Tag: ayurveda

Hairdressing – Faye Blake

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

There are things that people do not usually talk about but are common and natural to us. Most of the time these are signals or signs from our bodies trying to communicate with us. In this episode of Outer Travel, Inner Journey, Faye Blake shares her journey of finding her inner self and how her personal experiences, including hairdressing, help her help other people in finding their inner selves.

As a herbalist hairdresser and Ayurvedic coach, Faye believes that the key to living a sustainable life is to listen to the signals that our bodies tell us and not wait for the extremes. She explains that this is her way even in hairdressing, wherein she lets hair take its form and express itself. She learned this the hard way when she started hairdressing in a more traditional hair salon wherein they were expected to conform to a certain mold and have a specific image. When she tried conforming, she felt drained and coped through unhealthy addictions like smoking and alcohol.

This is when Faye realized that people tend to not actively try and make a difference unless something extreme happened and forced them to do it. After quitting the salon, she found herself working with naturopathic nutritionists. Shortly afterward she understood that what she want to do is to empower people through listening to our body’s wisdom and intuitive nature.
Self-empowerment for her is living intuitively through listening to the elements and energies in our bodies and not looking for answers externally. It is trusting yourself and being to speak from a place within and trusting that your voice is valid.

People who work in hairdressing, like Faye, have a gift of connecting and listening to people and reflecting with them and making them feel good about themselves. They are also a reminder that we cannot do everything alone, on our own. They help us nurture ourselves by listening to what our bodies are telling us and loving the parts that we take for granted. By mirroring us, they teach us how to live intuitively and love ourselves more.

Hairdressing

Links mention in the podcast

Pocket Quotes

  • “I want to sit at a hairdresser because it’s about me, my own self-care, and about somebody who wants to talk about my hair and treat it like a part of me that needs the love and affection.” – Alexandra Kreis
  • “When they [hairdressers] are puffing it up, it’s almost like asking your hair what it wants to do. I see this a lot in the body. Our emotional body and physical body is always talking. How do we a gain a conversation with it? It’s by going through this more intuitive way of living. With hairdressing it’s the same. What’s going on within there, what does it actually wanna do, how does it wanna express. It’s free expression, it’s us, it’s an extension of us and we’re not molding it and shaping it to fit in like we do to the rest of our body in life to be in a box or how it should look. It’s a real process of freedom and living in alignment of how naturally it wants to be, in alignment with nature.” – Faye Blake
  • “For women, we tend to put a lot of other people that we care about way before ourselves. From that place they can really burn out or really go to depletion and fatigue, and total disconnect from ourselves and our path and how we truly want to live.” – Faye Blake
  • “I believe Ayurveda does that with the elements and the energies and how you get to see them within your own body. That to me is your body’s intuitive nature, and your body’s wisdom talking, that’s your body’s voice.” – Faye Blake
  • “Intuitive is self-trust, self-trusting what comes within and being able to speak from that place and not just looking externally for answers. It’s a way of trusting self, trusting my own voice, and knowing that it’s valid.” – Faye Blake

Guest Bio

Faye Blake is a naturopathic nutritionist, yoga and meditation teacher, and Ayurvedic health coach. She helps create deeply sustainable self-energy, to help people make a difference in the world without depleting and spiraling around into self-sabotaging behaviors. She promotes living intuitively through listening to what our bodies tell us. Faye loves to surround herself with a community working on their inner selves and freeing themselves from their past to create a loving and purposeful life. She is also a herbalist hairdresser at Tame the Mane Salon in Bristol, a salon that offers alternative natural hair services and products. Faye encourages people to equally nourish both their minds and bodies in a sustainable way.

Leslie Lovlin – Cleanse your Way to Balance

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

In this podcast, we’ll travel the wonders of the holistic Ayurvedic approach to health, especially it’s wisdom in cleansing our body and mind of toxins from the busy world that Earth has become. 

And taking us into this journey is Leslie Lovlin, a clinical Ayurvedic practitioner and Panchakarma specialist from Alberta, Canada, who herself got into a life-changing ride towards Ayurveda. 

