Begin Again

Perfectly Imperfect - begin again

„Be not the slave of your own past . . . plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.“

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

No other yoga style has ever made me think about the following more than vinyasa yoga: My own capability to do certain things (and not to be able to do them). The other interesting view is: How good was I in doing something in the past, in the present and in the future? The reason for this might be that I have never „failed“ more in my yoga practice than in a vinyasa class. You either can hold crow pose, or you fall out of it. You are able to do a handstand or you are not able to. Vinyasa Yoga is all about failing, forgiving and trying again and again. There is no other yoga style like this. Everyone is able to do a wide-legged forward fold in a yin practice. But when the teacher says: „Take a few hops into an arm balance, if it’s in your practice“ - that’s when our inner voice might say things like „you can’t do this, you are too heavy“ or „don’t even try, remember, yesterday you failed“. In difficult poses, our mind gets loud and tells us stories why we are not good enough to hold specific poses. 

The beauty of Vinyasa Yoga is in facing the truth: Where am I now? What am I good in right now and what do I have to work on? Totally becoming peace with where I am right now, opens the door to begin again. From that state, I am not scared to fail, I am curious to see how things work out today (especially after failing previously) and I allow myself to play. Maybe I wont be able to do a handstand, maybe I won’t be able to do it in the next two years. However, I will only find out by trying.

In my personal practice (and as a teacher in the future) I truly believe that not only encouraging, but also reminding myself (and the students) of the following is gold: Every class is different and every attempt to finally hold a new pose is a new one. Totally blending out what happened yesterday, last week or a month ago will keep the motivation up to try that specific pose again. And failure will bring us closer to holding the pose eventually. That attitude will also manifest a new idea on life in general and how we deal with difficult situations. Instead of simply giving up, we start to face situations with more curious and playful thoughts. We stop assuming to know how situations will turn out. Instead we will accept that every moment and every situation is completely new. Getting stronger in vinyasa yoga and finally becoming able to hold more difficult poses will strengthen our body, and our believe system. Thoughts become actions and actions become habits. We will transform the „I shouldn’t even try, I will never be able to do this“ thoughts into „I give myself the chance to try. I say yes to the practice and to this challenge. I don’t take failure too seriously“ in our yoga practice and in our daily life. 

The last important part that I absolutely love about yoga practice is the fact, that failure simply can’t be taken seriously. When I am in my favorite vinyasa yoga class and we are all getting into crow pose (or trying to), my teacher always says: „And don’t have fun, ok? Fun is not allowed in this room“. Even more hilarious is when she says: „And if you fall out, you are a bad person, don’t forget that“. By saying loud what our minds try to tell us, makes it sound ridiculous and stupid. We take life, failure and perfectionism too serious. I love these little reminders of my teacher that make us become aware of these thoughts. We understand that our mind is trying to trick us into giving up by providing us with evidence why we shouldn’t begin again. Keeping a consistent vinyasa yoga practice made me understand when these stories bubble up and how to deal with my inner voice. Becoming aware of it is the first step in the right direction. Instead of giving up, I give myself the chance to try and fail and sometimes I even succeed.

If you are interested to create and order your own Loverope, check it out here
(worldwide shipping, $20.95)

__________________________________________________________________________
HERE IS YOUR DISCOUNT CODE - 20% OFF YOUR ORDER: JULIALECHNER20

The Vegan Volcano

I posted something similar on my german blog and ever since, I have the urge to repost it on my english blog. This is about the "Vegan Volcano". 

Disclaimer: Ok, sit down, or hold onto something, because this is the fu**ing truth, and yes, I am going to use swear words. If you can't handle the truth or if you can't stand the use of swearwords, please don't read this. 

