Plastic reduction tips

I wanted to write this blogpost for a long time. I don’t think a lot of people are aware of this topic: Plastic. I feel like, every time I start to discuss it with someone, most people just roll with their eyes. They think: Let’s focus on what is actually important, plastic is not on their list.  

I don’t want to sound negative in this post, however I think it is relevant to talk it out. 

The fact is: I try to avoid plastic as much as possible. I’m far away from being a perfect example. My toothbrush is made of plastic. And some foods I buy are wrapped in plastic. My shampoo comes in a plastic bottle.

Still, I find myself turning around in the supermarket in slow motion – and I feel like an alien.

The fact, that almost everything is wrapped in plastic is shocking. And if there are loose oranges or avocadoes in the supermarket, people still go and get plastic bags to transport them. I don’t understand this behaviour. I really don’t. Especially when it comes to something like oranges and avocados, fruits and vegetables that we peel before we eat; there is not even a hygienical benefit to putting it into a plastic bag! Why is a cucumber wrapped in a condom? Why? 

It makes me wonder, there must be a big marketing going on behind the scenes. Maybe people think that their fruits and vegetables are “brand-new” if it comes wrapped in plastic. Maybe they like it because they think that nobody has ever touched it before they after unwrapping it. Which is not true. Someone does the picking, the assorting (finding the moldy and bad veggies), someone does the quality management. Lots of people can have their fingers on your cucumber, before it gets wrapped in its condom.

Maybe its just that soft, straight, see-through shiny feeling that we like between our fingers. It makes us think that we buy is a high-quality product. Wrapped for us. Like a birthday present. 

Whenever my boyfriend and me go shopping together, I have a really good time. We have fun, only picking the fruits and vegetables that you can buy loose without any plastic. We almost always find everything we need, or else we simply substitute things (like picking sweet potatoes instead of a plastic bag full of normal potatoes). These exchanges don’t harm our creations, our meals. In fact, sometimes it even tastes better. We like the change and we like the feeling of not supporting the plastic industry. We transport our veggies and fruits loose in our own textile shopping bags that we like to reuse. Here in Canada, they use the concept of “un-packed self-service fill up stations” where you can bring your own container and fill up your customized amount of products, like nuts, seeds, noodles, rice, herbs and spices, oats, wheat, anything. I love that concept. No plastic garbage is created, unless you rip off a new plastic bag to fill it up (which is totally against the beautiful concept).

When we arrive at the cash register, we see lots of people with lots of single plastic bags. One for the tomatoes, one for the bell pepper, some people even stuff them with products, that are already wrapped in plastic! It’s unbelievable. 

If you think I am overexaggerating then read this collection of facts: 

• On average, a plastic bag is used for 11 minutes.
• An average European causes more than 100 kilograms of plastic, every year.
• In the oceans there are over 100 million tons of plastic swimming right now. Of course, sea life is affected by this. Fish, and all other sea animals struggle and die out because of this. Birds that catch fish are affected too. Scientists found plastic in seagulls and sea eagles
   for example.
• Once plastic is produced, it wont disappear. Actually, it takes 500 years till plastic rottenes.
• One tube of toothpaste may contain up to 10% of microplastic. 
• Plastic often contains a softener, bisphenol A. Its scientifically proven to cause cancer, asthma and infertility. 
• Only 11 out of 100000 substances, that are used for the production of plastic in the last decade, have been analysed.
• The plastic industry in Europe only makes over 500 billion Euros every year. I didn’t quite find the number for north America and Asia but it must be at least equal.

Isn’t that shocking? What kind of world did we create for our children and grand-children? 

