Happy World Mental Health Day! What are you thinking and why? I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re focusing on our mental health.

First, let’s define what mental health is. I like to differentiate it from:

Emotional health – how we care for our feelings and express them in a helpful way

Physical health – how we care for our bodies

Spiritual health – how we incorporate our faith into our lives

Mental health is simply a matter of becoming aware of what we are thinking and why, eventually so that we can choose our thoughts.

The last decade or so, it seems to have become an increased trend to pathologize and diagnose others with illnesses or personality disorders. The question is, for what reason? Is it to really help someone, or is to control and demand conformity under silence? Are people really that sick?

To me, most of our global population have experienced traumas and stress during their upbringing or later in life, which has brought about changes in how we might respond to others, altering our behavior because of the traumas we’ve had to endure. This means that all of us just have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to a various extent. 

To understand mental health, we must rule out all people that behave differently due to have taken drugs or consumed alcohol. If you are under the influence, it’s the influence that is the problem, not you. If you can’t control yourself and your thoughts make you harm yourself or others, then you need to change your thoughts and feelings. And to do so, it can be helpful to speak to a licensed therapist or a minister who shows compassion and patience for your own process. If it isn’t a specific trauma that you’re dealing with, a life coach can also help you organize and sort your thoughts and your life, to help clarify what your needs are, and how you can get these met better. A common example is to learn how to set, follow, and communicate, personal boundaries that help us live according to our values.

To further understand which thoughts are healthy and which are not, we must consider that whatever you are thinking, is really your own freedom and your own business and nobody else’s. Freedom of thought is one of the most important freedoms and rights and the foundation for developing creativity. What feels good to you, might not feel good to another. That means that both can be right. So what matters is, what you do with your thoughts, how you act on them. Nobody should be medicated or treated based on what he or she thinks or believes, but only what he or she does, if it’s harmful. I’ve once met an arsonist. That person should still be allowed to be in awe of fire and think of it as an aliveness or beautiful. But the same person must of course be stopped from lighting fires. If this then is something that feels like a need, how can that need be fulfilled without the fire? Could a photo of a fire be comforting to start with?

An important aspect to also consider, is the culture we live in and how this has created norms that are deemed normal and what everybody should be thinking, believing, doing and feeling. The same person with the same belief system, might be treated completely differently simply based on location and which people he or she surrounds herself with. This is especially visible when we talk about faith-based thoughts that even develops with trends. Even more confusing, is that we sometimes mean different things even if we use the same words or expressions, including what we’re not saying. Being authentic and honest should be encouraged and allowed, so that we can communicate better.

Some people use their label to hide under or to justify their actions with. And others are being labeled by someone who simply just doesn’t like you. Neither is right. Nor is it right, to label someone to silence that person or stopping him or her to pursue justice. That just creates a pseudo-drama, a gaslighting, instead of addressing any grievances or concerns the other might have. I can’t stress enough how important it is to sometimes just answer yes or no, which takes only a couple of second to send in an email. But for some reason, the more followers we gather, the less we really talk. I was once sectioned for two years instead of the other person giving me an answer about a possible plagiarism that would take them less than a minute. Can we change that? As always, holding a good dialogue based on mutual respect, can solve conflicts directly, especially if there’s a misunderstanding, and create less stress. Something essential for a good mental health. Instead, it made me feel completely betrayed by Swedish authorities, that I now can’t trust at all, less with my life.

To become more conscious about your own thoughts, you can write them down and then read, or you can say things out loud and listen to yourself. Most of all, you need to become more aware of what you are thinking, when and why. To catch yourself ruminating and deliberately choose to either express that or to think of something different, and usually it’s easier if you also do something different. Even something so simple like playing a game on your phone for ten minutes, or doing a Qigong exercise, can put you in another frame of mind, and give yourself a break from taking on a negative comment for example. What can you do to nurture your thoughts to be more loving and supportive, but also discerning and realistic? Do you have prior experiences that have been good, that you can use to confirm your ideas? Often, we delve into what has upset us, but just as much we can delve into what has made us grow, become grateful and found success with. Remembering this, can help us create a balance between negativity and positivity, that are still based on real life experiences.

And if you’re experiencing many negative thoughts, you can investigate what’s behind them. Is there a fear of losing someone close to you? Is your catastrophic obsession even a token of love?

The next episode of The Source Podcast is published on October 16^th, to honor World Food Day. Tune in on October the 16^th, to receive a life coaching tip about how to look at food. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Happy Smile Day! Did you know that smiling not only makes others feel better, but you yourself too? I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re focusing on smiling and how important that is.

Imagine, if you were forced to keep your mouth shut and never be able to smile. This is in fact, what I had to endure for almost three years in Sweden, when my teeth broke down and before I could have them surgically removed and replaced with dental implants. For sure, I was not a pretty sight, and I felt both ugly and stifled. Of course, it was even worse to not be able to eat properly, but nonetheless being able to smile as a token of love, of appreciation, of joy, should be a human right of its own.

In another way, I haven’t always liked smiling at myself in the mirror in my younger years either, but that was due to overall not feeling at home in my body and constantly aware of my looks, especially when dancing, which made me a little insecure. This all changed, when I became an exchange student at Ticonderoga High School for the senior year. I participated in many activities, including performed in the Ticonderoga Junior Miss Pageant both in a gown and dancing solo as my talent. Here, I learned that it was important to smile on stage and to use Vaseline on our teeth to not get our lips stuck. It’s true! And somehow, it made me feel like I looked a little bit better too. I became the 2^nd runner up and received an award together with some local fame. I loved it!

Dancing jazz and modern, including Isadora Duncan, otherwise require us to keep our mouth shuts when we perform, to let our bodies do the talking and often set to music with sometimes a bit somber mood.

Dancing Hawaiian Hula is a whole different story. In Hula, our facial expressions are part of what we can be judged on and is an important part of how the dance is used to tell a story together with the music or the chant. 