Her faith and trust in its wisdom have been tested and solidified when she had to use her knowledge of it to bring back the hope and life into her own son. From coma and hopeless diagnosis from the doctors, Leslie didn’t give up. She used her knowledge of healing through the five senses to rejuvenate her son, even if this meant tirelessly juicing up organic greens and vegetables every day, aromatherapy and oils, massage, meditation music, and surrounding him with positivity. 

Beyond the day-to-day consulting of Ayurveda, Leslie also studied it in-depth to slowly go deeper into understanding this holistic healthcare system. She specializes in Panchakarma, which is for cleansing the body and the mind. It encompasses actions for balancing, healing, and rejuvenation. She herself has undergone the program which took off so much mental ama from her. Panchakarma programs can take 3, 7 days, or longer, depending on the depth of each individual issue. It can also be done at home if you work with a specialist to guide you through. 

This conversation is an exchange of experiences between two holistic health specialists and offers a credible sneak peek to the many wonders of Ayurveda. But more importantly, Leslie and Alex share this informed discourse about the information and methods widely available nowadays to anyone who wants to take a shift and implement changes in their lifestyles. 

After all, as Leslie puts it, “[w]e all are our own guru if we learn to listen. That is what Ayurveda teaches us.” 

 

Links mention in the podcast

Podcast Highlights

  • Panchakarma took off so much mental ama; it cleansed out mental toxicity from me. It must’ve gradually happened but I just noticed that the things that used to affect me did not affect me anymore. – Leslie Lovlin 
  • There are so many programs out there. But it’s always great to start with yourself. You learn best through embodying it. If you don’t have a clear understanding of where you’re at, it can be more confusing and overwhelming, pushing people to drop off. – Leslie Lovlin 
  • Best to do two cleanses in the conjunction of the year—twice a year, spring and fall. In early spring, we are removing the accumulation of Kapha that happened over the winter and in the fall, we cleanse to prepare for the winter. They’re similar but different cleanses. – Leslie Lovlin 
  • When I’m talking as Ayurvedic and holistic practitioners, I never try to exclude conventional medicine. But I would always say that your health is a good investment. Always go the extra mile. – Alexandra Kreis 
  • Ayurveda teaches us to take responsibility for ourselves. We have relied too much on the quick fix. The more we take responsibility for our health, the more we become truly empowered. – Leslie Lovlin 
  • We all go out of balance; that’s human nature. But the more we understand who we are, the easier it is for ourselves to go back in. – Leslie Lovlin 

 

Guest Bio:

Leslie Lovlin is a clinical Ayurvedic practitioner and Panchakarma specialist from Alberta, Canada. Her passion is to “help guide people to heal energetically, physically, and emotionally and educate them on changing the way they live in order to change the way they feel and age.” Leslie studied and put on some real hard work in her passion earning her titles such as Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Ayurvedic Massage & Bodywork Therapist, Panchakarma specialist, Ayurvedic Spa Specialist, Registered Yoga Teacher, Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, and Reconnective Healer. 

 

Why should I do a spring cleanse/detox?

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]

Why you want to do a spring cleanse if the body can heal itself all the time

– An ayurvedic perspective.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]The sun comes up. The air is getting warmer and I sense a spell of relief running through me.

Ah – finally spring is on our doorstep.

And while I am inhaling happily the joy of warmer days a thought pushes me of my high horse: ‘Spring brings about runny noses, congested eyes and sneezes’

 

What to do?

Some people go through their healing in different phases of life; with different remedies and at all seasons.

In fact, healing can happen all the time. And still, healing can move faster and smoother if we allow the forces of nature to assist us.

 

Let me put this into a picture for you.

Healing to me is like ‘cleaning up’. And like anything in your house, you will clean up what is dirty and not only focus on one part of your living space. So there is time for healing of emotions, time for healing your physiology and time to heal through diet.