If you want to improve your plastic consumption (and at the same time save some $$$); here are some of my tips:

• Recycling: You can re-use all plastic bags that you have at home right now. If they are dirty, wash and dry them. Use them, as long as possible, now that you have them. 
• Prepare for your shopping trips: Set aside some textile shopping bags and some of the smaller plastic bags that you already have at home and take them with you when you go shopping. 
• If you go shopping unprepared (or you forgot your bags at home) here is a lifesaver: Just grab a cardboard box (you often find those at the fresh veggies or fruits), it should help you carry your groceries to the car. Bonus: while heavy plastic bags often rip, these boxes hold way more weight!
• Collect your organic garbage in a separate bin. Order garbage bags online that are made of corn starch, they will just disappear with your vegetable and fruit garbage.
• This one is for all women: Use a mooncup/lady cup/menstrual cup instead of tampons. Ok, its made of silicon but it will last a long time and you save so much plastic garbage by simply not buying tampons anymore.
  For all mamas: Use textile diapers for your baby. These diapers are made to reuse. You can put them in the laundry. This is also a lot cheaper.
• Topic: Toothbrush/Toothpaste: I use a toothpaste that is made out of natural ingredients only, it comes in a little glass jar and it whitenes the teeth. Also there is the option of purchasing a toothbrush that is 100% recyclable, its made with wood/bamboo, check it out here. Its not a lot pricier, and you get a good quality.
• Getting fresh veggies and fruit: Check online if you find a local market in your area. You will not only get good quality from local farms, but also support the local vegetable farmers. Also its nice to eat “with the season” and adapt a little bit to what is available right now. Sometimes you get good deals on these markets as well. 
• Water bottles: If you want to avoid buying water bottles, consider getting one nice metal water bottle, that you can refill. I cant drink tap water where I live (it just doesn’t taste good to me) so I got 2 15 litre bottles that I fill up, either in the supermarket on a fill-up station or in the nature by the creek (we found a natural quarry nearby).
• Replace takeaway articles with re-use articles: Use a metal bottle instead of plastic bottle, bring your own coffee cup to starbucks instead taking a plastic cup. Cheap, There are even straws made of glass or metal that you can put in the dish washer. Get one good razer instead of single-use razers. By the way, here is a trick to use razorblades longer than just for a week (up to a month): Simply use an old pair of jeans to sharpen it: With slight pressure, move the razorblade in opposite shaving direction over the jeansfabric. 
• Have a backpack or shopping bags with you when you go to get new shoes, clothes or books. The cashier almost automatically puts them into a plastic bag. 
• Check your clothes and avoid (unless its sportswear) polyester. Polyester is plastic. Use tencil, cotton or linen instead.

Please share this with your friends and your family. It is really important that we all do steps in the right direction now. 

*The links added just serve as inspiration. There are no affiliates attached, I don't get anything if you make a purchase.

Everything has changed. Yoga Teacher Training

I used to think quite different, when someone started to talk about yoga.
Yoga. That weird thing describing an activity somewhere in between Massage, therapy and some Buddhists sitting on round pillows meditating. I didn’t really get the point...

- You are not sweating.
- You are not burning fat or calories
- Its for people that can’t do ‘real sport’
- Meditation is a waste of time
- People are sitting and singing songs in a weird language and hugging trees
- Its only for housewifes that need a soft activity between their shop at whole foods and getting new eco sandals made of recycled bamboo
- Its for hippies.

Yes – these were the thoughts a few years ago.
I already went to a yoga class occasionally at my local yoga studio, and I guess my impressions were confirmed. Yogis waiting in the studio for the teacher to start the class, stacking cushions above each other, sitting cross-legged in the room enlightened by a lot of candles.

All those props, bolsters, blocks, straps, pillows, blankets, cushions – not for me. They are only for old people and everyone that is not flexible. In my first years of yoga, I never got any props. Because I’m not an unflexible loser. And I didn’t chant with the others. I was more coming back for the flow. Breathing and moving in a symmetric way, Inhaling and moving forward or upward, and exhaling while moving back or down. I liked that dynamic.
And that’s how I found ‘Power Yoga’. Power Yoga doesn’t contain chanting, or meditation. This is purely about the activity. Moving, creating heat in the body and the room, sweating. I never stayed in a pose for too long, so the alignment was more or less unimportant. The teacher guided us through the flow, anything beside that was pointless.

And I still love Vinyasa Power Yoga flows. They are very detoxing, emotionally and physically, you are so in the practice and the flow, that you will forget all those thoughts that are in the mind, like “What will I have for dinner?” “Do I have a dress for Annes Wedding?” and “Do I look fat in these leggings?”
Especially in the winter, when its dark, cold and wet outside, this is one of my favourite indoor “Sport Activities”. And if you don’t believe me, try it. This definitely deserves the undertitle “Sport”.