I’ve always been told that my face is like an open book and I show my emotions very easily. I’ve practiced this at an early age, when I took drama classes and we sometimes did pantomime and improvisations. 

In Qigong, there’s something called an inner smile. We offer ourselves this inner smile when we do our motions to greet our organs with appreciation and self-love, which helps us balance and heal from stress. We can also do this when we meditate, to relax and find inner peace. When we do, we naturally smile!

And of course, whenever we greet others, it’s much nicer to offer a genuine smile to improve the mood for both the other and ourselves. It’s been scientifically proven that a smile enables our brains to release happy hormones. So, while we often smile when we feel happy, we also become happier by smiling!

In Hawaii, a smile is natural to attach to the Aloha-greeting, often together with a shaka-sign. Do you smile when you say hello to someone? And do you smile towards yourself in the mirror?

One of the most famous self-help authors Louise Hay, invented something she referred to as mirrorwork. This is done by looking yourself in the eyes in a mirror, especially in the morning before you set out to go to work, and express love and appreciation for yourself. Look at your body and learn to accept it, while you still might want to improve something. It’s very profound to be able to say I love you to yourself and really mean it. But it takes some practice!

Similarly to this exercise, is cultivating an awareness and capability to embrace and be able to laugh at your own mistakes, just as you can laugh at situations and what others have said or done in your own solitude. This releases stress and enables us to relax more. It also makes it much easier to meet hardships in life, when we remember to acknowledge both our own shortcomings and the shortcomings of others often taking themselves too seriously. It can be a way to detach from drama.

Embodying radical acceptance and learning to express and feel self-love, enables our bodies to heal and to reach a higher vibration that naturally raises our ability to attract and sustain more loving relationships. Love creates harmony, when it’s genuine.

So, whether it’s to yourself, to your loved ones, to your boss or simply to your neighbors and your fellow commuters, smile today. See how better you feel and how many smiles you get in return!

The next episode of The Source Podcast is published on October 10^th, to honor World Mental Health Day. Tune in on October the 10^th, to think about what you’re thinking about. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Happy Fall Equinox! Leaves are turning yellow and red, falling on the ground like confetti. It’s time for fall! I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re focusing on our transition into the season of fall.

The Fall Equinox marks the day when day and night are equally long here in the northern hemisphere, before it becomes darker earlier and our daylight dimmers. This is because our planet now is turning more away from the sun. On a practical note, this means that it’s soon time to wear long sleeves and a warmer coat. It will rain more and we will most likely get a storm or two pulling off all the leaves of the trees. And just like the spiritual saying goes to not fight the dark with dark, but with light, this becomes the time when we might light some candles in the evening and pull up a blanket in our couches, to have it cozier and warmer. We’re going indoors.

In Chinese Medicine, the fall season is symbolic for the natural element of metal and associated with the lungs and large intestines. The lungs, to breathe in more crisp air and let go of any sadness and grief stored here. The large intestines, to let go of the old and any excess food. With the colder air, comes more inspiration and a renewed focus to sharpen our minds like metal, to learn and create new things. This also is an opportune time to investigate how you can create more life balance by schedule time appropriately and balance your activity level with rest. A good way to start, is by writing down what you have spent your time doing the past week. Then see any patterns and decide whether anything can be changed, moved to a different time, delegated to someone else, or to get help with doing. This is true both for becoming more efficient in the workplace and at home. Efficiency isn’t only about achieving and performance, but to choose the right things to do, when and how, for the best outcome. 

Another thing, that fall is a good timing for, is to prepare for winter. Think of all the squirrels collecting their nuts and making their nest comfortable. We should do the same. Preparation takes out some of the stress, whether that is to have an umbrella handy, before the rainy season begins, or to have some root vegetables at home to make a good soup with. It can be to buy some tealight candles, to order some books to read, download music and movies, and to gather ingredients that can be stored and even prepare for a storm with flashlights, batteries and a radio. It can be to go through your wardrobe and put away your must summery items like dresses, shorts and bikinis, as well as baskets and flipflops. I simply put mine in a different closet and go through my sweaters, cardigans, leggings and boots to see what I have and what I might need to buy. There’s something very satisfying to have what we need when it strikes. To be warm when it becomes cold and to have mittens ready. What can you prepare for the fall? In your wardrobe and in your kitchen cabinet and freezer? And how are you going to plan your time during the months to come?

Then curl up with a cup of tea and let yourself sift through your emotions. Perhaps you feel some grief or need to let go of something heavy. What is that for you?

Go for a walk, even if it rains. Just bring an umbrella or wear a raincoat. And do go for a walk in the sun too of course, while it lasts. Breathe in the refreshing air and let it clean your lungs. Let yourself become filled with good energy and practice being present, whether that is to appreciate what you have accomplished at work and your home, or go all in to notice how nature is changing. Maybe you can even find some wild mushrooms and pick some apples!

And, get some much-needed sleep. Cooler days and nights make for a better sleep than in the hot summertime. Give yourself that.

The next episode of The Source Podcast is published on September 29^th, to honor our food and lessen the waste. Tune in on September the 29^th, to get a life coaching tip about valuing food. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Happy World Peace Day! Can there be peace on earth and if so, how? I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re focusing on making peace.

Peace is a state of mind, body and heart as well as a state of the many. To understand inner peace, find a sense of stillness and serenity. You can do this through many ways, such as through meditation, relaxation and praying. Or going for a walk in beautiful nature or sit and journal. Maybe take a nap after a meal. 

Peace finds you when you acknowledge what is in your control and what isn’t and when you have your needs met and feel grateful for that. I would suggest that peace is our original state of being. By removing everything and everyone in its way, we also find peace. This isn’t always possible though and to make peace, it’s often a matter of solving a conflict. 

The best way to solve a conflict is to see to, that both parties win something, or get to keep their peace, by ending the argument. This is why it’s so important to honor our human rights. Instead of getting into a battle of egos of who has said and done what – which might have to be decided by a court – get into the awareness of what is the real win and lose. 

