friday 2 days ago I went to my old neighborhood Tyresö, where I was raised as a child. there I met Isak, my nephue for the first time [catastrophy I haven't met him until now and he is already 6 months].

he was a very qute thing ha ha
a bit "chubby" as all little ones are before they grow into their own body suit.

7kg's blond haired dude,
ready to take on the world I guess he he.

I went to see them [and my other brother & dad] since Isak with his mum & dad are moving to south of Sweden next week, so I have no idea when next time will be when I met this new talent...

anyway great to have finally met mr Isak : )

this is the "flyer" for Kim Toh's guest class in Integral Yoga

so take the chance to be inspired & the oppotunity to try a classic yoga form wich is quit/very rare in our parts of the world.

Swami Sathidananda who is the founder of this Integral Yoga, he himself was a disciple of very known and respected Guru Swami Sivananda.
Ihave seen some of his talks and he is a very wise yet charming & happy yogi.

Integral yoga has a slight more meditative approach in their generall thinking if I understand it coerrectly and from what I have heard earlier.

so I understand why this form suits Kim so well since she is a very gentle karma yogi who loves meditation & silence with peacefull cerenity.

wellcome!

the class of course will be tought in English..

so today I went to the airport to meet up my friend that I met during yoga teacher training in Singapore.
she is comming here to visit and do yoga for 3 weeks, wonderful!

  
she has quit long experience in my style Hatha Sivananda Yoga, but are also very into the more meditative approach of Integral Yoga.www.buddhaspa.se ]
so she is gonna take a few of my classes on the regular schedule, teaching similar style as me but in her way of course.
but then also next friday she is gonna teach a Integral Yoga class.

it was a bit cold for her here when never have been at a place colder then 15-20 degrees I think ha ha, we had 2 degrees and snowmixed rain.. so at 10pm she fell a sleep with of my dogs beside her, tired from long trip, cold weather, many impressions of a different world she has nw come to..

she is mainly here to see a new part of the world, and to give time to her self practie yoga & meditation.
but she has also agreed to teach some classes at my yogastudio [

so I recommend almost advice my students/participants [and other yogis if read this and are interested] to take the chance and try this gentle but dynamic yogaform. this is a style that here is not very common and known at all, so it will be interested to see what differences you will notice.
and most probably not that probable hat you have the chance to try it again..
friday 16/4 at 18.00 [new time changed from 17.30] about 90 minutes, and a possibility to aks questions afterwards if want to, Kim & budha spa will offer some free herbal tea ater the class as a nice finnish : )

okey, first of all I wanna say everyone is free to feel & think what they want and we all see things differently, and also that we change the way we see things during different life phases.
so I will write what I think of things in the phase of life I am in,
and sometimes questioning things aswell he he
but that is my opinion, so if you agree that is fine, if you dont agree that is equally fine...
we all need to be free do think, evaluate, learn, disagree, have an opinion etc to develope in our life journey..

so one thing I often react on is all the focus on the advanced postures and how bendy you can be.
so in our already result oriented world we develop yoga forms that we give almost all the attention to how great we look and performe in asanas etc,
when [for me] yoga is needed to calm down, learn about oyur body and the effects of your breathing, collecting your mind deeper away from the shallow surface and if going deeper prepare for meditation..
or at least doing yoga for your physical inner health would be good instead of straining and forcing our already stressed & unbalanced bodies.

yoga means union - in the tradition union with the divine or universal energy/cosmos [atman in union with brahman etc]

anyway to be honest we do have modern yoga today, wich is not like the traditional old indian yoga mostly..

yoga is trendy,
you have yogaforms where you use slings, manipulate with extra heat, yoga with focus on acrobatics, yoga when need 2 people, yoga with pilates [wich has a total different breath??] etc.

so.. of course & naturally this is reality since this philosophy & lifestyle is a trend, and we use the word yoga to bring people since today yoga is a huge business [not everywhere and for all, but in a wide range].
sad but true..

I am not against yogaforms form the "other school" wich in my eyes are the teachings in different forms from students of guru krishnamacharaya,
it is about differrent schools and traditions and interpretations of for example yogasutras etc.

also I am not against all "sporty" yogaforms..
they are a good introduction for many to even dare to try yoga, since many think "classical yoga" is hocus pocus or for hippies ha ha.

I myself started with power vinyasa yoga once at a gym [although I had the fortune of a quality teacher guiding the classes].
and the more sporty forms are in different levels modified to be more accessible to us in todays western world. right or wrong..
...but where is the limit?

now they even have yoga asana championship...?!?!
and they are trying to get it to be a olympic sport ha ha.

so this means basicly that any good gymnast can now be a good yogi straight away and also acrobatic circus artist can be a great yogis directly?
this since main focus is on how difficult and bendy posture you can make..

  
hm..
I think it is basicly like this:
if have come a long way in your practice or comming to a higher level in anything you are doing in life really,
and if you are balanced in more levels then only physical strenght, like mentally for example, and if you are really confident in what you are doing with humble attitude..

do you then really feel the need to show off your capacity?
and even "worse" compete in it?

I mean, okey if it was called a acrobatic posture competition, then it is what it is.. but.. would it then be popluar? hm..

so I dont say all things are bad just because I disagree,
they can be good for your selfconfidence, it can be good if you want a physical workout, it can feel great if you like to challenge yourself to a sweat..
but is it yoga? or is it just a spinn off on the trendy name yoga is today?