In my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, I learned to love the asanas, the mula banda, the meditation and the philosophy behind the yoga tradition. This training made me understand that there is so much more behind the single asanas, that we store emotions in postures and in parts of the body. It made Yoga so much more interesting and Yogis so much more vulnerable. There is a reason, why we all come back to our mat again and again. Why we go through flows, and why we hold postures even if it gets uncomfortable. And yes, it will make us stronger and more flexible and like in any other activity, progress doesn’t come over night.

With my Yin Yoga Teacher Training with Bernie Clark I got to know the other – until now hidden – side of Yoga. The Yin Tradition. Yin, the opposite of Yang is the introverted, feminine and mysterious Yoga, whereas Yang is the extroverted Power Yoga.
And every Yang needs a Yin, so I want to share with you, what I learned in this Training:

Staying in a Yoga pose, becoming still and holding it over time, does not make you sweat. But it does something to you. Yin Yoga is designed to affect our body in a deeper, slower way; we put stress on our bones, ligaments, we stretch our fascia, connected tissues and organs.
While Power Yoga and all other Activities that train our Cardiovascular System (like running, cycling, sweating, swimming) prevent our heart muscle from slowing down – yes the heart is a muscle and we need to train it – yin yoga is crucial as we get older: We all get stiff. Yin Yoga actually stretches and loosens our inner organs, tissues. Imagine an old person with a walking aid (walker or walking stick) – running and cycling would have helped him to stay fast, but Yin Yoga is what keeps him upright.
Mostly its not a lack of muscles that curves the spine in old people, its stiffness in the ligaments and connected tissues and nerves.
It takes a certain amount of time to get the “creep”: You have to stay in certain poses for an amount of time to loosen. Some effects, like a deep stretch in the muscles, will be found after a minute. In order to put enough stress on the bones, you might have to stay for up to 20 minutes in a pose. Stress has a very negative connotation. But its actually very healthy, because it will send the information to the body to rebuild bones (so they don’t get hollow when we get old).
Yin Yoga is hard work. Trust me. In one week, I participated a Yin Class every day in the morning (between 90 and 120 minutes long) and my body is tired, like you can’t believe! I feel like my spine is worked quite a lot and I have even lost some weight. Probably some water weight that was stored in unnecessary places in the body and finally got released. Also I had quite a detoxing process happening in my body.

Yin Yoga asks for a good anatomical understanding. I believe, the smaller the class is, the better. As a teacher, I would want to have enough time to check in with my students, help them and hand them props. Oh yeah, one thing that I wanted to say about props: I love props. Seriously, from avoiding them, now I feel like I need a shopping cart when going to the shelf with the props. I want them all. Especially sandbags are quite helpful to intense some of the Yin Poses, like Sphinx.
Everybody is different. Every body is different. Bernie Clark showed me again (I remember these differences from Kreg Weiss’ Workshop) how people have totally different bone structures and how it affects the asanas. Not every pose is good for everyone. And not both sides of the body are equal. Sometimes we need to support one leg/knee/shoulder/hamstring with a prop and the other side not. Every body is different. And every day is different. That’s the magic about Yin Yoga.

I can highly recommend to try it out. Find a studio that offers Yin Classes, and be open to 90 minutes stretching and stressing the body. If you don’t want to miss out on the sweaty part, then simply find a day where you can sign in for a power yoga afterwards.

How to make a difference.

You're wondering, what is the idea of life? How do I even make a difference? What is actually going on? Why do I work my ass off? Trying to effect a meaningful change in any topic can leave you feeling powerless and frustrated. Maybe you don't have enough followers whilst others already have a community. It seems impossible to change someone else's mind for the better. But..

let me tell you something: Whatever you feel powerless, don't give up.

There is hope. And there are easy ways to discover and reinforce your power. Right now.

