Welcome home, dear.

The New Moon can be a time to sent intentions and plant seeds for the future. “What am I ready to invite in?” That’s the big question on the New Moon.

The Moon is technically 238,855 miles away. But that far-off celestial body can actually help organize your life right here on Earth. The Moon gives us a schedule.

The New Moon is a moment to ask yourself important questions or sketch out big dreams, which you’ll pursue during the upcoming lunar cycle and beyond. This is when we set intentions, reflect on our goals, and figure out where we want to be, and where we want to go.

Most New Moon rituals are centered on planting seeds for the future—which makes sense, when you think about what’s happening celestially. During this three-day lunar phase, the Moon appears to disappear from the night sky. It’s the dark time. It’s when you put the seed in, and you leave it and let it germinate. Eventually, it’ll come up.

Think about what you want to bring into your life. Ponder a simple question during the new Moon: “What do I want to manifest this month?” Often people are concerned with matters of love or money. But you can also commit to smaller goals, like starting a mediation practice or walking for 20 minutes daily. You can also make a wish, too.

Wishing for something, setting an intention, or making a commitment are all valid ways to honour the New Moon. Regardless of the route, the most important thing is being clear and precise with your answer to the question, "What do I want to bring into my life?." And start dreaming from there…

Stick pose (Dandasana)

• Lengthens and realigns the spine

• Stretches the backs of the legs gently

• Opens the chest

• Stimulates the respiratory and reproductive system

• Tones the kidneys

• Reduces fat around the waistline

Start building your daily practice. Reserve 15 min in the day to meet yourself. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing:

• Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

• Equal breathing — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Ocean breathing: keep the equal breathing and add a whisper ‘ha’ in and out in your heart area and then do the same with your mouth closed.

Warm up and asanas:

• Warm up: cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog

• Sun Salutations A: 3 circles

• Sun Salutations B: 1-2 circles

Take rest:

• 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

Buddha said: “With our thoughts we create our world.”

Our minds are constantly commenting, discussing, judging, or are being dull. This mental chatter colours our reality. By becoming aware of these thoughts, you stop colouring reality and you are able to see things as they really are. In doing that, you’re not stopping the thoughts but just becoming an observer.

We have to continuously be able to catch ourselves entangled in our thoughts. To get out of this vicious circle, a habitual spiritual practice can help us keep remembering to connect and feel the present moment rather than get lost in the storytelling of our mind.

Our emotions are also just thoughts. Try and recall a negative emotion from a recent situation — it can be sad or angry. You’ll notice how your thoughts take you to the past and create a story. It’s not the event that causes the emotion but your thoughts about the event. But when you are in the present moment, there is no commentator.

When we see ourselves making these stories, then we become free — we are able to watch it as a movie rather than believing that we are it.

Don’t follow thoughts. Meditation and yoga help us release this cramp of the mind, to let us go of control.

Most people are not satisfied. They chase desires to be happy but when they get what they want; they remain unsatisfied. Our desire system is flawed.

• We have too many options. (we don’t know what to trade our money with).

• We desire things because others desire them.

• We find out what we don’t want after we get what we thought we wanted.

• We no longer desire once we get what we want.

• We desire too many things at once.

• We desire things NOW. We want instant gratification.

If you already know what you want to do but you’re afraid to pursue it, you don’t have to quit all your responsibilities in life. Do it on the side or free up time for it. Do it because that’s what matters to you.

If you haven’t found your passion yet, you haven’t explored enough. To explore, you need courage. With courage, you try new things. You’re not afraid to look stupid or make mistakes. Keep playing with life.

If you want to explore further, use these prompts (link) for self-inquiry through journaling (it’s quite a comprehensive list but provides lots of useful insight).

Front intense stretch pose (Purvattanasana)

• Strengthens the whole body (especially core body strength)

• Strengthens the wrists and the ankles

• Improves movements in the shoulder joints

• Opens the chest

• Benefits the nervous system, the heart and the lungs

• Relieves fatigue from forward bending (counterpose)

Start building your daily practice. Reserve 15 min in the day to meet yourself. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing:

• Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

• Equal breathing — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Ocean breathing: keep the equal breathing and add a whisper ‘ha’ in and out in your heart area and then do the same with your mouth closed.