I find all this very interesting and are quit excited to see what yoga will be like in already near future..
will it come to an end in new inventions on a super old tradition?
will people get borded and soon the yoga trend the way it is developing today will be un-trendy and some new things will come?
will the more classical yoga forms even survive here in west?
and then will they benefit or loose credability from the years of trendy forms?
will there be many future injuries and over strained tendoins & bodies in future because of doing "yoga"?

I might seam negative, but really I am not : )
I am though a bit scared to be honest
but in general I am just questioning sometimes the use of the word yoga

AUM shanti

although I have today eaten a whole easter egg filled with candy & chocolate I feel kind of good.
all day I have felt an ease feeling, a happy feeling, so yesterdays a bit more intense day of yoga practices of various kinds made somekind of effect probably, or the short fast maybe : )

but to be honest I also feel a bit sore here and there after yesterday ha ha.
but strangely not to tired or "stiff" in the shoulders although after that 5min headstand yesterday my shoulder were truly pulsating during savasana and I had to take a lot more time then usual to get relaxed again..

this morning I tought a 2h class even if easter holiday, there were 6 persons wich is quit okey in our small studio, and I had them do more and a bit longer kapalbhati and then during asana practice I guided them into a few inside of the hip openeres, wich at least for the male students ar often a challenge, and today 50% were men so.. he he

me myself I rested today, but are looking forward to some self practice tomorrow again, but I also have a class to teach

as usual I teach the 10.30 class at the gym/fitness club, so it will be itneresetd to see how many show up tomorrow, also perhaps some new will come since there are no other classes tomorrow except mine, at least I dont think so

now I am gonna try to do some work here at home and maybe watch a movie. just as usual have a calm evening at home with my girls [the dogs]

2 days until my yogini visit from Singapore comes, that is gonna be interesting to seee what she will think about this northern part of the world ha ha

AUM namah Shivaya

so today I have had my small mini sadhana & fasting day he he
depending on how you cacluate I did a short fast of 24 or 13h only.
I didnt eat anything between yesterday evening about 21.00 and today at the same time.. or... if caclulate on a empty stomach is more since I woke up at 08.00 this monring until 21.00

  

so this is is a summary of my day then:

08.00-08.30
wake up slowly

09.00
a 50min morning walk with the dogs in the lovely spring morning sunshine.

10.30
came to my yoga studio buddha spa

10.50 
a 30 minute meditation

11.30
tea-time
today all thru I chose a spice/herbal tea [buddha's own detox tea blend] wich is a blend of: fennel seeds, peppercorns, dried ginger etc. with some honey.
that was the first intake of anything [even no water] at all today.

12.15
a 2h 25min quit gentle Sivananda Yoga Class incl 30 min pranayama.
I did 5minutes sirsasana [headstand] today, felt great but I was a bit tired in the shoulders a bit after that he he [been a while since I practiced with that length of time]

14.45
tea time again to get some energy after class

16.30
about 350ml freshly sqeezed orange juice

17.00
I took a 3o min walk to get some air and to get my mind of the rising hunger feeling ha ha

17.45
a 30 minute meditation againtea time
18.30

19.00
30 minutes of more pranayama [kapalabhati & anuloma viloma]19.45
a glass of carrot jiuce with 2 drops of lemonflavoured olive oil

20.00
going back home again

21.00
potato & leak soup topped with parmasano cheese and 2 pcs of garlic bread ends my day..

now I feel a bit tired in a good way after this day.
I was planning to fast until I wake up tomorrow but I felt very satisfied already and a bit un-energized and also my collegue became ill today so I dont wanted my immune defence going to low since I have around her last 2 days..

now I think it is tike to go to bed for a nice sleep, and tomorrow I have a yogaclass to teach in the morning : )

just want to make a small shoutout:

I know that many like me are allwasy searching for a place where they can inspire people, new ones & the ones already attending what ever activities you have your passion for..

so since not everyone knows about this I want to shortly do PR for my place/studio in södermalm, Stockholm.
our place that we do rent out sometimes on weekends and weekdays [daytime] for external teachers etc.

  
I allways wanna give people a chance to inspire thers, and now when I do have my own place I want to give the opportunity to others to be able and afford to sometimes do something extra or so..

for more information just e.mail me at fredrik@buddhaspa.se

tomorrow I will start to slowly in 3 days prepare for this upcomming friday wich is good friday or holy friday of this upcomming easter.
that day feels like the perfect day to do a one day small fast & spiritual sadhana like practice..

so my plan is to prepare the physical body now tuesday to thursday diet wise,
and on friday I will try to fast totally, and only if I really need maybe some milk, fruit [or fruitjuice] & nuts perhaps. but basicly trying to let my inner body and the digestion have a rest.
but a fast and a sadhana is about alot more in the yogic world, so also to "fast" with your sences is a good idea.

so I will try to use the lightness in the body and be by myself in the yogastudio and have a full day: some light asana practice, a lot of pranayama, meditation sessions and perhaps do a yoga nidra.
and also read some from interesting yogic books and listen to chanting from the ashram Satsangs etc.
my aim is try to not get stimulated by things around, like stressed people, no TV, no computer, switch of the mobile etc..
no other music then the chanting & mantra songs and of course a lot of silence.

I am not sure if to get someone to watch my dogs aswell, or if I should just let them be with me this day, might be a bit disturbing sometimes when need to go out with them etc.. hm..