Astral love

The moment I met her, I knew I would fall in love with her. I had to see her again, she was invading my thoughts, she was present with me at all times, I could not get her out of my mind.

I took the next train in a rush, almost like a fury gripping all my senses. I was not carrying anything with me just my plain grey coat, my hat and a handbag full of my most precious creations. I went like a haze and my thoughts of meeting her invaded my whole body.

I wanted to see her so badly that on the night following our departure I had a dream of her. Or more like it, I dreamt of her. I dreamt that my body started floating away, called by her like a spell sent out into the ether only to be caught by the one casting it.

A calling in the night and an answer. He came to her.˜

I went to see her. And when my skin touched her skin, I felt every single pore of it. After I have smelled every inch of her, after I have kissed every single part of her beautiful body, I realised that somehow I was actually there, with her.

I was flying out into the unknown, freely leaving my body behind but actually traveling with my essence, my consciousness.

We made love, like Seherezada would tell her stories to the sultan until sunrise to catch another day. It was a dream and a reality combined into perfection, a union of two beings, without being close to each other. A communion which rarely is felt otherwise.

When we first touched, we felt like we melted into each others’ bodies until we became one.  My body grew hungry for hers, and was trying to touch every single part of her body, skin on skin, in a tight embrace, filling her on the inside as well. When we reached up in the skies, we exploded in a million of bright fragments of star dust, reaching the ends of the Universe.

Nobody will be able to fully grasp the intensity of this experience and the all-consuming love that seemed to permeate between us.

When I got out of the train, my heart was racing with the thought of seeing her again, I was already breathing in her perfume, my nostrils full of their sweet memory. I was in front of her door in a blink of an eye, I was so eager to see her that I did not see anything else in front of my eyes, but her.

I knocked on her door, and it opened ever so slowly, like time was slowing down, revealing a treasure inside a cove, hidden in a cave with green natural riches and waterfalls. A ray of sun got tangled in her hair and would stubbornly sit there, claiming its right to existence in this magic depleted reality.

She floated until she reached me in waves of purple lace and perfume. Transparent wings and superfluous materials were embracing her beautiful body, like a goddess in a Renaissance painting. She stopped in front of me, her eyes locking mine in a dream of a higher promise.

She touched my chin, lifted my face as if to conduct my mouth closer to her slightly parted lips. My heart was in suspense in that moment, everything stopped around us, time, space, matter, meaning, reason, they all evaporated into the nothingness of a kiss I did not get, but was meant to have.

We seemed to talk with our minds, because I do not remember any words being spoken during the whole time I dreamt of her. She started floating backwards. And as her figure was leaving the porch, like a flame entertained by higher spirits, the only words that were left behind her, were these:

„My love, I will wait to meet you tonight, up there!”

I dare you: The habit of fear fencing

Whenever I would hear the phrase “I bet you cannot…” my competition animal inside of me would come out making me take on that challenge. While this particular behaviour of mine has helped me to push my limits and help me discover what I was capable of, I understood that in the end I didn’t want and didn’t need to prove anything to anybody, but to myself.

This attitude of always taking on challenges has been the birthplace of my development along the years, without me even realising it, until now. I would always want to prove to myself that I was capable of anything I put my mind to, especially if someone dared say otherwise.

Each challenge accepted was a reflection of my desire to confront any obstacle and face it against my capabilities. The thrill of facing something hard would give me the momentum and adrenaline to try it on. Along the way, I started challenging myself consciously.

Whenever I would find something which looked difficult or I would feel scared of it, I would try to prove to myself that I can do it. By this point I think an explanation is due. What made me need to challenge myself so many times? Well, I am what the modern world calls an introvert.

Thus I would always need a push to do certain things, especially if it involved other people as well. And yes, I do work in training, team building and coaching. And yes, most of the people with whom I interact would not be able to say that I am. On the contrary, they find me very sociable and easy to approach. But I developed my public speaking skills.

And this development is only the result of my teenage self, walking up on a stage…

Daring boldly

First exposure to public speaking fear I was around 15 or so. I was in my hometown, with my cousin, in the centre of the city, attending a concert at a local youth festival. Looking back on this experience, I think it was a turning point for me.

During the program, the presenter announced that there was going to be a joke contest after the last song. Whomever wanted to participate needed to go to the back of the stage and announce themselves.

The first thing I felt was desire, followed by fear, then paralysis, anger and ultimately I got to feeling nothing at all. How come I got this carousel of emotions in such a short span of time?

Desire, because I was and still am a curious person, always willing to try something new, so this contest intrigued me, it was a challenge with capital C. Fear because I soon realised that this would imply me getting up on that tall stage, facing all those teenagers gathered there for the festival and actually have the spirit and charisma of telling a joke.

