Yet again. It all comes back to Mindfulness.

Seconds feel like they last minutes, minutes hours, hours days, days weeks, weeks months. Time is flying when you don't want it to fly, dragging when you want it to move faster. In those moments when I forget to be grateful for what I have and what my life is like, this is the way I feel. I've been having more of these moments lately. Losing myself in thoughts of what my life will be like in a couple months or even six months down the road. I admit, daydreaming is one of my favorite activities but I realize how easy it is to detach oneself from the reality of the moment. When lost in thought, it's easy to find myself wishing for things I don't currently have, elaborating on matters that hardly matter, making stories up in my mind that cheer me up but more often just bring me down. When feeling down, it's easy to feed the feeling and let myself get more upset or more lonely. So how do I not let myself be miserable when I realize this is not really the way I want to spend my days? Maybe by putting all the Yoga and Buddhist related methods I've learned into practice?
I just need to remind myself how much more grounded life feels when living in the present moment. When you are truly mindful of everything you do, it's a lot harder to harm yourself by having negative thoughts and emotions since you are aware that they don't serve you in any way. While it's okay to have such feelings and emotions sometimes, it's important not to let oneself be swept by them. Recognizing their presence and letting them go. Remembering that one can always choose how to react, whether to get involved or not.
I am mostly writing this post to myself as a reminder. But perhaps you can relate some of it to your life. In any case, I hope you are moving through your days with joy and contentment. Be mindful of it.

Ten Days in Silence

In the last post I mentioned I wanted to do two things in India, to wwoof and to do a ten day vipassana meditation course. 

Vipassana is a meditation technique which Gautama Buddha practiced and through which he attained enlightenment. With that said though, it is a completely universal method, which can be practiced by anybody of any religious or cultural background. The introductory/first course is always ten days long and noble silence is practiced throughout. You also get up at 4 am and sit in meditation for about twelve hours a day. 

You may be thinking already what kind of a crazy person would do that voluntarily. Actually all kinds. There are literally people from any background you could possibly imagine. Young, old, poor, rich, students, professionals, travelers. There was one girl sitting next to me in the meditation hall and she seemed very young. After the course she told me she was only nineteen. I think it's amazing for a nineteen year old to take a part in a meditation course.
We are constantly fed by negative news by the media. I don't go out of my way to follow the news when I'm traveling (or ever) but even then, a lot of it still reaches me, rarely talking about something positive. It is easy to get a bit skeptical about the world. 

Seeing so many people at the course who come for ten days to dedicate the time to themselves and challenge themselves is really special. I believe the intention everyone at the course (an even outside of it, sometimes not realizing) shares is to become happy, or happier. Coming to a course like this, you are aware that it is you who has all the tools to achieve that goal or at least come closer to it. Of course you are guided through the process but how much benefit you get is up to you.  

I don't want to go into details about the technique or what exactly I felt during the meditation sessions. Everyone's experience is unique, nothing is better or worse. All you experience is raw reality in the present moment which is very hard to escape in a setting like this. In daily life we have many opportunities to distract ourselves from dealing with whatever is happening inside.
One thing that came out of being silent for ten days was the realization that most of what we say are empty words. There is really very little we need to share with the ones around us. With that said, maybe I've written enough already :)
Perhaps one more thing. During one vipassana sitting a thought suddenly came to my mind: "Wow, everyone should do this!" I know as much as I would like to, not everyone is thinking the same way I am. But if you are considering attending the course, please do it. Maybe you're not sure whether you're ready or whether it would really be something for you. Give it a try and decide for yourself if it works or not. How do you know when you're ready anyway? You are as ready as you can be to live your life now.

No need to be out of gold to be a Buddha, necessary to realize the preciousness of ones life

Living the Himalayan Village Life

Trying to summarize what I've done in the past two or three months when I didn't write a single blog post would be quite a challenging task. I would be enough material for a whole book. 

I do want to share some of the highlights though, for my memory and hopefully your inspiration. 