My background: Just recently, I celebrated my 8th year of being a vegan (Vegans call this veganiversary, mine is on August 21, 2017). And to be honest from the very beginning until now, I had ups and downs being a vegan. Here are different stages that I went through in these past eight years: At first, I was the "Super-Vegan" that couldn't be more vegan. Vegan as fuck. I wanted my friends and my family to become vegan too, I tried to veganize them. I wanted to save the whole world. Then there were times where I was the vegan:"as long as I am vegan, I am doing enough - I don't care what anybody else eats and supports." It went that far, that I turned meat on a bbq for my friends while they were standing beside me. I couldn't care less, the only thing I was looking at, was my own plate. 

I know deep down (especially since I am in this yoga thing where everyone talks about peace and love and ahimsa and shanti shanti shanti) that everyone thinks for himself/herself. And no - I don't want to force anyone to live his/her life like i live my life. Why? Because I myself made that decision free and without anyone talking me into it. Nobody attacked me or pointed a gun to my face and said: "Go vegan or else I am going to kill you." Deep down, I know that you can not force anyone to do anything. They have to want to do it. 

Trust me, if I can say one thing for sure, this is it: I have never physically or psychologically felt better than after making the change to a vegan diet. The health benefits alone are simply amazing: My skin was smoother, my digestion is easy, my mind is clear. As far as I can tell, I feel like I am mentally stable. I don't get upset easily, I am smiling more than being in a bad mood or stressed. You know, it just feels good, not to rely on animals when it comes to filling my fridge. Not to use animals for the taste and the satisfaction. Really, even my physical activities and my energy level improved, ever since being vegan I was active, I trained for triathlons, I ran, I cycled, I hiked, I did yoga. And after eight years, I don't have a lack or protein, b12 or died because of an iron deficiency. My teeth are good, my hair, my nails. 
I am thankful for not leaving a big ecological footprint: Are you aware of how much water is used to produce one fucking hamburger? 660 gallons btw. Are you aware of how much wheat and oats a cow gets before she is big enough for the slaughterhouse? Its 100 pounds per day! Do you know that there are still 4 children dying every minute because they have no access to food?
I am so thankful that I made the connection and living a life while harming the environment and the planet as less as possible. Just by not taking away the egg from the chicken, the milk from the cow and the fish from the ocean. 

One story, just because I was vegan when I was still in high school. We had some sort of religious education and I still remember sitting in the class room thinking to myself: "What the fuck am I doing here - I am fucking wasting my time." These stories that we've read in that old and dusty book called bible just didn't make any sense to me at all. Why should I pray? Hope for the good? Going to church every sunday and repeating the same stupid words and hoping for a better world, but not changing a single thing?! Do you understand this? 
This is a question for anyone that still believes in christianity, or islam or buddhism, or any other religion: Do you think god/buddha/allah/[whatever you call your god] would be proud of us, sitting there and praying but not doing anything for a positive change in the world? 
Seriously I never had respect for these people; wasting there precious time praying and kneeling down and hoping but not doing anything actively. In fact, where I grew up, people used to go to a restaurant and have meat or fish after church. What the fuck?

Long story short: In the last eight years, going vegan was the best decision I ever made in my life. I never regretted it. Never. Its a win win. For everyone. The planet, the animals, my health, for everyone. 

And yes, there's my ego that just wants to yell the message and tell everyone how awesome they will feel and how good it is. My ego just wants to make everyone go vegan. But I am who I am and I am not you. So if you are not vegan and if you are not planning on becoming a vegan, that's something that I will accept. I see the world from my perspective. For you, not being a vegan might make more sense. I have to accept this.

And then there are these moments where my vegan volcano just explodes. Like, when I am at a coffee shop and I order a matcha latte with soy milk (which in most coffee shops is more expensive than a regular cow's milk matcha - even though it should really be cheaper, because the process to produce soy milk is far easier than raising, feeding and milking a cow, making it pregnant and giving it medications, ...); well my matcha latte arrived on my table, it looked beautiful and it had a nice milk foam, but later - as I am talking to the barista, she tells me that there is milk powder blended in the matcha powder. Hello?! This is crazy - in my opinion (please tell me if I'm wrong) I should be told while ordering, that there is milk powder in the matcha blend, especially when I ask for a milk alternative (soy milk). What about all these people with a dairy intolerance? It's fucking 2017 and we are not in the middle age anymore. And if someone wants to tell me now, that not every coffee shop knows about the existence of veganism - no. They offered vegan cookies and advertised them with a vegan tag.