So why not use what nature gifts us with to make more use of healing through adjusting your food patterns for a moment, to achieve an optimum in your physiology and ignite the power of self-healing.

 

How does that work exactly?

In the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, they consider the year to have truly only 2 seasons. they speak of the cooling and cold season (autumn and winter) and the warming and hot season (spring and summer).

Those ‘two’ seasons shift our desires in food. Warming and heating foods in the earlier cool season and lighter and cooling foods (like salads, fresh and juicy fruits) in the warmer season.

But with every teaching, we want to find the entrance point, where things are not at the height of their quality. So from this point of view, spring (=warming up to summer) is the point where the element fire starts to come up slowly.

 

Why is this so important?

Have you ever observed a fireplace? What happens if you put old oils with residues of pollution into the fire? The flames go high, burn quickly and leave a stink.

This is the same for your body. Fire is associated with digestion (transforming and burning foods). If your inner fire rises with the outer heat (like increases like) you are likely to burn through old foods and residues of undigested things from winter.

However, if you lighten the load, by decreasing your  (food) input, you will assist your body in doing what it wants to do anyways – clean up the house.

Your own body wisdom and in fact more clearly everything your body can do by itself, is enhanced when you give it the right space to mend itself.

In this manner, the body has the capabilities to heal, once it is aligned with its natural inner rhythm and workings.

Once all systems and channels are cleared, you will benefit from it by feeling you have a stronger immune system.

And with a stronger immune system, you are less likely to have allergic reactions that stem from your own system not being able to work full power. Why else would the body react to what we call nature and in itself is friendly? Why does our body react with a ‘wrong self-defense’. This is what your body does when you have allergic symptoms – it tries to eliminate wastes while it is perceiving nature as a thread.

 

Invitation to online detox

Not all cleanses are fasts.

And not everybody is capable of doing a traditional ayurvedic cleanse. These days I often assist people in finding, what is truly helpful for them.

So if you like to go through an innerspring clean, you can jump onto my Guided Ayurvedic Cleanse and work out what is working for you.

 

Join me in April to get ready to tend to your fire and kindle it so it shines bright and radiant.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ayurveda and what it is

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

Mother of All Healing—for 5,000 years in India, Ayurveda has been both a science and art of healing that has helped progress other forms of ancient medicine such as Tibetan medicine and traditional Chinese Medicine. It is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science. Many of the principles of natural healing systems now familiar in the West have their roots in Ayurveda, including homeopathy and Polarity Therapy.

Deriving its meaning from the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science or knowledge), Ayurveda means “the science of life.” Its wisdom reminds us that the entire web of life is intricately interwoven—not just the body, mind, and spirit but to its environment as well. With a unique emphasis on total wellness, the art, and science of Ayurveda work to harmonize our internal and external worlds.

 

Ayurvedic practice falls under any of its eight branches: 

  • Kaayachikitsa – Internal Medicine
  • Baalachikitsa – Pediatrics
  • Bhuta Vidya – Psychiatry
  • Shalakya Tantra – Ear, Nose and Throat Treatment
  • Shalya Tantra – Surgery
  • Vishagara Vairodh Tantra – Toxicology
  • Jarachikitsa/Rasayana – Geriatrics and Rejuvenation
  • Vajikarana — Aphrodisiac Therapy, Fertility, and Conception

 

 Ayurveda’s Strategy: Focus on Constitution; Work on Balance

Balance is the natural order; imbalance is disorder. Health is order; disease is disorder. 

The Ayurvedic strategy banks on the concept of universal interconnectedness. And thus, on the dynamics and connectedness of the body’s constitution (prakriti), and the life forces (doshas) around it.

Following this concept, disease is understood to be due to an imbalance or stress in a person’s consciousness. And as such, the goals of treatment aid the person by eliminating impurities, reducing symptoms, increasing resistance to disease, reducing worry and stress, and increasing harmony in life. Its strategy is to encourage lifestyle interventions and habits to regain a balance between the body, mind, spirit, and the environment.

