Lebenslustiger.com

I have not done my yoga routine lately and that is really NOT GOOD.

I already feel my back and neck getting stiff and tense.

Health and well-being should be priority instead of working all the time.

So, for a while now i am thinking about how to get a fresh and new start to get me back onto the mat. 

And just then I received an e-mail from YogaEasy.de - Germanys first Online yoga studio - with an offer for a free month long trial coupon for my readers and myself!

Isn't that funny how some things seem to happen in the exact right moment and when you need it the most?

There is no such thing than chance, right? 

YogaEasy.de offers a wide variety of online classes filmed with great teachers like Anna Trökes, Patrizia Thielemann, Patrick Broome and many more for beginner to advanced students. There are even meditation classes.

All you need to start is your mat, your computer, internet access and maybe some cats :) 

Please find the link below by clicking the picture or click here www.yogaeasy.de/lebenslustiger for a free month long access to all Yoga Easy classes. You are not signing up for a membership after that free month - no hidden trap or any other obligations. The trial ends after a month and that's it! EASY! 

So please help yourself to some wonderful YOGA if you like - I definitely will, because I really miss it. 

Namaste, YogaEasy.de

Happy Day,

Anette 

Pretty much exactly a year ago I was invited by Sonnentor to spent a week on a farm of one of their herb suppliers in a beautiful, remote part of Austria. You can read here, how I ended up being chosen to work on the farm and to blog about my experience. Before I actually headed to Maria's and Andy's farm I spent a wonderful day at Sonnentor's headquarter. You can read about that day here. Since I had just started blogging back then, I hadn't had many readers. But - thanks to YOU - that has changed! I'm so happy, you are here!  So, I thought you would enjoy reading about this little adventure as much as I enjoy thinking back to it.

But now off to the farm... 

Eighty-three years old Andreas is worried. "It does not want to drink". He is talking about the little newborn baby cow, which is standing in a corner of the stable.

Usually he would be on his tractor working the fields by now. Something he has done almost daily as long as he can think back.

"Maybe there is too much pressure on the utter", i suggest - thinking back to my own breastfeeding adventures. Andi, Andreas' son, gets a bucket and starts milking.

He will call the vet because he fears the baby is having a navel infection. I cross my fingers - feeling sorry for the little one.

Maria and i get back on our bikes and I follow her to the fields.

Back home i do a lot of yoga but looking at Marias upper arm muscles i have to admit, she owns the much nicer pair. So, i start to wonder what kind of exercise she does...Well, i don't need to wonder very long though, because we just arrived at her yoga center. Nice, hidden place behind a little forest - quiet and warm... but... no mats. She hands me a metal tool on a wooden stick and leads me to my place. Hm, something else is missing - instead hardwood floor there are thousands of green little bushels.

And then the lesson begins... Forward fold - reach for the ground - check if there is something else growing than the green sugar roots, take a step - repeat at your own pace. Forward fold- reach for the ground, check.....If you need a break: come up, take a deep breath - rinse and repeat.

WOW - after a matter of very few minutes i had my mantra: "Please let there be no other little plants growing between the roots so i can make a longer step; Please let there be no other little plants....."

See, it CAN be very easy with the whole meditation and muscle definition thing ( AND with getting your feet REALLY dirty ) :  hard, hard work will do the trick.

It's so amazing how much devoted hand work Maria and Andi happily put into their herbs and spices. They have been working with SONNENTOR for over twenty years now. The only fact I regret for today is that I haven't had a second helping of those delicious, sweet, handmade pasta we had for lunch.

Well, it's fine - i already smell Marias rye bread baking in the oven. She made it from scratch....

Have you been to Austria yet?

Stay tuned for day 3 ! 

XOXO, Anette

Before the day starts I do yoga every morning!

O.k.

I TRY to do Yoga every morning... 

It's actually so much easier to do it every morning as a ritual, because then these stupid conversations inside your head, whether this or that would be more urgent to do than doing yoga, are simply swept under the mat. 

Yoga IS goodforyouandyourbodyandyourhealthandtheuniverse - so let's do it!

With Yogis Anonymous or Yoga Easy or a great DVD or in your favorite yoga studio or just you and yourself - everything works - and with regularity comes ritual.

According to Constanze Kleis, rituals can give us something truly amazing: roots and wings simultaneously. Psychologist figured out the true potential of rituals. They are a sort of base camp for feelings and are identified as the most important stabilizing factor in families as well as bringing forth and fostering creativity, imagination and awakening.

WOW!!! 

Well - that's totally worth it, right?

Do you have any rituals? 

When I moved from southern California to a rural village in northern Germany, my yoga classmates transformed from Hollywood celebrities and world-class teachers to cats and computers.

Also, lately there is definitely a lack of Mantras going on during my every day morning practice...One scraggy breathed "Om" along the hardwood floors...Spirituality? - are you there???

Well - uhm - I just keep warming up then for now...

....and show you three of my favorite Mantras: 

'So Hum':Symbolizes life's steady rhythm and energy. Breathing in, the sound 'soooo' emanates - breathing out the sound 'hummm' leaves the body. Easy to hear without even saying the words. Just consciously breathe through the nose and there it is...

'Om Namaste': 'Om' THE cosmic ur-sound, applied since thousands of years to harmonize body, soul and spirit and to manifest oneness and connectedness within each and everything. 'Namaste' - I'm sure you know - is a greeting- and worship gesture and symbolizes as well all-embracing oneness.

'Om Mani Padme Hum': 'Om' and 'Hum' stand for beginning and end; 'Mani Padme' invokes the Absolute. Freely interpreted it's a Mantra for Wisdom and Compassion.

Next time I'll show you three more mantras.

Usually mantras are sung or recited at the beginning and end of a yoga session. That could be a "simple" 'Om' or more elaborate and longer Sanskrit texts or chants. Unfortunately that's already too much for some. Too much Spirituality - too much Meditation - too much weirdness - to much yoga fuss...

Everyone needs to make up it's own mind - for me it's actually not too important to know the exact meaning or translation of a mantra - I just welcome and embrace these magical, strange sounds and words with an open mind. It's about taking in it's awesome sound energy: Invigorating, harmonizing and relaxing!

Actually all forms of singing are pleasant, comforting and really healthy. Even the planets are humming in certain frequencies! Do you hear the beat under your feet???

XOXO

P.S. The new jewelry pieces can be found here, here or e-mail me: lebenslustiger(at)gmail.com