#2016outdoorchallenge

We live in a modern world where people got used to be comfortable. Watching TV, spending time on a comfy couch, having a full fridge, eating more than we actually need, having a warm house and warm water are considered to be absolutely normal for most of the developed countries.

But our natural environment is not a four-walls room constantly warm and comfortable. All the fun is out there outside our so called “comfort zone”. In our natural environment we would expose ourselves to the sun, the wind, the rain, the snow. We would walk, climb, carry stuff, run. We would build a stronger body and we would adapt to the environmental conditions because the body is smarter than we think. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should travel back in time in the prehistorical era. I am just saying it would be awesome if we would decide to leave that comfy couch more often and spend more time there where we belong – in nature, our real home.

Have you noticed how you instantly become happier every time you listen to the sound of the sea or when you spend time in the forest, feeling the sweet smell of the flowers and the leaves of the tress? Have you noticed how feeling the warmth or the cold reminds you that you are alive?

Have you noticed that having sore muscles is a reminder that you still have some muscles that need to be activated more often?

My goal for this year is to spend more time in cold, warmth, sun, rain…doesn’t matter. All I want is not to try to escape anymore of our natural habitat. I want to go at least once a week and do something outdoor whether is running, walking in the forest, practicing yoga, camping or any other activity.

I challenge you to do the same and observe how your mind becomes clearer, your face more peaceful and your overall life quality improves. Happy outdoor challenge!

It’s happening!

Hello friends!

It’s been a while since I didn’t post anything on this blog. I know, I know…and I’m sorry, but hey tonight I did find my inspiration and thought about giving you some updates.

It’s been a beautiful and inspirational Sunday with my husband. So easy to find happiness in a walk in the forest smelling of pine trees, a cup of hot herbal tea and listening some beautiful music. I love it’s so easy to find the nature in the middle of Gothenburg. For me this is a Scandinavian luxury. We found some amazing spots perfect to practice yoga and start dreaming and creating different scenarios. I sat down on a stone, closed my eyes for a moment and just listened to the birds singing. The sun was shining, but my cheeks and the tip of my nose were cold. Such calmness and beauty in that moment. And then I start dreaming and smiling. And I felt grateful for everything that I have, for being healthy and for having an amazing man in my life. This is the real treasure, everything else is just distraction.

And then Unfold your mat ( of course) crosses my mind.

Unfold your mat is growing and together with it I am growing. It has become hard to make the difference between me as an individual and Unfold your mat. It’s such an big part of who I am, a project in which I put all my energy and dreams. And then I thought hey! Unfold your mat is getting international and it’s all yoga!Oh My God it is really happening!

My dream was to create an environment were people are relaxed and they have a common language despite belonging to different cultures and having a different mother tongue. The simple fact of having French, Romanian, Spanish, Brazilian, Swedish, American, Dutch, English ( to name a few of the nationalities that visit our shala) this my friends is YOGA,because yoga means “union”. It’s uniting people from different places of the world in one little shala in which a tiny Romanian is making people jump back and forth. And this my friends means so much to me!

I’ve been living abroad for the past 6 years and it has happened so many times to dream about building a project which gathers people from different backgrounds and creates an environment of sharing. We all have a story and each one of us can be an excellent teacher. We can all share our story and bring positive change in our environment. I believe that in that hour of practicing yoga together we share much more than just practicing asanas. I believe Unfold your mat has the potential of becoming a learning environment.

Everything happens for a reason so the fact we met in a shala did not happen by coincidence. Let’s make the best out of it!

Practice and all is coming

I took my first yoga class 5 and a half years ago. I remember being very enthusiast after the class as if I discovered a way to live my childhood’s dream. Seen first only as a physical practice, it soon became a lifestyle, a way of spending quality time with myself, of getting to know myself better, a way of analyzing how I react in different situations, a stress relief medicine, a mental exercise, a way of getting more emotional and mental strength and living the life I want to live.

