Suffering is a loaded term. In Buddhism suffering – or rather: how not to suffer – is the crux of the practice. Many people associate suffering with physical pain, with the lack of a place to live, or with starvation, and therefore think that they...
I had been looking forward to our trip to New Zealand for almost a year. Not that I haven’t been traveling enough, but work trips are not the same as exploring a new country with my husband. Despite my aim to live in the present...
I was in a funk last week. It would have been easy to blame it on travel and jet lag, but I had to own it. Sometimes I simply feel utterly inadequate, incompetent and unsuccessful. Scrolling through Instagram obviously doesn’t make it any better. Everyone...
Have you ever wondered, while standing in front of the cool section at the grocery store, why organic fermented sauerkraut is so expensive? Try making it yourself, and you will understand why. Since there is only so much raw red cabbage that you can eat,...
I am in Italy. For two weeks I’m teaching yoga at the Mandali Retreat Center. The center is located in the mountains, with a view on the lake in the valley below. The surroundings and conditions are offering constant opportunities for reflection. As the weather...
Last week I was on a 5-day Silent Meditation Retreat. Besides no talking, there was no reading, no writing, no music, just nothing to distract me from the present moment, other than my own thoughts. I loved it, and hated it. I love being silent,...
I am not a fan of making resolutions. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I don’t write big This Is Where I Should Be in Five Years plans, and I won’t even have a fixed plan for my day if I don’t have any appointments...
Nowadays - and especially this time of year - many people answer the question: “How are you?” with: “Oh, I am very busy.” As if being busy equals “I am well” or “I am not well”. However, being busy is not something we are, it...
The most common question I’m being asked when leading a yoga retreat (or even after a weekly yoga class) is: “How do I hold on to this when I get back to ‘real life’?” This being: this good feeling, this daily yoga practice, this routine,...
In my previous blog I wrote about the importance of cultivating Mindfulness. We need to train our mind to not attach to our outer circumstances, in order to find true freedom. Each moment brings us the liberty to choose how we relate to it. However,...