Warm up and asanas:

• Warm up: cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog

• Sun Salutations A: 3 circles

• Sun Salutations B: 1-2 circles

Take rest:

• 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

We enjoy feeling like we have control. In the West, we’ve grown up in a culture that tells us we’ll be what we want and get what we want if we just work hard enough. We hustle, we fight, we grind, and sometimes, we come out on top. When we don’t, it can be a harsh awakening. Many of us are drawn to spiritual practices like yoga or meditation to make sense of the groundlessness we feel when things don’t go the way we planned. Yet we bring our same ego, desire for control, and war-like work ethic to our mats and our cushions. We approach yoga and meditation in the same mistaken way we approach our lives.

The yogi who has completely surrendered in yoga practice is looking within. This surrender, dedication, or acceptance frees us from relying on ego and the thinking mind to do our work and allows us to get in touch with something deeper. We’re moved instead by the intuition of the subtle body, the divine within us.

An attitude of surrender is not the same as giving up. A person can still fight for what is right, work hard, and strive for meaningful goals, but with an attitude of surrendering to and accepting whatever outcome arises. Essentially, it is about doing the work without attachment to any one particular outcome; but, instead, simply surrendering to what comes.

Surrender may be the key to curing mental suffering because it directs the focus away from selfish desires and wants. It is in this way that the goal of experiencing unity with all can be achieved.

Boat pose (Navasana)

• Strengthens the abdominal muscles

• Strengthens the spinal cord, the rectum and the hips

• Increases digestive fire and digestive organs, stimulates the intestines

• Improves balance and confidence

• Relieves bloating sensations in the abdomen and gastric complaints

• Reduces fat around the waistline

Start building your daily practice. Reserve 15 min in the day to meet yourself. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing:

• Three Step Exhalation: inhale deeply and keep exhaling and exhaling and exhaling… Repeat 3 times, each time go deeper, like you’re stepping into the ocean. Take a few natural breaths in between each round.

• Equal breathing — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Ocean breathing: keep the equal breathing and add a whisper ‘ha’ in and out in your heart area and then do the same with your mouth closed.

Warm up and asanas:

• Warm up: cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog

• Sun Salutations A: 3 circles

• Sun Salutations B: 1-2 circles

Take rest:

• 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

Almost everyone out there is on the quest to feeling empowered and trying to combat those very human feelings of self-doubt, “feeling stuck” and the negative self-talk that sometimes sneaks into your brain without you realising it.

In reality, it’s more of a process with multiple levels and layers, which changes depending on each person and their situation in life. Self-empowerment is, in its most basic form, realising and acting upon the fact that your strength and capabilities come from within yourself, not from an external source. Basically, that you have everything you need within yourself, and that all you have to do is find the best ways to unlock all that magic.

Feeling empowered starts with introspection, meaning looking inside yourself and to see yourself for who you really are when all the labels are removed. With awareness you bring light to your patterns and beliefs, and with courage you explore whether they are still serving you or are the beliefs really true. Once you shed away the things you are not, you are able to tap into your authenticity, creativity, and playfulness.

It is easy to feel disempowered. Our always on-the-go culture makes us feel overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. It is all too common to experience insecurity, low self-worth, and anxiety throughout the day. When we step on our yoga mat, this can all shift. Yoga can empower us to heal and nurture our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, wellbeing. Through a dedicated practice of yoga, we discover our focus, vitality, power, and courage.

Yoga teaches us that we are complete beings.

Feeling empowered can help you in many aspects of your life. It can improve your relationships, not only with yourself but with others as well. The more confident you are, the more people will gravitate towards you and trust you. The new-found self-confidence is contagious in the best way possible! When people see someone who is happy and comfortable in their skin, they want to spend more time with them and discover their secret, and so feeling empowered can actually become inspiration for others around you.

