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Gratitude - the key to a happy life

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Like everything in your life - what you have is a matter of your perception. On the other side the grass might look greener, but when you look closer you might realize: There are lots of beautiful, colorful flowers on your side! I have to admit it. It is like a law that on the other side the grass seems greener. No matter what I compare,  I will always find something, which others have and I don't have. And the same applies the other way round! Because every one and every life is different. Differences have good and bad aspects. That's why in Yoga, we stay focused on our own practice and don't look at the other people. You focus on your own body and your own mat, not your neighbors. In every aspect of Yoga lies a hidden wisdom for life. Don't compare with others - they have other gifts than you. Just be with yourself and appreciate your own gifts! Not only will you feel happier, but you will also attract more of what you are grateful for. In my situat

Yes, we can have it all! Actually we do have it all.

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When I went trekking in the mountains I admired the stars one night and expressed my admiration to a fellow wanderer. He said "But they are always there. Even if you don't see them." That day I realised that there is always much more than we can see. The potential of everything you can not even imagine is always there. We give it power and manifest it by what we believe and do. Let's dive into quantumphysics. Prana Yama in Yoga is the control of life force. The universe we exist in consists of vibration. If you put sand on a disc and play a sound, the grains of the sand will be formed into a mandala. Our bodies are similar. But there are different pitchs of vibrations in the universe. Some of them are similar to our vibrations. These are visible and perceivable to us. Some are faster and some are slower. They surround us,  but they are invisible for us. For example: We can hear a sound only in a certain range of vibration. If a sound is to high or

Ahimsa - where is the limit?

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Ahimsa - not hurting, in words,  thoughts and actions. Does it apply to killing insects like ants and mosquitoes? I practice Yamas since a few years. It is the first aspect of Yoga,  before Asanas and all other limbs. I easily got used to eating vegetarian food, thinking positive and being nice. But I was recently doubting, if I can keep the practice up thoroughly. Where does it begin and even more important,  where does it end? I remember when I was working in Spain in my hosts garden,  painting the outside wall of the house and the cables coming out of that wall. There was an ant pathway right there on that cable. I painted a part of the cable,  then I saw the ants getting stuck in the fresh paint. I was shocked and organized myself a kitchen cloth to wipe away the ants before painting the next part. But ants kept on coming. And the wiping killed a few as well. They were faster than I could wipe and most of them still had to die. It is easy not to hit or harass people arou

Self healing

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Thoughts become words,  words become actions and actions become your reality. This is not only valid in terms of every day actions but even on a subtle, cellular level. The world around you is created by you. By your thoughts, words and actions. It is because thoughts have a certain vibration,  and matter has vibrations, too. In fact they don't only "have" vibrations,  but they "are" vibrations. When you have a thought,  you send out a certrain vibration. It is for ever,  vibrating outward. You can not reverse it. With your thought you attract all things and circumstances with the same vibration. The more you think positive and trust that good things will come to you,  the more you attract them. The more you fear bad things and expect bad things,  the more these will come to you. If you send thoughts of love,  you will receive love. If you send thoughts of fear, you will receive what you are fearful of. YOU CREATE IT and bring it into being.

Ayurveda knowledge - how to live better with the sunlight cycle

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This morning I woke up when the sun started shining brightly through the window in my face. It was a happy moment to come back to my body after a night of good deep sleep. The last days I have been sleepy and lazy,  but today I am so full of energy! It must have to do with waking up earlier. I remembered what my coach had once told me about: It is the healthiest to wake up before the morning dawn! In the last days artificial lights (electricity) and phones till late at night usually kept me away from my natural wake-and-sleep cycle and going to sleep early. Now I feel motivated to come back to a wake-sleep cycle in harmony with nature and the planet. Generally and scientifically proven,  people who wake up early feel more positive, optimistic, creative, confident and clear. The most successful people are those who sleep early and wake up early. Even just logically it makes so much sense to me. If you wake up earlier, you can finish your work more