What do you personally lose by stopping someone else from going to their job? To have their spouse and family? To socialize with their friends? To express themselves through art and creativity, and in media? To find faith in fellowship? To have their physical needs met with sleep and food? And to have their own home? Nothing!

And the opposite is true as well. What do you personally win by stopping someone else from going to their job? Do you make more money then? To have their spouse and family? Are you going to have two husbands? To socialize with their friends? Are you going to be alone? To express themselves through art and creativity? Are you losing your blog for example? Or will you lose followers and not be interviewed in media about you, if you let someone else have their say about themselves? To find faith in fellowship? Are you losing your ability to go to church if you let someone else do too? To have their physical needs met with sleep and food? Will you have your food taken away if you let someone else go and buy their own? Will you lack sleep if you let someone else sleep at their preferred hours? And to have their own home? Will you lose any of your houses and apartments by letting someone else have their own? What do you then win? Nothing! Do you then need to take this from that person and create this conflict? So, if any of this fits into your situation as it does for me, you now know it can be completely avoided, without smearing neither my name nor yours. And without taking anything from me or you. Have you?

Then it’s the matter of making peace with our past. And here, the art of forgiveness is what is the remedy. If you can meet with your adversary and express yourself honestly and authentically and describe how you feel and how the other person has contributed to that by his or her decisions and actions, you can demand an apology and a correction. But you also need to see what it is in your own patterns of behavior, whether being part of your personality or coming after years of conditioning and surviving childhood traumas, and take responsibility for your own reactions stemming from this. You too need to apologize. If this isn’t possible to conduct such a meeting, write a letter, even if you don’t send it.

Then it’s time to find forgiveness through compassion. Forgiving yourself through self-compassion and forgiving the other through compassion of him or her. It’s said that only hurt people, hurt others. So how hurt isn’t the other?

As you can see, this is a process that can be used again and again, whenever your relationships take you into a conflict, just as you can become more aware of when you’re instigating one yourself. Unfortunately, some people see hurting others as their entertainment or totally lack self-awareness, which then becomes a call to avoid completely. To walk away and cut off. To keep your peace.

I once had a good friend in advertising, who told me that not all balls need to be caught. Some can just be ignored. So, which ball have you caught or need to deal with? Which ones can you ignore? Are you harming someone or have you become harmed? Are you honoring others’ rights?

The next episode of The Source Podcast is published on September 23^rd, to celebrate the Fall Equinox. Tune in on September the 23^rd, to get a life coaching tip about transitioning into a new season. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Happy Positive Thinking Day! Are you stuck in a loop of negative thoughts and like to change them? I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re focusing on positive thinking.

Positive thinking isn’t about hiding pain, shame or grief, nor is it to be gullible or naïve about life. Positive thinking is about finding ways to be more loving towards yourself, others and earth and simply feel better. To have a dual perspective that embraces both the positive and the negative as we face challenges and relationships.

To understand positive thinking, we must begin by understanding our thoughts. And to understand our thoughts, we must learn to observe them from an outside perspective, or from an emotionally detached perspective. Whenever you find yourself either daydreaming or ruminating with an inner dialogue, you must catch yourself in it and then acknowledge that you are. It can be a simple statement that you make to yourself like: “Now, this is my inner dialogue again.” Or: “Now, I’m fantasizing about how I wish it would be.”

The next step is to understand why you are thinking what you’re thinking with this awareness. Can it be that you actually are physically tired or hungry? That which we call hangry? There’s a good reason for why it’s said to sleep on it first. It’s in the morning when we’ve had a good night’s sleep that we are the most inspired and susceptible to learning and understanding things. If you feel like you’re waking up with only negative thoughts racing through your head, you can probably benefit from learning to transform them. 

If why you’re thinking what you’re thinking has its root in what others have said and done, make that clear for yourself. Not what you assume that others might think of you, but what has really been said and done and what your part in it has been. To lift yourself up from an imposed thought, you need to take charge of how you’d like life to be. Then see what you can do to make this happen. Do you need to communicate a boundary? Do you need to share what your hopes and dreams are? How you feel because of what someone has said or done? Often, expressing ourselves let us release some of it and gain insights about our own patterns of behavior, as well as others’. 

Now to the next step. What is coming from within you? What are your own thoughts about yourself, your situation and others? Are they grounded in your own self-experience or something you watched or read? Contrary to most self-help authors, I believe that the majority of us actually like ourselves enough to be accepting and knowing of our own worth, when we’re alone and have our needs met. It’s much more common that we ruminate about what others are thinking, or would think about us, if we say or do or look another way, than what is considered the norm, when we’re in the company of others. But once you’ve identified a negative thought that you have about yourself or something or someone in your life, dare to examine it thoroughly. What are the negative traits you’re attaching? 

Choose the opposite. What are the positive traits you can see too? What is true too? 

Then investigate what you can be grateful for. What have you learned? Which boundaries have you been able to acknowledge as important to set? How can this increase your worth rather than decrease it? Are there other people you can gravitate towards? What are something good that has become or could become the result of this? And what can become better? Who and what can you relate to instead?

Besides finding gratitude and focus on that, you can also find compassion. Both self-compassion for all you’ve been through and how hard that has been, and compassion for others and what they have been through, which might be much more than you know. How bad that other person must be feeling of his or herself, or how powerless, to treat you this way.

To transform a negative thought thus, simply think of what would make you feel better about what you’re thinking of. Is there another angle you can look from? Either it’s enough to shift your thoughts and continue go about your day as is, or it can ignite you to identify a need you must take action to get satisfied, for example learn more about something you’ve been criticized about. 

In every rejection, lies an opportunity to improve, expand, and grow into becoming more aligned with your true self and walk accordingly. Who and what can you instead reject so you can move forward?

