Sparring. Yes, wearing the boxing gloves, protection for the privates, proper shoes and teeth protection is all one needs for that. And a proper attitude.
During this week on two consecutive days I have received news, which would have made me very uneasy, worried, anxious, irritated and sad, say, two years ago. All of a sudden, it seems my future is unclear in the traditional sense of financial security. One doesn't need to be a wizard to figure out these news have everything to do with (not) having a job in the future, at the moment at least. Somehow it doesn't bother me that much. I am totally confident I will always survive, no matter what. Life always prevails for the people with right mind-set and with the ability to make a difference, especially for themselves. I have figured there is no need to be anxious over something that is actually as insignificant as having a job. OK, money is something everyone needs, but I don't need to worry about that currently, fortunately. The world is full of life, waiting to be discovered :).
As we have come to see in this world, financial situation dictates (seemingly) companies' ability to recruit people. It is built into the system - no people can be blamed for this. But this is exactly the reason why I also like Munamies in real life with his views and perceptions on the society, what is wrong with it today. I would gladly see this whole system crumble to dust, if it would result in a society, which would be free of this worrying of "how will I survive if I don't have a job" paradigm. Furthermore, a society should encourage people to be creative by giving everyone equal chances of doing whatever it is they like, instead of being forced to jobs, which they never wanted in the first place. This would most likely decrease mental problems amongst the population. There's more, but I won't go into those here. Anyways, I just wanted to express how inevitably I also am a part of this world-wide machinery, which tries to strike fear into the minds of people by the concept of not-having-a-job. Again, no wizard is needed to understand I do not fear this. What could go wrong in something as wonderful as life? :)
Now, I'm not trying to be cocky or anything because of this situation, but it has been wonderful to witness how I have reacted to this situation: not with fear, but with acceptance, with calmness and with ability to still see my future life as worthwhile as it was before receiving the news.
Actually, I feel now that I have a great opportunity to engage into something as delightful as travelling, without care in the world. I have a unique chance of carrying out the things I have wanted to do, but have been unsure, since having a job very effectively hinders with any free-time plans, which require long periods of time. I am also able to spend more time with my dear friends, who are the most important things in life for me. Your support gives me strength :). So does my family <3. And maybe IAET-työttömyyskassa for the time being :D. What is life if not fulfilling your dreams?
So what has all this to do with sparring? I really don't know :), except that I just came from sparring and it was jolly fun! Sparring for 1½ hours takes me away so completely from this world with its seeming problems that I feel it helps to cleanse my mind of everything that is not relevant. I bled from my arm and from my nose, and probably I'll have couple of more bruises tomorrow than yesterday, plus my head got whacked couple of times so bad I saw stars for a fraction of a second. This is all OK, since I gave the guy five times worse banging :D. Fighting with a good spirit is uplifting, especially when one is aware how it gives the feeling of no one being able to hurt you in any way. Maybe this sparring gave me the idea from physical world to mental world: I cannot be hurt in this life, however bad it may feel like at first. :)
keskiviikko 23. helmikuuta 2011
tiistai 15. helmikuuta 2011
What's cookin pt. I - Yakisoba and crisp bread (näkkäri)
Did I ever mention I am a cookster? I love trying out new food and cooking it with a sense of perfection when it comes to the ingredients, and more or less the quality of them is also important. My habit lately has been the following: On Sundays, I check out the web what goodies the world has to offer for me the next week. I write down the ingredient list to a yellow post-it, which I take to work on Monday. Come ~4 p.m. on Monday, I rush to the store and buy the stuff, and start cooking, usually for 2-3 days worth of cuisine per cookin.
Today I did me some Japanese chow. Shii-iiiit was good! I bought me some organic Udon-noodles and a variety of vegetables.. the yakisoba sauce I prepared was a bull's eye for this food!
I also tried out some knäckebröd, or hard bread, or crisp bread.. Thank you M for the recipe :). It was probably the first time I did something that contained only organic ingredients - a lot of various organic seeds, organic eggs, organic spelt, sunfire salt (a bit posh, yes). Of course it had to be eaten with organic kirnuvoi, which tastes absolutely stunning!
Here's the recipes:
Yakisoba and Crisp bread (only in Finnish). For yakisoba recipe, I used also ginger and garlic in addition to the list ingredients. The yakisoba sauce contained for me gin (yes, alcohol), organic soy sauce, indian sugar, organic honey, red chili flakes and sesame seed oil.
Bon apetít!
Today I did me some Japanese chow. Shii-iiiit was good! I bought me some organic Udon-noodles and a variety of vegetables.. the yakisoba sauce I prepared was a bull's eye for this food!