Aside from the physical body, we also have a subtle, energetic body. Within it are pathways that flow with life-force, and these converge at powerful energy centers, known as chakras. The seven primary chakras flow from the root (base of the spine) up to the crown chakra (top of the head). Each chakra, or nerve center, is associated with particular qualities and emotions which transpire in different ways depending on whether they’re unbalanced (aka blocked)...or not!

Manipura chakra is the solar plexus, our seat of personal power. This fiery energy wheel is an explosion of confidence radiating from the space between your ribs and belly button. It’s really one of the best feelings in the world, right? Confidence. When we’re confident we’re not worrying about what we lack, rather, we focus on what we know because we feel secure in that. We can move forward with clarity since confidence and doubt can’t live in the same space. We’re disciplined and independent, taking responsibility for our own life and ownership of the direction it will go.

When a chakra is imbalanced it could be either overactive or blocked. An overactive solar plexus manifests as insecurity, feelings of lack, and even low self-esteem. A blocked Manipura causes us to feel overly critical, stubborn, or controlling, suppressing the confidence and sense of purpose we feel when the chakra is balanced.

Here are some tips on how to bring the warm glow back to Manipura and energise yourself with divine confidence:

• The chakras are intricately linked to specific colors. For example, the color that represents manipura chakra is yellow. Because colors hold unique vibrations, it’s said that wearing a chakra’s corresponding colour can help balance that chakra. So, wear yellow clothing when you can or surround yourself with yellow flowers or other yellow objects. And why not eat yellow fruits and veggies? Squash, lemons, yellow bell peppers should be eaten often.

• Eat food that makes digestion, metabolism, assimilation, elimination easier. Freshly cooked food, plant based food, complex carbohydrates like oats, rice, and sprouted grains are also great for building energy.

• Manipura chakra finds its cosmic association with the sun. It holds the element of fire, and when you sunbathe, you’ll help balance your solar plexus chakra. Notice how centered, relaxed, and confident you feel after a nice long soak in the sun. Don’t forget your SPF!

• There are corresponding yoga poses that balance each chakra. Yoga postures that help realign the solar plexus (from the one that we did in our practice) are Warrior, Plank, Boat Pose, and Revolved Triangle Pose.

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana)

• Stretches and strengthens the tights, knees and angles

• Stretches the hips, groins, hamstrings and calves; shoulders, chest and spine

• Stimulates the abdominal organs

• Helps relieve stress and improves digestion

• Helps relieve symptoms of menopause

• Relieves backache

• Therapeutic for anxiety, flat feed, infertility, neck pain, osteoporosis and sciatica

Start building your daily practice. Reserve 15 min in the day to meet yourself. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing:

• Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

• Equal breathing — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Ocean breathing: keep the equal breathing and add a whisper ‘ha’ in and out in your heart area and then do the same with your mouth closed.

Warm up and asanas:

• Warm up: cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog

• Sun Salutations A: 3 circles

• Sun Salutations B: 1-2 circles

Take rest:

• 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

Stop the negotiations. Finish something, and when you do, take the time to really experience the feeling of accomplishment. Revel in it whether it’s something you’ve been putting off for a while, an idea you have that you “haven’t found the time for,” completing a project that you left behind, or even going out for that walk you keep saying you’re going to take…do it!

Our bodies are such a piece of art yet most of the times we take our physical wellbeing for granted. We expect our knees to be pain free, our digestion to be regular, and our backs to be tension free. And lots of the time they are but when they aren’t, then we have a problem and we start with reactive treatments. We start taking medicine or a last minute gym class to relieve the unease, and the second it gets better we forget all about it and go into our daily routine.

We have lost touch with our bodies and perhaps we never really paid much attention to how the various systems within work after that biology class in primary school. Just by giving our bodies attention, we’re able to re-establish the lost connection and to perceive changes in the body much earlier. This allows us to spot any forming problems and thus become proactive in our wellbeing.

When we feel our body or bring attention to our breath we are also bringing ourselves away from the past and the future, back to the present moment.