The next episode of The Source Podcast is published on September 21^st, to celebrate World Peace Day. Tune in on September the 21^st, to get a life coaching tip about how to make peace. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Part of this business plan to build Telluselle Living Center, includes hosting various groups and circles. While some groups may have their own designated themes, for example “Childfree Women” or “Living with PTSD”, others can be open for anyone who wants to create a better world. Then the idea is to sit in a circle and let the word travel around it, so each person gets to have a say while the others are listening. The process is in three steps, where I lead the circle and summarise what has been said, while the conversation evolves naturally:

1. Define the theme
2. Give personal examples of this theme, whether positive or negative
3. Share your own vision and idea for a solution or improvement

Topics we can discuss:

• Discrimination
• Compassion
• Democracy
• Forgiveness
• Green inventions
• Trust
• Respect
• Womanhood
• Manhood
• Faith
• Boundaries

What else do you think is interesting and can benefit from more community coherence?

Happy World Letter Writing Day! It can be a true act of intimacy to receive a personal letter, especially if it’s handwritten and from heart to heart. I’m Hannah Telluselle and this is The Source Podcast, your source of inspiration and good things. Today, we’re going to celebrate letter writing and get inspired to continue this tradition, even if we still send them online. 

When I grew up in the 80’s, it was common to get a pen pal from another country far away. We wrote letters about our families and our days in school and the activities we did after, and on weekends. Sometimes, we added a photo of ourselves so the other could see how we looked. Imagine, writing to someone you don’t know how he or she looks! Other than that, it was the gift of words travelling across the globe. And often on sweet stationary and with carefully chosen stamps whenever possible. Here in Sweden, what is printed on our stamps differ during the year. Sometimes, we have our royal family and sometimes a picture of someone the country just lost or to commemorate a sports event. During the summer, images of pretty flowers adorn our envelopes, just as Santa Claus and Christmas themes, during the winter. My grandfather and my brother and I, collected stamps too for a while of course. It was a treat to get one that neither of the others had in their folders, just like with foreign currency saved from our travels. My grandfather also once showed me how his ring on his little finger with our family shield on, was used in the older days to make a seal with, in red wax. He also kept a special knife to open letters with, and a small marble holder holding envelopes inside his secretaire. I used to picture myself in a long dress sitting there with only a candle to see and write with, like in the old movies. I tried writing with a fountain pen a couple of times too of course, but found it too uneven and too slow, for my fast thinking. Yet, I’m still particular about which pen I’m using and for what, just like choosing journal. A Parker pen, can never go wrong. What do you prefer? Black or blue ink? Or writing with a pencil?

I imagine both Isadora Duncan and Princess Ka’iulani wrote lots of letters and receiving answers back from their poet boyfriends overseas. There’s something about receiving a letter with someone’s desire steaming in it. Have you ever received such a letter, or sent one? A real love-letter? I luckily have. The first handwritten love letter given to me, was from a French boy I met on a family vacation in St Pierre sur Mère when I was a young teenager. I glued it into my diary. Another time, I received a letter of closure from my then boyfriend. I have always felt it easier to express my feelings through letter writing and think of it as being given both time and space for the other to sit with it, instead of ending up in heated arguments, possibly worse due to bad timing. A letter can be read again, and again. And a letter can be written from the most private of our inner selves. To keep my writing private as much as possible nowadays, and without any interruptions, I like writing on my laptop offline. Have you tried doing that? Does it make a difference in how you feel? Less stressed?

Then we have the professional letters that we write from time to time, appealing to a higher authority for help, or inviting someone to our business. As someone who has worked in advertising as a copywriter, I’m going to share a professional secret. When we write our texts to the target group, to sell a product or service, or to create a good vibe about a brand, a trick is to visualize an actual person in the target group that we write to, as if a letter, but in the form of an ad. This is how we can really reach someone, instead of only speaking generally.

Finally, we have the kind of letters we do for our own personal growth and healing, such as writing what we wish we could have said to someone who has passed away and that we never got a chance to or dared to. Or letters to ourselves, our inner child or our future self, or to our soul simply. Then it becomes an exercise in listening to our higher self and let it communicate to help us reach personal insights. And, we can write letters to God or like Anne Frank, to a diary as if it was a dear friend. A letter simply, is a candid conversation on paper.

So, what is on your heart today? What have you felt and thought of lately? Who would you like to invite into your life, whether someone new or someone that used to be? Or is there someone you rather wanted to terminate a relationship with? Is there someone you wish you could tell something that you don’t want to say online for everybody else to read? We can of course never quite trust that it doesn’t end up there anyway, but hopefully when we write with raw honesty and vulnerability, the recipient keeps it private. 

Letters enable us to communicate heart to heart, to improve our understanding. Who can you confide in? And who can confide in you?

The next episode of The Source Podcast airs on September 13^th, for celebrating Positive Thinking Day. Tune in on September the 13^th, to get a life coaching tip about transforming your thoughts. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.

Happy World Indigenous People Day! The more we learn to relate to the land, the more the land will teach us and nurture us back. Today is the World Indigenous People Day and thus a day to remember to honor and respect the original inhabitants of the country you live in. It’s said we all originate from the African tribe and from there, man evolved and moved. 

Here in Sweden and the Nordic countries, our indigenous people are called Sapmi. They live mostly up north, where they herd and take care of reindeers, used for meat. They have their own traditional clothing and culture, with a special kind of chanting called jojk, and their own local government. The Sapmi people also have a seat in our House of Representatives and are among the tribes recognized as original inhabitants. 

In Hawaii, the indigenous people are called Kanaka Maoli, which seen in combination with all the islands of the pacific, becomes Pacific Islanders. In Hawaii, it’s often important to be able to trace your bloodline, to be fully upheld as a Kanaka Maoli. And it’s not without controversy, as many wish to have their sovereignty back from the illegal overthrow by the US Government after claiming sugar plantations to use for profit. If you’re simply local and respect and live according to the Hawaiian values with Aloha, you can call yourself a Kama’aina, which means to be a child of the land, and is part of the very inspiration for my last name Telluselle, that I wish to stand for a brand with indigenous values, regardless of one’s ethnicity.