Like everyone’s unique fingerprint, each person has a particular pattern of energy—an individual combination of physical, mental, and emotional characteristics—which comprises the constitution. This constitution is determined at conception by a number of factors and remains the same throughout one’s life.

Ayurveda also centers on the senses. The five senses serve as the portals between the internal and external realms, as the five great elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth move around and influence the dynamics and balance of our doshas. Ayurveda groups these five elements into three basic types of energy and functional principles that are present in everybody and everything—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

Ayurveda

Balancing the Three Principal Energies

Vata, pitta, and kapha are combinations and permutations of the five elements that manifest as patterns present in all creation. In the physical body, vata is the subtle energy of movement, pitta the energy of digestion and metabolism, and kapha is the energy that forms the body’s structure.

Many factors, both internal and external, act upon us to disturb the balance of our doshas and are reflected as a change in one’s constitution from the balanced state. Examples include one’s emotional state, diet and food choices, seasons and weather, physical trauma, work, and family relationships. Understanding these factors is crucial and a precursor to taking appropriate actions to minimize its effects or eliminate the causes of imbalance and re-establish our original constitution.

Ayurveda, as a science and art of healing that focuses on lifestyle, have benefits that are unique to the practice. Here’s some the major benefits that you can immediately reap from adopting and practicing Ayurveda.

  1. Stress Buster

Ayurveda teaches several methods to release stress: yoga, dinacharya, or waking up early before the sun rises to give you peace of mind; meditation; drinking green tea which has stress properties such as L-theanine to keep you calm and to reduce anxiety.

  1. Aids in Weight Loss

Healthy weight loss comes naturally after detox and adopting a healthier diet.

  1. Balances Hormones

Detox also flush away toxins and fight the chemical imbalance in your body which usually messes up with your hormones!

  1. Reduces Inflammation

Inflammation is usually caused by poor diet, lack of sleep, and stress. Ayurveda’s herbal treatments, yoga, and meditation promote conditions such as good sleep, a calmer mind, hence, controlling the excessive inflammation. 

  1. Removes Toxins From the Body

Ayurveda consists of practices that cleanse the mind, body, and soul. A vital Ayurvedic intervention called ‘Panchakarma’ is used to get rid of toxins that interfere with the normal functioning of the body.

Ayurveda addresses all aspects of life by understanding the forces and elements that surround and influence everything. But it also recognizes that each of us is unique—responds differently to the many aspects of life, possesses different strengths and weaknesses.

It may be ancient wisdom and practice but it offers renewed access to our natural intelligence. And Ayurveda offers the promise of a more harmonious future for us, people, AND our planet.

Embrace the fear and let it go – Astrid Walsh

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

Many times, the things that you’re scared of usually aren’t as scary as you think they are. The thought of the thing is usually scarier than the actual thing. 

Astrid Walsh’s journey to save her vision was witness to this. Having been confronted one day by a diagnosis that meant she won’t be able to do many of the things that she loves doing and a possibility of being derailed from her passion for the visual arts, Astrid allowed herself to be scared off by what she thought would be the worst. 

While being treated conventionally for Lyme disease, she noticed episodes of flashing in her vision. Later on, she was told it was a detached retina and surgery is the only way. But that night of the soul pulled her inwards to wait and hear an answer, led her to discover a world that taught her that healing occurs so much deeper than and after the treatments and interventions that we do for our body. 

Astrid took her health on her hands: for better or worse, she relied on what she feels. She had the inner knowing but had to find out what it is. So Astrid researched and found Ayurveda as the only healing modality that looked at the senses specifically. Alexandra, as a long-time friend of Astrid, introduced her to that world and went deeper—into Panchakarma. 

Astrid spent weeks in a tiny village in India, being taken care of by Dr. Ashwin Shastri and practically the whole village. These weeks led her to discover so much about herself and the world we live in. Panchakarma and all the detox she went through taught her that healing is about creating space for and letting in what could heal us and letting go of the things that intoxicate, not only our bodies but also our mind and soul.  