I paralysed because I soon realised that this was too much to ask of myself, after all, I was only an introvert, not even among the cool gang at school. And I was not the class clown either to excel at jokes.

Immediately as I started doubting myself, I felt angry at myself for not being able to do it, almost disappointed. While all of this happened inside of me, my mind was on that freaking challenge.

At a certain point I told my cousin about my plan of going up on that stage, actually needing approval, encouragement. She did not actually think that I was serious, she was just as surprised of it as I was.

Then I just went through the crowd, reached the stage, told the presenter that I am in, without even thinking any longer. It was an impulse stronger than my fear, I wanted that experience in spite of the fear I felt.

Actually, if I get to think about it, that paralysing fear made it even more interesting for me. Long story short, I was one of the bold enough teenagers to get up on that stage.

I reached the stage God know how, I could not see anything in front of my eyes, I grabbed the microphone as if trying to be rid of all that ordeal, said the joke and then turned away.

I am not even sure how I climbed down the stairs, how I walked to my cousin, my body and mind were both overwhelmed with adrenaline and completely numb. It was done, it was all over!

The cherry on the cake was that I got second or third place, out of three teenagers who did actually find the courage of participating. Nonetheless, I even got a diploma to remind me this moment that told me that I CAN.

What followed afterwards was and still is a continuous row of me daring myself to push myself out of my comfort zone, push my limits as an introvert. Basically act without thinking because usually thinking about whether to do something or not, would ultimately get to me not doing anything at all.

The final countdown

After all of this, I developed my own strategy to push myself to try all sorts of things that usually an introvert would run away from, especially public speaking or being in the centre of attention.

I would like to share with you my personal strategy, which is actually quite, quite simple. Whenever I would want to do something that I was afraid of, I would not give myself the chance to be overwhelmed by fear and be convinced by my self talk to give it up.

And how would I do this? I would simply countdown from 10. As slow or as fast as I needed to, but I knew that when I would reach 0, I would need to go and do that thing that I feared so much!

The key point to this was that no matter what, when I reached 0, I would go straight, without thinking, as if I would mute all my inner dialogue, even though all my fears were telling me to stop and stay in my comfort zone.

I never ever broke this rule, once I would start the countdown, I HAD to do it. I think this is why it was and still is such a powerful tool. Because I knew beforehand that if I decided to count, then there was no turning back.

And you know what made this work every single time? I would start the countdown as soon as I would hear that voice telling myself that I could not do this or that. I would not let it get louder because almost always when I waited more, I would just give it up.

This is how I jumped with bungee jumping from 144 meters, this is how I stepped on the stage to hold a training in front of 600 students, this is how I asked a man who climbed Mount Everest if I could give him a hug when I was in high school (I wanted to feel part of that emotion, that courage).

Moreover, whenever I was in a situation when a volunteer was asked for, for a role play, for questions, for ideas, I would even skip the countdown and just raise my hand. My hand would raise faster than I could muster any other objections.

I would just see my hand going up, my stomach all tight in a knot, thinking what the hell was I doing? My hand knew what it was doing! I was actually growing, developing myself, giving myself the chance years later to work as a trainer and a coach with every single time I beat my fears.

Overcome your fears and inner demons today!

So the habit that I am proposing to you is the following: whenever you hear your inner voice starting to convince you to give up, not try something you want, standing in your way, just start to count to 0 and go do it! Simple as that! No other explanations needed!

Every time you’re fighting with your inner demons, and you feel tempted to give in, count until 10 and at the end of the countdown find in yourself the strength and the courage to say NO. Or find the courage to start moving, doing something that you are procrastinating or avoiding.

Every single time you feel afraid to do something, just remember that an opportunity to develop yourself lays beyond that fear, you just have to embrace it, go along with it and just do that thing that scares you.

Take a deep breath, start your countdown and do not look back. The worst that could happen is that you are going to learn something, about yourself, about your limits, about your potential.

With every single time that you challenge yourself this way, you increase your self-esteem, no matter the result. Because you had the courage, despite of your fears, to put yourself out there, to give it a try, to turn that might-have-been into i-did-it-and-it-feels-so-good!

And if there is something I have learned after doing this for so long is that it gets easier with every single 0 you reach. With every single YES you say, you get better at it, you learn a lot, you grow and the satisfaction has no equal.

As it seems, the strategy that I would use is nicely developed by Mel Robbins, watch her explain her story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lz0VOltZKA

Do something that scares you every single day!

HAI-KU-MINE

– De ce m-ai chemat?

– Te-am visat.

– Doar atât?

– Mai mult.

– Eu nu pot să rămân, trebuie să plec mai departe.

– Doar atât?

– Atât.

– De ce?

– Pentru că vin cu tine.