1. Look after yourself. This has to be number one on my list. If you are not happy, healthy feeling good, you can't do best for others. This one starts with three simple but essential points: Sleep well and enough (good sleep is the best, seriously!), eat healthy foods and drink enough and last but not least, move your body (not moving ourselves makes us feel like we are just turning around and around not going anywhere in life). And then spend time with your friends and have good conversations. Good conversations nourish our soul and creativity. Also don't forget to rest. If you look after yourself in the first place, you will still have enough energy to give to others. If you need time for yourself, take the time. Come back when you are ready. 

2. Educate yourself. This is so so so important. If you want to be listened to in whatever manner, you have to be professional in the topic. Get as much knowledge, collect information, watch documentaries, read books, listen to podcasts, etc. Someone might be interested and will then have questions and you need to be able to answer those questions. The more knowledge you have, the more people will listen to you and respect you. Know the statistics, talk in facts and no question, you will be persuasive. Its sexy to be educated. Also work on your strategies about how you talk to people. If its something you are really burning for, be careful. Too much passion can be a turn-off. Too many arguments might feel like getting punched in the face. On the other side there are some people that you need to be excited talking to, otherwise the conversation gets boring for them. Try to read your opposite like a book and try to understand what the best way is to talk to him/her. Feel yourself into the other person. 

3. Think of solutions. I know, sometimes it seems like there is no solution whatsoever. Let me tell you one thing. If you are not the change, who else will be. Someone has to start and if you already think different, think positive. Imagine the future as you want it to be. If you hate plastic bags, don't just look around and hate all the plastic bags sou see and all the people using them. Stop using them. From now on and forever. There will be a way around using them. Use social media to show everyone that, if you can do it, everyone can do it. Share your experiences. Find people that think different, like you. Together you find a solution. Nobody has ever built an electric car by himself all alone. Create a Facebook page or a WhatsApp group and talk about your ideas with friends.

Movie "Embrace" - Should we really say goodbye to the thigh gap

Yesterday I finally watched the movie 'Embrace'. What I like about it and what I don't like about it? Well, there are a few things...

Embrace is a movie, published in 2016, Trailer here. The main topic discussed in the movie is body-shaming, body loathing, excessive weight loss, and the daily struggle of all women to keep it up with what the media presents them: A lean and sexy but photoshopped model. 

The Body Image Movement is a fight for a natural and realistic body image. Women should see themselves as something positive and accept their bodies and learn to love them. This Movement started to redefine and rewrite the ideals of beauty. 

"Lose weight, reduce wrinkles, fight cellulite; we’re constantly told to fight a battle to be someone other than who we are. Women and girls are constantly lead to believe they’re not as good as they should be. And why? Because every day they feel they’re being judged on their appearance and how far away it is from an unachievable ideal.

At the Body Image Movement, we’re on a quest to redefine and rewrite the ideals of beauty. Our job is to harness and facilitate positive body image activism by encouraging women to be more accepting of who they are, to use positive language regarding their bodies and others, and to prioritise health before beauty. Our goal is to reach as many women as possible around the world and speak to them about how we can learn to fully embrace and love our bodies.

We say no to…

• Excessive “Photoshopping” of body images in the media
• Being programmed by the media and corporations into accepting unrealistic body images
• Prescribing to the notion that being a certain weight determines whether you’re healthy
• Sexualisation of girls in the media and modern culture
• The objectification of women
• Society and advertising preying on women’s insecurities"

And this is also what I like about the movie. It is time to fight this unrealistic ideal that the media presents us on every advertisement, the internet and every magazine. Every woman is different. We are not made like Barbie dolls. We are not all skinny, and we don't all have a classic 90/60/90 runway body. I like the idea that women encourage women to love their own bodies and accept themselves the way they are made. 

I see a lot of potential to prevent young women from getting an eating disorder. Advertisements are made to manipulate us. Every day. The Body Image Movement is made to bring this fact to our attention. Being aware of it is the first step to a new perspective - to a new way of self-reflection. 

The movie really shows us the negative side-effects of extreme dieting and how it is not healthy for our body and emotions to be skinny. There is always pressure to stay lean, to lose more weight and to become better and better in aesthetics. The movie also presents us women that are totally in peace with themselves. Women that love their curves. This is a really good aspect.