More than the interventions, big and small, Astrid learned that it was really about tuning in to the self, about attachments and sufferings, about the way we look at life and death. And ultimately, about letting go. 

This whole journey, for Astrid, brought closer together two worlds—traditional medicine and Ayurveda—to teach her most precious take away: let in, want something, but let go of the necessity to get it and you’ll find peace in your decision. 

Links mention in the podcast    

Healing

Podcast Highlights 

  • Every illness brings death with it to a certain degree. Dr. Ashwin Shastri showed me the terror of death, blindness. As a visual artist, I overly relied on my eyes and blindness equaled to death. I was coming to grip the reality of death. – Astrid Walsh 
  • I came from a culture where death was the absolute worst-case scenario. Whereas from Ayurveda and India’s cultural perspective, there’s rebirth. The way we see it isn’t necessarily the only way to see it. – Astrid Walsh 
  • In modern times, we live in a very fast-paced environment that we almost have to learn patience. – Alexandra Kreis. 
  • You can only have the energy to do these things for yourself, it’s all self-responsibility in making the choices every day. But you can only actually do that if you’re supported in some way. Big interventions can give you a good place to start. Because sometimes, you just have to act now, in a big way. But then after that, you have to integrate it into your new reality. And that takes time and patience. – Astrid Walsh 
  • Ayurveda gives you the stability to be able to face health problems and not get panicked. The sickness can’t travel so deep if you keep an eye regularly on what is falling out of shape in you and what needs amending. – Astrid Walsh 

Guest Bio 

Embrace the fear and let it go - Astrid WalshAstrid Walsh is an amazing visual artist from Ireland. She has done numerous individual and collaborative exhibitions across the country and received awards and recognitions for her work. She started first started her healing journey and discovering Ayurveda when she was undergoing treatment for Lyme disease in 2003. Later on, she was diagnosed with a detached retina and that’s when she dove really deeply into Ayurveda, which she practices until today. 

Ayurvedic Cleanse: Shifts your mind and body into ease

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

Ayurvedic cleanse is the balancing of the digestive system by eating a so-called mono-diet that helps to flush out toxins on all levels. When done at the right time it goes quite fast as the outer nature (shift in weather) is helping shift your body

It’s getting cold again. And 2020 is about to approach its last quarter just like that! Time really flies! Even if a lot of us might have actually spent the past months just watching the days, weeks and months go by.

But hey, that’s fine. I remember one of my conversations with my husband; we talked about the invaluable lessons this overwhelming series of uncertainty (at least in recent decades) has taught us. Indeed, it provided a breathing space for our dear ecosystem and for every single life form in it, including us human beings. For sure, everyone has a story to share of inner journeying during this time of limited outer travel (literally!).

But there’s absolutely one thing that you can’t just watch pass by even if things are at a slow down: YOUR HEALTH.

We might all be unassumingly watching the days but we gotta be ready for the approaching cold and change of weather. And one superbly easy and effective way to ready up your body (and mind, too) is to do an Ayurvedic cleanse.

But first things first: … is not fast.

Surprised? You heard that right! Not at all and maybe not necessarily.

Ayurvedic Cleanse

 

This is exactly the reason why we do it at the junctures of the year when the weather turns cooler or cold and warm or hot. It gives our bodies a chance to release whatever’s stored up throughout the summer or the winter.

By eating simplified food all the time throughout the cleanse, it becomes a time to remove yourself from the outer environment. It becomes a time to recharge, digest, and process whatever’s coming up for you.

I found a good analogy to explain this further:

Have you ever observed a fireplace? What happens if you put old oils with residues of pollution into the fire? The flames go high, burn quickly, and leave a stink.

This is the same for your body. Fire is associated with digestion (transforming and burning foods). If your inner fire rises with the outer heat (like increases like) you are likely to burn through old foods and residues of undigested things from winter.

However, if you lighten the load, by decreasing your (food) input, you will assist your body in doing what it wants to do anyways – clean up the house.

Our bodies in their natural state have the most amazing depth of wisdom in healing. And that wisdom gets more enhanced when we give it the right space to mend itself. That’s what cleansers do.