And then there are of course numerous of tribes both in North America, in the United States and Canada, as well as in South America, Australia and New Zealand. In Europe, one could argue that the original Celtic people from Ireland and Scotland would be the indigenous equivalent, but for the most part, by indigenous we mean those of a browner skin tone and usually exploited by the white. According to the UN, about 6.2% of the world population is indigenous.

As someone fascinated early by Shamanism, it became what brought me to study some of the indigenous ways, first through literature like Carlos Castaneda and Lynn Andrews, and then Sandra Ingerman. When life brought me an opportunity to go to Hawaii, I was gifted with introductions to Hawaiian healing arts, such as lei making, dancing Hula, chanting ‘Oli and doing Ho’oponopono. Receiving their Lomilomi massage made wonders for me, as it enabled me to become fully grounded. When I was staying at the YWCA Fernhurst in Honolulu 2011, one of their staff was a native practitioner with whom I had many talks about spiritual things. She also showed me how she fermented the Noni fruit to make the special juice, seen as medicine. I found it very strengthening and restoring.

What these people all have in common, I think, is a way of looking at mother nature and all living beings as connected through spirit, which is to show reverence for. We relate, not just dominate. And in this way, a mutual form of respect can be formed also with wild animals. When we show our own soul, they show us theirs.

Another thing in common, is of course the white man’s exploitation. It’s through the chase for profit, often based on indigenous culture, crafts and resources, many lose their own financial stability due to the unfair inequalities emerging through the raised prices due to tourism or agriculture at scale, for example. 

When it comes to indigenous practices, it’s important to not be culturally appropriating them. We can learn, practice and study alongside them, but not neither earn money, nor assume teaching without proper protocol. As a comparison, yoga is very culturally appropriated. We all know it stems from India, but how many people practicing do even know what the asanas are called in Sanskrit? Or even why we do yoga? The same with Qigong. Some forms originate in Tibet and some in China. This is more regulated through the recognition of Chinese Medicine, but this too has taken many years. When I first received acupuncture in the mid 90’s, it was considered a little frou-frou. Now, regular doctors even prescribe it! Would you ever go to someone offering acupuncture, without being licensed, taught and trained according to Chinese Medicine? I don’t think so. How come so many just overlook the origin of Yoga? 

Here in Sweden, the number of yoga studios and variations with lots of props disgust me. One of them, even have the name YogaMana, which I think they directly appropriated from my blog about Hawaii and falsely and without anyone’s permission used for their business, without knowing a word Hawaiian, less showing any respect for its meaning. I tried to sue them for that but was told there were some Indian languages that the world also existed in, but with dubious meanings! And the judge, ruled that Mana would be considered a fantasy word. I would have to say, I expected far more respect from Sweden than that, but apparently not, if you’re not a blonde, ironically. This, however, will not be the case at Telluselle Living Center, would I be able to build it. At Telluselle Living Center, my plan is to offer classes with only initiated teachers according to each tradition.

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.

Happy Nature Walk Day! When there isn’t anything special to celebrate, make something mundane into something special! Today marks the calendar August 1^st, which in many ways marks a shift from summer to late summer. In both Chinese Medicine and in the Nordic Indigenous people’s way of looking at the seasons, this time of year is considered the beginning of late summer, as its own season. Here in the northern hemisphere, you can notice this through how the sun has begun to set earlier again and how fruit trees and berry bushes are beginning to ripen. While it’s not quite fall yet, and therefore not quite time to harvest yet, the apple blossoms have now turned into small carts of fruit, small apples visibly growing. Then hopefully, we’ve been able to slow down, to be more outdoors and gotten used to walking more barefoot and relish salads in the warm weather. Summer has begun turning into fall, but we still have a month left to just enjoy!

The season of late summer is connected to the natural element of Earth. In Chinese Medicine, this stands for grounding your body and harnessing the fire from the peak of summer. In life coaching terms, this can be translated into understanding your passion and living it, and now being able to and reminded to, distill it and ground it so you don’t burn out and instead can nurture your own inner flame in ways that will sustain you the months to come. Perhaps you can take your practice outside or look for inspiration to make art with. Living our passion doesn’t mean to be filled with emotion all the time, but to plan and practice regularly what lights us up, to help us keep going and at best, help us earn a living with a clear purpose and direction. What is your passion and dream? How can you turn this into a practical application of what you love? What can you do to embody your passion, little by little, step by step?

The element Earth can also be understood as the body of Earth, and our body. Maybe you need to rest differently with a siesta during late afternoon, since it might be too hot, or even too light outside, to sleep well during the night. It might be a good time to be more physically inclined with activities outdoors. A simple thing you can do, is to take regular walks in nature. A regular park will do, but if you can, strive to seek out some wild pastures, forests, lakes or beaches to walk alongside, to get closer to nature. Going for a walk, means no headphones on and minimal of talk if you’re walking together with someone. Focus instead on really noticing the nature around you. If you go the same path or trails regularly, you’ll soon be able to see all the shifts yourself, which makes you more in tune with the natural cycles and more in harmony with nature, which in turn grounds us with less anxiety and more peace. You can practice looking for different things, different days. 

One day you can focus on the greenery. Which kind of trees do you see? How does a newly formed leaf look like, and which flowers are in bloom? 

Another day you can focus on the wildlife. Anything from little ants crossing the road, to meeting a deer family or trying to differentiate the different kinds of birds there are where you live, makes for a good lesson and repetition of what we learned in school, as well as becomes a way to get to know nature more intimately. 

And some days, you might just need to walk off all your thoughts and emotions and can just focus on where you’re putting down your feet. This too is ok. Let the air fill your lungs and exhale everything that you no longer wish to carry. 

