfortunately it isn’t.

In fact my fears are quite the opposite: settling down, taking responsibilities, committing, making a decision, putting myself out there…

Traveling is what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years, coming ‘home’ to work and make enough money to leave again. Not worrying too much about what I was doing as long as I could save enough to be away for a few months again. Now reflecting back, I feel like my twenties are/were for exploring, about the WHERE and my thirties are going to be more about the WHAT & WHY.

WHAT vs WHERE

For years it was all about: Wanderlust (and still is just a little bit) and having fun!

Settling down was a concept from another planet. The result/ the way: a nomadic life,  which became outdated for me this year. Constantly changing everything can be exhausting as much as it is exciting. But nobody talks about that on Instagram!

I have been debating on going vs staying the whole Winter and finally opted for the latter one. For me this year is about getting my own nest (for the peace of mind I get from grounding down) and creating my own business (for fulfilment reasons) doing the things I love which involve healthy food, yoga, self-care and more. It’s really about creating a life where Monday is not the worst day of the week.

I saw myself going this way for a long time but only saw it happening in a far far away future. Sometimes we know exactly what we should be doing but we postpone it because either A) we have no clue how we are supposed to make it happen or B) we are too scared or C) both. So we find excuses or other things we (think we truly) want to do and get sidetracked…

This year is encouraging us to achieve those projects we have been vaguely thinking of. I see it all around me: pregnant girlfriends, people moving, new perspective on things, trying out new hobbies and finding new passions, creating businesses, etc…

If you are still struggling with decision making, meditate on it, the answer might not come right away but it will come at the right time. Deep inside, we know what really matters, but the mind has the tendency to trick us and we get overwhelmed with the Xillion opportunities and possibilities we have.

Listen to your body for signs, does it feel contracting or expanding when you think about a new project? It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to get there, just visualize it in details and it will come to life!

Things change

Dreams change

We evolve

We get older

Maybe wiser

What are your biggest fears?

What are your intentions for 2017?

What are YOUR WHAT & WHY?