– Unde?

– În lume.

Haide, trebuie să facem o baie, tu miroși a ieri și eu miros a tine.

5AM: Tribul oamenilor nerezonabili

Acest sfârșit de săptămână am avut teambuilding și întâlnirea de planificare pentru următorul sezon de 5AM Club. Dacă nu ai auzit până acum de club, este o platformă de dezvoltare personală deschisă între orele 05:00 – 07:00 pentru cei care își doresc să își îmbunătățească performanța, să împlementeze obiceiuri productive și să ducă o viață împlinită.

Clubul este în vacanță, o să avem redeschiderea pe 1 septembrie, până atunci aș vrea să împărtășesc câteva din răspunsurile pe care le-am pregătit și împărtășit cu colegii mei de echipă, la întâlnirea noastră 🙂

De ce sunt moderatoare pe 5AM Club?

Atunci când intru în club, îmi încep rutina de dimineață, cu hidratare, inspirația zilnică, scrierea obiectivelor anuale, priritățile zilnice, practica de recunoștință, mic dejun și sport. În acest mod îmi hrănesc cele 4 inteligențe: fizică, mentală, emoțională și spirituală.

În funcție de perioadă, ordinea obiceiurilor variază, dar această rutină mă ajută să îmi încep ziua cu cea mai bună stare posibilă. Iar faptul că am o comunitate de oameni cu aceleași interese mă responsabilizează și motivează să mențin aceste obiceiuri productive.

În foarte multe dimineți m-am simțit cu adevărat împlinită pentru că în sistemul meu de valori se regăsește și dezvoltarea și evoluția, valoare pe care o împărtășesc cu mulți membri pe de 5AM Club, oameni care își doresc s învee ceva nou în fiecare zi, oameni care își doresc să fie mai buni pe zi ce trece.

Faptul că pot contribui la dezvoltarea celor din jurul meu mă face să simt că aduc o contribuție pozitivă și valoroasă în societate. Creștem împreună prin vizionarea resursei inspiraționale pe diferite tematici de pe TED.com, pe baza căreia discutăm și facem schimb de impresii și rezultate din practică în fiecare zi. Valoarea adăugată este schimbul de informație, idei, oportunități și feedback care ne ajută să ințelegem și să integrăm diferite informații mai bine.

Cel mai mult din povestea lui Harap Alb, îmi place jăraticul pe care i-l dă calului, care îl ajută să crească într-un an cât alții în zece, iar acest lucru simt atunci când accesez oportunitățile oferite de această platformă, cresc exponențial, la o viteză incredibilă, mă uit în urmă de la începutul anului la cât de mult am reușit să învăț, să mî dezvolt, să avansez în ceea ce mi-am propus și asta pentru că am avut alături de mine o cuminitate care să mă sprijine să fac aceste lucruri.

Programele pe care le-am accesat prin intermediul 5AM Club, și anume Wildfit, m-a ajutat să înțeleg care este nutriția potrivită pentru mine pentru un stil de viață sănătos, mi-a dat strategii relevante și pertinente pentru a include cât mai mult din acele alimente care sunt benefice pentru mine și să le înlătur pe cele nocive. Mai mult decât, am descoperit cum pot gestiona foamea și mâncatul emoțional. A fost o experiență valoroasă pentru mine, care merită conversații întregi pe temă.

Iar programul de testare gratuit a apei alcaline, ionizate Kangen m-a ajutat să beau apa de cea mai bună calitate, prin PH său ridicat, prin potențialul de oxidoreducere și de combatere a efectelor negative ale radicalilor liberi și prin filtrarea de toate impuritățile pe care le găsim la apa de la robinet, printre care și foarte mult clor.

Împreună cu schimbările pozitive la nivel de nutriție, am complementat cu cunoștințe și practică zilnică în ceea ce privește hidratarea optimă. Iar acestea sunt doar două exemple, foarte pe scurt, despre programele pe care le-am accesat, de anul trecut și de la care încep să culeg roadele la nivel de vitalitate și energie, stomac ușor, claritate și o stare de bine. Iar efectele o să continue mai departe, zi de zi, pentru că reușesc să îi dau corpului meu ambrozie și nectar 🙂

Sunt în comunitatea 5AM încă din 2012 de când mi-am început cariera, și am început să lucrez cu Dan Luca la 5AM Productivity Coaching. Să încep să lucrez pentru o firmă de coaching la primul job a însemnat să mă dezvolt extraordinar de mult prin toate cunoștințele pe care le-am accesat la nivel de productivitate, să reușesc să dezvolt conținut și experiențe de învățare pe acestă temă și să am cel mai bun mentor posibil. Și aș fi făcut toate aceste lucruri fără să fiu plătită.

