Probably not because I am so looking forward to celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Probably not because I hope for many gifts. No, it’s the feeling of security that I get from my friends and family. It is the anticipation of the feast when we all sit together and celebrate. And it is also that deep certainty that every year there is at least one argument in the family at Christmas. But maybe this year this tradition can change. For a long time now, Christmas is no longer all about the birth of Christ (read more about the roots of Christmas here). A well-known monk of Tibetan Buddhism describes the true essence of our modern Christmas very beautifully:

Love and compassion is a universal religion.

(Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, 1935-today)

The Christians have no exclusive claim to Christmas, a custom they have not even founded. The roots of Christmas lies in pagan festival in honor of the sun god. The Pagans (although they never called themselves that) did not follow any organized religion and were not even a nation, but many tribes. The sourde of their belief is the close connection to Mother Nature. This bond is accessible to all of us. Therefore, everyone can feel the deeply rooted love and compassion.

Christmas without religion

The true nature of a religion is a good heart. Christmas is the perfect time to open our hearts. Christmas is not about praying, lighting candles and good food. Of course, we can put all these customs into our Christmas celebration. But the people who surround us are really important. The peace begins with small things. So open up your heart and show your love and compassion to your closest ones. If you can do that, you can extend that sense of connectedness to an ever-expanding circle. But we start small, because this is were we can contribute to true change. So let’s celebrate a Christmas without religion.

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A gift

Each one of us carries a huge gift. A strength, a skill that no one else has. We are all as unique as snowflakes, but why do we want to perish in the swamp of modesty? Every person is unique and valuable. Recognize your own value and show it! Find your strength and do not hide behind equality and fear of rejection. Be aware: I am a wonderful person. And what we forget too often:

I deserve to be happy!

Yes, you read that right: You deserve to be happy. Nobody can deny you this right and nobody can steal your happiness. Just like noone else can give you happiness. Happiness is like a little flower that grows deep in our soul. Only we can nurture and care for it. Nobody can do that for you. Nobody is responsible for your happiness. Not your parents, not your partner, not even your friends. Only you can grow your own happiness, because it is deeply rooted in yourself. No other person has access to it. So your happiness and unhappiness depends entirely on yourself and how you deal with external influences. How much space you give to the drama that happens around you. The first step to your own happiness is simple. Become aware that you can be happy without having to do anything for it: I deserve to be happy!

The post New Month Resolution – November appeared first on Yoga Teacher Training Course in Sweden, 200 & 300h TTC, Yoga Alliance, Yoga Alliance International, Shamanism Yoga Course in Sweden, Yogalärarutbildningen Sverige.

Making decisions is often not easy. Especially when it comes to life-changing decisions. Sometimes we even quarrel for years, until we take the first step in one direction. Actually, it would be quite easy to decide for something if it were not for the conflict between head and heart, between mind and gut feeling.

Problem of decision-heart-decides

If the head and the heart decide on the same solution, there is no problem. We can make a decision quickly and easily and are also very happy with ourselves. It becomes more difficult when our minds say something other than our gut feeling. Then we are in conflict. We hear both voices in us and list endless arguments for both sides. This mechanism makes it possible to have a discussion with myself and balance both sides, and that is important. If, onthe one hand, we were to decide only with the mind, there would be no new ideas in the world, because we would only repeat what we already know. If, on the other hand, we only decide with the heart, logic would often be lacking, and humanity would not be as developt as it is today. So a mixture of both would be the best.

Why do I say: my heart decides

Decisions of the mind paired with heart decisions of extraordinary people have brought us here, into the 21st century with all its technical achievements. We value our minds a lot and our society does not let us forget how important it is. We see that in the school systems. At the same time, the heart and our intuition are left behind. We learn to think logically but we do not learn to listen to our gut feeling. Many people can not even feel that there is such a thing as intuition. We have achieved great. We have everything we can dream of. Only one thing we do not have: peace. What technology, logic and organization good for, if we can not even get along with our neighbor.