I also tried out some knäckebröd, or hard bread, or crisp bread.. Thank you M for the recipe :). It was probably the first time I did something that contained only organic ingredients - a lot of various organic seeds, organic eggs, organic spelt, sunfire salt (a bit posh, yes). Of course it had to be eaten with organic kirnuvoi, which tastes absolutely stunning!
Here's the recipes:
Yakisoba and Crisp bread (only in Finnish). For yakisoba recipe, I used also ginger and garlic in addition to the list ingredients. The yakisoba sauce contained for me gin (yes, alcohol), organic soy sauce, indian sugar, organic honey, red chili flakes and sesame seed oil.
Bon apetít!
Thoughts of unconditional love
Some of my views from the comment-chain posted below:
--
Yes, unconditional love is an ideal as has been stated. Actual life has both positive and negative feelings, yes yes, and they are all equally valuable. For me, the choosing of love is more a question of "do I want to choose fear or love as my way of seeing the world?". I believe most people choose the former option, since the environment surrounding us makes us easily believe this world is a place, where everyone are out there only for themselves. I want to believe in something more.. gracious.
By following the path of love is not to avoid negative feelings but to embrace them with acceptance.
They are all interconnected: unconditional love - acceptance - being present. Too detailed and formal definitions of things are best left unsaid, because you, your views and the world have a tendency to change. So do the definitions - they evolve all the time.
"The only constant in life is change".
--
The following song is about change. It is a beautful, bittersweet and somehow ubiquitously so true with many people, including myself..
First we are explicably where we are
Chaste and burned - we're comfortably loveless
In a trillion years, the stars will no longer shine
We'll remain.
Get it right or come back again
My love...
Make it clear - integrate this love and fear
Still hopelessly hopeful
Wounded child seeking wonderful
As closed as I am
Born a craftsman of shifting sands
What lies I learned
Lessened my 'bility to be present
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars still conspire for us
Until our final breaths
We need more love in the world
We need more hope in the world
Build more joy in the world
We crave more love...
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars still conspire for us
Until our final breaths
[x2]
The only constant is change
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars...
The only constant is change
--
Yes, unconditional love is an ideal as has been stated. Actual life has both positive and negative feelings, yes yes, and they are all equally valuable. For me, the choosing of love is more a question of "do I want to choose fear or love as my way of seeing the world?". I believe most people choose the former option, since the environment surrounding us makes us easily believe this world is a place, where everyone are out there only for themselves. I want to believe in something more.. gracious.
By following the path of love is not to avoid negative feelings but to embrace them with acceptance.
They are all interconnected: unconditional love - acceptance - being present. Too detailed and formal definitions of things are best left unsaid, because you, your views and the world have a tendency to change. So do the definitions - they evolve all the time.
"The only constant in life is change".
--
The following song is about change. It is a beautful, bittersweet and somehow ubiquitously so true with many people, including myself..
First we are explicably where we are
Chaste and burned - we're comfortably loveless
In a trillion years, the stars will no longer shine
We'll remain.
Get it right or come back again
My love...
Make it clear - integrate this love and fear
Still hopelessly hopeful
Wounded child seeking wonderful
As closed as I am
Born a craftsman of shifting sands
What lies I learned
Lessened my 'bility to be present
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars still conspire for us
Until our final breaths
We need more love in the world
We need more hope in the world
Build more joy in the world
We crave more love...
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars still conspire for us
Until our final breaths
[x2]
The only constant is change
My love will never change
Though we've ruined everything
The stars...
The only constant is change
perjantai 11. helmikuuta 2011
keskiviikko 9. helmikuuta 2011
The wonders of yoga
Man it feels good to do yoga! I believe it's always beneficial for oneself to push the limits. In this case, what I mean by pushing limits is just to try out all kinds of new things.
Now I decided to try (ashtanga) yoga, the most popular version known in western countries. Ashtanga yoga, to my understanding, has been derived from hatha yoga, which is the most physically-concentrated of the various yoga families. For westerners (länkkärit), doing yoga in many cases involves getting a graceful body figure by developing muscles and by getting them to stretch in the process. Apart from the previous, for me yoga is equally important as a tool for learning the controlling of body and mind through asanas (postures) and vinyasas (movements). The breathing technique (Ujjayi) and muscle locks (Mula and Uddiyana bhandhas) are yin and yang in energizing the body, mind and spirit in the process of doing the actual yoga.
Every time I do yoga, at the time I feel I am pushing my limits, since I stretch about as nicely as a crow bar, but I always bend myself more than what is recommended, since I want to stretch. Bu man, the feeling I get after 1½ hours of doing this stuff..it's surreal, especially after the 10 minutes of relaxation in the end of the session. I feel like.. nothing's troubling me after that, that everything is fine, and I get one step closer of understanding how my body works and what is beneath it. The best thing is the immense spiritual feeling I get.. I believe the better we know how our energies flow in our body the better our mind is able to get deeper and more meaningful experiences.