Back in January when I was in Nepal I was considering what to do in India besides my yoga therapy training, something slightly beyond just being a tourist. My original thought was to go back to Nepal which for certain reasons was not an option anymore. Suddenly many possibilities opened up for me. I could go anywhere and do anything. Something I didn't know how to appreciate enough when it was happening in that moment. I made two decisions. One was to wwoof - volunteer on an organic farm, the second was to do a 10 day vipassana (silent meditation) course. I almost ended up doing neither but am very grateful I found the courage to do both (especially the latter!).

I chose to wwoof at Brahma home stay in Parvati Valley at the foothills of the Himalayas. Brahma is run by an amazing couple Laura and George who were most definitely the main reason for the absolute enjoyment of my stay (besides the fabulous views and fresh air). My first thought was to stay for one week which turned into three (and still didn't feel like it was enough!). Laura and George encourage their wwoofers to take initiative and come up with their own projects. How cool is it to paint your art on a wall and call it work? :) It was beautiful to see the progress in which the fences were built, paths paved, plants planted, walls painted, windows cleaned. One of the most enjoyable moments for me though was helping with cooking dinners. There is somewhat more beauty in the meal when you know it was you who carried the fifteen kilograms of vegetables up the hill :)
I know this might sound cliche but it really is eye-opening to see how simply one can live, how little we need to be happy, how self-sufficient we can be, how much work we can do ourselves or with the help of others. Below are some photographs of Brahma and the work we did.

the view is alright ;)

snow came

the house

fencing

path i made

mead making

trek up to Kheer Ganga

a bit of Holi in Barshani

Don't sit back, take a step forward

Who do you look upon when you look for inspiration or who comes to your mind when you have to think of heroes or peace makers in your country's recent history? I have been thinking about this lately and the answer is not as obvious as it seems like it could or should be. It's always easier to come up with names from times when we were not even born, maybe because appreciation for such people is cultivated over a long period of time. 

How about we take a step back and see if we can find such heroes in our everyday life or among our friends or relatives. On my travels through India I was lucky to meet someone who decided to get on his bike and take off in search of such people. People who have inspiring stories to share, promoters of peace, who (not only) young Indians can look upon, someone who is not history to them but alive and active now. 

The project is called "De Paix Yatra" and was set up by two young men, Nitesh and Parth. They planned to ride their bikes through several countries to Europe in 2012 and collect stories of inspirational people to later present to Indian youth. Their journey took on a different direction because of protests in Pakistan but instead of giving up, the team changed their route to Vietnam, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.  This year they are planning to publish books, documentaries and take other steps in other to share their experiences and encourage young people towards positive change in their environment. 

Why I am writing about this is because I want to point out that by coming up with this project and making it a reality, they already discovered the first inspiring heroes, themselves. 

To me, meeting someone my age who decided not to sit back but act instead is enough of an incentive to start thinking about my own life, the lives of others and how I can make a positive change, no matter how big or small, myself.

Let's not think too much about how we can help, let's just do it. Be nice to one another. Be kind, inspire and let others inspire you. Do something positive today. Give a smile to a stranger :) Please, do it today! For me, for you and for everyone in the world. 

"Peace ya'll" Kathmandu, Nepal

Sometimes it's worthy to be on the wrong train

On my way to Bombay from Goa again. This time on a train. The train really is way better than being on a bus, especially during the day when so much is happening. But let me start from the beginning here. Although the man at the reception at my hotel made it seem like it was a ridiculous idea to try to take a bus to the train station in Thivim and suggested a taxi, I decided to do it the bus way. Especially after I asked one more person how long it was going to take and the time shrank to half.

So after three buses and about thirty rupees I find myself on the side of the road, leading up to the small train station in Thivim. Now. I think of myself as a pro when it comes to taking trains. I have taken many in my life and they are really not that different here than anywhere else. The system just works the same. So I walk to the station, feeling the sun getting stronger with each step.

There are people waiting already. I haven't had anything for breakfast so I buy two samosas at a stall wrapped in newspaper and have a look around the platform. By the way it would be quite interesting to see what kind of stories are wrapped around each samosa, what kind of information you swallow together with the spicy dough.