Once our bodies AND minds (don’t forget it’s a combo!) are aligned with its natural inner rhythm and workings, we get the best fighting chance against naturally-occurring health troubles. That means we don’t actually have to go through the hassle of getting caught up with the seasonal flu and colds, allergies, upsets, among many others. An Ayurvedic cleanse makes sure you don’t wait-and-see how your body’s gonna put up with the season’s challenges.

So, are your systems and channels ready? Connect on Free Healthy Habit Session with me if you need and want help!

Veronica Layunta Maurel – Re-authoring your Trauma

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

Today’s guest will take us on a wonderfully written story of her healing journey. 

Veronica Layunta Maurel, an Ayurvedic health consultant, yoga teacher, storyteller, and writer. Interestingly, she is a postgraduate researcher working on creative writing and medical science wanting to prove that fictional writing is a valid way of researching. And at the heart of it, Veronica tackles trauma—a topic that Alex has always wanted to share into people’s informative and explorative discourse. 

Veronica, always curious, found Ayurveda unexpectedly. She thought she didn’t have any problems and just went out of curiosity. She was put on detox and immediately fell in love with the feeling and continued exploring from then on. But the Ayurvedic doctor told her: there’s something fundamental that needs to change in you, otherwise, you’ll fall ill. And she did, after two years! And this has led her back, and permanently, to the Ayurvedic lifestyle and practice. To Veronica, it’s one of those things that you discover but you felt like it has always been there; it was like home. 

Her immense work on trauma took off from a similar starting point. It started with her awakening and search for healing from a severe head injury. Trauma, she found, was like a huge portal—to other past traumas, to the deepest levels of the self, and to everything that we need to work on. But Veronica presents a unique and fresh perspective on healing by re-authoring trauma, the experience, and identity. 

As the powerful storyteller that she is, Veronica took it as her mission to bring back the value of storytelling and its healing power. As long as we keep stuck in a particular story of trauma, there’s no healing possible. 

But this dense conversation of two Ayurvedic coaches and healers also jumped on several other important topics of surrendering, grace, “doing the work” and the constant reminder of being patient 

This intimate conversation’s nugget of wisdom: When we explore ourselves, our possible or past traumas, just bring that sense of playfulness. Anything that you’re going through can be a portal to who you really are, for healing for you and others. Even when we’re stuck on the suffering, keep the gates open for that mystery. It’s there waiting for you. 

 

Links mention in the podcast 

Podcast Highlights 

  • Ayurveda is a lifestyle and something deeper. It’s not a checklist that you have to take and do. It wasn’t about doing more things; it’s about the journey and finding the gems and wisdom along the way. – Veronica Maurel 
  • When we think of trauma, we think of all the bad things. That happens. But trauma is much deeper. – Veronica Maurel 
  • Any experience you can have can lead to a loop inside you. The more you ignore it, the more it gets ahead. – Alexandra Kreis 
  • It’s important to see that in everything that we do, the goal is not only on the “done” thing but on what happens in the deepest levels while you do it. – Veronica Maurel 
  • Find your own way. It’s a bit of a cliche, but it’s harder than it looks when you live in a world of expectations. After the accident, I modified the way I do things. I did have a choice but I adjusted my life as a profound act of love for myself. – Veronica Maurel 
  • We need stories so much. Because we lost the communal life of sitting by the campfire and hearing stories that makes our brain spin but activates our creativity. And feel alive. – Alexandra Kreis 

 

Guest BIO:

Veronica Layunta-Maurel is a Yoga and Ayurveda Health Coach, Fiction and Yoga Philosophy Writer, and founder of Akasha Yoga Centre in the UK and Akasha Projects Ltd. worldwide. She is now undertaking a Ph.D. in Creative Writing where she explores the healing power of storytelling and developing new links between yoga, creativity, and spiritual practices. Veronica’s experience with yoga began 20 years ago. She trained as a Dru Yoga teacher, Yoga Nidra Teacher. She also teaches Dru Relaxation, Meditation,     Yoga Nidra, Yoga for Sleep Recovery and Insomnia, Creative Writing with Yoga, Yoga Psychology, and Ayurveda nutrition and Lifestyle. 