Let your heart decide

We need to find back to our gut feeling and learn to decide with our heart. Otherwise out future might become bleak. Take politicians as an example. Would you really decide to let millions of people drown in the Mediterranean if you would listen to your heart? I do not think so. It is the same with ourselves. We can not change the politicians, but we can change our own perception and decision-making. We start on a small scale and let our peaceful heart demonstration grow. Soon a few drops will become a whole ocean. The world needs more self-love, compassion and hope and all that comes from the heart. So: My heart decides!

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I am not the body, neither am I the mind. I am not the body

(Jaggi Vasudev, Sadhguru, 1957-today)

The source of our suffering, our problems is either the mortal frame or the mind. There is no other suffering, only bodily suffering and mental suffering. If we think this sentence ‘I am not the body, I am not even the mind’ and experience it at a deeper level, then our perspective will fundamentally change. We will approach our lives very differently.

How does this sentence change your perspective?

• If I am not my body then the other souls are not bodies either. If I’m not dependent on my own mortal frame, then I can not be dependent on anyone else.
• Our body is just a loan from Mother Earth for the period of our visit here. When our time is up, we have to give it back. If I do not understand that my mortal frame is only a loan or that I do not own this frame, then I think I AM this frame. Of course, this thought scares us to death.  Because death would then mean that I have to give myself back to Mother Earth.
• If I am constantly aware that I am not the matter, then death is not an end, just the changing of my clothes. We only give back the piece of earth which we borrowed.
  
• Either we give our mortal frame back voluntarily, or Mother Earth takes it back forcefully. There is no way around it. But we can decide how to do this transformation. If I lead a meaninful life and fulfill all my wishes, I will end up giving my body with goodwill. But if I think that I am this matter and that I didn’t achieve enough in life yet, then I will compulsively cling to my mortal frame until Mother Earth snatches it from me.
• When I become aware that I am not my mind nor my thinking, we gain incredible freedom. If I no longer identify myself with my thoughts, then I can not feel bad about my thoughts either.
• Every experience we make is only experienced in our mind and body. For example:. We do not really see what’s on the table in front of us. We only see the upside down reflection of it with our optic nerve. So what I see is only in my head. Like this it is with all other senses as well. We experience everything only inside ourselves. The mind makes a record of our experience, which we call memory. The mind is just a machine, as is the body, that lets us experience our time here on Earth.
• The body and the mind are finite, I (as a soul) am infinite.

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The past makes us who we are, but do we not want to continue growing? We build walls out of old beliefs arround us. We also feel quite comfortable in it because we feel safe. Anyone who tries to tear down our walls, will see us fight. It took so much effort to build our cloud-castle, obviously we dont want anyone to tear it down. We stay stubborn and insist on our old believes. There is only only Problem with that, we can not change ourselves like this.

Change: Let go of the past

Our entire world exists only because there is change. If that were not the case, our planet would still be inhabited by dinosaurs. Some changes are gentle and easy, while others are huge and violent. No matter what we do, we can not stop the changes around us. Let’s just look at the last 50 years. What has happened there – good things and not so good things. How can we believe we can stay still in this energy of change?

How can I heal myself?

Everything is constantly changing, and that’s a good thing. Everything around us is constantly changing, so we also have to adapt and change. We have to let go of the old, heal our wounds and welcome new things with open arms.

• Bring past events to a close. Find the power to let go of the past. Almost everyone has a black story in his or her past, but we can not carry them around for our whole lives. Make peace with the things that have happened to you and that you have done. It’s in the past. Now you have the incredible opportunity to reinvent yourself and be what you want to be.
• Let go of past relationships. Some people can not understand that we have to grow and change. They also do not let other people grow around them. Do you know someone like that? Maybe it’s time to leave your relationship in the past. This person is not ready for change and just doesn’t allow you to grow.  Leaving a relationship in the past does not necessarily mean that you can not see that person anymore. It does mean, however, that you should no longer be influenced by this person. Sometimes this is only possible with a final goodbye.
• Look into the future. What do you want to achieve? What would you like to do? Where do you want to be? Who do you want to be with? Find out how you want to live and take the first step.