Anyway. The train comes, I find my carriage number and without thinking too much about it, get on. Now, the part about not thinking is a crucial one. I don't even consider I could be on a wrong train. I realize it's a little ahead of schedule (actually quite a lot) but don't see anything wrong with that. There are many people who will be getting on, it's probably just early. So I find my seat and get comfortable. A lady asks me if I am from Goa. I reply I am not (obviously) but wonder about the question for a moment. Do I look like I could be Goan or do I look like a foreigner living in Goa? Anyway, I leave that alone once the train starts moving. Something is not right. I keep hearing Madgaon, Madgaon, which I know is the opposite direction to where I need to go and also the train just leaves too early. I ask the lady where the train is going and "surprise, surprise", she says Madgaon. When she sees the "oh shit" expression on my face, she asks me where I need to go and I tell her the other way, to Bombay. Now she definitely knows I am not from Goa, someone local would not be that dumb to get on the wrong train.

The next stop is Karmali, I know my train also stops there. What I can hope for is that I catch it there and nobody catches me without a ticket in the meantime.

Once I feel like the train might be stopping soon, I get up from my seat to walk to the door. I confirm with two other passengers that the next stop is Karmali and share my situation with them. Then an old lady comes who also wants to know what is going on and she finds it necessary to share it with all the men in the compartment by the door. So now I am not in it alone anymore! They excitedly poke their heads out of the train to see if mine is at the station. Now sign of a station yet.

I am not really stressed or mad, rather amazed about my stupidity and kindness of my fellow passengers. We enter a tunnel. The station must be coming up. And sure enough, it is. The train is right there! Now everyone starts reassuring me the train will wait. What do they mean it will wait? Will it wait because I am stuck on a wrong one? I am not too worried though. I trust these people, they must know, right?

They let me move all the way to the door so I can get off first but make sure I don't try to jump off too early while the train is stopping. I may seem adventurous (they ask me if I travel alone) but trust me, I am not about to break my leg just to be on the right train when really, I have all the time in this world to get myself to wherever I need to be.

Not to make it sound like I don't care at all, there is some adrenalin involved. Finally the train comes to a halt and I step out rushing across the platform to get on mine. This is not that obvious since technically, I am supposed to board it from the other side. No time for that though. I just climb over the railings, still under the watchful eyes of my fellow passengers and hop on. Within thirty seconds the train starts moving. I made it! No, wait, WE made it!

Reaching Peace

Yesterday we took a rather excruciating walk up to the World Peace Pagoda in Pokhara, Nepal. After a few kilometers of wondering whether we're going the right direction, the view of the hill with the stupa on top finally opened in front of our eyes.
We reached the head of the trail and started hiking up. The road was extremely dusty and soon not only our shoes were covered with a layer of fine yellow powder. I felt it in my throat and my eyes. The sun was strong and we often took rest in a shadow spot with cool breeze. We emerged from each curve only to find out there were more ahead, each step a little steeper.
It is easy to forget where you are going once you're on the road. It is easy to only see your struggles and forget the greater picture. Even when you're walking the path towards peace, sometimes there's none in your eyesight.
So we finally reached the top. There was no more walking left. We reached the World Peace Stupa with smiles and then...the kids started screaming and running around in mad circles. And the Peace? It peaced out...
I see the walk as a great metaphor for my own practice. There are many struggles and obstacles we come across along the way. Sometimes it's hard to see the purpose altogether. And when we finally feel like we came closer, the kids start screaming. So we start again. But with each time we surrender to such obstacles and work through them, our practice becomes stronger.
And maybe next time we reach the top, the kids will still be screaming, but it won't matter. It will only be a friendly reminder that there is still some more work for us to do.  

back in Czech

Lowell and I just spent the first night at the bamboo garden in Prague sleeping in a tent. It will be our home for at least a month. I am really excited about sleeping so close to the earth and being separated from the sky by a thin fabric wall. Sadly the weather is not quite summer-like so I'm grateful for our warm sleeping bags.

Coming from Asheville where I felt so at home and part of the Tea family I am happy to be sharing such special space with some of our closest friends. It definitely makes the transition of coming to another home much easier for me. 

I am looking forward to reconnecting with my Czech friends, finding new work opportunities and motivation for some side projects I would like to get involved in. Lowell and I are also going to take part in a yoga course for healthy back with Lucie Konigova, our beloved teacher. 

I would say life is pretty good these days!