The past and the future really only exist when you think of them in the Now.

we shape the clay into a pot...

Aparigraha, or non horarding, is the art of appreciating emptiness in ones life, but before we can learn to appreciate emptiness, we have to learn to let go. On the yoga mat we learn practice aparigraha by letting go of our expectations and letting go of the concerns of the day. Earlier today I was comparing two different yoga classes I took last week and wondered why one was so much more satisfying than the other. I quickly  realized it had nothing to do with the teacher or the sequence or the poses... it was me. 

The class I found more fulfilling was the one in which I had surrendered more deeply, not comparing my flexibility with more advanced students, with no thought of how it should be, no repeated clock checks, just childlike compliance and present and relaxed in every breath and moment. I had allowed the class to be fulfilling simply by letting go.  Aparigraha reminds us to never hold on, and letting go is the cultivation of emptiness in our lives. 

We shape the clay into a pot, but its the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. - lao-tzu

the empty ruins of Angkor Wat, my trip to Cambodia this summer

Eat seaweed-end world hunger

YOU can help end world hunger, just by eating more seaweed! 

Think about it... it needs only seawater to grow. Kelp for instance is delicious and highly nutritional, it contains more of the vitamin A, B1, B2, B5, B12, C and folic acids than land vegetables and fresh fruit. It also contains trace minerals and amino acids. 

I had mine at lunch today at le pain qoutidien in Bevelry Hills.

Wherever you are in the world, I encourage you to study your local varieties and support sustainability.

:)

for recipes  and more information visit:

http://www.seaweedjellydiet.com/seaweed-end-world-hunger.html

Strike a pose!

Here I am playing around in Urdhva Danurasana. This is my "go to pose" when I feel a little sluggish the afternoons, as it leaves me feeling rejuvenated.


This backbend opens the front of the hips, works the inner thighs and pelvic floor. It also opens your chest/lungs and improves your breathing.  
All your Chakras are stimulated as your abdomen and back are strengthened.


Backbends increase energy, counteracts depression and are sometimes considered therapeutic for asthma, back pain, infertility, and osteoporosis.

Undring og refleksjon

Vi lever i en motsetningenes tid. Vi har mer fritid, men mindre tid. Vi samler på fakta, men har mindre sunn sans, mer kunnskap, men mindre forståelse. I de fleste samfunn har vi økt rikdommen vår, men lettet på prisippene. Vi sladrer en hel del, elsker sjelden vår neste og hater nå og da. Vi har laert å skynde oss, men ikke å vente. Vi tror på øyeblikket, men ikke på det langsiktige. Verdsett det livet du har. Sett av tid til å elske, vis omsorg gjennom måten du snaker på og gi deg tid til å dele hjertets følelser med andre. Livet ditt måles ikke ut i hvor mange dager du lever, men etter hvor mange dager du finner undring og refleksjon.


-Tibetanske veier til sinnsro av Christopher Hansard

intergalactic love-laughter

I cant get this song out of my head!!!

What would you do if you where the sun? the rain? the earth? the sky? the sea? the trees???

ADDICTED!

Its no secret that I'm obsessed with Yoga, but as I read yoga journal's FB page I realized I might be addicted :)

Here are 5 signs you might be a yoga addict. If these things sound like you--welcome to the club! 

1. Yoga is the last thing you think about before you drift off to sleep and the first thing that pops into your head when you wake up.

2. You break out into your favorite pose every time you get just a moment to yourself.

3. You changed your home page to YogaJournal.com and spend all your time on the Internet surfing articles, videos, and blog posts to inspire your yoga practice.

4. You can't express your gratitude to someone without folding your hands into Anjali Mudra.

_/||\_
5. You see yoga poses everywhere you go. you watch your pets practice Downward dog, see Tree pose in the park and ponder the connection between your breath and the ocean when you go to the beach.

Take a chance!

Life shouldn't be measured by how many years you have lived, but by the quality of your life. It's not what you do, but how you do it!

I dare you to trust yourself and take chances, start fresh, re-create yourself!

Like taking a chance on love and being loved in return, taking a chance to commit to someone else, take on an exciting challenge, explore the world and discover its beauty, take a chance on what you believe in. Do what you're the most afraid of. Even if it doesn't go your way, don't let it stop you from taking more chances. Bless it and move on. Its by taking chances that you awaken your inner power, and release your fears.

By taking chances we find out how powerful we truly are. By taking chances you contribute to all humans emotional and spiritual development. It's like being willing to change, and the powers of change is what gives life meaning.

May we all be confident, aim for success, learn from failure, let go of worries, think positively, make good habits and conscious decisions, see all opportunities, use our fantasy, be kind, honest, curious and see all beauty, trust our intuition, take a chance and live to our fullest potential.

Why vegetarian?

I am constantly being asked why I suddenly became a vegetarian 9 months ago. After all I was raised eating hearty Norwegian foods like meatballs, beef, lam, pork, reindeer, moose, salmon...MEAT MEAT MEAT!

Why did I decide to not eat it anymore? Well honestly, it kind of happened by accident while doing a week long detox/cleanse with the fabulous Kia Miller. Doing a fast on fresh raw juices can help you kick bad habits, cravings and make you ask yourself: "Do I truly enjoy the foods that I eat on a daily basis? Does it really feed my body what it needs? Or do I eat it because its in front of me?"

I quickly noticed how having a meat free diet help my digestion, energy levels and mood. I rarely have that heavy/sleepy feeling after a big meal anymore. After a meal I feel ENERGIZED and happy! So thats why I find it worth while.

Christmas is upon us and I can't wait to have a Vegan Christmas meal at Recept Cafe in Stavanger, anyone wanna join me?