Find the power to become part of the change and become the man or woman you always wanted to be!

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A truth can only work if the recipient is ready for it.

(Christian Morgenstern, 1871-1914)

Each piece of information can therefore be understood in different ways. What I do not understand today, I might understand tomorrow. What I understand in one way, the next understands in a very different way. Goethe puts it this way: ‘Everybody only hears what he understands.’ Depending on which level of consciousness I am on, I perceive information in different intensity and color.

What can I learn from this

On the one hand, we can learn that other people walk on different levels of consciousness and perceive the world accordingly. No matter how much we try to make them understand, they will just not get the point. There is the right time for everyone to understand the right message. We can help others with this, but we can not put our understanding of the message into their head.

On the other hand, this issue concerns ourselves. I will always see myself at the highest level of consciousness there is. That’s because I know nothing else, nothing bigger. But there is more! So become aware that you have not reached your limits yet. You conciousness will rise higher and higher. Everything happes at the right time. Putting pressure on ourselves to grow as fast as possible will bring us anywhere. As already said, everything happens at the right time. We understand the messages that are important to us just in the right moment.

Do not stress yourself and others and just enjoy life. Everything happes at the right time!

The post New Month Resolution – July appeared first on Yoga Teacher Training Course in Sweden, 200 & 300h TTC, Yoga Alliance, Yoga Alliance International, Shamanism Yoga Course in Sweden, Yogalärarutbildningen Sverige.

Every day we are bombarded with external influences. The outside world seems to tell us how we should be. But who defines the standards? What is slim, what is lazy, what is successful? Shouldn’t we decide how we want to be.

Just let it be

Leave the SHOULD behind you and concentrate on what seems important to you. All of our thinking is shaped by how things should be. So my husband does not make the bed right. My children are not as talented as the neighbor children. My dog just does not understand what I want from him. With this thinking structure of ‘being-never-enough’, we take on a great burden and enormous stress and give also give it to the people arround us. Either we can not live up to our own standards and feel worthless, or we will do them justice and then want to increase them again. Because if I get this done, then I can do it even better.

We can only stop this vicious circle of unattainable goals ourselves. So let’s do it! Is it really that bad that the blanket is not folded properly? Is it an end of the world that my son will never play the violin? Do I really have to lose 5kg if I already feel good in my body? I do not think so. And you?

Everything is allowed to be the way it is. Of course, that does not mean that I lie to bed all day long and let fate decide for me. I have control over my life and I and strive forward. However, without jumping through walls. Just like we should not bend others, we should also not let others bend us.

‘Everything is allowed to be the way it is’ starts small and grows big. A sense of basic trust arises from it. The universe will provide. I have a clear vision of my wishes, but I do not have to go to war to realize them.

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Function of the pineal gland

When the retina in our eyes senses darkness, it sends a signal to the pineal gland to produce melatonin. This hormone affects our mood, immune function, our sleep and also our circadian rhythms (our natural 24h-rhythm). Further melatonin is a powerful anti-aging and anti-stress agent. If the melatonin level in our body is out of balance, we can experience mood swings and even depression.

An activated and healthy pineal gland further metabolizes other neurochemicals such as pinoline and Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is also used as a Hallucinogen in many cultures since centuries, for example in South America under the name Ayahuasca. Our body produces DMT naturally when we sleep. It is still not clear, where it is produced (some scientists believe in the pineal gland itself).

The third eye in animals

Some amphibians and reptiles, such as lizards, frogs, salamanders, and even sharks have a light-sensing organ called parietal eye (or pineal eye or also third eye) between their regular eyes. It is not found in mammals (including humans) but was present in their closest extinct relatives, the therapsids.

History of the Pineal Gland

Madame Blavatsky (Russian philosopher) linked the pineal gland with the Hindu concept of the Ajna chakra in the late 19th century. René Descartes (French philosopher) believed that the human pineal gland is the “principal seat of the soul”. People all over the world believed for millennia (and still believe) that the pineal gland is an organ of supreme universal connection. Archaeologists found artwork and artifacts with the pinecone-shaped organ in many ancient cultures. For example, in the Vedic culture of ancient India as Ajna Chakra or in ancient Egyptian as Eye of Horus or Eye of Ra. The Egyptians even preserved the pineal gland separately in the mummification process.

