Keuzes… Maak jij ze zelf of worden ze voor je gemaakt?

Heb je dat nu ook wel eens, dat je diep van binnen weet dat je iets doet wat eigenlijk niet goed voor je is? Maar dat je de definitieve beslissing steeds maar uitstelt? Je een beetje bang bent voor die keuze, want dan verlies je iets of iemand. En verlies doet pijn. Je lichaam en hoofd zijn in een verhitte discussie, en beide hebben (deels) gelijk. Je onderneemt geen actie, je sukkelt wat aan met je leven. Niets gaat meer lekker, want je energie lekt weg naar die situatie, naar die persoon.

Totdat er ineens aan die andere kant wat gebeurt, waardoor er iets in je getriggerd wordt.
Je schiet in je verdediging. Je wordt boos, woedend, verdrietig, je bent teleurgesteld.

Waarom? Jij had ergens verwachtingen, hoop. Dat er iets zou veranderen. Dat het wel goed zou komen. Bijvoorbeeld dat jouw baas die promotie aan jou geeft en niet aan je collega. Dat de ene persoon die je leuk vindt inziet dat stoppen met drinken jullie relatie kan redden.

Maar, jij hebt geen invloed op die situatie. Je kunt mogelijk (en zeer waarschijnlijk) zien, inzien en doorzien wat beter zou zijn voor je baas, en voor die leuke persoon. Maar jij kunt dat niet veranderen. Je kunt jezelf alleen veranderen.

En nu is er iets voorgevallen waardoor je gedwongen wordt om die belangrijke beslissing te nemen.

Door alle emoties weet je even niet meer wat je moet doen. En dat is niet fijn.
Doe gewoon even niets. Of ga iets totaal anders doen, iets waar je energie van krijgt of waar je je energie in kwijt kunt (maar sla alsjeblieft geen mensen in elkaar, gebruik dan een echte boksbal in de gym).

En, haal een paar keer diep adem, dat kalmeert. Adem vooral goed uit, het liefst met een diepe zucht. Tranen die opkomen of stom zenuwachtig gelach, dat is prima, laat het maar zijn.

Kom later (na een paar uur of de volgende dag) eens terug op de situatie, bekijk het nogmaals. Hoe voelt het nu? Wat voel je? En waar voel je het in je lichaam? En wat vindt je hoofd ervan; heb je nog steeds veel stemmetjes? Blijf intussen rustig ademen terwijl je terugdenkt. Met een rustige ademhaling houd je ruimte in je hoofd en lichaam en behoud je het overzicht.

Waarschijnlijk zijn de emoties (bijna) weg. En zie je mogelijk ook in dat dit had moeten gebeuren.
En dat het Universum jou heeft geholpen heeft om deze moeilijke beslissing te nemen. Dat je jouw energie weer terugpakt en gaat doen wat jij (diep van binnen) echt wilt doen.

Mogelijk lukt het je niet direct om deze beslissing te accepteren.

Goed nieuws: als het achteraf niet de juiste keuze was, dan komt er een moment in je leven dat de genomen keuze zal worden ‘teruggedraaid’. Er zal een andere beslissing genomen worden. Mogelijk krijg jij dan toch die promotie en mogelijk dat die leuke persoon wel ophoudt met drinken en voor jou kiest.

Onthoud dit: Er zijn geen foute keuzes, maar maak een keuze.

With love💜 & light ✨,
littlemissyoga

Deze blog is geschreven naar aanleiding van een persoonlijke gebeurtenis.
Daarbij wil ik je graag een eerlijke inkijk geven in mijn leven. Het lijkt allemaal zo leuk – digital nomad, reizen, yoga, strand, zon – maar de werkelijkheid is veel rauwer. Tijd om dat te laten zien. En hopelijk jou te laten zien dat je niet de enige bent in dit soort dagelijkse / normale struggles.

One of these days…

One of these days that you feel heavy, down.
Disconnected from your body, mind and soul.

One of these days you feel lost. Walking in circles. All is unclear. All feels heavy, as a burden.