Faptul că mi-am început cariera cu această oportunitate m-a pus în poziția în care să am un standard ridicat de profesionalism, cunoștințe și așteptări legate de performanța mea și a celor cu care colaborez. Mai mult decât atât, am încățat cum să lucrez eficient, singură și cu alte persoane, cum să comunic spre a stabili relații productive și cum să ofer și să primesc feedback  constructiv.

A fost dream job și continuă să fie pentru mine acest lucru din moment ce această colaborare continuă și astăzi, de aproape 8 ani de zile. Sunt recunoscătoare pentru toți oamenii valoroși care au intrat în viața mea din acel moment, tot ce am reușit să dezvolt la nivel de carieră și omul care am devenit astăzi.

5AM Club mai reprezintă pentru mine o platformă în care pot împărtășii diferite acțiuni, inițiative din zona societății civile, să sprijin și să încurajez acei oameni care aleg să se implice, să facă o schimbare pozitivă în comunitatea și societatea lor.

Asociațiile care sunt aproape de sufletul meu și pentru care voi fi ambasador în orice moment și context sunt Asociația Pentru Liberate și Egalitate de Gen care sprijină victimele violenței domestice și abuzurilor sexuale și militează pentru egalitatea de gen, Asociația Cu Verdele-n Sus care luptă împotriva tăierilor ilegale și  are în îngrijire păduri plantat copăcel cu copăcel de câțiva ani buni deja, Platforma pentru consum colaborativ și economie circulară pe care am înființat-o și Asociația Liberated care luptă împotriva traficului uman.

5AM mai reprezintă pentru mine o fabrică de îndeplinit visuri, pentru că aici ai ocazia să împărtășești cu oameni valoroși ceea ce îți dorești să realizezi în viață și găsești resursele de care ai nevoie pentru a porni pe această cale. Unul dintre visurile mele este să scriu, iar 5AM Club m-am ajutat să pun cărămidă, după cărămidă, atunci când mi-am luat un angajament față de membri să încep să scriu.

Acum postez câte un articol în fiecare zi pe blogul meu și dezvolt procese de journaling de reflecție și deavoltare personală, iar acest lucru este pentru mine o realizare fenomenală. De asemenea, toate celelalte proiecte pe care le-am deavoltat ca freelancer au putut să crească tocmai pentru că am găsit un incubator, o comunitate care să mă pună în poziția de a găsi resursele și de a dezvolta abilitățile de care am nevoie pentru a le realiza.

Închei cu ultimul motiv, și anume posibilitatea de a influența și de a avea un impact asupra productivității, calității vieților antreprenorilor, managerilor, liber profesioniști, profesori, și a celor implicați în societate civilă. Iar faptul că aceși oameni conduc, colaborează sau educă la rândul lor alte persoane mă ajut să multiplic și să catalizez impactul pe care îl pot avea.

Sunt atât de multe de spus, dar mă rezum la aceste motive. Dacă ai reușit să citești până aici, îți multumesc tare mult pentru atenția ta și îmi doresc să ne cunoaștem. Dacă nu ești deja pe 5AM club, poți cere o invitație la 5amclub.ro și ne vedem pe 1 septembrie, iar dacă ai vrea să îți reactivezi contul, trimite un email la dan@5amclub.ro 🙂

Yes, you can!

You can do it when you know you can!

I recently had started a treatment which implies to break small glass vials which contain my medicine. I had not done this ever before in my life, and just the idea to break something running the risk that it might break in my hands was really out of my comfort zone.

So I asked my lover to help me out, because I was far from being courageous enough to try. It is the same like blowing into a balloon until it pops, even though it is something harmless, I just can’t put myself to do it. He did break them, but they broke completely into a lot of pieces and shards of glass, fortunately it did not hurt him. It was like this for the first vial and for the second one.

Next day I had a visit to my doctor to discuss the treatment and I complained about those vials, how should I cut them, the instructions were mentioning a sort of special file which I could not find. Basically she assured me that nowadays there is no need for a file, just take a towel, and put enough pressure in the right direction with the thumb and the slender neck of the vial will cut by itself.

When I got back home, the next time I did the treatment, I had to try it because I was about to spend the weekend away, and I could not have the help of my lover, basically I had to do it myself. But being reassured by the doctor that I can, and it is easy, I went about it, according to her instructions. The vials broke evenly and gave in easily and I was amazed.

In the end, the difference was that I trusted that I can do it, when the first time I could not even bring myself to try. The sense of empowerment, even if it was such a small thing, and that I can do it myself, was immense and it came with the realisation that I just need to trust in my potential and capacity.

This is just a very simple example, but I am sure we all have experiences in our lives, big or small, when the difference between succeeding and not lays in trusting ourselves and ultimately knowing that we can do it.