And speaking of putting down our feet, marveling at how the soil looks and feels, or the sand or the grass, connects you even deeper with nature if you can walk barefoot for a while. Children do this naturally, but we must remind ourselves again and again as adults, to let go of our minds and to get into our bodies more, so we can experience life with more presence, and ultimately more joy and wonder. Dare also to feel the ground as you lay down to tan or to rest on your picnic blanket or towel. Often, we lose ourselves in books, talks or scrolling also outside, so make it a habit to use some of your time, to just be and take it all in. The more of nature’s beauty we take in, the more we can balance our lesser wanted memories and impressions from the world. So, go for a walk!

To listen to this blogpost, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.

Happy International Day of Friendship! While women often have a bestie and men prefer hanging out in groups, we all feel better in good company. In Sweden we have a saying: “Love comes and goes, while friendship lasts.” What do you think? Is this true for you? I think it’s like that when we’re young but here, friends are often a substitute for a partner, since that makes many women prioritize his agenda over her friends. And it hasn’t become better with internet.

The more time we spend online, the less time we have for building real connections and develop sound relationships. We can of course stay updated and communicate online with people that can become our friends, or that already are our friends, but apart from that, scrolling on social media, we’re just viewers. 

What is then a good friend and how do you become friends? To me, a friend is someone who accepts you for who you are and tell you the truth when you ask for their opinion. It’s someone who I share values with and who is interested in me and my life, who enjoys my company, taste and sense of humor, just as I enjoy theirs. 

Many of my friendships started where I was spending my time, such as through workplaces, schools, churches, riding classes and dance practices. I’ve always been a very open and validating person and have always found it easy to start talking. I don’t mind some chitter-chatter about the weather in the elevator with my neighbors, because this is how we create both safety, trust and recognition. I certainly have no problem extending a compliment to another fellow woman, stranger or known, for anything that she is wearing or how she is carrying herself, simply because I’ve already received many compliments too. While there sometimes can be a sense of competition and rivalry, a good friend is someone who wants what is best for you and believes in your dreams and goals, and want you to reach them. Often, we’ve shared what has happened in our lives during the past week, month or even year, which is nice to catch up with and to get it off our chests. Not so often, but more importantly, doing things together though, like travelling or hosting a party, makes for creating both memories and bonds. 

Unfortunately, many women seem to put their friendships on the back burner as soon as they think they’ve met Mr Right, especially when they had their children and everything revolves around them. Lucky for me, I’ve also had quite a few male friends, both for partying with, being in the same fraternity organization with, or working or studying with. Sometimes, our friendship builds more after either of us have finished our studies or changed workplace. And sometimes, it ebbs out instead. 

What the biggest caveat is, is of course money. Just as with regular romantic relationships, having a similar standard is key for a more friction-less friendship. To not always be the one asking for a loan, or be the one always paying, is healthier and doesn’t create an unwanted pattern of power positions. Equality really begins in our relationships. That we value and cherish each other equally much from a positive and empowering stance. 

So, how do you become friends with someone and where? The first thing we have to accept is that we must leave our comfort zone a little. At best, we find people we can invite into our comfort zone, our home, but where we still can inspire each other to grow. And if not, we can spend time together outside, or in the specific setting we met. 

We can commute together, go for a lunch or an after-work drink, if we’re colleagues.

We can study together, talk about the classes and lend each other books, if we’re students.

We can create a Bible-study group or sit at the same table and have a coffee after church, if we’ve met there. 

We can help each other out with a choreography or just talk about the time we spend outside of class, and catch a ride, if we’ve met at dance practice.

And of course, by talking about what we have in common, including our bosses, teachers and other co-workers, we can improve our communication skills and broaden our understanding and perspectives, while ensuring that we don’t fall into gossip.

To me, building a friendship is a lot like dating a guy, but without the sex. And just like with a romantic relationship, friendship takes time and effort, where we invite the acquaintances into our lives outside of the place we met, and create mutual support.

So, who are you as a friend? Are you balancing initiatives and being supportive? How would you like a good friend to be? Who can you show appreciation for being one, and who can you get to know some more?

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube or click here:

Happy National Ice-cream Day! It’s summer, it’s hot and you hopefully are on a vacation or at least have some time off. Then what is the most natural thing to eat, if not ice-cream! So, let’s begin feeling into which flavor you prefer. In the summertime when I grew up and we often went travelling during summer, we had Italian sorbet. It’s a kind of ice-cream made of frozen fruit and without any dairy. Perfect to cool off with after dinner or as a treat in the afternoon. Lemon, raspberry or chocolate are my favorites. 

Fast forward some years, and I found a place where they sell their own home-made flavors like mint-chocolate, crushed candies, and even champagne. It really tasted like it! Eating it in a fresh baked cone, made it even more delicious. Then there were the combinations with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and even a creamy marshmallow bun on top, making it into its own sweet meal. Or the kind of soft serve that you roll around in sprinkles. Have you had those?

After that came Frozen yoghurt, and in Hawaii, I had Shave ice and Mochi ice-cream.

Then I realized that my stomach was too sensitive, so I began eating lactose-free and vegan alternatives, like Oatly. In Sweden, it’s very common to have strawberry ice-cream when you’re little. As a grown-up, I prefer vanilla with some fresh strawberries instead. But does that mean that I’m vanilla?

For me, ice-cream is like a snack or a dessert, but rarely with any emotional attachment to it. 

In most American movies, we see a sad girl, or a girl with her bestie, gulping down a bucket of ice-cream as part of her grieving ritual from a break-up. Perhaps there is where it begins with the emotional eating that is ruining it for so many. I think most people can be divided into two categories, at least women, either you eat less or not at all when you’re sad and upset, or you eat too much when you are. I’ve never eaten when I was sad. I do snack more when I’m very tired or stressed though. 

I’ve never been overweight until a couple of years ago, when I had to spend more than two years locked up in a psychiatric ward, so I’ve always belonged to the lucky few who can be skinny and eat whatever I want anyway. Now, I think about it more, but having a good health comes before checking the scale. And as someone with food intolerances, being able to eat at all, is a blessing. 