It's fucking stupid and these situations make me angry. It seems like us vegans always have to be nice to everyone and respect their decisions to still consume animals but vise versa nobody really seems to respect our decision. 

Think of this: If someone lights up a cigarette beside me, nobody would roll his eyes because I walk away so I don't have to inhale the stinky cigarette smell. If someone sits down beside me and starts eating a donair and I walk away because I am disgusted, everyone calls me a "militant vegan". What the fuck?

But vegans are a little group of hippies that want to save the world. We have to be quiet. Peaceful. Never mention that we are vegan. We are not allowed to talk about slaughterhouses and animal abuse at the table because that is not polite. It makes Omnivores' (Omnivore is someone that still consumes all sorts of animal products) food taste shit. "Please don't tell me this, I don't wanna hear it!"

One day I was wearing my sea shepherd hoodie and some guy came over and said: "Did you know that the first ever sea shepherd boat sank right at the start or their mission to Japan?" He laughed in my face. I looked at him, and asked him if he thinks that this is funny. When the titanic sank, nobody was laughing. He explained, that just another "peace organization" of a little group of hippies that tried to change something, failed. I simply said, that he can enjoy these facts as long as there is still fish in the ocean. Well, again I was the stupid vegan girl that can't laugh about a joke. Why so serious?

Another stupid question that I got asked a lot in the past is: "Is it ok for you if I sit here by you and eat my sandwich with bacon and cheese?" No, I don't fucking force myself to be vegan everyday, I am not a victim. I don't cry myself into sleep because just another sad day passed. Imagine me sitting down at the same table with meat eaters and asking them: "Hey guys, is it ok for you if I sit down here while eating my vegan burrito or do you emotionally feel attacked by that?"

Just a quick message to everyone that still consumes animal products: Please please please inform yourself. Get the facts about how many animals die, and how many resources they use. What it does to the world, what it does to the health. Inform yourself. It's so easy to laugh. When you laugh, you feel stronger and that helps you. But instead of joking about it, think about this: If you want to have kids, then please leave them a planet where they have a good life. Where they don't have to fight for food or water. And please show a little bit respect for the ones amongst your friends or family that live a vegan lifestyle. They have heard all the stupid jokes about vegans and veganism already. It's nothing new, and it's just funny for you. Most vegans don't fucking care what other people think about them. 

And for me personally: I don't care what you eat. I care about your diet as much as I care about your sport activities, the car you drive or how you wear your hair. I don't have to care about you later. I don't have to pay for your chairlift when your arteries are stuffed and your liver is done because of detoxing all the shit. There is only one reason why I still fight for more people eating a vegan diet: The world. Scientists found out that the only way this world will make it into the next couple centuries is by changing the lifestyle. Do it for yourself and your body and health. Do it for future generations. Do it to save resources or do it for the animals. 

And yes, this might be a little rant but I needed that. And I can do it. This is my blog and I know my readers. They don't take it personal. If you took anything personal, I apologize. I just can't be the peaceful yogi all the time that says namaste and shanti to everything. You know - if someone attacks a little kid on the street, I fucking do something against it. I just hate injustice and I will never be tired fighting for it. 

Like bananablondie said in her video (please watch this, I am so with her in every aspect): You know, if you don't wanna be vegan. Don't be vegan. I will still love you. But you should at least have to good sense, to be slightly embarrassed about it. 

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 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.