The invite for you this week is to feel your body inside and out. You can do this during any activity that you perform — while making coffee, reaching out for a cup, cycling or just sitting behind the computer. Take a few moments to observe how does it feel to make a certain movement, be curious about all the muscles necessary to perform it, but also connect to your juices — observe your saliva, feel your digestive acids.

By regularly tuning into your body you will create the most intimate connection there is — the one with yourself. And once this connection is established, all other elements like daily routines, food and activities will naturally follow that. You will start noticing more which foods and activities do you good and which don’t, and with that you will able to transform the way you went about life until now.

Spring is the season when our liver needs some extra care. This makes seasonal sense, as a traditional winter diet is often higher in fats and protein, which can put extra pressure on the liver. It also makes sense because spring is so abundant in green foods and herbs, which support the liver’s natural digestive capacity. Traditional Chinese medicine teaches us that when energy is running smoothly through the liver, emotions run smoothly too. To give your liver a boost, try consuming at least two litres of water a day, drink a moderate amount of coffee, get plenty of movement, reduce heavier foods and processed foods, and try to eliminate as many toxins as you can from your home, which may mean swapping to more natural cleaning and self-care products.

When you think of spring foods, think ‘green’. Leafy greens and vegetables are exactly what our bodies are craving right now, and if you’re able to shop locally and organically, you’ll be providing your body with the exact nutrients needed to prevent seasonal allergies and illnesses too.

The foods we eat provide our cells with information, and by consuming seasonal spring foods, our body starts to align with spring energy. When adopting a lighter spring diet with seasonal greens, you may notice your energy levels rise, and your digestion may improve too. This is largely due to the abundance of bitterness present in kale, chard, spinach, chicory, and other greens.

Bitterness is a very important taste to include in order to boost digestion, cleanse heavy energy, and encourage a healthy liver, but it happens to be lacking in most Western processed foods. Opt for asparagus, artichoke, chicory, new potatoes, leeks, sprouting broccoli, radish, sorrel, kale, lettuce, watercress and peas. These greens are said to hold the most energy or ‘prana’ during Spring too.

If you’re a confident forager, the following plants and herbs are likely growing in your local hedgerows and woodland right now, and are all very high in nutrients: nettle, dandelion, wild garlic, wild garlic mustard, cleavers, and wood sorrel. Always consult a professional before picking any wild plants!

Big Toe Pose (Padangusthasana) & Hand Under Foot Pose (Pada-hastasana)

• Increases blood circulation to legs, torso and brain

• Stimulates and tones the liver, the kidneys and the spleen

• Stretches the entire backside of the body, especially legs and lower back

• Elongates the spine and increases flexibility

• Improves digestion (increases digestive juices)

• Therapeutic for gastric troubles and bloating sensations in the abdomen

Look at your agenda and reserve 15 minutes in the day for yoga — preferably the first thing in the morning, if that is not possible, then find a sweet time between a meal and rest. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing:

• Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

• Equal breathing — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Ocean breathing: keep the equal breathing and add a whisper ‘ha’ in and out in your heart area and then do the same with your mouth closed.

Warm up and asanas:

• Warm up: cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog

• Sun Salutations A: Do 3-5 circles, — let the breath be your teacher.

Take rest:

• 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

Ayurveda, which translates as “knowledge of life”, dates back 5.000 years. It is a system of healing that examines physical constitution, emotional nature, and spiritual outlook in the context of the universe. According to the philosophy, universal life force manifests as three different energies, or doshas, known as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

The Vata dosha is derived from the elements of space and air, and it is known as the energy of movement that governs all the biological activities of the body. The Pitta dosha is the energy of digestion and metabolism in the body. It functions through carrier substances such as organic acids, hormones, enzymes and bile. Kapha dosha is the energy of building and lubrication that provides the body with physical form, structure and smooth functioning of all its parts.

We are all made up of a unique combination of these three forces. Though everyone has some of each, most people tend to have an abundance of one or two of the doshas. This unique combination is determined at the moment of conception ad is our own personal blueprint.

