Because life is worth living to its fullest!

Guy on the beach, see his pic with me lower (it was suppose to follow it, but blogger made it the first... )  In Kovalam.

Salesman with whom I had a few good chat... 

Beach in the morning, on a clowdy morning,.. I have to say I am proud of this one!

Sunset on Kovalam beach, love this pic!  What do you think?

After a few days of not writing, here are some pictures and some of my thoughts.

Trivandrum, somewhere.

I know I put lots of pics of sunset, yet I just love them so much!!!  Plus, this white car was such a good addition to the moment.

How many people on the scooter?  If you said three, count again!

Can I take your picture?  This time I said, sure, if you let me take yours!

He wanted to pay me a beer so I help him flirt with this white girl... or I should say, woman.  I told him I felt akward aobut the whole thing, and said no.  She was sitting in a restaurant, at the first table looking on the beach.  At least 38-40, not my type (to be nice), I didn't know how to introduce her this drunkish guy, passing for his friend???  Anyway, I took a picture of him, and one of both of us.  He was a nice guy... I think that lady could have been interested... considering... if he would not have been drunk.  Anyway, it was somewhat of a weird moment.

La magnifique Catherine.  Je l'ai rencontré à Mamalapurum au début de mon voyage, je lui ai même donné un cours de yoga, puisque le prof ne s'est jamais pointé.  On s'est recroisé sur la plage, à quelques 100enne de kilometres plus loin.  Je crois que son message pour moi était que je devrais aller dans un ashram avant de quitter l'Inde.  Tu as raison, Catherine, j'y vais d'ici deux trois jour max.  Merci la vie!

Hey my friend, come into my shop!  Be my friend, so you can buy something in my shop!!!  Everyone, in a touristic place, wants to be your friend, cause they want you to buy something in there shop!!!  It at least give the pretext for conversation, then sometimes... it is a nice moment, good conversations!

Fisherman in the morning, on the beach, after fishing they need to put there net away... such a big net!!!

The past few days have been pretty amazing!  I am by the ocean, totally south of India, in Kovalam, Kerala.  I have been taking Kalari massage courses in the morning for the past three days, and of course getting some in the afternoon, so I can learn better!  ; )  I was not looking for that, as I had decided that the ayurvedic massage was not something I really wanted to learn.  That guy was on the street, in front of his shop, advertising his work and offering massage for 400Rs.  I said, maybe tomorrow.  He said, let me give you a head massage free, then you know I am good, and you book for tomorrow.  I loved his confidence.  He gave me the best head massage since I am in India, and I had a few I must say (7-8), so of course I took a full body massage with him, plus he awaken my curiosity when he said it is not exactly the same as an ayurvedic massage, it is particular to Kerala.  Well, not a relaxing massage and not as deep as I normally like it, but wow, the feeling after was great.  It is rejuvenating he said.  So I was half joking when I asked if he could teach me, and he said yes, and for a fifth of the price that I was previously asked the few times I asked someone to just teach me a few hours, just show me the basics.  He is a great teacher, I get to film his work, he got two different people to come in each morning to be the “body” and I am loving the sharing of his knowledge. 

He is a wealth of knowledge on massage.  He knows the ayurvedic massage, shiatsu, plus feet, hand and ear reflexology.  He keeps throwing bits of extra information as he teaches which of course I love.  Plus he is all about the energetic of the body, how certain movements are more for the energy network and other for the muscles, etc…  Totally my type of teachings, I am loving this!  Tomorrow is the last day where I get to give the full flow, as a practice.

Now, in the last few weeks I have been reading, meditating and writing a lot.  I didn’t know if I was going to share all of what I wrote, but I’m thinking, as the Indians say so often, why not!?  So the next paragraphs were not meant to be a text, or anything else then putting some of my thoughts on paper.  I wish some of you will appreciate and understand.

So what is life really all about?  And is it really the same for everyone?  Is there only one good way?

Life is about expressing the greatest version of who you are.  It is about being your true self, not the egoself, in any situation.  It is about being grateful for everything because we know it is a manifestation of our own creation.  We create our life; we create our reality, in all of its manifestation.  Therefore, by being your true self you are creating exactly what you have come here for, as a contribution to this “reality”.  All of your thoughts, all of your words and actions are influencing the whole Universe.  It is contributing to the social consciousness.  By being mindful and being in the present moment most of the time, you are helping the world and all that exist by creating a better tomorrow for all of us.  Every vibration that comes out of us contributes to the wave it’ll create in the universe.  You are a powerful being, be careful how you use your power.

How to find happyness?

Happiness starts from inside, it’s a decision, an attitude.  I guess this could be a popular spiritual angle to take on happiness, yet I’d like to add that happiness starts in small things.  You can learn to make it a habit one step at a time.  For me happiness and gratitude are closely intertwined, they work hand in hand.  When you look for opportunities to be grateful, you are focusing on the positive side of things, you are keeping your attention on what is making you happy.  We forget to take time to appreciate, to be happy about small details.  The TV, the news,  and the speed of our daily life keep us away from feeling what is going on inside of us.  We spend so much time talking about the negative stuff, from what we saw on the news, to what happened to a friend of ours.  Repeating over and over stuff that makes us feel bad, keeps us away from feeling good.

Some studies shows that when you do a good action you are increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain, thus making you feel happy.  The most extraordinary thing about that is that the same happens for the person receiving the good action.  Even most extraordinary, the same happens if someone is a witness of a good action.  To that I would add, in which ever of these three roles you are in, take the opportunity to have gratitude for being part of a moment that is contributing to making you feel happy.  Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions for healing the human body.