Having a natural flexibility and good alignment and awareness of the spine helped me to build a good foundation for my practice, but strength has never been natural for me. My first plank did not actually look like plank. No control of the upper body, no engagement in the pelvic floor, no strong arms, no strong wrists. All my body parts were burning and shaking. I felt terrible and every time my teacher was saying “bend your elbows, lower down – Chaturanga” there was of course no chaturanga. First is was my belly touching the floor and then of course my chest was collapsing. Wonderful! Just wonderful! I had to work hard in order to build more strength and awareness in my upper body. It felt like  this part of my body was in a sort of deep sleep before starting to practice yoga. We use our feet and legs in order to walk, but we don’t realize how important the upper body actually is. All our vital organs are there. Strong abs are not about looking good and showing of, strong abs protect your lumbar and contribute to a healthier spine. A flexible spine means a happier life in old age and not only. All these do not happen overnight. You need to start working and want to make a life change. Yoga is not about competing, showing of that you can balance on your head nor that you can put your legs behind your head, yoga is about getting to know yourself better, learning how to achieve results without competing with other people, but yourself. Yoga is about being kind with yourself, but NOT lazy.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois used to say “Practice and all is coming” and “Lazy people cannot practice yoga”. Strength does not come if no effort. Health is not something we should take for granted. Everything comes with effort and discipline. And really, it comes, you just need to put yourself to work and stop thinking about perfection, about getting the perfect pose!Nobody is perfect and nobody has the perfect alignment. We all have a weakness. For some flexibility is a challenge, for others strength, but there is definitely something to work on. It never stops. We learn until we die. What would life look like with no effort? Difficult situations are our way of learning, growing and developing ourselves, not our opportunity to start complaining, finding excuses and feeling pity of ourselves. When you stop thinking about being perfect, magic happens. You actually start to grow and all those apparently abstract words your yoga teacher is saying, suddenly start to make sense. Take it easy and continue working. There is no competition in yoga and the only person you should look at during the class is yourself. Listen to your breath, pay attention to your reactions, learn from what you observe. Are you desperately trying to catch your toes and do not care so much what it takes to do that, even though your hips do not allow you to go forward?  Observe! You might do the same outside of your mat in different life situations. Patience. All is coming. Just keep on working and accept the temporary limits, but don’t become lazy, nor disappointed. Strong mind. Calm breath. Clear vision. Keep on going. Practice.

Living the dream

Hello world! I think I start to make myself a habit to write down my thoughts at the end of each week. This last week was a bit tiring and chaotic, trying to figure out what it means to be my own boss, learning how to be more efficient and make more use of my agenda and planning tools wohooo. I must admit that these days were quite overwhelming. I was trying to figure out how to fit all the things I have to do into the agenda and in the same time do not feel the pressure. Teaching yoga means that I also have to be in a good shape, not only physical, but mental and emotional. One cannot teach yoga if one does not practice it. So I tried my best to find the balance between being Lavinia, being the yoga teacher and being the fresh entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur demands that you are investing 100% of your energy into that idea, into that dream so it’s not only about preparing yoga flows and having knowledge about yoga poses, but it’s much more than that. It is so much work behind!

Little by little I think I start to learn how to organize myself in order to have time to do some studying, research about yoga and teaching, planing my yoga classes, self yoga practice, gym, cooking, cleaning etc etc and having time for myself. It is not easy to grow a dream, but all my hard work starts to show up and it feels amazing to know you’ve build that yourself and you do that with passion 🙂 I love what I’m doing! I’ve been searching such a long time to find that kind of job that could make me feel fulfilled and happy and I think I finally found it.

In order to prepare my classes I sometimes take a long time. I have seen so many yoga teachers that teach the pose and not the student, that I do not wish to be that kind of teacher. I want to teach the student and I struggle to deliver quality and to help my students get the most of their practice. In the same time I have seen so many people that do not listen to their bodies and push themselves so hard, that sometimes I am scared of the idea that some of my students could do that and injure themselves. So sometimes I think I am extra careful with that. Yoga is not about competition, it’s about accepting your limitations, but still doing your best to improve yourself. The only competition that you might have is with yesterday’s version of yourself. Always do your best, but don’t force your body to be more flexible than it actually is. You might be able to lift 1kg extra at the gym if you force yourself, but you will definitely not be able to do advanced back bends, forward bends nor inversions from your first class. So patience is the key. Patience and discipline and all is coming.

I do my best to teach my students to get to know themselves better and to build more body awareness through the poses and the breath.  Alignment and attention to details are some of the things that tell a lot about my style of teaching. I’ve always been a person that loves the beauty of details and I think that was one of the things that motivated me to continuing practicing. There are so many details in yoga! Learning to identify the good pose from the bad pose definitely makes a huge difference in your yoga practice, so that’s why dear students I sometimes give too many alignment details 🙂

Sharing the little I know about yoga makes me incredibly happy, especially when I see you guys trying your best during the classes. It is so much rewarding to see we make progress together, because teaching is a two way work, without the student’s cooperation nothing happens. I care about my students and I try to do my best to help them make the most of their yoga practice. Hopefully my message gets to you!