As we move through life, the proportion of each of the three doshas constantly fluctuates according to our environment, diet, the seasons, the climate, age, and many other factors. As they move into and out of balance, the doshas can affect our health, energy level, and general mood.

Curious which dosha is predominant in you and how to keep all three of them in balance? Discover your constitution by filling in the questionnaire (link). Your answers should be based on how you felt throughout your life and not just at the current moment.

Spring is a season of birth, new beginnings, renewal, and growth—a time for the earth to make manifest the latent potential within all things. Our physiology senses a natural opportunity for a fresh, clean start; our bodies are primed to lighten things up, cleanse ourselves of any accumulated imbalances, and rejuvenate our deepest tissues.

Spring embodies the heaviness of increased moisture, and it tends to feel slower than, say, summer or fall. These are just a few of the characteristics that align spring with Kapha dosha. In fact, the Sanskrit word kapha means “that which flourishes in water,” and what season is more defined by the presence of water than spring?

With a seasonal diet and lifestyle that invites a little extra lightness, sharpness, dryness, and heat into our lives, we can support our physiology in its natural process of springtime renewal and revitalisation.

The growing hours of sunlight indicate that we’re naturally supported to move for longer periods of time in spring. Whereas winter is all about short bursts of strength-building movements surrounded by rest, spring is when we emerge from hibernation and start moving for longer periods of time.

Although sleep is incredibly important year-round, we evolved to sleep slightly less in spring and summer than autumn and winter. Just like movement, our sleep is deeply connected to the sun, and our circadian rhythms (the body clock). When the sun rises early, this supports us to wake earlier too, and when the sun sets later, we may feel like staying up a little later than usual.

As winter recedes, you can gradually begin to rise earlier. For most people, waking by or before 6 a. during the spring months is ideal. Try to not use an alarm clock when you next have the opportunity – you may notice you wake early with the sunrise. If so, get up a little earlier, head outside to expose your eyes to natural daylight (thus setting your circadian rhythms). Of course, ensure you’re switching off all screens in the evening (or wearing blue-light blocking glasses), which will allow your body to secrete melatonin, the darkness and sleep hormone. Try and go to bed between 21-22h while Kapha energy of unwind is strongest and before the fire element rises and agitates us again.

Spring is a natural time to socialise and to initiate (or rekindle) meaningful relationships—to enjoy our friends and loved ones. Whilst winter is all about connecting intimately to loved ones and close friends, spring encourages us to get out into the world a little more. This is a great time of year to plan get-togethers with those you may not have seen over winter, and to re-establish friendships you really value. When it comes to big parties and meeting lots of new people however, that is best saved for the height of the energy in summer.

It is also a great time to play. Go explore new things, implement changes and declutter, go out of your comfort zone, and seek things that ignite you.

For thousands of years Hindus have revered the sun, which they call Surya, as both the physical and spiritual heart of our world and the creator of all life itself. One of the means of honouring the sun is through the dynamic asana sequence Surya Namaskar (better known as Sun Salutation). Surya Namaskar is included in a regular morning ritual of prayer and worship. It is the prayer of Lord Surya, the god of health.

The Sun Salutation A in Ashtanga system consists of 9 positions done in succession. When one round ends, another one begins in a perfect circle. It is a general tonic and complete warm-up for the body, which can be done just as it is, or as a warm up before other asanas.

• Activates the energy channels

• Removes bodily and mental tensions

• Improves circulation

• Stimulates the nervous sytem

• Raises body heat

• Joints are loosened and lubricated

• Increases flexibility to the spine

• The muscles of the abdomen, pelvis and spine are toned and strengthened

• The breathing is regulated, thereby calming the mind (practice slowly in the evening for a calming effect, practice briskly in the morning for an invigorating effect)

Look at your agenda and reserve 15 minutes in the day for yoga — preferably the first thing in the morning, if that is not possible, then find a sweet time between a meal and rest. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing and meditation:

• Find a comfortable seat, close your eyes and bring your attention first to your body and then to the breath.