Loverope - a simple individual positive reminder

Dear Readers,

I am very pleased to finally start this english blog! Besides some technical issues I was dealing with a full schedule so I just couldn't really get myself to write and post.
But I really want this blog to be filled with quality, with things I want to share and thoughts I have at the moment, than just being all about creating content and promoting things to make money.
Or, to say it in a positive way, I want to be who I am and I want to share whats happening in my mind. Be who you are is a message that we should all remind ourselves - everyday.
One way to do so, is Loverope.
I found Loverope on Instagram. Loverope, is a customized simple individually handcrafted bracelet, that reminds you of exactly what you want to be reminded of. 
Whenever you look on your hands, you can read the words on your Loverope - and yes, thats a good way of reminding yourself. Lucky as I am, I won a Loverope thanks to a Giveaway, and mine says now the words Vegan, Love and Namaste. These are three little reminders, that are very important to me.
Vegan: Veganism is not only my way of eating food. I don't need to be reminded to eat vegan food instead of non-vegan food. ;-) The word Vegan is a daily reminder of being active, and spreading the vegan message.

Love: Love reminds me of loving myself. For me, its always easier to give Love to others than receiving it from myself. In this case, my biggest challenge is to think positive about myself. 
Namaste: Namaste is a word I really got to know in my Yoga Teacher Training. Translated it means: 'I see the Light in you.' It helps me realize that there is the same light in everyone of us, and it helps me being less judgmental. It's also a good proof that there are things, words, and sayings that I know for a very long time, but it takes some time to really get the full understanding of what it means (to myself).
If you are interested to create and order your own Loverope, check it out here
(worldwide shipping, $20.95)
__________________________________________________________________________
HERE IS YOUR DISCOUNT CODE - 20% OFF YOUR ORDER: JULIALECHNER20

What I personally really appreciate is the use of Vegan Leather. 
I also want to thank Chris from Loverope, he answered some questions for my blog. You can read the full interview here. Just a quick spoiler: You can feel his wisdom in his answers!

1. Before we get into this, could you introduce yourself and give one fact about yourself that you really love.
Hey I’m Christian and one fact about me is that i put Love above anything else.

2. Can you tell us what the idea behind LoveRope.bracelet is and how this project has started? Sure, I grew up in an entrepreneurial family (my parents have a family business selling mushrooms & berries - importing and exporting them) and my dad overtook that business from my grandfather, but he was never really happy with it although it brought good financial returns - sooo I thought to myself: “Well no matter what I do in the future it will be something that will make me happy despite of the money I earn and things I do." So i went out into the world and created myself through post-its sought out to make the world a happier place through a 12.000 mile road trip and now I am creating my own bracelet that shall spread the love. 

3. Do you believe in the power of mantras? Do you think we need a daily reminder of being positive? 
Thoughts = Words = Actions = Reality
So if you ask me if Mantras are power I would say Mantras = Reality
We all need a daily positive reminder to love ourselves everyday a little more - this can come in form of a person/situation oooor a little bracelet in my case :)

4. Do you think meditation is important? Does it help us to manifest what we want to experience in life?
Meditation creates space for your divine vessel to receive (informations, manifestations, guidance)
Manifestation is an essential tool for our human experience - many things can be experienced so much better and richer when they are manifested - like how it is to be an entrepreneur and have your own company or startup or blog or prodcut

5. How important is gratitude in your opinion? 
Gratitude = Start of all Abundance
If we don’t foster Gratitude daily we are walking a way of these abundant mentality and you know where we end up when we don’t direct our thoughts in a positive direction (thoughts = reality)

6. Are you vegan? (if yes, when and why did you make the transition?)
I am not vegan, I am vegetarian. I was vegan for 3 months but then gave it up due to social settings and frequent travelling/non-availability to get pure vegan choices - that might change in the future. India is a great country to eat 100% Vegetarian all the time.

7. Is there anything you want to say? 
Yes, follow your dreams. They are all possible. Take baby-steps and leave. your. mark. You are unique just like everyone else. Thank you soso much for your time & effort to read that.
You can reach me via:
www.chrisitianmauerer.com - www.loverope.net - www.instagram.com/christianmauerer - www.instagram.com/loverope.bracelet
Eternal Love & Blessings
Christian
♡