You are fully aware of this but you don’t know how to break this circle.

Well, I have one of these this day today.

I cry out loud. A lot of tears are falling on the floor.
I shout, I scream.
I stamp on the floor (sorry neighbours beneath me).
I punch the pillow to release my energy (sorry pillow).
I laugh too loud.

I am angry, sad, frustrated, happy, and grateful at the same time
I feel defeated. I feel strong and invincible too.
Confusion is taking over, I feel it in my body and mind.
It is like drinking a delicious but deadly cocktail.

And then, suddenly: THAT MOMENT.
It is just there, no knock on the door.  Unexpected, standing right in front of you.

I take a deep breath in, and I breathe out with a deep sigh.
I surrender and everything flows away.
Relief, release, clarity, relaxation.
Fully connected again: body, mind and soul perfectly aligned.

The power of breath.  
The power of acceptance and letting go.
The power of trust and surrender.

I have accepted that one of these days is part of me. And I am no longer ashamed of telling it. I am no longer fighting against these days. I embrace them, and from the moment I accept them, they don’t seem that worse anymore.

The more I accept my shadows and my dark side, the more I feel complete, whole.
Healed.
Every single day 🌟.

I guess some of you have experienced these days too.
And that’s why I share my story with you.
Just to let you know that you are not alone 💜✨.

With love💜and light✨,
littlemissyoga

P.S: About the picture: all credits go to Caroline who made this painting

Taking the lead or being led? The choice is yours!

Reading time: 4 minutes

As a kid, I wanted to become a princess, a teacher and a (ballet) dancer (secretly, I don’t remember that I told anyone). When I grew a bit older I heard questions like: ‘How do you think to earn money with dancing and music?’ And: ‘To become a princess you need to marry a prince. And since you are a farmer’s daughter, forget it.’

2 dreams smothered, 1 dream left. A dream that seemed within reach and would give me a proper future: becoming a (school) teacher. *

I always believed that my parents, grandma, my closest friends and some teachers knew best for me. I followed their advice without taking any consideration. Now I know: they didn’t know best for me.

Studying and getting your diploma, finding a good job, that was what I was told to do, or better I say: I thought that people expected that from me. So I did it all.

But when I look back at high school and college, I was a rebellious student, always going against the grain, just because I could not accept the strict rules and the rigid system. I reacted in the same way when I was working at the office. Always asking questions like: Why work from 9 to 5, why not when I wake up?, Why can’t I work on the weekends and have Mondays off?, Why can’t I work from home?
I could have invented ‘working from home’ long before Covid forced companies into it 😉.

I finally dare to speak out loud: I don’t fit in this existing system. Blessed with a good working brain and a good coping mechanism I managed to survive.**  But, I could not ignore that little voice inside of me. So, at one moment I decided: I am going to design my own life, living my best life.

My best life is not perfect yet. But hey, what is perfect? I don’t know and basically, I don’t care. I like it the way it is at this moment, and, perfect would be boring at the end 😉. Being imperfect makes me unique and it leaves room for improvement🌟.

There is always something to complain about, you basically have 2 options: you either accept it or change it. Plain and simple. Maybe you think (and I bet you do): I can’t change my life. I dare to say: YES, YOU CAN. Even a small simple change can improve the quality of your current life right away and it might be the first step to YOUR BEST life.

In case you feel that life is leading you instead of you leading life, I have some questions for you.

What are you waiting for? That your best life is knocking on your door one day saying ‘ Hello, here is your best life’? It is already here, you just don’t see it or not ready to see it.

Are you waiting for the right moment? Well… surprise: The right moment is always NOW.

Is fear holding you back? Most likely.

But… what if you take that leap of faith and fully trust that life has your back?

The only outcome is… your best life!

So…again: what are you waiting for?
Start today with living your best life, just (fucking) do it. Because you, yes YOU, beautiful soul, deserve it 💜💫🤍! Go for it!

