It's not always easy to talk about certain  life situations that bother us, about a life that received a totally new meaning where I constantly find myself thinking about things and emotions I never though I would, trying to work on my being as much as I can, finding my own inner peace in order to be able to find happiness again, reading books I never though I would, that actually mean the world to me now and are my sacred place.

We are all running like crazy people daily, neglecting ourselves, stressing, giving importance to certain situations that in reality, don't really matter and we are holding on to stressful and perhaps, painful situations that cause additional tention, because maybe we are expected to act so, feeling guilty if we decide to leave those behind and accept them as they are, moving on.

We neglect our needs, hurrying up to fulfill our obligations and even when we find those "lousy 5 minutes" for ourselves, we turn on the TV, lay back on the couch, thinking, now we have finally devoted to ourselves! WHAAAAT?!!?

For the past 2 months I have found myself again in a transit period which has been pretty intense for me, where I decided to make a few steps in order to get back to myself, being more authentic to me and happier, changes that have turn into habit and becoming an essential part of my everyday life.

ps. There is an app  Quality time that shows you how many hours youn spend daily on your mobile and which app do you use most, so definitely give it a try, you might shock yourself with the result! ;) 

I starting switching off my wi-fi at least 2-3 hours before going to bed, so nothing wil  distract me and I try to switch it back on at least half hour after I wake up. It has been a complete relief, giving the fact that my main goal is to meditate before going to bed, to ease my sleep instead of watching movies from my laptop on the bed.

GOAL?

First step...WHAT DO I WANT?

I wrote on a piece of paper what matters to me and what I want to achieve...

Second step....WHY?

Why do I want to make certain changes in my life, and for each individually I wrote down the reasons.

I knew that if I didn't have a GOAL & A REASON in front of me, I would hardly stick to my decisions, that would become a preassure to me, and sooner or later they won't have a value and a meaning.

HOW TO START?

Baby steps...

All the novelties that we introduce into our lives might seem incredibly difficult at the beginning, so I decided not to impose anything to myself, but slowly and surely  adjusting to the changes that I've introduced into my life.

The moment I start imposing something on myself, telling I MUST do something, it becomes a burden and it is doomed to failure.

WHAT HAVE I DECIDED?

1. Get back to yoga & meditation...get back to myself

Before I even started giving meaning and entering more deeply into the subject of meditation, about a year ago, I decide to give yoga a chance, to see the effects of it on my own skin.

I tryed yoga once, a long time ago, in high school and it was so tiresome and hard at the time, I couldn't give into that at all. It simply wasn't the right time for that, back then.

I started going on yoga classes last year , three times a week in the morning (best thing ever!!!) and starting truly practicing thanks to a great teacher that started introducing me to yoga.

I strongly encourage you, if you are new at this, to enter a class to really learn and feel yoga, instead of doing it at home, because you won't even know what're you doing, you won't have a proper guidance and understanding of what you're doing, at lastly you are more likely to  give up on yoga practice because it might starting feeling tiresome, as it was for me back in high school.

To sum up, after a few months of practicing I felt calmer, happier and more free. I felt a thrill for my own life and had a better healthier perspective on my life situations that were going on. Last summer, I stopped with that, neglected the practice until December, when I started feeling like a totally different person again, feeling tense, anxious, moody and finding no meanig nor reason in anything.

I bought myself a yoga mat, starting practicing yoga again at home to re-breath. This time, I never ever want to leave it again, I want to feel that every moment of my life counts, how precious it is, be thankful and present in every moment. I can feel totally disconnected sometimes from myself and yoga combined with meditation gets me back on track.

The best feeling to me is practicing in the morning or evening, so I am trying to incorporate it as often as possible in my life.

Everytime I find myself breathing heavily, feeling like I am stuck in my own life,I meditate! Believe you me...this is a fortune that we can all turn to anytime we want during the day.

Awake your consciousness, minimize the unnecessary things in life, do not collect "garbage".

Reccomendations:

- if you are new to this concept, I definitely encourage you to take guided yoga classes where there will be a mentor introducing you and guiding you through this complex and beautiful journey

- if you decide to practice at home, I reccomend the app YOGA FITNESS, you can start with the 30 DAY CHALLENGE, guided yoga exercises that last about 20 minutes + fit in at least a 10-15 minute meditation afterwards.

YouTube channel from the app: Yoga with Adriene

Another Youtube channel that I follow from time to time is Celeste Pereira Yoga

- if you're new to meditation and yoga, I suggest the following books:

"Meditation", Sally Kempton

"How to breathe", Richard Brennan

"Yoga Body & Mind Handbook", Jasmine Tarkeshi

If you have some valuable suggestions, I'd be more than happy to explore further on.

- sometime I meditate in my own silence in the position called  shavasana because it works best for me, sometimes I put a headset  on my  ears and a small lavander pillow on my eyes, write down on YouTube Guided Meditation for...