 

Surrender to boredom

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]I think it’s interesting that people are constantly trying to escape boredom. What is it about feeling bored that we find so terrifying? We are surrounded by a limitless amount of entertainment, often right at our fingertips – so is it that we are forgetting we can be alone, with no one to communicate with and nothing to do?

Boredom is important.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]When we experience feeling bored, it is the first time in that day, or for a long time, that we are inactive. Boredom can be a sign that we haven’t completely stopped in a while, after a long time of constantly receiving input. And so after this time, when space arrives in the form of—nothing to do, nothing planned or nothing that triggers our desires—we are arriving in a place of stillness.

From both an Ayurvedic and a psychological perspective, boredom can be a positive thing. If it wasn’t for boredom, we probably wouldn’t get anything done. Professor Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, agrees that boredom is useful for the progression of humankind.

“If you ask a simple question, why we have emotions, the answer seems to be that evolution gave us emotions for survival. So, fear is useful. Anxiety is useful. And even boredom is useful, because you don’t want an organism who just does the same thing over and over again without learning anything.”

When we are bored, it’s only a sign that there is suddenly some space in our minds of non-thought, non-desire and non-attachment to anything. And we need to be able to feel this. In Ayurvedic terms, boredom is the opening-up or the quietening-down of the internal wind, as people begin to perceive the space that they live in. And in this space, creation happens! In order for us to perform in excellence, or even at a genius level, we need to find these places of boredom and silence, with no plans for where to go or what to do. And it’s important to make time for these spaces in our lives. 

These days we don’t often find ourselves in spaces to properly perceive stillness, unless we decide to do something like travel out into nature, go for a walk in the woods, and leave our trusty smartphone behind. If we don’t try to take breaks from using our phone, we will continue to be hit with a constant stream of input. Of course, I can’t say this is all bad. It can also be a beautiful thing, as it gives us the freedom to choose information and decide how we want to build our world. But on the other hand, we are becoming all-consumed as we are getting addicted to this type of input. We are becoming less sure about ourselves, and instead more sure about what more we need and what is missing in our lives.

All of this ‘putting in’ will defeat the self. And when we are defeated we are less likely to put out, or we put out under pressure. But this forced form of ‘putting out’ makes us enjoy less of what we’re doing. More and more we are performing at a level of capability, but not at a level of excellence. In The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks shows us the many ways we can self-sabotage our dreams and how when we are feeling safe we are underperforming. Allowing yourself to feel bored might come out of your comfort zone, but it’s essential to perform at your highest potential or to ‘put out’. 

Boredom can be a good friend indeed, a friend that teaches us to become more aware of details. This reminds me of a yogic friend of mine who never really never got bored. She would become sucked into observing her cup of tea and the way the water would turn, or the change in colour when the bag dipped in. And she could sit for hours with that cup of tea. I think this is a nice symbol for boredom, and that it is just a perception of a speed, rather than something that means slowness.

So my advice is to arrive at a level of excellence, or you could call it a level of output, instead of only input. In my work and day-to-day life, I come across a lot of people who are creative, but this isn’t necessarily coming from a zone of excellence, it is from a zone of capability. Imagine what these people could create if they allowed themselves more space. If they allowed themselves those moments of silence throughout the day in order to become quiet and come to boredom. We all need more time for that. So think about where you can take the time out of your day to get bored.

If you want to get inspired for a slow life, tune into my new podcast Outer Travel Inner Journey and start to discover your inner peace.

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Alexandra Epple – She walked the Camino as a transformation to move countries

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

Download audio

On today’s show I am sitting down with Alexandra Epple – she started walking the Camino and ended up walking all the way back to Germany to her hometown.