Choosing to make yourself happy, to be happy, can involve changing the situations you are normally in.  Making decisions that leads toward feeling good, feeling happy, starts by asking yourself why you do the things you do, why you talk and hang out with the people you do.  Are these situations contributing to making you feel good?  If the answer is no, remember that you are the one choosing these situations over and over.  Choose differently and the outcome will be different.

What could make you feel good now?  Today?  This week?  Start with something small, like reading a good book, going for a walk, having a warm bath, listening to a song that you like, going to the movies…  The importance is that it is easy, simple, not part of your daily routine.  Change brings change, start by changing small things and then you’ll start to change.

Who decides of your daily activities?  How much of it is self impose, yet you would like to say it comes from other people’s expectations.  Stop the automatic pilot, take control, choose your activities, your situations, and the people you are with, the things you watch and listen to.  And stop going over and over about what is wrong, focus on what is good.  Be aware that you are the creator of your reality; you are manifesting everything in your reality.  You are responsible for your own misfortune or luck, you are the one whishing these lessons upon yourself.  Create a reality that makes you happy.  When you are grateful about happy moments you are creating a demand for more to come your way, the universe will just have to make it so.

Being lonesome versus being alone:

There is a big difference between being lonesome and being alone.  Sometimes I think we feel lonesome when we are alone or at least that we should.  I love being alone, and I rarely feel lonesome. I think feeling lonesome is not so much about having been alone for a while; it is about the fear of being alone for a while to come.  It is about the fear of the future, not about a feeling of the present. 

Being present, being in the now:

Being present; being in the now as most people would put it.  Why does it seem such a difficult concept to most people?  The past is gone, learn from it, remember it, but please let it go!!  And the future will be what it will be, according to how you live the now, so don’t worry about it… live it!!!  Be it!!!  Be what you want, who you want, be the future in the present.  There is no there!!!  There is only the journey to wherever.  The destination is not important, how you get there is not important, and future more, when you get there is not important.  What is important is now.  Being who you came here to be, NOW!  That’s what meditation is all about.  Not a “spiritual” way of life.  It is about being in the now, training yourself to be in the now, training your mind to be in the now.

 The rhythm of modern life teaches us to think ahead, to be in the future and to point out the flaws or the errors of the past.  If only it would be the good that we would bring up most of the time, but it seems to be the bad we want to remember the most, repeat the most, dwell on it the most.  Getting empowered from the past, wiser, better, all good.  Not sadder. 

I see lots of rituals in India, lots of people do small rituals on a daily basis here.  It got me thinking about the power behind certain symbols or rituals…

The ritual is not necessarily religious in itself.  Yet when practice it should certainly remain sacred regardless.  It is all about the intention and the purpose behind the ritual that gives it its power and meaning.  It is a way for the mind to go there, or to come here, in the now, in connection with the magical, mystical and spiritual forces.  It is a way to change the energy pattern around ourselves, and to connect to this greater force with a certain awareness.  Remember that where the mind goes the chi goes.  We impact the energy around ourselves by the power of our thoughts, words and actions, at all levels.  Thus the power behind the ritual, from praying to healing or doing magic, the ritual will “work” only if the practitioner believes in it, gives it importance and value.

If praying is a ritual for inner peace and connection to God, pray.  If you are praying out of fear from God, out of social pressure, then you are not contributing to the ritual.  Same goes with any rituals, do them with purpose, be in the now, give it all your attention.

Winning…

Winning… sometimes losing is being a winner.  Often we let our pride and our ego make us fight until we prove the other one wrong, but sometimes being the bigger man, the winner, is about putting our pride aside and letting the other one “win”.  Who cares what people think, who cares who is write or wrong?  If in order to win we have to make the other person feel bad, or feel less, then we are a sorry winner.  Life isn’t about winning toward others, life is about winning toward ourselves.  Knowing deep down when it is time to win and when it is time to let someone else be right, be better, be grater.  At the end of the day, you should be worried only about what you think about yourself.  Choose your battle, be the bigger man, know when it is time to teach a lesson and when it is time to learn one. 

Being alone, being by myself, I feel lucky that I have this chance, now in my life.  Of course it is easy to feel good by myself when I know I have such amazing people around me, that I can count on, for anything, at anytime.  Thank you my family, thank you my friends (same as family to me).  I feel lucky, blessed, that I can be alone so much right now, as I am traveling.  Being alone is almost active meditation.  It allows me to go inside, to listen to what is going on in my thoughts, to assess where I am with myself, with the rest of the world.  I have been travelling alone for 10 weeks by now, and I have never felt lonely.  I had a few moments where I thought this or that activity would be more fun if shared with someone, yet I didn’t feel bad or lonesome doing it on my own still.  It has provided me with a calm state of mind, and I am easily in the positive zone.

One other good thing about being alone is that I get to do what I want, when I want, how I want.  No compromise for anyone else.  This is a great luxury for me, as I often compromise for others.  I am thankful that I gave this gift to myself, at least for some time in my life.  I love pleasing people, thus sometimes I put myself, my needs aside in order to please others.  I think I was at a point in my life where I needed to come back to me, prioritize myself first, at all time.   It feels amazing!  I now like to please myself as much or maybe more as I like to please others.  I ask that I will have the capacity to keep this in me when I come back to living in “reality”.