Of course, I want to utilize my feelings of deepness in other areas of life.. :) I stumbled upon the concept of tantric sex. It's funny, because the concepts in it aren't actually that far away from what I have been more or less doing for the past year or so. When I started to think about it, I have felt more close, intimate and united when having sex than what I've felt previously. It is more about the atmosphere, the presence of the two and being present, than it is about doing some things. It does not need to be anything particular, if the mood is right. I realized it can be an immensive experience just to hold hands or to just "be", as long as the sexual energy is vibrating throughout you both and mingling together. The moment is perfect as it is. This is where, for example, breathing technique can be helpful. I guess that's why a short meditation session before doing anything more is of help. This way, a) the mood sets and b) breathing has energized ones' bodies and minds. This way, the whole experience of sex can become something... undescribable.
But I don't know, I mean, I just only today read about this stuff. It seems the path to spiritual enlightenment comes with all kind of nice bonuses. All this spiritual stuff seems to be interconnected, to result in same kind of deductions about how something really feels good. Be it sex, nutrition (both mental and physical), etc. It just all comes naturally, when you really get down to the business of getting to know yourself and wanting to develop in an open way. Of course, it always helps if there are people guiding you and nudging you towards the right directions.. :)
It felt a bit awkward, as it usually is with Finnish culture, when our yoga instructor today started to do mantras and made us repeat them. However, she said few words that stuck with my mind. That's how I got the idea: "listen to Juno Reactor's Navras when I get back home!". SO that's what I did. Below you can find the lyrics.
--
Asato ma sad gamaya
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
mrtyor mamrtam gamaya
Om shanti shanti shanti (these are the words :) )
Jnani manasa saha
Buddhis ca na vicestate
Tam ahuh paramam gatim
___
translation:
From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.
Let there be peace everywhere
When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.
Now I decided to try (ashtanga) yoga, the most popular version known in western countries. Ashtanga yoga, to my understanding, has been derived from hatha yoga, which is the most physically-concentrated of the various yoga families. For westerners (länkkärit), doing yoga in many cases involves getting a graceful body figure by developing muscles and by getting them to stretch in the process. Apart from the previous, for me yoga is equally important as a tool for learning the controlling of body and mind through asanas (postures) and vinyasas (movements). The breathing technique (Ujjayi) and muscle locks (Mula and Uddiyana bhandhas) are yin and yang in energizing the body, mind and spirit in the process of doing the actual yoga.
Every time I do yoga, at the time I feel I am pushing my limits, since I stretch about as nicely as a crow bar, but I always bend myself more than what is recommended, since I want to stretch. Bu man, the feeling I get after 1½ hours of doing this stuff..it's surreal, especially after the 10 minutes of relaxation in the end of the session. I feel like.. nothing's troubling me after that, that everything is fine, and I get one step closer of understanding how my body works and what is beneath it. The best thing is the immense spiritual feeling I get.. I believe the better we know how our energies flow in our body the better our mind is able to get deeper and more meaningful experiences.
Of course, I want to utilize my feelings of deepness in other areas of life.. :) I stumbled upon the concept of tantric sex. It's funny, because the concepts in it aren't actually that far away from what I have been more or less doing for the past year or so. When I started to think about it, I have felt more close, intimate and united when having sex than what I've felt previously. It is more about the atmosphere, the presence of the two and being present, than it is about doing some things. It does not need to be anything particular, if the mood is right. I realized it can be an immensive experience just to hold hands or to just "be", as long as the sexual energy is vibrating throughout you both and mingling together. The moment is perfect as it is. This is where, for example, breathing technique can be helpful. I guess that's why a short meditation session before doing anything more is of help. This way, a) the mood sets and b) breathing has energized ones' bodies and minds. This way, the whole experience of sex can become something... undescribable.
But I don't know, I mean, I just only today read about this stuff. It seems the path to spiritual enlightenment comes with all kind of nice bonuses. All this spiritual stuff seems to be interconnected, to result in same kind of deductions about how something really feels good. Be it sex, nutrition (both mental and physical), etc. It just all comes naturally, when you really get down to the business of getting to know yourself and wanting to develop in an open way. Of course, it always helps if there are people guiding you and nudging you towards the right directions.. :)
It felt a bit awkward, as it usually is with Finnish culture, when our yoga instructor today started to do mantras and made us repeat them. However, she said few words that stuck with my mind. That's how I got the idea: "listen to Juno Reactor's Navras when I get back home!". SO that's what I did. Below you can find the lyrics.
--
Asato ma sad gamaya
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
mrtyor mamrtam gamaya
Om shanti shanti shanti (these are the words :) )
Jnani manasa saha
Buddhis ca na vicestate
Tam ahuh paramam gatim
___
translation:
From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.
Let there be peace everywhere
When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.
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