I also have had ice-creams on two different dates in Honolulu many years ago. One with Joel, who took me to his favorite part of the beach to watch the sunset after we had driven to see the view on the Tantalus. And another with Jesse, the evening before he was leaving back for Minnesota, we went down to the ice-cream bar in Waikiki and walked back to the hostel. Would a guy in Sweden ever take out a girl for ice-cream? I have never heard of it. Maybe because it’s so cold here, normally. Now we’ve had a heatwave here too, with some 82 degrees Fahrenheit. But anyway, as part of a meal or to cozy up with in the couch while watching a movie perhaps, but never as a date by itself. I enjoyed both.

So, when do you eat ice-cream and why do you? Do you eat it to stuff down emotions, to comfort yourself, or to enjoy a treat? And do you judge others by the flavors they choose?

To me, having vanilla is the easiest to pair with different berries. And it’s the simplest thing. It’s not at all, that I feel coy or bland, but that I sometimes prefer simplicity. I even think there’s an element of elegance to that. I might indeed prefer predictable routines, to alleviate some of my stress, but am I someone who isn’t adventurous? Who moved to Hawaii on my own? And even have had sex in English as my second language, and with an African American guy. Not so vanilla, I think. 

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.

Happy World Population Day! What is it to be global and how do you become more global?

The world as we currently know it, consists of 195 recognized countries. If you want to count territories, it might be a couple of more, but all in all, 195 is the official number. And altogether, the world population is about 8.3 billion people, where India and China top the list with more than a billion in each, followed by the United States, Indonesia and Pakistan. In the little country of Sweden, where I’m from, the population is 10.7 million. And many are migrating! About 304 million people are migrants, where the United States hosts the most and India are the most emigrating.

When I grew up, my parents took me travelling a lot, since my dad conducted Ethnographic studies and has written many articles for the news. Most of my trips were done in my toddler years, wherefor I can’t remember many of them. My first bestie at daycare and preschool though, was a Mulatto-girl. 

All in all, I’ve visited Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany (both West and East), Estonia, France, Portugal, Italy, Vatican, Greece, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and the United Kingdom. I’ve also passed through Poland and Yugoslavia and been to Hungary and Romania in Europe. In Asia, I’ve visited India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq. And in the United States, I’ve been to Connecticut, New York, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, DC, Florida, Illinois, California and Hawaii, with a short layover in Texas, and to Canada. That makes it some 30 countries!

Then add all the people I’ve met from other states, such as Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

And met people from other countries, such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Nigeria, Mozambique, Senegal, Kamerun, Sudan, Somalia, Angola, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Kongo, Madagascar, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, North Korea, Lithuania, Spain, South Africa, Singapore, China, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Virgin Islands, Guam, Marshall Islands, Puerto Rico, Timor, Japan, Samoa and Palau. And Taiwan.

So, I learned early to tell where someone comes from. It’s a secret hack of mine. It also is a connector, to know something about a country someone is coming from, especially with my own experiences, so we easier can relate. And while our looks, cultures and languages differ, there are so much more in common. You just have to look for it!

Which countries have you visited and/or have met people from?

This doesn’t mean that I would be someone without prejudice. Just the other day, when I was strolling through a department store in Stockholm, I saw a fabulous dress that caught my attention, so I went up to look and feel it. Directly, a salesperson approached me and kindly said hello. When I looked up to greet her, I noticed that she was a Muslim wearing a veil. While this young woman sounded Swedish with little to no accent, and displayed a friendly demeanor, I still felt that she was out of place among those clothes. And part of me wondered, how come she got that job and I none? I used to work in a clothing store when I was younger. This has of course made it easier for me to understand the immigration policies that the United States use to lessen immigrants’ ability to get a job, unless it doesn’t compete with an American’s, but nonetheless, if she must and wants to live here, can I not just be allowed to live and work elsewhere just as much? Isn’t this the point of being global? That we open for trade everywhere, for both people and goods, while keeping each country pristine with its specialties, culture and environment. Therefore, to me, being global is to be caring about people simply based on us all being humans. And therefore, I think the work of the United Nations is so important. 

We all have the same needs and want to be treated with the same respect. We all have similar bodies. And I’m pretty sure, all natives are adapted even biologically to the place from where they origin. The question is, where do we who are mixed go? Both me, my brother and my parents, were born in Sweden. But on my mother’s side, her mother came from Poland and on my father’s side, his mother came from Belgium, his stepmother from Germany and us as a heritage from Normandie, France. Where is then my best place to live? I was devastated for many years after I was deported from the United States, where I hoped to become a citizen already more than a decade ago. To learn more about what happened, you can find that in my book The Call for Divine Fathering – flying with the feathers of the eagle, where I also share my own lessons of safety. Available on Amazon and Kindle!

This is part of why I call Mother Earth my home, not just the name of the planet, but mother nature. Where I feel connected to nature, is my home. And this is of course everywhere. Mother Earth has her own spirit, her own life force, that can be perceived through all wildlife and vegetation. To recognize this spirit, is to connect with nature, with earth.

Photo of planet Earth made through ChatGPT.

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Happy Independence Day United States! The United States certainly is a country of continuous development, holding many extremes, yet always with an Achilles heel of both being founded through immigrants and exploiting Native American Indians and Hawaiians. Nonetheless, it’s a country that have provided me with much inspiration ever since my first visit in 1987. Then to Hartford, Connecticut with my mother and brother to visit her American fiancée and with a day tour through New York City. After that I became an exchange student for a year as a senior in High School in Ticonderoga, upstate New York, when I also got to see Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and visited an American guy I had gotten to know in Baltimore, Maryland, with a tour of Washington DC. My travel to the United States continued with several more visits during the years to come. I’ve been to Chicago, to Los Angeles and San Francisco and driven around California for a job at a Swedish advertising firm preparing the making of a dairy sponsored magazine about food. Back to San Francisco the year after for a combined vacation and applying for two jobs with my portfolio. Some years later, to Miami and New York City again, to make interviews of personal coaches for my exam papers and to Honolulu four times, the last one for three years but unfortunately deported, even with a valid student visa. Now, that’s been more than ten years ago, so I should be allowed to re-enter without any hassle by ICE, but who knows? About two years ago, I found out that the first asylum for persecuted people in the United States, was created by a French couple in Pennsylvania, named Tavanne and Charpentier, who then were bought by the founding fathers. Guess what, my heritage is French and my last name by birth is Charpentier. Maybe it was one of my ancestors who created the asylum? It would make sense to me. 