• Spend a couple of minutes just observing, be curious and non-judgemental with anything that comes up — peace, chaos, frustrations etc.

• Afterwards do a few rounds of Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

  • If you are struggling with relaxing the belly, do this exercise on all 4 and let gravity take care of it. :)

• Next do a few rounds of pranayama — inhale for 4, pause, exhale for 4, pause. Keep repeating and observing what it does to your energy.

• Return to the natural breath, feel the body fully and open your eyes.

Warm up and asanas:

• Take what you remember from the warm up part (cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog)

• Do 3-5 circles of Sun Salutations A— let the breath move you, be your teacher.

Take rest: make sure to reserve 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

We all have a different interpretation about yoga and what it means. To some it’s another form of exercise, to others something they see as out of reach, and to some others it represents a way of living.

In traditional literature, yoga means union. You may wonder what is it that it unites? The mind with the body.

When you look at your thoughts unattached, you’ll see that we spend most of our times re-living memories and regrets or in the fantasies of the future. We spend most of our time in places that do not exist (yet).

In this context, yoga refers to the attainment of control over the complex powers of the mind. With a distracted mind, we will not be able to utilise the body and its senses fully. With such a mind we cannot work with our bodies, consciousness, relationships. We get a correct understanding of ourself and others when the mind is relaxed, harmonious, and focused. Our perception grows, allowing us to see the world for what it really is, and our roles in it.

The body, mind, emotions, and energy are all in harmony in the state of yoga, a state of equanimity through exercise, breathing, and meditation. There are over 100 different types of yoga practices out there that can suit any liking. In some way or the other, even the simplest type of yoga practice can assist us.

For example, by simply feeling the body and connecting to the breath we bring ourselves back to the present moment in all its fullness. We stop mind-wandering around. Keep this connection also off the mat: when you peal a banana — peal the banana and eat it totally. When you shower — feel the water dropping on the skin totally. When you spend time with people — be present for them totally.

Be total in everything you do.

“I can’t meditate. When I sit down to meditate, my mind becomes busier than ever. I thought meditation was supposed to help you quiet your mind.”

Sound familiar? I’d guess that most people who have spent any time meditating have had the same experience. It’s very common, but it doesn’t have to be a source of frustration. The frustration comes from a couple of common misunderstandings.

First, because the tsunami of thoughts seems to happen the moment we sit down to meditate, we often mistake meditation as the cause. Actually, meditation is simply shining a light on what is happening all the time in our minds. Once we sit down and attempt to quiet our minds, we see how much thinking is going on all the time. We’ve just never sat quietly long enough to notice it.

The second misunderstanding is that meditation is about emptying our minds of all thoughts. Our minds think. That is what they do. The average human has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts every day. Ninety-eight percent of these thoughts are the same thoughts we had yesterday. Thinking is not inherently good or bad. It just is. Sometimes thoughts can be useful, inspiring and productive. At other times, they can be repetitive, stale and unproductive.

The belief that we should banish all thoughts from our minds sets us up for frustration. So, you can disabuse yourself of that idea now. The point is not whether you are thinking or how many thoughts are arising. What’s important is how we are relating to the thoughts that will inevitably arise.

When you can control the ripples of your mind, you will experience yoga. The peaceful state of our minds is our natural state which gets distorted by the various opinions and desires.

The entire outside worls is based on our thoughts and mental attitude. The entire world is our own projection. Your values may change within a fraction of a second. Today you may not even want to see the one who was your sweet honey yesterday. If you remember that, you won’t put so much stress on outward things. These are all changing circumstances whereas your peaceful Self is the unchanged one. This is the place of love, kindness and compassion.

Thinking, in itself, is not a problem. The only power our thoughts actually have is the power that we give them. The art of working with thoughts in meditation is to learn how to be aware that thinking is happening, rather than getting caught up in the stories they are telling us. When we see thinking as an energetic phenomenon rather than believing every story our minds tell us, we can begin to unhook ourselves. When we can unhook from our minds’ stories, we can begin to discern which thoughts are productive and onward leading, and which thoughts are not.

