It's interesting and also super boring to watch social media trends all influencer pick up and make it "instagramable". What does it actually mean to have the courage and follow your heart? So let's talk today a bit about this process and my personal tips as I've been thinking about it latelywhile wrapping up my last weeks and offerings in Zurichbefore I go on anotherHeart Adventure to Goa.As a pre-India-warm-up Amma is coming this weekend to Winterthur. It's at her Ashram where my super deep heart journey started.Here is all the info - I'll be there on Friday and Sunday, come say hi! :)
Side note:If you need a safe place to recharge and process, I'm teaching tonight adonation-based yin yoga classat 8 pm at Yoga Tribe K6 close to Bhf Wipkingen. Just drop-in 5min earlier or send me an email to yin@aleks.yoga <3
For me, I did share that process on Instagram but it wasn't pretty.It was me sobbing at the airport, crying my way to India after leaving a relationship that didn't feel anymore like serving any of us. I wanted to come back to the FLOW of MY HEART. And the flow of the heart is irrational. It's radical. It's no maybe this or this. It's actually pretty straight and clear. Not maybe clear to the logical and rational mind...but it's clear on the level of feeling. It just feels right.
Two books that are really amazing to readwhen going on the heart journey are "when things fall apart" by Pema Chödrön and "courage - the art to love dangerously" by Osho. To great books to give you a little kick. Another thing is to create a safe space for yourself and be with people that understand you and not project their fears on you. This is one of the intentions I had while creating theZurich Heart Adventureand theGoa Heart Adventure. A safe space to practice courageously living from the heart and be with people that do the same, so we can support each other.
Before I share more tips below, I'd love you to read this on following the heart if you haven't yet...
A few days ago I wrote this post on Instagram:
"follow your heart" another affirmation you read all over social media from self-love advocates & have probably heard in a yoga class or even read in a mainstream women's magazine. it always sounds sweet, glam, independent, cool
but no one sees the not pretty instagram approved moments pictured by a profesional photographer.
no one sees you questioning the 1 bilionth night what life is about & if the choices you make are based on fear or intuition. no one sees you pushing through & having all the responsibility for your actions
it's exactly 4 years ago that I've left my life in Switzerland as it was. I dreamed of traveling the world since I was 10.
Following your heart isn't eating healthy buddha bowls in Bali & then share it on Instagram. It's also not pretending everyone has to be a happy digital nomad networking all over the world.
Following the call of the heart for me personally feels like there are no more comfort zones to stay. It's reflecting every single moment. It feels like there isn't any space to ignore the fact that everything is impermanent & shifts all the time. That there is not one single thing you can hold on to. It's transformation in every single moment and breaking down every single concept, conditioning and belief you have about life. It is a lot about sitting in the fire & making sacrifices & going a path that has no destination.
Nothing is certain in life & since I've been traveling, I've been facing that every day for 4ys very honestly. Especially since I've left my last romantic relationship two years ago that still supported me in not taking responsibility for my life & choosing a fear-based structure to feel safe. Marriage, babies, having a base.
The last years have been crazy, especially the last two. Moments where the only thing I could do is trust. It is easy to trust when you feel safe & comforted. But how to trust in the moments where you are scared & in great discomfort?
Like having -100 USD on your bank account in India. Or crying at the airport in Prague because you know the choice you made has been made & there is no going back.
Following the heart is radical and messy
very little about it is fancy or glam"
What can help you with that crazy heart journey?!
For me it's:
Community. Daily rituals, personal sadhana (practice) - using specific tools that will relax and strengthen your body, calm and clear the mind, help you release emotions and tune in, clear your energetic space. Intention setting.
Following the heart means to stay true to what feels right intuitively and just for the sake of following the heart.You can't do it for the specific wish or destination as there is no destination when following the heart. It's a never-ending flow. This means being willing to check-in and listen again, again and again! It's in the end not about what you do but WHY. And then "the what" will naturally shift and become more and more aligned with your souls purpose. But you gotta do the first step - and it's in that moment where you feel intuitively something and instead of shutting it down by finding excuses for why now it is not possible, you become curious and do what you can with what you have. To create awareness for that inner voice, also called intuition, there are different tools to use. So we create also space between our fear and what is truly happening.
These are 4 of my favorite tools that help me tune in, let go, recharge, create space and process:
-Ceremonial Cacao- it's the Medicine of the Heart and really helps you to tune into the heart space and open it. It helps process old trauma, fear, conditioning, pain, so you can live from the heart. This is why I have created ceremonial cacao blends and also do share Cacao in Ceremonies. It has helped me so much to open my heart, melt walls and resistance and TRUST the process. If you live in Switzerland and want to try ceremonial cacao, you can eitherjoin me for one of the last ceremonies this season oryou can order one of the two handmade blendsand create your own ceremony at home.
-Ecstatic Dance- woahhh another powerful Medicine!This is one of my fave playlistsfrom the Ceremonial Fridays Cacao and Dance Journeys. The first track is to warm you up, so you can just feel your feet and start shaking different body parts, make noises, move your face,.. do all the weird silly stuff and then let the movements become slower and finally lie down for the prayer in the beginning as you slowly rise and start dancing. It is all about how it FEELS and not how it looks! I've also got one last Cacao and Dance Journey next Thursday at Yoga Tribe K6. Donation-based.Sign up directly here. I know this can be out of comfort zone for many...but trust me for me it was as well and then it was the MOST liberating experience ever!
-Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra- take time to be still and process your experiences. Digest life. Feel into the physical, mental, emotional and energetic body. For me, yin yoga has been such a medicine! And so is Yoga Nidra.Here is a relaxing body scan that you can listen to at home orpractice this grounding cacao and yin journey from a few weeks that we've done on a Ceremonial Friday.
-Leaving the KNOWN for the UNKNOWN!Do the things you're scared to do. The only way to move through is by going totally into it. Leaving the comfort zone. Challenging your belief system. Sitting with your fears. Sitting in the fire. Being radically honest with yourSelf. Try this question in your next meditation (can just be breathing consciously or watching your breath for 2minutes):"If I'd be radically honest to myself right now, I'd allow myself to see/admit/recognize/do..."