Journaling for empowerment

Once we know we can do something, because we had done it before or because we have all the resources we need to do so, then the second time, there is no doubt, no hesitation.

In this sense, I started thinking about what we actually think we can or cannot do? Henry Ford said „Whether you think you can do a thing or can’t, you’re right!”

In this effect, we should carefully pick the thoughts we want to feed our mind. I created a journaling process, in which I invite you to complete the following phrases, so that you can put yourself in the mental state: „Yes, I can!”

Take your time, and give as much details and elaborate upon your answers, feed your mind with the messages that empower you!

I believe I can be…

I believe I can do…

I believe I can have…

I believe I can manage to…

I believe I can hope for…

I believe I can dream of…

I believe I can create…

I believe I can solve…

I believe I can reach…

I believe I can achieve…

I believe I can heal…

I believe I can let go of…

I believe I can separate…

I believe I can forgive…

I believe I can overcome…

I believe I can go…

I believe I can learn…

I believe I can teach…

I believe I can see…

I believe I can hear…

I believe I can touch…

I believe I can taste…

I believe I can smell…

I believe I can feel…

I believe I can live…

I am really curious about your answers, and what do you think of the power we hold, to tap into our potential through what we think. On the other side, we can get paralysed with fear and not be able to do the things we want to do.

Marianne Williamson has an amazing quote which I keep close at heart and I try to remind myself of it every single time, and I would love to end this article with it:

„Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”

Heal

Due to some problems I have with my lungs and a long history with asthma, in the context of coronavirus, I started to do a treatment with aerosol machine. I have been postponing it a lot.

Firstly, I was not decided whether this will be a one time use of the machine, and then I will just have it the house and secondly, when I did buy it shortly after, I was overwhelmed by the thought that I need to operate it myself, and then my doctor was on holiday and then after reading the instructions for 3 times it just seemed daunting to me that I honestly postponed it for almost two months now, today was my first day of the treatment.

I received basic instructions from my doctor the first time I went there, and I really thought to myself that I am holding trainings and basically managing a lot of situations where I don’t know how to do things, but I guess when it comes to medicine, treatments, and hospitals, I give away my power and consider I am absolutely clueless.

On one hand, It was really useful to have the 2 extra visits and 2 phone calls, because I still learned new things and there are still things to clarify but the good news is that I am on the good track.

The treatment implies that I would breathe particles of the soluble medicine that is vaporised through a tube in my mouth. And I need to do this for 7-10 minute. And while waiting, and sitting straight, I decided that I am going to watch a documentary which is called „Heal” so that I can also understand more how I can support my body to heal faster.

I have known of this documentary for a while now, one of my best friends recommended it when she moved to Austria with her baby boy to get him treated of leukemia. I knew it was good for me to see it, but like anything else in life, I think there comes a moment when we are prepared for a type of information, realisation or confrontation.

While my 3 rounds of aerosol, and in between drops during the day, I managed to see it all. The reason why I am writing this article is that I would like to give you enough reasons to see this documentary, without waiting so much as I did.

No matter if you are going through an illness right now, or you know somebody else or you simply have nothing, I really do think this is an important message we should all hear.

First if all, I was really impressed by the different specialists which were interviewed during the documentary, like Deepak Chopra, Joe Vitale, Gregg Braden, Michael B Beckwith, Jeffrey Thompson, Joan Borysenko and Marianne Williamson and others.

I have not heard of all of them but the fact that some of them which are leading figures in a specific field, and they were all together in the same place stating the same thing brings a lot of weight to the following message:

Our body has the capacity to heal whatever we might be suffering from! The way to support it to do so is to eliminate stress in our lives or the flight or fight mode in which the body cannot heal and basically reap the benefits of positive thinking and faith, and manage to free ourselves from the negativity in our thoughts, our minds.

I am not trying to explain in as much detail because the documentary takes you into a beautiful journey to actually explore this. But what I would like to do is to write down 10 of the learning points I got from watching it:

1. Modern or western medicine only takes into account the symptoms and rarely works with the root cause so that we can address illnesses definitively. And for this we need a holistic approach: take care of what and how we think, what we eat, the air we breathe, the quality of our water, time spend in nature, having faith and building harmonious relationships and have a strong purpose in life
2. Most of the affections we have are related to stress or have an emotional root, the more we learn to manage with the stress in our lives, the more we take care of our emotional hygiene, the more we view emotions as messenger, neither good nor bad just carrying the lessons we need, we will be able to heal anything might come our way.
3. Interesting to realise, have you ever considered the fact that when testing medicine, how there is sometimes a percentage of people 30%-40%-60%- or sometimes even 70% percent, in order to validate the testing, they receive a placebo pill, injection or treatment but still manage to get well only by the thought that they received what they needed in order to heal?
4. If you eat healthy, exercise, sleep well, lead a balanced life but your thoughts are toxic, then you bring all that toxicity into your body and unfortunately this ultimately will lead to disease.
5. Want to admit it or not, we all traumas from our childhood which in turn makes us run programs which are no longer serving us, some have started emotional release therapies, reiki, emotional freedom techniques or managed somehow to be at peace, accept and find a new reactions which serves better, for the rest, I only encourage you to treat your emotional wounds as seriously as you would do with a bleeding, open wound. Maybe you do not see the effects, but you cannot go living with such a emotional injury and expect to be healthy.
6. If you have no resources for investing in such emotional cleansing experiences, then meditation and forgiving are the free, these are 2 of the most available tools to us to create a supportive mindset and emotional state, you don’t have to be a buddhist monk to meditate all day long, but take a break from time to time, try to focus your attention on your breathing, and choose to release yourself from the the state of a victim and take your power back and forgive where forgiveness needs to be given. Forgiveness does not equal endorsing certain behaviours but rather setting yourself free from a negative emotional state. There is a saying that I resonate with: „We we choose not to forgive, it is like taking poison and expect the other person to die”.
7. What I would add from personal experience to meditation and forgiveness would be journaling, pour onto pages whatever is on your soul, talk to yourself, get to know yourself and where you are coming from, where you want to go, because you and only you are the persona which can listen to you any time of the day r night, understanding you completely and what is inside of you, and there is a relief and freedom when we discharge the negative thoughts and intensity of the day but also take the lesson and reframe it in order to have a more constructive reaction the next time, the next day.
8. We are all one, we are all connected and if we understand that we are the same energy vibrating since the big bang then we will understand the power of collective prayers, the power we have to contribute to other people’s health and well being and dismiss the thoughts of loneliness, isolation, unworthiness or maybe start to harness the collective consciousness to evolve, I know we have the potential to stop hunger, stop wars, take care of our planet, be enlightened, healthy and fulfilled, we just need to go towards this direction one by one, and support the ones who want to join us along the way.
9. We all die, that is a fact, but it does not be because of a disease, or it does not need to be in excruciating pain and our last days filled with dread, suffering, deep loss and regrets. Death is what is happening to an experience, not to us.

These are my thoughts on the documentary, but again, I encourage you deeply to see it. I have set a mission to let as many people see it, so if you have decided to do so, leave me a comment, I have a target of 29 people to start with 🙂

You can find the documentary on Netflix. Please let me know if you you do not have an account, and cannot afford one, I am also considering of paying for a month trial and give people access to it, in order to be able to see this documentary. Let me know in the comments if you have seen it and what are your impressions!

Also, if you want to read more on how to start a journaling practice, please read my previous articles „Journaling: how to start your practice today?” followed by „Journaling for personal fulfilment”.

As Wim Hof says, I wish you „All the love, all the power!” 🙂

P.S.: While writing this whole article, I was listening with my headphones some healing beautiful music. Listen to it, even try to hum with it, it creates amazing vibrations in you. I discovered this music during an emotional release retreat called the Journey by Brandon Bays. I have an entire playlist, subscribe to my youtube channel @minadocinski to listen to them all.

 

 

Life in the savanna

Last night, at a certain moment I abruptly threw away the duvet with which I was covering myself. Since I had recently started to sleep naked, what followed suit was nothing less than an excerpt from an Animal Planet show…

A young gazelle got separated from its’ herd. The lack of experience made it daydream and wander off until it reached a clearing, with no tall grass to offer it the much needed refuge.

Finally becoming aware of the danger, it soon realised that a young cheetah had just spotted it. In a matter of seconds, the course of its’ life has been sealed. Before everything started, there was a moment when their eyes interlocked, the gazelles’ full of paralysing fear, the cheetahs’ eyes full of focus and determination.

A moment of silence and deep apprehension before the storm would lash out…

The cheetah was much too far away to be able to stand a chance but deliberating is not one of its’ most lethal weapon, whereas speed is. Not a moment later, the decision was taken and the hot pursuit started.

The cheetah jumped from within the tall grass and pushed its’ body to the limits with every single lunge taken. The gazelle spent a second more in a mere stupor, not being able to react and that might have been its’ fatal mistake. Soon after, it started making long, forceful jumps, trying to put more distance between the hungry and the innocent, the predator and its’s pray.

It was just a matter of time before the cheetah would annihilate the space between them, one thrust at a time. One final jump and its’ jaws dug deep in the gazelles’ behind, teeth following soon after. Teeth and claws digging deep, the cheetah was dragged like this several meters raising a tornado of dust to encircle the dance of death.