If I could bring up some critic, I'd say that one very important aspect is missing: The fact that obesity and a high body fat percentage (we are talking about someone that is clearly overweight) is not good for us. Simply for heath reasons we should try to be in a healthy weight, curves are ok, a little body fat is ok too, but not too much.
The same way they critique diets, they should critique overeating, binging and excessively packing on more and more weight. Every thing should be in balance, for our emotional and physical well-being.

I can see a second part of this movie that focuses more on long term aspects. I can understand that everyone has his or her ups and downs, and still: Emotional and physical stability and balance is something that is best for us. 

Us Women, we should finally stand strong and believe in ourselves. We are able to love ourselves. We are able to hold and keep a healthy weight. We don't need to compare ourselves to other women, we can see ourselves in the unique way we are.

In the end it doesn't matter if we have or if we don't have a thigh gap. It is nothing that we should care about. Happiness and Heath are aspects that are really important. A thigh gap is a trend that people care about in one year but not in the next one. It has nothing to do with health. It has nothing to do with happiness. Just embrace your legs as they are.

Less is more.

This post is probably more important to myself than to anyone else. Right now, there are a lot of changes in my life and at the same time, I feel like I’m turning around and around till I end where I am already right now. I feel like I’m moving a lot but nothing is moving.

And I want to share the solution with you, that I figured out just now.

Before I get to the point, I want to say one more thing. The fact, that I’m overthinking a lot of things is not new to me. And if you can relate to that, don’t worry. This is not a bad thing and I think it happens to all of us, who travel a lot. We travel in our minds. The more “new moments” we experience in the outside, the more we reflect in the inside. And it can be a big distraction. Some days I feel like I am very busy but I’d still need two or three more hours to sit on my blog, write a recipe or do simple work like the laundry.

And then I end up being frustrated. That I wasn’t able to finish a project or work on my ideas. Sometimes I even get upset about myself and I feel like I’m wasting my time instead of being productive. Oh the patience…

The truth is: Change or transition needs time. And this is a good thing. We are humans, and as humans we don’t like to get things ‘for free’ or too easy. We can’t really appreciate them. Think about the love: Nobody is interested in a person that is ‘too easy’ to get. We want to fight for love.

People that win the lottery spend most of their money in the first year after they won. They don’t appreciate the money. Only the money one works for is money that one really appreciates. 

The solution is 90% less is 10% more. And here is it again. The p-word we don’t like, ‘patience’.

Less is more. Short-cuts are no option. Slow down 90% and focus on the 10%. 

Focus on the 10% that bring joy to you, when it comes to your job. Really concentrate on them. If you don’t like what you do, but you enjoy talking to the customer, really focus on the communication. Here are the 10% that you focus on. And you will get really good on these 10% and it might be able to find a new job in the long term.

• Focus on the 10% of the healthy foods that you really enjoy eating and create recipes with them. These foods will become your new basis for a healthy lifestyle and the foundation for your diet. Talking about me, I love sweet potatoes. I could eat them every day. I also love chickpeas, avocados and tomatoes. So as long as there are sweet potatoes and chickpeas, avocados and tomatoes in the house, there is no excuse to eat unhealthy. 
• Find the 10% that you love to do in your relationship. If you love to cook for your partner, then really focus on that and put all your love into the food you prepare. Maybe decorate the food on the plate even nicer. Your partner is going to taste the difference. 
• Find the 10% of exercise and do more of it. You hate swimming and running and all you love is yoga? Then go for it and do yoga every day. Maybe you will try different styles after a while and evolve. There is no need for everyone to become a triathlete that runs, bikes, swims and goes to the gym. But if triathlons are your passion, then off with you on your bike, or whatever you will start with. 
• Find the 10% of your books that you love reading and read them again. You get way more out of it than if you would force yourself to read new books that you don’t enjoy reading. 
• Find the 10% of your friends that you love to meet and spend more time with them. 
• And last, but not least: Find the 10% of the day that are just for you. Don’t do anything else in these 10% than focusing on yourself. If this means taking a bath at night, or walking the dog or meditating. Maybe it means going for a run by yourself, maybe it means cooking some delicious food just for yourself. Maybe it means singing loud to the radio in the car. Amongst all, we should never forget to look after ourselves. Find at least 10% of the day that you have with yourself.

