Happy 5 Rhythms Day! This blogpost is dedicated to Gabrielle Roth who founded the dance style and movement practice, called 5 rhythms.

Gabrielle was born on February the 4^th 1941 in San Francisco. After growing up with anorexia and depression, she took to dancing to trance music and lived in Europe, where she also practiced yoga. After she had hurt her knee both skiing in Germany and in an African dance class, she realized contrary to her doctor’s predictions that her knee healed through dancing. Through experimental theatre in New York City and through developing her own understanding of her healing process within Gestalt therapy and various philosophies, she came up with the five rhythms: Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness that she started teaching. With her own band called “The Mirrors” she made her own music to dance to, while guiding the dancers through these five rhythms. Each rhythm corresponds to a way of relating to the world, a season of our life, and a natural element, like Chinese Medicine, but not exactly the same. Together they become a soul journey into understanding and aligning our innate powers.

The rhythm Flowing is the beginning of our life cycle and considered Birth, Being and focused on our Body. It deals with the feeling of fear and the natural element of Earth.

The rhythm Staccato is our Childhood, dealing with Anger but becoming Loving as a way to perceive ourselves in the world, with a focus on our Heart and the element of Fire.

The rhythm Chaos corresponds to our life season of Puberty where we deal with Sadness and become Knowing. Chaos is connected to our Mind and the element of Water, according to Gabrielle Roth.

The rhythm Lyrical is our Maturity, where we are in a state of Seeing and feeling Joy with our Soul, in the element of Air.

And the rhythm Stillness is the Death where we have found Compassion and Healing, realizing our Spirit in the Ether.

When it comes to aligning the natural elements with our seasons of life, it’s all a matter of perception and understanding. In Chinese Medicine, the elements don’t contain Ether or Air but Metal and Wood instead. One can argue that it’s a matter of process and alchemy, besides definitions of what can be perceived but not seen. To me, the element of Air would correspond to our Spirit, as in becoming inspired, while Chinese Medicine thinks it is present in every natural element and Gabrielle Roth thinks it’s in the Ether. Regardless, it’s a call to remember how we too are part of nature on various levels.

By dancing to the 5 rhythms, we become more conscious of our body’s cues and how we feel by exploring how we can move it differently together with the music and through this experience different sensations. We do this by exploring small and big motions, upward reaching or down on the floor, by focusing on various parts of our bodies and letting it speak through these motions. All makes us more grounded individuals, more whole, and with a unity of body and spirit. We’re putting our body in motion in order to still our mind. To Gabrielle Roth, dancing was always joined with an awareness of our spirit, inspired by Shamanism and a way to find ecstasy or a meditative state resembling trance. A way to sweat our prayers.

To dance through the five rhythms Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness is referred to as a wave and takes about an hour in a practice. She called dancing these rhythms a wave to recognize that everything in nature can be perceived in patterns, waves and rhythms, that she translated into movement. The music enables us to let it move our bodies, to let ourselves be moved. Relaxing, letting go, and finding ourselves again.

I personally, have found a sense of liberation like what Gabrielle has described, through clubbing a lot when I was younger to house and trance music, besides practicing West African dance and Ecstatic dance. These dance styles enable us to break through the more rigid practices of traditional choreography and let us explore ways of improvising that can become different, different days, taking our emotions into our body and releasing them and any tensions, or simply letting our mood for the day inspire our movement and then transforming it back into bliss. I have too, hurt my knee in my early 20’s and have too, been told back then that I would never be able to dance professionally again. Now I’m 55, and I’m still practicing various dance styles!

If you’d like to experience dancing the 5 rhythms and learn more, they are practiced worldwide and can be found through their website 5rhythms.com.

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, click here.

Happy International LEGO Day!

Do you remember playing with LEGO when you were a little girl or boy? What did you like building? The plastic building bricks in different colors and sizes, that constitute LEGO, hold an infinite possibility. You can build something high rising or something big horizontally. And just like with life, sometimes we can build something already designed with an instruction how to make it. Or we can choose to make up what we like to build either beforehand, or as we go, making it our own design. You can use the same color or a mix of different; you can begin doing one side in one color and then another side in another or change as you go. And if you’re not satisfied, you can just take them apart and try again in a different way.

Now, take your inner child by the hand and apply building with LEGO to your own life. What are you building? How are you building your home, your career, your relationships and your personal life? How would you like it to look? Can you start in one area first? 

And what is it that you’re building your life with? Which are your resources or building bricks? What do you need more of? Money? Time? Education or special skills? Please note, that often we need lots of pieces to build something. These pieces can either be something we collect ourselves, or pieces coming from many people. What if you look at your followers on social media like pieces of LEGO? What are they all helping you to build? 