With love 💜 & light✨,
littlemissyoga

* I made it as a teacher, (luckily) not a school teacher though. I am a yoga teacher but I prefer to use the word instructor or guide, and I am also a RPM/indoor cycling instructor and maybe I can become a role model of how to design and live your best life😉.

** I am actually surprised at what is still left of my brain, after drinking a lot of bottles of wine per week, for almost 2 years in a row! I could have become the new Einstein if I hadn’t killed all these brain cells 😉.

My best life & social media: Is it always the bright side of life?

Today I realized I needed to share something with you that I rarely do: sharing about the less beautiful moments of my life. This topic came across my mind on this rainy day when I was sitting in front of my cabana at Selina Resort Rawai in Phuket, Thailand.

I realized that I actually only share my good moments on social media; me with a big smile on my face, and beautiful surroundings. But, believe me, it is definitely not always glitter and glamour. I have bad moments, blue days, moments that I just want to cry and wish for better moments.

The reason why I write this post is because of some comments I received, after posting something on my Social Media. The most heard comments were:

✨ Your life looks so great, I am jealous (😲).
✨ Your lifestyle is amazing, I envy you (😳)!
✨ I wish I could live like you but…
❌ I have kids
❌ I have a house and a mortgage/rent to pay
❌ I have an office job/non-remote job
❌ I have no money
❌ I have… (fill out your own reason)

I truly considered quitting sharing posts on my social media. But …a better idea came across: from now on I will share the good✨, the bad 👎and the ugly 👺 moments. This is out of my comfort zone but here I go 🚀!

There are moments…
👉 That I feel lonely
👉 That I feel sad
👉 That I cry out loud
👉 That I feel misunderstood
👉 That there is no one around me to share my thoughts and emotions with
👉 That I feel restless and don’t know what to do with myself
👉 That I miss my family and friends really badly
👉 That I don’t want to be single
👉 That I am sick and tired of doing all things by myself
👉 That I am worried about my next destination, especially when my visa is running out
👉 That I am worried about what others will think of me
👉 That I feel that my life sucks and is completely worthless

I guess – actually, I am pretty sure – that many of you are experiencing one or more of these things in your life as well.

So I hope – for the next time when I post pictures of clear blue waters, and white sandy beaches surrounded by palm trees (most likely my next destination 😉) – that you take a moment (or two) before you post something about being jealous or ‘ I wish I could but’. It may look like the grass is greener on the other side but trust me, it isn’t (unless it is fake grass😝).

With love 💜 and light✨,
littlemissyoga

P.S. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook

Almost back on track – hold on a bit longer & updates🧘‍♀️☀️💫!

Hi my dear yoginis and yogis, friends and family,

I am returning to Manta Rota (a beautiful spot in the Algarve, Portugal) soon; and I am proud to announce my first class: Tuesday 21 June 2022! This day is a special day as it is International Yoga Day.

I have a special set-up for this yoga class: all donations go directly and 100% to Kolewa Foundation. If you join this class, you are giving yourself a good treatment for your body, mind and soul and with your donation, you are supporting children in Bali and other places of Indonesia to get surgery for their cleft lips and/or open palates. Kolewa is supporting the poor and needy people of Indonesia in many more ways, if you want to know more, you can check out their website and their Facebook page.

During my time in the Netherlands, I took a Reiki 2 training. Therefore, I can call myself now officially a Reiki Healer. Reiki is a very effective and soft way of healing the body, mind and soul. The energy, the Ki, will find its way and will heal and restore what you need. The most amazing, or should I say bizarre thing is: you do not have to know what needs to be healed. Reiki will find its way, and it is always right, even though you may not think so. Firstly, I disagreed with this but I know now: don’t debate with the Universal Energy. It IS always right😇.

If you are curious if Reiki would work for you, just drop me a message to book a session (60 – 75 minutes) – on donation.

What is left to say: I would be honoured to have you in my class on 21 June🧘‍♀️🙏! I will soon announce the complete schedule for my other classes.

With love💜 & light✨,
littlemissyoga