Wish you a happy weekend and let’s hope for sun this Sunday morning! 11 am in Slottskogen close to pliktan like always!

kram

Not just a week

It’s the end of a new week and God, what a week! 🙂 Athletica yoga classes in Slottskogen Parken, private classes, studying on my own, practicing my Swedish, Ashtanga yoga self practice, working out and many other things and thoughts and future projects to think about etc etc Pretty intense but you know all this is so much worth and rewarding when even on your worst days, you leave the class with a silly smile on your face. I feel so happy when I see you guys looking at me with wide open eyes and absorbing my words. That’s the biggest reward a teacher could have – your attention! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I’ve always had discipline and thought that was the way that leads to results, but since yoga became my lifestyle and stopped being just a hobby, I feel I need even more discipline than before. It’s fun, but not easy to be your own boss, but I believe in “Unfold your mat”, in this “baby” that slowly starts to grow bigger and bigger and bigger and I put my heart into it. I invest 100% of my energy because I think this is the only way to grow your dreams.

Hope to see new and familiar faces on Sunday 11 am for another outdoor yoga class with Athletica in Slottskogen! Meeting point close to the children’s playground like always (look after the banner) I remind you that we have decided to extend the free classes period and there is no fee involved for the outdoor classes until August 16th. Everyone is welcome to join! I do my best to give as many alignment details as possible so beginners are also more than welcome! Please feel free to send me your wishes for Sunday’s class. Are you up for a dynamic yoga class, meaning a mix of Hatha and Ashtanga and many vinyasa between poses or you would like more a static and relaxing Hatha flow in which we hold the pose for more than 5 breaths? Let me know and we vote like we did last time!

Stor kram,

Lavi

The power of passion

They say “Go back to your office job and leave these silly yoga things”. They say “It’s impossible to make a living out of yoga. You gonna starve and you’re not gonna be able to pay your bills”. They ask me “Why do you complicate your life?”. They wonder “Why is this girl posting these weird yoga pictures?. Let’s hide her posts! ” 🙂 bla bla bla

Once upon a time I used to listen to all these and first get the approval from others before deciding for myself what works best. I used to be the good girl that works hard to accomplish her dreams, but also the one that used to follow the path already established for her by  others. I am still the good girl who works hard, but now I first listen to what I need and I am the one who decides for my own life. So I stopped doing  what others expect me to do or to say and start questioning more before accepting something already said by someone else. Staying true to my principles of life and being myself have always been two things that I aimed to do even in the moments when external factors interfered with my plans. So in moments like these, I know I must be strong and be myself no matter what the circumstances are. It is chocking to be yourself and be straight forward in a world that most of the times prefers to hide its own opinions instead of supporting its point of view. BUT it’s a risk that you must take in order to live a meaningful life. Be yourself and as long as what you are doing or saying it’s not harming others, do what makes you happy!

Teaching yoga is something amazing that finally allows me to put my personality into something and build it myself from scratch. One cannot be a teacher if one is not true to himself/herself. In the end it’s all about being yourself and loving what you’re doing. Once my teacher told me: “I believe there is no such thing as a good or a bad yoga teacher.”

Indeed there is no good or bad teacher. Or maybe being a good teacher it’s all about doing something with passion?

The biggest compliment that a student can make me is to see her / him leaving my class with a calm and smiley face. That’s all that I need to motivate me to continue my work and follow this path that I chose for myself.

“Fait-le avec le coeur” ( Do it with your heart!), these are my teacher’s words that became like a mantra I say to myself every time I am about to say “Namaste! Welcome to the class” and my heart beats like crazy and my hands are sometimes shacking of all the emotions I experience looking around and seeing my students impatiently waiting for me to guide the class. I never thought I will become a teacher and moreover a yoga teacher, but here I am on my way of becoming myself 🙂

Thank you all for your support, messages of encouragement, smiley faces and hugs! Thank you for being close and supporting Unfold your mat! Thank you for understanding what the weird yoga pictures are all about! “Merci de tout mon coeur” to my teacher who believed in me even before knowing me too well! Without her constant support, I do not know if I  would had had the courage to grab my backpack and go to India to do my teaching. Thank you to my husband who supports me and inspires me every day to be strong!

Big hug to you all,

Lavinia ( aka the girl behind the curtain of “Unfold your mat”)