One expert move of a paw put in front of the gazelles’ back legs and it came crushing down full speed, maximum impact, with a thud resounding in the whole savannah.

Upon reaching the ground, the cheetah lost no time and it was already towering over it, teeth deep down in its’ jugular, jaws tight as the deadliest of traps. Several futile attempts of the young victim to release itself from the enduring grip with spasmodic jumps were met with the unflinching determination. The immobility of the chetah was calming like almost telling it’s victim: Shush, quiet now, don’t struggle anymore, it will all be over soon!

When the gazelle finally gave her last breath and moan, and once teeth were released, blood came gushing out with a torrent of useless adrenaline. The cheetah triumphed and will get to live another day.

Mark my words my friends, you are never safe when sleeping with a predator. I stand wide awake, writing these lines at candlelight whereas deep sleep is taking place one meter away from me.

Needless to say, by the time it was all over, I got to wake up completely, a question persisting in my head. What the hell was I dreaming about that it made me throw away my duvet?

A mothers’ love

Listen to this before starting to read.

A mothers’ love is relentless. It does not quiver, does not falter, not for a single moment. As long as her breaths come and go into this world, her love for her child is there, ever present, ever caring.

A mothers’ love shines the brightest light even in the darkest of corners, even in the deepest of despairs, guiding her child to return to the safety of her bosom, to the calming rhythm of her beating heart.

A mothers’ love is beyond any effort, any pain, any hardness. A mother would go till the end of the world for her children, fight for them even in the most terrible circumstances with the most atrocious powers or evil. A mother is a tower, standing in the way of everything and everybody, holding on until her last breath.

A mothers’ love is like a force of nature, as strong as a torrent coming down on anything which harms her baby, as calming as a soft summer breeze caressing you, slightly lifting you up and as warm as the sun rays gently kissing your eyelids, as you close your eyes and lift your arms up to the sky.

A mothers’ heart rejoices with the happiness of her children and aches beyond measure with their tears. Like a lioness, defending her cubs, with her life, a mother is always there for the life she has brought into this world.

A mothers’ love is pure and accepting, embracing all of our flaws, all of our fears and all of our failings.  A mothers’ love welcomes us in our utmost frailty, nurturing us to become the spark of divine she knows we are meant to be.

A mothers’ love is the music which touches our heart wherever we may be and wherever we may roam. A mothers’ love will walk alongside of us, guiding each of our steps if we are quiet enough to hear it, until our very last days on earth.

There is no love and no bond in the world stronger and more beautiful than a mothers’ love.

 

 

Daily play: The habit of adult colouring

I am one of the persons that deny the passing of time with each moment that I allow myself to play, be curious and enjoy a good laughter hit. And I am sure there are a lot of kindred souls sharing the same predisposition for happiness.

But I think that as we become adults we slowly renounce our rights to stay open, curious, hungry for adventure or just plainly play for the love of it. For this reason, I would like to invite you to take out your inner child and express your creativity!

As a child, the only time I remember colouring was when I received a children’s colouring book with Jesus and his disciples. I remember it perfectly, especially the cover and how I carefully filled with colours every single page of it! Thus I find myself as an adult making up for the lost fun by surrounding myself with colours and colouring books.

The colouring book craze

For those of you who are not familiar with adult colouring books, they are far more interesting and captivating than you imagine. Pages after pages with dark lines, contouring an entirely different universe are just waiting for you to bring it to life through colours!

The themes vary from different geometric patterns, mandalas, nature inspired pages with fauna and flora, different places on earth, real or imagined, pick me-up and positive messages or you can even colour characters from your favourite books or blockbusters.

The habit of colouring

Colouring is an easy hobby to try, with a simple set-up, you can start or stop whenever you feel like it and the best part of it is that it does not require any special skill to pursue it.

The idea of transforming this hobby into a habit comes from my need of having a dedicated time during the day in which I can wind-up, meditate and indulge myself with an activity that gives me a lot of pleasure doing it.

„Colouring books can be a complement to art therapy, but they aren’t a replacement.”

You can see below one of the drawings I had the pleasure to complete. The challenge is also in choosing the right colours to fit it, and the best part is that no coloured page from a book done by somebody looks the same as another.

Inspiration to start colouring

There are many benefits for colouring, would like to mention a few of them:

1. Your brain experiences relief by entering a meditative state
2. Stress and anxiety levels have the potential to be lowered
3. Negative thoughts are expelled as you take in positivity
4. Focusing on the present helps you achieve mindfulness
5. Unplugging from technology promotes creation over consumption
6. Colouring can be done by anyone, not just artists or creative types
7. It’s a hobby that can be taken with you wherever you go

„Tasks with predictable results, such as colouring or knitting, can often be calming.” Repetition, pattern, and detail—that prompt positive neurological responses in participants. When you have things that you can predict will happen in a certain way, it’s calming for us.”