Another way of looking at our lives as something we build, is by applying the Hierarchy of Needs as defined by Abraham Maslow. This American psychologist did his research in the 1950’s and came with the conclusion that our needs must be satisfied in a certain order, for us to be able to climb upwards towards self-actualization. In other words, our basic needs constitute the foundation of ourselves, followed by belonging to a group and meeting career goals taking us up another level. If you don’t have the foundation properly set, the rest of your building risk collapsing, just like with your health and bricks of LEGO. If you don’t sleep and eat properly in a safe home, you won’t be able to perform as well on the job, be a good friend and partner and not be as creative and expressive. 

Likewise, our building bricks can be used to improve something. Most regular LEGO-builders, put in time and effort to make replicas of things, tending to each small detail with utmost precision. Which are the details in your life design you need to tend to? 

Start by using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to build your foundation: 

What are you eating and how is it prepared? When are you eating? How much water do you drink daily?

Where are you sleeping and for how long? 

How are you living? Do you feel safe here?

Who do you spend most of your time with? Are these the people you prefer to have around you? Could these relationships become improved? What is missing and what can to be rebuilt?

What do you do for a living? Are there any new skills you’d like to learn? Is your job satisfying? Which traits are your career built on?

When do you make time for art, whether consuming or expressing yourself with? How can you build a sustainable art practice? 

And who are you in all this? Are you a builder, a planner, a designer, a repair man or someone who keeps things organized and stored for others to use? Which pieces need to be kept, and which can be let go of?

Then it’s time to look at the environmental aspect. Are you building your life in a sustainable way? Sustainability is to make sure that we don’t waste, and that our endeavors last over time for the next generations. For a sustainable life design, you might want to ensure that you don’t burn out and that your foundation is strong to not tip over. What does this entail for you specifically? Is there something in your schedule that could become improved and changed into becoming more long lasting and sustainable?

As a bonus, what if the actual LEGO bricks were made of for example wood instead? Wouldn’t that be more sustainable than plastic? Or do you know of any other material that can be used instead, such as seaweed or even orange peels? Nonetheless, there is both ingenuity, concentration and fine motor skills to be practiced if you decide to play with LEGO for real again. Do you have any laying in your basement, or could you do something together with your own children today?

If you’d like to explore what to build in your life and how, together with others, you can do so in a sacred circle or coaching group, or directly one-on-one with a life coach. Find one in your area or book a meeting on Zoom. To book a life coaching session with me, send an email to hannah@telluselleliving.com

To listen to this blogpost as a podcast, you can click here.

Here in Stockholm, Sweden, where I currently live, most days of January have been gloomy and cloudy, with little to no sun in sight. Add to that, lots of snowing and sometimes blizzards. And while the great storm approaching on the horizon for the United States isn’t heading this way, at least yet, it becomes a good reminder of the powers inherent in nature. It’s easy to feel distraught when others are abusing their power. Then remembering that they too are under the powers of nature, brings a little comfort.

The same goes for ourselves too. To keep ourselves in check and not become neither too boastful, nor too demanding, keeping nature’s power in mind, enable us to be more humble.

It’s these powers that can be perceived so clearly in Hawai’i through the volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes, that became the foundation for believing in gods and goddesses, named after the same. They made them into figures, seen upon with both awe and fear, to celebrate and to coerce with offerings of gifts, chants and dances, to create a dialogue with the natural elements themselves. And with God as the ultimate higher power.

Just imagine, the immense force behind every transformation that nature undergoes between seasons, storms and various cycles. And the entire evolution. That certainly is a power to be reckoned with!

To live in balance with nature requires us to always be aware of and flexible to adjust our lives accordingly. It’s the one thing that everybody on the planet needs to. Therefore, it should be much easier to unite all as one, if the authorities kept this in mind. If we all keep this in mind.

Under the powers of nature, we’re all equals.

In the wake of escalating violence by ICE in the United States and the upcoming commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, what better opportunity than to take a moment and ponder about how you wish society would look like! To visualise how we want our life to be, is to make a vision.

Start by picturing the world, the city you live in or simply your life with an overview. Then describe it in words by writing it down, make a vision board or collage, or even a drawing. We’re used to thinking of how we wish our lives would look like, but not many of us regularly think of in detail how we wish the world would look like. Why don’t you?

Imagine how you would live together with others. Imagine how society would function and how we would relate and interact. Imagine the houses we live in. Imagine how things are handled, how we buy or sell – can we for example go back to trading goods and services locally instead? What do you prefer? What is your contribution if you could choose freely? And how do we create a more sustainable society – for the environment, for our own health and for future generations to come?

Could we come together in groups and let the groups create such a vision? What do we dream of collectively? What does that require from us to make it come true?

Creating a vision is what drives successful leaders towards fulfilling it through their inventions. You can start by making one for your own life.

To get more inspired, have a listen to this week’s podcast, also available on Spotify and Apple:

Whether you’re someone who is driven by excitement and curiosity, and like delving into the unknown, or someone who is more comfortable with playing it safe and seeing a predictable outcome, contemplating what your decision can lead to, is an important aspect to consider. This is especially important to remember when you’re approached with a suggestion from someone else, whether for socialising or for a job-offer. It might not be what you were looking for, but what if this could lead you to something better, eventually?

