Sizzling Hot

I hope you are all surviving this heat wave in Antwerp. We always complain that it rains here. And now wow. Nature is showing us what it can do with it's heat. I think the heat is wonderful, but I am also happy it's not like this all year. I'm happy for the rain in Antwerp and I try my best at the same time to enjoy these days, even with the face mask. With the heat it's quite hard to breathe and sometimes I would just want to remove the damn mask but yeah I cannot afford the fine, and yeah we do our part for the better of the community right? In our own little way. And though we may not think it, we are making a difference, or well I hope so. But maybe that is the hopeful girl in me. 

How has your summer been? It's kind of weird to be not going anywhere this year. And see things happening in Antwerp, or things not happening in Antwerp because of Corona. Summer is always filled with beach adventures, good food, discovering new places, having new adventures and for this summer it's summer in my own city which yes I love but is also sometimes nice to get out off. But yes for me that will have to wait. I instead try to make a vacation home of my place. Since I have been here most of the time, practice here, teaching here, working here. I found that it is nice to surround myself with plants to have a bit of companionship and they have been good companions, it's a pleasure to see them grow. It is getting out of hand and I know I should stop sneaking them home, but somehow it also feels good to have them here. If it makes me happy right? It can't be so bad.

I would also like to use this opportunity to thank all the people who have been supporting me with Mysore Space. This project means really a lot to me and having you there with me in the mornings, sharing the space and the energy, even though it is online, sharing the little things of your life of your practice. I love listening to you and hearing all about what is happening to you. And I really appreciate that you read my blogs too and tell me to keep on going. It is an inspiration. Sometimes our lives feel as if there is no purpose, and maybe there isn't but it is nice to be appreciated and hear it. It keeps me going these less easy times, it keeps me going to the mat and discovering and rediscovering myself, and everyday I kind of find out I know so little, and it is all vast and endless and yet there is still a thirst to just maybe, just maybe understand even just a little bit.

Ashtanga for me is very special. It's a repetition of movements. And the lesson is in the most simple things, in Ashtanga it is the sun salutation or the surya namaskar. Everyday I still learn a lot in doing these movements. It may not seem like so, but if I picture myself 8 years before and now, and look at just how I do the sun salutations, there are definitely differences. One is not better than the other but they are just different. But the lessons are hardest to learn in simple things. Most of the time we need a thorough explanation, and that's why we add poses, but they all point to the foundation. And it is a wonderful process of learning and unlearning.

Keep cool. Keep travelling and enjoying. Keep breathing fresh air and keep finding space to grow.

All my love
J