Completing a colouring page whether you are new to the hobby or have been colouring since childhood, provides a sense of accomplishment. The instant gratification we feel continues our wave of positivity, which elicits more happy feelings.

So next time you are in a shop, buy some colours and a colouring book and get started!

 

Daily writing: The habit of playing with words

Have you always thought that you would like to write a book? Do you have a story inside of you, waiting to come to life? Do you dream of being a writer? Did you start writing a book but never quite finished it yet? Do you have a blog waiting for you every single day to put something new for your readers? Do you want to build your personal brand? Are you thinking of creating a closer relationship with your clients and potential ones by writing about your products or services?

Surely some of you might answer yes to at least one of these questions! Because I really do think that each and every one of us have millions of stories inside, waiting quietly to receive a voice of their own, the power to unravel its mystery to us.

The habit of daily writing

The best way to start your writing journey is to commit to writing!

…every

…single

…day.

With no exception! You cannot possibly write down your amazing thoughts, bring forth your incredible ideas if you do not build up your writing muscle.

Writing every single day helps you become familiar with words, see them as a reliable instrument to bring to surface the stories, characters, the life lessons or the day to day observations that you have kept locked up for so long.

The constant act of writing will help you hone your own style, hunt down your own words, find your own voice and get that creative juice flowing!

Get real about writing!

In order to build up your daily writing routine, you need to be very specific about it. To help you start off on the right foot with your new habit, you can check off the following items:

• Choose your dedicated time for writing. It is very simple, pick a time that best suits you to be able to write uninterruptedly. It can be early in the morning, during the evening or late at night, just pick the time where you have the energy and the proper space for writing.
• Decide how do you plan to measure it. Do you want to achieve a daily word count or do you want to spend a specific amount of time each day writing? Choose which way fits you better but decide upon your target. Example: I will start writing each day at 7AM for half an hour (writing time 07:00 – 07:30) or I will write each day starting at 7AM no less than 500 words.
• Find your writing environment. Prepare your favourite instruments and your preferred environment. Do you like writing with a pen on a smooth sheet of paper or do you prefer the tic tac of your laptop’s keyboard? Or do you fancy the idea of using a typewriter? No matter which tool and medium you use, make sure it is the one which allows you to make the most out of your writing experience.

See below what inspires me to write in my journal each evening before going to bed! I make sure to hydrate properly so I can be completely focused on writing, I have a special pen, an amazing Moleskine notebook and I listen to calming music to get in the mood for pouring my heart onto the paper. If you are going to write, then write in style! 🙂

Be like Jerry Seinfeld!

But how do you keep up with your daily practice and never miss a good day’s writing? Jerry Seinfeld developed his own method to keep him writing on his stand up material. He decided to mark each day of writing practice with a big fat X and commit to achieving the longest streak of his writing habit.

If you happen to miss out a day, get back to writing the next day with no blame or beating yourself up. But then you have to start with your chain from the very beginning. Try to set up for yourself to write for a whole month, every day.

Try to match your previous uninterrupted streak or even surpass it. The point is to start again and again every single time you miss out, getting back up is the most important thing here. Remember that nobody is perfect but practice makes perfect! But ticking that box at the end of the day can be the most satisfactory thing to do before going to sleep!

After a week of uninterrupted writing streak, decide what reward you are going to give yourself. Because you need to build up positive emotions around this newly implemented habit so that you do not oppose resistance and actually come to look forward to.

Choose something that you really enjoy! It might be a book you wanted to read, a CD of your favourite singer or a massage at a spa, whatever makes those endorphins flowing. What will be be for two weeks? Or for one month? Increase the stake so that it matches your effort! But most importantly, give yourself the credit for every single win, a proverbial pat on the back or a victory dance, but notice every single win!

 

Inspiration to start writing

Haruki Murakami, a controversial Japanese writer, decided at 33 years old to close his coffee house and jazz bar and dedicate himself completely to writing. He gave up smoking, woke up early and started running every day. He created a daily routine for writing.

He started his writing career when he was 29 years old, exploring fiction as a genre. Before writing, he considered himself as being an ordinary person. ”I was running a jazz club and I didn’t create anything at all.”

He was inspired to write Hear the Wind Sing, his first novel, while watching a baseball game. During this particular game, Murakami realised that he could write a novel. He went home after the game and began writing that very night. He worked for ten months in very brief stretches after working days at the bar to complete his first novel. He sent his work to a literary contest, winning the first prize.

You can get more inspiration by reading his book What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami. But most importantly, start believing that you can write as well, as good as you think your readers deserve to lay their eyes on!

Start writing today! What are you waiting for? 🙂