Spiritual Aspects of the Pineal Gland

It is believed that the activation of the pineal gland will open the Ajna Chakra or Third eye. This will lead to inner vision, insight, wisdom, clarity, concentration, imagination and intuition.

Many people believe that the opening of the third eye will make you see auras, spirits, and more things, which you can not see with our two biological eyes. This perception is wrong. We have two eyes to see the world around us and one eye (the third eye) to see inside ourselves. Opening the third eye will give us intuition and imagination, but it will never let us see things like we see things with our biological eyes. The seeing happens inside of us.

Activation of the Pineal Gland / Opening of the Ajna Chakra

NOTE: If you try to open your third eye before you are ready, many unpleasant side-effects like will disrupt your path to enlightenment. The rise of consciousness must happen gradually and step-by-step. You have to open all other chakras which lie below the Ajna Chakra first.

Opening a chakra is a process of changing patterns, solving personal issues and evolving in your own nature. However, there are some things you can do to support that process.

• Avoid Fluoride (it calcifies your pineal gland). Tab water, all common toothpaste and artificial drinks contain fluoride.
• Following supplements support the purification of the pineal gland: lemon, honey, hemp seeds, spirulina, raw cacao, watermelon, coconut oil, bananas.
• Pine, sandalwood and lavender essential oil stimulate the pineal gland.
• Use gemstones (amethyst, rhodonite, sodalite, purple sapphire, purple violet tourmaline) to balance the Ajna Chakra.
• Salute the sun in the morning. Either with Suryanamaskara in the first rays of the new day or with simply showing gratitude to the sun in the morning.
• Aum-Chanting (108 times), Trataka with flame, Shambhavi Mudra, Bhramari Pranayama, Meditate on the Ajna Chakra

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Nothing passes until it has taught us what we need to know.

(Pema Chödrön, 1936-today)

Everything we seemingly can not banish from our lives holds a deep message for us. We are here on earth to expand our experience. We are there to learn new things. Nothing in our life just happens without reason. Everything that happens to us and every person we meet is our teacher. Everything around us is just there to teach us something. Sometimes we learn quickly and easily. Sometimes we need a tougher lesson in the form of serious illnesses or recurrent events. Everything is here to be a teacher to us.

Be brave

Now it is up to us to accept and understand the message. We can continue to ignore all signs and develop routines to not hear this cry for attention. But we will not solve the puzzle like that. The universe will keep throwing the same problem on us until we learn our lesson. We have to be brave and open our eyes. What is constantly repeating itself in my life and what should I learn from it? If the message reveals itself as a secret of your soul, the problem will vanish. Small adjustments, even olny in your consciousness, can manifest as a noticeable change in your patterns. This release will bring you deep satisfaction and joy.

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Everything is changing constantly and that is good.

I do not know where this sentence suddenly came from, but it gave me hope, hope for change. I suddenly knew that my situation would change. And so it was. Within a few weeks, I was able to leave my self-pity behind me. I could get up and harvest the fruits of my hope. I became more active again and got into my hobbies again, like drawing and playing the guitar. After a few months I discovered shamanism for myself and a little later, I started reading my first yoga philosophy book. One step led to the next and today I live a meaningful, happy life. Of course with downsides, BUT: Everything is changing constantly, and that is good.

Hope

With this essay, I want to give you hope. I know what it’s like to be shattered on the ground. But I also know that there is a way out. Everything will change and spin until you find your fulfillment, and then it will continue changing with you. Just as you are not the same person you were a year ago, you will continue to grow and develop. And that’s good. You have to take the first step out of this swamp. There may be other people around you supporting you, but only you can pick yourself up and run. Use your life for beautiful things and not for the oppressive.
I know that you have the strength. How do I know that? – I thought too, I can not handle it anymore and I just want to get out of here, but from somewhere the power come to me  and flourished me. You can do that too!

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