Alexandra Epple has been active in the healing arts for 17 years. She is an Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga teacher, and Thai massage therapist. Her approach to health is super practical and down to earth. When you work with her, there are no counting calories, chasing vitamins or collecting minerals. Instead, she teaches you how to listen to your body and follow its wisdom according to Ayurveda and yoga principles.

After 20 years in the USA, Alexandra recently moved back to her homeland of Bavaria. A decision that was not caused by external circumstances but came from deep intuition. As a transition between the two continents, she decided to walk the 900 km Camino in Spain. And then … it was not enough. In the end, she walked 2,800 km on foot in 4.5 months. Shortly before Christmas, she knocked on her parents’ door. Now she is in the process of creating her life from scratch. A task that is both exciting and expansive, but also disorienting and confusing.

Links mentioned in the podcast:


Check out the video of the very first podcast

 

 

 

 

 

selfcare is bullshit

Posted on by Alexandra Kreis

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]How often do you see people treating themselves to a massage or a pedicure all in the name of selfcare.. Of course, self-care can mean different things to different people, but somehow over time, it has become a simple beauty treatment, rather than something that can refuel and revitalize you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px”][vc_column_text]I used to describe my non-yogic work as being a “self-love and care coach,” but now I can barely stand how the term has evolved. Self-care is not about expecting yoga sessions, massages or goji berries to correct the injustices of our economic system, sexism, racism, all of the other -isms. And it’s certainly not about pedicures. It shouldn’t be a momentary escape from your life so that you can get back to making a soul-sucking situation slightly more tolerable. It also shouldn’t be seen as selfish or self-indulgent or even optional; it’s essential, to you and your wellbeing, if you’re going to get anything done in this world in a sustainable way.​

One thing we can all agree on is that we all have busy lives

– rushing from home to school drop-offs to work, meetings, study, dinners and so on.. And so when we finally find a moment in our week that is free to do as we please, it is essential to be more mindful about how we choose to spend this time.

Ayurvedic Cleanse - # selfcare is bullshit

We’ve believed the myth of self-care for too long. True self-care is embodying self-respect. This means you have to get to know yourself to speak your truth and begin living your values. It’s taking care of yourself in the same way that you’d want someone you love to care for themselves. Now this will require some extra time to thoughtfully decide on which kinds of practices will lead to resilience, strength and joy in your life. 

At the end of a long week at work,

you might be looking forward to the weekend, when you finally have a day off to watch a movie, go to the hair salon or indulge in a fancy dinner. However, embodying self-respect might mean choosing not to fall into these selfcare patterns and instead spend more time in nature, meditating, going to a yoga class, hanging out with your bestie, your kids or your partner, or even just alone.​

We are all different and self-care is different to everyone, so first of all we should get to know ourselves to discover how we should be spending our time and what is essential to take care of ourselves. For some of you, this might mean focusing on body-care – adjusting your diet, ditching the sugar and eating more plant-based foods. It might mean creating a rock-solid morning routine that gets you confident and ready each day to do your best work. For others, it might mean focusing on your mental-care – quitting an old belief or pattern that doesn’t fit your lifestyle anymore. It could be as simple as resting when you’re tired or changing your mindset that rest is not something you have to earn.​

For me, I discovered that self-care is about striving less and appreciating more. Honouring my ‘being’ as much as my ‘doing’. And while I’ve found this hard (because so much of my identity is wrapped up in accomplishing things), I’ve felt an undeniable rightness about it that reverberates within me. And the best part of all is that the benefits of my selfcare go beyond me. I’m more present for my husband, my daughter, my dogs, and of course my clients and community – a sentiment I hear back all the time. We have more to give when we’re living from a place of deep alignment.

​So what’s one step you could take right now in the direction of embodying self-respect, for real?​

Creating Space is a program that works as an incubator for personal growth, starting with some core habits that yogis, sages and contemporary researchers agree are key for health, happiness and resilience. If you don’t know what truly mean selfcare for yourself, then our community can help you to discover this.

The next round starts in February, so now’s the time to get on it.

Go on, treat yourself!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]