For yoga practice at home, I got myself a yoga mat  where I can easily and with no fear of slipping perform all the poses, 2 yoga bricks  that have become my allies when performing poses, a small eyes pillow filled with lavander that helps me meditate and some very helpful toe-free-out-on-the-open socks that prevent slipping. Bare feet in wintertime- no, no! 

I found some great products on the website down below that you mind find useful:

2. Educate yourself

Learning doesn't end the moment we finish school, but continues throughout our entire life.

There are many people that completely forget that, having the same boring days everyday, with no real meaning, just wake up, eat, work, get back home, sleep...they say "It is so boring when I don't work and come home!"

We all have certain interests, hidden potential that just waits to be released, our own little world where we feel completely at peace.

I love it when I can learn something new, improve myself, place a challenge on me and be creative!

I have starting taking classes online at Shaw Academy, currently about Sports Nutrition and it feels great ! 

I constantly learn something new, interesting, the blog places challenges ahead of, giving me the strenght and courage to experiment in so many fields!

Also, I take every chance I get  to go on workshops that catch my attention and that I find useful, so I took a class on how to make your own cosmetics at home by the title emulsions. 

Education can also mean taking your own time to deal with your inner self, enter your own private area and find yourself on a speacial journey of self discovery.

Here's a list of a few books that have helped me and still do, finding my own path, get back to my own life (3 of them are already listed above:)):

-  "Don't worry, be Grumpy", Ajahn Brahm

- "Who ordered this Truckload f Dung?", Ajahn Brahm

- "Stilness speaks", Eckhart Tolle

- "The power of Now", Eckhart Tolle

- "A new Earth", Eckhart Tolle

- "El camino de la felicidad", Jorge Bucay

- "The Secret", Rhonda Byrne

- "The path of Love", Deepak Chopra

- "Sacred Journey of the peaceful warrior",  Dan Millman

...

I am sure I forgot some and there are still books that I will fall in love with, so I'll keep you posted. Please, write your suggestion in the comments below, I would really appreciate that. :)

3. Be more active

Obligations, tirednes, blablabla...find no excuses, even though I've found myself cought in them for the past monhts!

I've been in sports my entire life, so I cannot believe I lapsed, but that is definitely connected with my inner state and loads of unwanted changes, so sometimes I get the feeling nothing makes sense and feel like I am drowning.

The past two months, making and effort to get back to myself, I have made a small calendar where I take notes of which activities I did that day and for how long, which gives me additional workout motivation. 

Currently I am doing 30 minute high intensity workouts by Shaun-t, whom I've been faithful for the past 5 years, and I do 30 Days of Yoga through the app I mentioned above.

Also, I've been really walking a lot with Ziggi lately, which is great exercise and therapy in nature.

Thumbs up for our fury friends!

4. Nutrition and body care

This blog wouldn't exist if I didn't care about nutrition, but for the past two months, inspired and motivated by a few documentaries I watched and several articles I've read, I decided to make another step further and make a change. I haven't been eating red meat/pork and don't plan to introduce them no longer in my nutrition, even though I haven't really even eaten them  frequently, either way.

This entire nasty story about inhumanity towards animals, the unnatural way animals are brought up today and tortured daily so we could indulge and posion our bodies with meat that is overloaded with hormones and who knows what else, that lead to illness, inhuman murder of the animals, the impact this kind of farming has on us and the planet, it has all become just to much for me and I do not want to support it, so here I am without red meat for 2 months, with turkey consumption from time to time, which I hope to eliminate as soon as possible as well.

I put on my  TOP PRIORITY LIST,  buy locally from local farming as much as I can and do not back down!!

If at least the meat we buy could be from local small farms, it will make better sense.

Honestly, I do not forbid myself anything, it is a lucid decision I made because the entire story sickens me, so it doesn't come hard on me.

Even if I eat some meat if I feel like it (in the future), I will make sure it is from a non industrial place.

Also, I am investigating on how we can make small changes that can contribute to protecting our mother Earth and here is a small step that can make a huge difference if we are all united.

In the documentary with Leonardo di Caprio " Before the Flood" I found out that palm oil is one of the cheapest oils you can find on the market, therefor used for a large amount of processed food products that people buy on a daily basis, meanwhile today people destroy and burn out forests in Indonesia so they could grow palm trees to get as much toxic palm oil they can get, destroying entire eco-systems and intoxicating the planet.  Everytime you buy a product that contains palm oil, you are supporting this monstrous act.

Read the labels of products, I beg of you!

What matters most is the changes have brought me to a more positive state, much more fullfilled when acting in harmony with my beliefs and when life makes more sense.

I invite you to search your purpose in this life...if you don't have one, it is time to seriously dig into the matter!

I think I found mine... :)

ps. The most powerful secret of all to a happier life is to feel GRATITUDE! A peaceful mind will opet "prettier doors" and help us toward the realization of everything we ever wanted. It' s something I am currently working on and most of all leave the past in the past and be here and now. Everyday is a new chance!