Eat consciously to keep your body fit, sustained and clean. Why? because the body houses the True Self, the Soul. Do not live to eat, EAT TO LIVE :)

Much love,

Helene

Pain is a great Philosopher

Do you have a condition that makes your Yoga practice/ exercise difficult for you?  A knee injury? Stiff back?  In the words of B.K.S Iyengar : "This is your problem child. Learn how to deal with it and nurture it, as you would a child that had problems and needed extra love and attention."

We all have some condition or injury that makes our practice/exercise a challenge sometimes. We even use it as an excuse to avoid doing our practice. I was diagnosed with scoliosis (lateral curvature of the spine) at the age of 15 and learning to deal with my condition was more of a mental struggle, not so much physical. Whatever your condition, don't be discouraged or disappointed in yourself. Sometimes both body and mind yield to willpower, other times they rebel. Do your practice every day and go beyond your limitations - within reason!

To do this you must learn the difference between right pain and wrong pain. Right pain is constructive, exhilarating and involves challenge. Wrong pain is sharp, sudden and causes excruciating pain, this is the body telling us we have gone too far beyond our present abilities.

Not doing your practice doesn't lessen the pain and suffering of your condition, the pain is still there. You are just not aware of it, as if your body is in a coma. When you experience pain you come in close contact with the part thats painful so that you can adjust it and lessen the pain. Eventually you'll find some comfort even in discomfort.  Pain is a great philosopher, because it constantly think of how to get rid of itself.  Pain is a great teacher, which educates us how to live with it and eventually say goodbye...

Btw, Since I started doing Yoga religiously 4 months ago, my scoliosis went from 38 degree curvature to 27.
Create love and affection for your body, for what it CAN do for you. Love the most smallest pore of your skin, the smallest cell of your body. 

"Do your practice and all is coming"  
- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois 

Meditation: Rooting your Mind in Silence.

Sit in a comfortable position, breathe in and out. Focus on the breath.. In the beginning you will notice how extraordinary difficult it is to return the mind to its original silence... you'll think of the past, the future, imagined events... Don't worry, you need not suppress the actions of your mind, acknowledge your thoughts and come back to your breathing. After some practice, you will begin to notice that the breath is arising out of a silent ground and dissolving back to the same silent ground.

Spend at least 5 minutes a day preferably before your yoga practice, to root your mind in silence.
For Scientific benefits of meditation:

An exploration on the health benefits of meditation | ADHD in Focus

blogs.psychcentral.com

The study of the healht benefits of meditation is fairly recent. However, meditation is slowly being inflitrated into mainstream health as a way to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, a

Viparita Karani

Feeling stressed, fatigued or jet-lagged? Headache, lower back pain? Try Viparita karani, one of my favorite poses. Also called "Leg up the wall pose" or "inverted action" Viparita=inverted , Karani= action. When you put you legs up the wall, with your pelvis elevated on a folded blanket, lymph and other fluids that can lead to swollen ankles, tired knees, and congested pelvis organs flow into the lower belly; this REFRESHES THE LEGS and the reproductive area. This pose also boosts your blood circulation toward the upper body and head, a pleasant REBALANCING after you have been standing or sitting behind a desk all day. We tend to be over active sometimes, with your jobs, running a business, being married... and while the benefits from all those efforts can be great, we forget that positive results can also come from simply DOING LESS. When you relax your feet up the wall, you are practicing the polar opposite of activity, which is receptivity.

Viparita Karani: Fold a blanket and place it under your lower back, 12 inches away from the wall (30 cm) legs up against the wall. Release the hips towards the floor, release shoulders away from the ears, soften throat, broaden the collarbones and ENJOY, this should feel very yummy.
Be sure not to place blanket under your sitting bones but under you lower back.
Alleviates headache, boosts energy, relieves lower back ache and soothes menstrual cramps.

Vata Season

Did you know that each Dosha has a season? FALL is the season of VATA. The leaves are drying, it's windy, the air is more crisp and you might find that your hands become dry. This is our body’s way of balancing us as nature evolves from the heat of summer to the cool of fall. Changes in the season are potential for our doshas to go out of balance. Vata gets out of balance with too much dry, rough, windy qualities in our bodies/environment. We can’t control nature, but we can maintain balance by changing our life-style to suit the changing seasons.


Here are some tips for balancing Vata into your FALL routine:

-Oil massage. In the morning before you shower, use some sesame oil or any thick oil and give yourself an oil massage. I personally use Vitamin E oil, as I have very dry skin. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes and shower it off.


-Steam bath or shower. Brings warmth and moisture to the body while . Warm bath to release tight muscles.


- Warm, moist foods. Stick to cooked/steamed vegetables (no raw) and root veggies (pumpkin, beets, carrot) rice, soups, and stews. Can be mildly spicy. Skip the salads, dry/stale sandwiches or snacks, cold foods.


-Warm drinks. Teas, warm apple cider, warm milk. Stay away from cold or icy drinks. Warm drinks is better for your digestion anyway ;)


-Stick to the routine. Create a routine and the most important thing is to stick to it! Religiously.


-Exercise. The best exercise for vata is yoga or walking. Minimize running or biking to once-twice a week as this increase the “cold and windy” qualities in us.

For more information on Dosha's and Ayurvedic science:http://www.centerforayurveda.com/What-Is.html

What is Ayurveda

www.centerforayurveda.com

Center for Ayurveda a full service Ayurvedic natural healing, holistic treatment center in Los Angeles, providing Ayurvedic- diagnostics, counseling and Natural treatments, Mela Butcher founder