Look at your agenda and reserve 15 minutes in the day for yoga — preferably the first thing in the morning, if that is not possible, then find a sweet time between a meal and rest. You can do all elements below or pick one that you have time for.

Breathing and meditation:

• Find a comfortable seat, close your eyes and bring your attention first to your body and then to the breath.

• Spend a couple of minutes just observing, be curious and non-judgemental with anything that comes up — peace, chaos, frustrations etc.

• Afterwards do a few rounds of Three Stage Breathing: on inhale invite the breath in the belly — diaphragm — chest, and exhale from the belly — diaphragm — chest.

• Afterwards do a few rounds of breathing with counting — inhale for 4, exhale for 6; keep adding counts if you feel like it.

• Return to the natural breath, feel the body fully and open your eyes.

Warm up and asanas:

• Take what you remember from the warm up part (cat-cow, puppy pose, old dog, crazy dog, downward dog)

• Do 3-5 circles of Sun Salutations — let the breath move you.

Take rest: make sure to reserve 3-5 minutes in the resting pose at the end.

In parallel, try resetting your mind by holding an ‘opinion diet’ this week: no judgements (good or bad), just observe life as is without it being ‘nice’ or ‘good’ or ‘too much this’ or ‘too little that’.

From the very first breath at birth till the last whisper of breath leaves our bodies at death, breathing is something the body knows how to do for our basic survival. This automatic breath allows you to survive, but when you unconsciously hold or resist your breath through habit, the breath that once so conveniently breathed you becomes automatically restricted and distorted.

Breathing affects your respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, muscular and psychic systems, and also has a general effect on your sleep, your memory, energy levels and concentration. By improving the quality of our breathing we can feel its positive impact on all aspects of our being. It is the cornerstone of our wellbeing.

We have forgotten how to breath fully as an infant but we have not lost it. This is a process of deconstruction, of unlearning and clearing the way. The process of breathing is the most accurate metaphor we have for the way that we personally approach life, how we live our lives, and how we react to the inevitable changes.

Correlations between breathing and the state of our body and mind have been made for thousands of years in ancient Taoism, yogic scriptures and in the medical practices of India (Ayurveda), Tibet and China. We can now take comfort in the knowledge that most modern scientific and medical research supports the belief that proper breathing is a cornerstone to our wellbeing.

The shift from operating in chronic stress mode to a mode of relaxed alertness can affect the synthesis of protein, fat, carbohydrates, increases the production of cells for immune system activation, promote bone repair and growth, as well as enhance cellular, hormonal and psychological processes.

Creating clarity for yourself is a way to bring yourself closer to your inner spark. With this practice bring into awareness and acknowledge fully all that you wish to lean away from. Before you can begin moving towards what you want, you need to be clear about what you wish to see changed. What is it that needs to be different for you to be happy?

A writing meditation is a great process to gain this clarity. Start by sitting silently and observe any phenomena of the mind, arising and passing in your attention. Maybe it is a memory, a fantasy, a worry. Observe without analysing and judging. After a few minutes (e.g. 5-10) take a deep breath and open your eyes. Sit comfortably with your notebook and pencil in front of you. Allow whatever arises to pass through the pencil onto the paper.

Write down everything associated with the struggle or unease you are experiencing:

• Where does it hurt?

• What is the struggle?

• What are you unwilling to feel?

• What is creating this struggle you feel, what is it that you don’t want anymore?

• How does it express in your daily life, does it affect your sleep, appetite?

• How do you notice it?

• When is it mostly present?

When you’re done, read through your writing with no judging, just observing. Feel the sentiments that arise. Then take a few more minutes to log out of this exercise before returning to your everyday activities.

Imagine that you are becoming familiar with your body in the same way that you might come to know the layout of a new house, by walking through the same rooms and hallways over and over again. You will know the process is well underway when you begin to feel ‘at home’ in your body. Through calm and regular breathing our minds become clearer and our emotions become more balanced. To access this, we must be able to perceive our own breathing process — make the unconscious conscious.