If you concentrate on the 10%, that you like and that you are good in, everything will become easier. It will help you transform into a better version of yourself. It will help you smile more, be healthier, fitter and comparing yourself to nobody else than you (in the past). 

You don’t need to forget about the 90%, but just take it easy. Focus on the 10% that you love and it will make a big difference.

How your wishes come true.

In a yoga class, I heard the following sentences: "Wishing or asking for something actually disconnects you more from becoming or having it, than not wishing or asking for it. The reason is, that when we wish or ask for something, we set the intention that we don't have it already."

This thought really sticks in my mind and since then, I have thought about it and I came to the following conclusion:

If you are realized, pray to get, what you need and not what you want. Because eventually it will come to you. What really helped me was getting conscious about my wishes. 

What you aim for, is not only what you direct your energy and motivation on, but also what lifts you up. Be very mindful. Be positive, and don't beg. Rather concentrate on being rightful. 

Remove the negatives. One person told me once: The universe does not understand 'No' or 'not'. Frame your sentence differently and avoid these words. For instance, you might wish for good health instead of getting sick.

Be specific. Wish for whatever you wish for, but when imagining your dream life, be as specific as possible. By doing that, you will automatically manifest it. Feel how you would feel if your wish would become true right now. 

Evil karma strikes back. Don't wish ill for anyone because it will hit you first. 

The next step is easy. Disconnect from your wish, once you have spoken or thought it. The reason is simple: The more we think about the wish, the more we fear that it might not come true. And again, the energy that is directed to the wish becomes rather negative than positive. By disconnecting from our wishes, we keep it neutral. 

Coming back to the very first idea, remember that whatever you want or need in your life is already yours. We just need to connect with it. For example, if you are looking for a good partner, treat yourself the way you want to be treated by him or her, and set the intention that whoever is connected on a deep level will come into your life. You are not waiting for an angel to fall down from heaven. This person already exists.  And he or she will come into your life. 

Establish the emotional basis and the feelings that you would have if your wish would come true right now, even if it seems to be far away. Right now is the time to set a positive intention.

Intentions for 2017

We all know the following situation: By the end of the year we think about some good intentions that we can integrate as soon as the new year starts.

But why do we always end up whispering the same intentions into our Champagne Glass  year after year? Because we failed. Every year. That sucks.

So I thought about why we don't reach our goals and why we have to repeat them...

Seriously? Nothing is more frustrating than setting a goal, visualizing something that we want to work toward, but ending up getting not even a little closer to becoming who we want to become or reaching our goal. 

First of all, we loose focus. And that can have several different reasons. The main problem I figured, is that my goal is a very big goal because I like to think big. But instead of focusing on the little steps I have to take to reach my main goal, I want too much too soon and that's where I loose myself. Even the enthusiasm I feel in the beginning doesn't last very long. The focus is gone. And once I realize that things don't work out the way I want them to be, I get frustrated and give up. Or I distract myself. The next time I remember having that goal is New Year's Eve and I start to repeat myself.

So this year, I set myself smaller goals, that are easier to reach and therefore better to achieve "the big goal". For example, I want to be more productive in the next year. I want to catch myself in moments that I just do pointless things because I am bored. These are the moments when I loose precious time that I should invest in myself, in my projects. And I don't want to say that distractions are a bad thing, everyone needs to chill and relax every once in a while, but if that's the case, I want to do it consciously. 

The next point that keeps me from reaching my goals is life. Sometimes life just has different plans. And then we have to adapt to these changes and redefine our intentions or set new goals, adjust them to the new circumstances. In these moments that can be either positive or negative, we have to look forward, we have to do the very best we can do in that situation. It's so important not to give up. Not to loose yourself in excuses. 

There are no such perfect moments. In the end we don't need to start living the way we want to live after a certain date, event or when the new year starts. In the end the first day of the new year is just another day. We can start now.

My goals for this new year are simple, but I list them below. Maybe you feel inspired.

- Write more blogposts

- Keep my Instagram up to date

- Write down my thoughts and beliefs

- Working on my yoga skills

- Working on my minimalism, less is more

- Less distractions and more focus

- More quality time with my friends and family

- More gratitude, less complaints