What does it then mean to be independent, and do you feel that you are? To learn about being independent yourself, you can begin by acknowledging what and who you feel dependent on. We are often dependent on others for both income, food, housing, being able to buy clothes et cetera. But we can also be dependent on others emotionally for support and through our relationships, for intellectual stimulation and even spiritually if we belong to a congregation, with a dominant leader. A healthy dependency, is good and can be distinguished through acknowledging that others are dependent on you too – we are interdependent. Nonetheless, if the dependency is lopsided, you can feel that you lose your own power and your own sovereignty. To not fall into this trap, think of things you can do just for you, even if you’re for example dependent on someone else financially. Make your own choices with awareness and gratitude and you’ll soon grow in your independence instead. To be independent is to be sovereign, while interdependence is found in the balance between autonomy and belonging. 

Who are you depending on and for what? Make a list. What can you do to become more independent?

The next step after becoming independent is to experience the exhilarating emotion of feeling free. Perhaps we even need to feel independent to be able to feel free. What do you think? 

I often feel the freest when I travel, when I let loose on a dance floor or practice Isadora Duncan dance. And of course, freedom to me is to be able to voice my opinion, both when speaking and in writing. To not have anyone decide what I should write or say is the most liberating thing. Even if it’s just a matter of sharing my own feelings or thoughts of the moment of the mundane or my private life, there’s a freedom in that. That doesn’t exclude taking responsibility for what I write or to not exercise caution. With the increased lunacy online, this has become an increasing must. I rest on my experiences, rather than just my convictions. As long as I keep it real, I’ve followed the path of truth and that to me, is the most important thing. 

When do you feel the freest? What does freedom of speech mean to you? And do you honor others’ right to? How do you like to best express yourself? Through talking, writing, painting or dancing? Or something else?

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and Youtube.

The photo shows the winner and the runner-ups at the Ticonderoga Junior Miss Pageant 1988, where I performed solo the first time. Can you spot me?

Happy Summer Solstice and Midsummer! We have now entered the longest day in the northern hemisphere, with only a couple of hours of darkness. This our peak of daylight, is something almost a little magical to experience in the evenings, when the light still lingers and the sky still keeps its blue color. And it so happens that this event is celebrated at the same time, Sweden celebrates Midsummer. Tradition has it, that we dance around a maypole, dressed in leaves, grass and wildflowers, eat herring and potatoes, with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Grown-ups don’t mind taking a shot of snaps to go with it! We often make wraths for our hair, resembling the maypole. Then later in the evening, unmarried young women are supposed to go outside and pick seven different wildflowers on seven different meadows under silence and put underneath the pillow. The legend says that our husband to be, then can be seen in our dreams when we sleep. Not surprisingly, given the looks of the maypole with its adjoining two rings, Midsummer is also said to be the best day to get pregnant. It’s a celebration of fertility. 

You can let this inspire you too, also symbolically. What needs to be fertilized in your life? What projects do you need to tend to a little extra or add something to, to make them better or simply happen? One sure way, is to ask someone to join you in your making or simply for some advice or a second opinion. It can also be a good time to remake something, improve, or mend, to ensure a better growth, a better result for your ideas or projects. 

The summer solstice, teaches us our need for balance. This time of year, it’s easy to get fooled into thinking we can achieve more than we have energy for, since the sun is up longer. But our bodies still need the same amount of sleep and rest, so instead, the peak of daylight can be a call for discipline – to actually look at the time more deliberately and make sure to follow our most healthy schedule. In one way, we can greet the sun, such as with a sun salutation in yoga or qigong, and show it reverence. But, we can also look at it as a reminder of not burning out our inner fire and to not let ourselves getting burnt by the sun and its heat. How do you best look out for your health during summer? Here in the northern hemisphere, we often chase getting a suntan and many run out to get one. We even call it “fry ourselves”. Having lived both in Hawaii and in Portugal, where the amount of daylight is much more even during the year, and where the sun is more accessible for outdoor activities, I’ve learned not to get too stressed about it anymore and to enjoy the shade too. One thing I do, is to always limit the time I lay on the beach to 2 or max 3 hours and usually never the day after, so my skin and body can restore afterwards. To soothe any redness, which never happens in Sweden since this is too north, but in other countries, I use some Aloe Vera gel to put on. And drink electrolytes to ensure that I stay enough hydrated. Having some salty crackers together with your water, is another good trick. While a couple of ice-cubes in our drinks can keep them cool and fresher, drinking too cold beverages, can actually upset your stomach and make it work even harder to warm up. In really hot countries, most people drink for example mint-tea instead. Then our stomach automatically tries to cool down, and our bodies become less hot. But most of all, sunshine is to be enjoyed of course!

When it comes to our own inner sun, it’s often associated with our solar plexus. Isadora Duncan liked her dance motions to emanate from solar plexus. This means that we should aim to let it lead us. It’s the seat of the soul, yearning to be acknowledged and expressed. We can think of it as our inner sun, our source of wellbeing and wisdom, of inspiration and divine connection. You can practice this too if you want. Next time you go for a walk, let it lead your steps. And next time you watch a good speaker on a stage, look to see if it isn’t someone who has a very open body language where his or her solar plexus is both grounded and open. Are yours? 

And just like with the actual sun, we must also protect our solar plexus at times, when we’re around people we can’t trust or that are harming us. Sometimes, placing a hand on it, makes a difference. Try doing that the next time you read, hear or see something upsetting. Wouldn’t the world be more lovely, if we all could shine like the sun towards each other?

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and Youtube.