Alla inlägg märkta: self-development

How to surrender

”When you think you’ve surrendered, surrender even more.” Take a step back and let the universe guide you on the way. Trust that the guidance you need will come to you. Or as Eckhart Tolle so neatly puts it: ”Sometimes surrender means giving up from trying to understand, and becoming comfortable with not knowing.” Life is about finding the balance between what we can control, and what we cannot. Sometimes surrendering is the breakthrough we need. During my morning yoga the teacher I was following said something that had me remember something deeply important. I was in this slightly uncomforable frog positon (uncomfortable at least to me). The teacher said that whenever we’re in a position that feels difficult and challenging it’s very common to hold our breaths and try to combat the struggle, and therefore resist the growth that comes along. The thing we instead should strive towards in that moment is to take even deeper breaths, and allow our bodies to let go. Whether you’re in an uncomfortable yoga position or going through a …

Trust the process

”And maybe it’s actually not so much about changing, but more so about becoming the person one always has been. Not finding oneself, but recognising and honouring that self.” – l.m.v I’ve noticed that the quieter my surroundings, hence the less stimuli I expose myself to, the more space I create for my inner voice to shine through. I easily distract myself with either work, social media, music, a podcast, a book or by watching YouTube. However, I do cherish the time in-between; doing yoga, taking a walk in nature, exercising or meditating. Nevertheless, even then it’s not completely quiet around me, since I always have music, a podcast or a book in my ears. After one week with less stimuli, and outside distractions, I’ve once again noticed the importance of silence in order to hear the silent whispers of the soul, and to reach that so called flow state. It’s not uncommon that we humans find the silence to be boring, and even frustrating – especially if one is not used to it. And if one is …

The cure for loneliness

”By helping each other we’re helping ourselves.” It seems like humans are feeling more lonely and isolated than ever before. And whereas there are varying root causes to this I wish to adress one possible explanation. Self-empowerment, self-help, self-actualization, self-care, self, self, self Self-absorbtion. While I believe the self-help industry has many positive side effects, I also believe that the moment we become too self-absorbed the negative effects outweigh the positive ones. In other words, if you’re overly concerned with yourself, your own feelings and thoughts you might easily turn into a self-absorbed human being. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in self-empowerment, self-actualization and self-growth. I believe in self-love. Compassion towards others begins with compassion towards the self. It’s nothing wrong in wanting to improve and evolve as a human being, in fact, it’s a necessity for us in order to evolve as a spieces. You’re not special. I think it was the Dalai lama who said that whenever he is having a talk in front of thousands of people he always reminds …

All is well

”Give yourself space to be.” At times the most heartfelt and firm self-help tip you can give yourself is to allow yourself to simply do nothing. There is nothing to achieve, nothing to become, nothing to chase or create – merely the notion that everything is exactly the way it is. This constant need to be the best version of oneself; to aim for higher, better, more accomplished, the best, and to never take the time out of ones hectic day to acknowledge where one is, what one has. What one already is. To be at peace with not having it all, no doing it all – in a world that tells us to – Work harder, achieve more. You are not enough. You will never be enough. And of course, it’s good, and even necessary, to grow and evolve, and to want to become better. But there needs to be a healthy balance. Yin and yang. Being and doing. Moon and sun. Silence and discipline. Listening and speaking. Feeling and thinking. Slow and fast. …

Discomfort is an opportunity to grow

”You’re being presented with two choices; evolve or repeat.” In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety. Each time we’re faced with a challenge it’s very easy to become caught up in thoughts about everything that could go wrong, instead of being excited about everything that could go right. This mindset is to a certain extent completely natural, and our bodies and minds way of keeping us from danger, hence keeping us from stepping into the unknown. To fully embrace oneself, and to accept oneself exactly as one is, is a lifelong journey in and of itself. To some of us it might come naturally, without us even thinking about it. However, to others it takes a deeper kind of practice – something that needs to be nurtured daily. It’s difficult to not become caught up in the demands of the outside world; constantly comparing ourselves to others, or simply never being satisfied with who we are. As a highly sensitive empath I fell …