The feeling of being one

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Sometimes we think we as human kind are superior to all other kinds of living beings on the planet. Our intellect is actually something unique for the human kind. But we all breathe the same air,  feel the same kinds of feelings and live the same kind of life, until we all go back to the ground,  where we came from. And we can't deny that we are all dependent from each other. Every species has a function. Sometimes it helps so much to zoom out to realize who we really are. Physically (in our physical sheath "Annamaya Kosha") we are all made up of the same 5 elements (water,  ether,  air,  fire &  earth). We are all just tiny parts one big whole,  which is the earth. Like the ocean is one,  even though it is made up of unnumerable drops of water, what ever happens to the ocean affects every little drop. What happens to one drop in return affects the whole ocean. The sum of all drops is the ocean. When you breathe and every single decision you make eve

Take it as it is

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We can't always agree with everyone and we can't always be lucky. But everything that happens,  is an opportunity to grow. From the most uncomfortable situations we often learn the most. That gives us reason to believe in a higher reality. In Yoga we call it Ishwara Pranidhana - surrendering to a higher reality. If you don't believe in any, just have patience and trust. ALL IS WELL! If something doesn't make sense to you now, accept it the way it is and look over it again in one week,  six month,  two years... Maybe your perspective will change. Maybe you learn something from the experience. And maybe you see a different side. Every coin has two sides. There is always something good about everything. Go and find it. People say there was no good without bad and no bad without good. Others say there is neither good,  nor bad. I say, everything is the way it is. Neutral. Only our perception makes it good or bad. If something needs change a

The practice of Dharana - concentration (on the way to meditation)

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Nowadays it is commonly called "meditation". In Yoga meditation is complete stoppage of all thoughts. Concentration is an attempt to meditation. It is the 6. step on the path of Yoga. We sit down and focus on an object of concentration. We constantly try to come back to it when ever we are getting distracted by thoughts. The more we practice, the more we succeed in this attempt, and the deeper we go. Layers unfold,  thought by thought, and thoughts will come less and less frequently. We come from concentration closer and closer to meditation,  closer to pure conciousness, where we can realise our conciousness and face our true blissful nature. Then we reach liberation. Why does Mauna / silence help us so much in meditating better? We are like an onion. We have layers and layers of thoughts around our essence. Pure conciousness and bliss are hidden behind these layers. If we put new layers around us, by watching news,  interacting with people,  seeing thing

Yogi fallen in love - how I met my soulmate

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A quote from the novel “Clown Girl” from Monica Drake in 2007 says “If you meet somebody and your heart pounds, your hands shake, your knees go weak, that’s not the one. When you meet your ‘soul mate’ you’ll feel calm. No anxiety, no agitation.” The moment Harsh saw me, he admired me. I didn’t notice him at first. We were sitting in the Yoga garden late at night and I played the Ukulele. I sang “Lokah Samastah” – Peace for all beings. When he came next to me, sat down and asked me if he could sing something for me, he felt anxiety and agitation for sure. He had chosen to attract my attention in this beautiful way and now he was brave and just did it. He sang from his heart for me and his voice melted my heart. I have never heard anything more beautiful. The night I gave him my number, I ran up the stairs to my room and checked my phone constantly, super excited and nervous, in case he messaged. When his message came, my heart jumped. I wanted to know more

My first Yoga Teacher Training in India at "The Yoga Institute", Mumbai 2017-2018

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Once I read about the Yoga Institute in Mumbai, Santacruz and the teacher Training Course they offer, I knew I had to go there. My heart told me to go there as soon as possible. I am so glad that I listened to my heart. When the guard at the entrance of the Yoga Institute opened the gate for me, I entered in a different world. I came into a green garden oasis with little beautiful pathways between beautiful buildings. Calming flute music came out of the speakers and at the reception a woman dressed in white with a red big Bindi point between her eyebrows welcomed me in English. She gave me some paper sheets to fill out and then she passed me to a young man who brought me to my room. In the room my new roommates for the next three month welcomed me. Luise from Germany and Renu from Mauritius. We had just enough time to introduce ourselves, then at 9 am the seven-day health camp week program started. Every three-month teacher training course in the Yoga Institute be