Continue exploring the basic movements in the body that are present during breathing:

• begin to notice how your sacrum and coccyx move

• the rocking of your pelvis

• movement of your spine

• broadening of the hip bones

• broadening of the shoulder girdle

• the rotation of the arms

• how the skin stretches

Practice three-stage breathing by firstly inviting the breath in your belly, then in your diaphragm and lastly to your chest, and exhaling from the belly, diaphragm and chest. Establish a cue: a reminder to shift your awareness to the diaphragm and belly breathing. The most simple and reliable cue is a specific time. For instance, you decide you will connect to your natural breath every evening from 9 to 9:30 p.m.

It can also be a floating cue: you will do it right after you finish work, whenever that happens to be. Or you will take ten mindful breaths whenever you are about to launch your email program or take a sip of water.

Instead of demanding results inquire, feel and sense. Let openness and patience be your guide.

The Spring Equinox is a call back for us to connect to the cycle of life. It is an ancient event that through the fast pace of life in cities we have forgotten why and how to cherish it. There are many traditional ceremonies connected to the Spring Equinox period, for example carnival, Holi or the festival of colours in India, Nyepi in Bali and so on. All of them have one thread in common: celebration. Celebration of love, equality, light over darkness, and letting the past behind. These cultures embrace the dark and with rituals bring it to the surface and confront it to release old grudges.

By acknowledging these elements, this period brings a certain opening in our lives and allows us to come back to Nature. It is probably not a coincidence that on 20 March there is also an International Re-wilding Day which invites us to get closer to nature, seasons, wilderness — inside and outside. To start a process of shedding this domestication of ours and embrace our playfulness.

The Spring Equinox can therefore be seen as a mass catharsis, an invitation to stop collecting unfinished things and finish what you started. A call to embrace the dark parts in ourselves, making us whole again, because only in wholeness we can really be in balance. The spring time helps us a little more to do just that.

You can read more about it in my last newsletter here.

The cultures that are still connected to traditions embrace the darkness and are inviting it to the surface so old grudges can be released. In contrast, many modern cultures tend to hide the darkness inside and doesn’t allow it to exist. We store it in the unconscious, chaining ourselves to the past. We become slaves of our shadows that take away our life force by having to carry around a big burden of the past.

We don’t like to embrace darkness, we only want light. But darkness also wants to be seen. If we leave a piece of us being stuck in a dimension of rejection, it can manifest as a disease. To allow for spring and light to come, we need to embrace darkness — surrender to it and let it go.

Every now and then, consider exploring your inner cave of ghosts. Go inside the cave, find your ghost(s), ask it what it wants, give it to it and then let it go… Repeat this one ghost at a time, and share the practice with children, family friends — with sharing we’ll start alleviate the pain in others, too.

At this time of the year it is the time for a reset. This is not a detox which makes us hungry and angry and longing. But what it is helpful is resetting our eating clocks. We get into patterns and habits with food; some bad, some good, driven as much as by emotion as nutrition. A reset helps us connect with what we’re eating again, it breaks the habits and allows us to reconsider why are we eating, when are we eating and what really feels good for us and our bodies. By eating mindfully for a few days we can reconnect.

So every so often, and always at the beginning of spring, we can make space over a few days to simplify things, to eat food wholly centered on fruits and vegetables. This doesn’t mean ‘boring’; it’s food that it is delicious and filling and that we are still excited about eating: juices, smoothies, soups and stews.

Reset advice:

• Fill your fridge with seasonal fruits and vegetables, ideally organic.

• Eat only when you are hungry; listen to your body.

• For breakfast a smoothie or juice, for lunch a bowl of soup or salad, for dinner a bowl of soup. If you are really hungry, add some cooked brown rice or soba noodles.

• Snack on a piece of fruit or some chopped up veg or a cup of miso soup.

• Avoid caffeine (herbal teas are fine).

• Drink lots of water: 2 litres a day at least.

Try to avoid using too much salt or soy sauce when eating this way, as well as leave out heavier things like bread and pasta.

Bon apetit!