All things self-worth

”Know your worth. Don’t ask for it – state it.” In the end, it all comes down to self-worth. If you don’t believe that you’re worthy of neither success, love, abundance, compassion nor enjoying beautiful experiences it will be very difficult for you to attract any of these things into your life. ”Because of the continuous negative programing that we face in society, we focus on the bad and unpleasant things and project this negativity onto ourselves so often without even realizing it……… There is never a day that you are not worthy. Self-worth is not determined by anything; you don’t have to do anything to be worth it. You just are. (Mutiwasekwa, 2019) To start with – Never, ever apologise for being your most authentic self. When I was younger (and sometimes even today) certain kind of people often describe me as being sensitive. Like being sensitive would be something bad. Now I usually laugh if I get a comment like that. ”Yes, I’m a sensitive human being. And I embrace it, I embrace …

How to set and achieve goals

”Hi there, dear dreamer. Time to take some action.” If there would be a picture in the dictionary of a dreamer I’m pretty sure there would be a picture of me. I’m the dreamiest of all dreamers. I dream day and night. Night and day. And while in my dreams I find myself dreaming. Yes I believe you get the point. And as I very much enjoy being a dreamer, there’s this part of me that now would love to take some damn action. What can I do this month that will bring me one step closer to where I want to be? Setting daily, weekly or monthly intentions is a great way in order to achieve the desired goals you have in life. Many people are afraid of setting both short and long term goals. Goal setting is avoided because one is afraid of failure, and scared to let oneself down if the goals aren’t achieved. Things not working out the way you planned is not failure. You learn from everything you go through …

The quest for external validation

”You don’t need someone else’s permission to live your own life.” How do one find the confidence to follow their heart, in a world where one were taught to always seek approval from others? ”See me!” ”Value me!” ”Listen to me!” But in a society where everyone seems to be so caught up in themselves, and simultaneously preoccupied with what everyone else is doing; how can we actually trust anyone but ourselves when it comes to important decisions as what to do with our lives? How can we expect anyone to listen to us if they haven’t even taken the time out of their day to listen to themselves? This constant need of having to seek approval is a never ending circus. Nevertheless, it’s very common for us humans to seek other people’s blessings before we feel we have the right to do something. We migt be doubting ourselves and our capabilities, and therefore seek to be validated by others. Confidence is not about being perfect – it’s not about having it all figured out, …

Cultivating change

When we go about our day to day life, doing the same mundane things on repeat, it’s easy to fall into the belief that we haven’t accomplished much. You might believe that there haven’t been any changes in your life the past couple of years. However, when you take a closer look at yourself, and the things you’ve done the past months, or even years, you realize that there have actually been some major changes going on. Changes that just happened, without you being aware. Like all of a sudden you realize that things are really different now. ”We have our eyes on things, we don’t yet possess, when instead we should embrace all the things we already have.” The thing is, when you’re caught up in the spinning wheel, it’s common to not stop and reflect, but to just keep on pushing further. Striving for more of this and that, everything you don’t yet have. We have our eyes on things we don’t yet possess, when instead we should embrace all the things we already …

Dear September…

… and my heart melted. ”While some people like to dance underneath the stars in June, others like to play with the red leaves of September, And I’m blissfully, wholeheartedly stuck in the middle.” … And like the wisest of them all, you’re letting go of what no longer serves you. Your brisk wind makes everything rejuvenating. The days; alluring and brightful, the nights; dark and calm. I see a star waiting to be born, intentions waiting to be established, a nature waiting to be cherished, and a life waiting to be lived.  September is for watching red leaves falling. Creating space. Caring for oneself, and others. Just like nature, we transform. Becoming whole, empowered and complete. Putting positive intentions into everything we do. Silently witness the beauty of nature – notice how seductively and effortlessly she’s unfolding her treasures. Fearless. September is for enjoying the darkness, as well as the bright light within. It’s for grasping opportunities. Looking within for happiness, success and courage. Sometimes the things we want the most are closer than we think. …