This is often the case with work. On each job, there are skills to be learned and practiced. Skills that aren’t necessarily tied to a certain occupation or position, but rather something you can use in other situations or places too. Things like holding a presentation, the way we do in class for a group project while we’re studying, can for example be used when we’re asked to give a presentation on the job for a client, or even when giving a professional talk. Having performed plays, singing and dancing on stage, is another example where those skills come in handy too. Take a moment to acknowledge which these skills are and what you need to learn more of, with your own examples from your resumé and life. What led you forward and what became the consequences?

Similarly, this can also be applied to getting to know new people. You never know if someone will develop into becoming a really good friend or partner, or if that person might become an important contact for job seeking or for other valuable references. The same is true for you, maybe you are important to meet for someone else! Maybe you can share a piece of knowledge that is really valuable and needed. We all need each other to solve our problems.

In either case, approaching your choices and decisions with a positive attitude of discovery, will make it more fun to accept and try.

For next year, I’ve outlined a plan for my social media for Telluselle Living, like most marketers do. I’ve chosen fun days we celebrate as a theme, that together with the season’s element according to Chinese Medicine, will be the topic for my life coaching blog here, with one or a couple central questions. Like before, I aim to post something at least once a week, with some extras.

Making a plan for the whole year, provides stability and a sure way to be creating, rather than only reacting to world and life events, or on occasional inspiration. Next year, will show more of what Telluselle Living is, as a concept. And I hope to be able to make a podcast too!

Often, setting boundaries can be a bit daunting. We might feel a bit awkward about saying no to someone or something. And quite frankly, sometimes we don’t even have a real excuse, but just not feeling up to it. Then it becomes good to remind ourselves that setting boundaries isn’t just about whether we should say yes or no to going somewhere, but a matter of taking good care of ourselves and getting our needs met. Energy is our body’s currency. By setting boundaries we can economise our spending.

How do you know if you need to set one? It’s like many other things often just a feeling in your body. You might feel irritated or tired when you think about going. You might not feel like you can afford it monetarily or time wise. Then it’s usually an indicator of your need to set a boundary.

On the other side, is getting out of your comfort zone. Sometimes, we get our needs met better by leaving our self-imposed boundaries, when they have become excuses not founded in actual needs of retreating.

To find a proper middle ground, you can decide to rather set limits than boundaries, such as if you have a tendency to binge watch a TV-series, decide to just watch one episode per day instead. How does that make you feel? More in control, trusting in yourself better, and as a better caretaker of your resources? Then watching two, can instead become a treat.

So, as we’ve entered the season of indulgence, where do you need to set a boundary to ensure your own well-being?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always been drawn to learn more about indigenous people’s way of living, whether to learn more about sacred spiritual practices and shamanism, or to live in harmony with nature and to ride well bareback, like Native American Indians. I used to horseback ride for about 8 years during my school years in Sweden and even worked weekends at the local riding club to earn some extra cash and to get some free extra riding classes. We also often rode through the woods or cantered over open fields. The connection I was able to create with my favourite horse(s), was my starting point to connect with nature and to enter the spiritual realm.

No wonder then, decades after, living in Hawaii on several occasions and getting to know some bits and pieces of their indigenous wisdom has enabled me to gain a more solid foundation and perspective on life, building on my interest since childhood, and knowing how my grandfather also had taken an interest in the Swedish indigenous people up north; the Sapmi, where he first lived and when my dad was born.

I believe that we can translate indigenous wisdom, not only literally, but to apply in our modern western world to create more peace and harmony. This is part of my aim for building Telluselle Living Center. Here, is a short version of my presentation and slideshow of the Hawaiian values and how these are carried out in everyday life and culture, what they encompass and what we can do too.

Aloha!

According to Feng Shui, the year of the Snake 2025 is about shedding layers, which will make room for the Horse to emerge with fire next year. This can be translated both in terms of any behavioural patterns we want to change, and getting rid of things that no longer fit us or that carries an energy we don’t want.

Where and how we live, reflects who we are and what we value. You can make this work for you, by consciously go through all your items in your home, including your wardrobe, and discard (sell, give away, reuse or throw away) those that no longer fit you or no longer are aligned with what you’d like to achieve. You do this, simply by asking what an item means to you:

Do you value it because it was expensive?

Does it hold sentimental value?

Is it something you actively are using?

Does it align with your own values, such as what it’s made of and what you believe in?

While Feng Shui is its own science, you don’t need to worship anything, but rather see it as a tool to improve your home and improve your sense of wellbeing. If you’re Christian like me, you can for example use these principles if you feel that it makes you into a more loving person and better at being of service, while not hoarding. And this enables you to make room for more, or other, things.

The trend of becoming an influencer has created a surge for many young women to believe that posting a reel can both make them famous and give them an income. While it can happen for a few, for the majority it doesn’t. And even so, being an influencer is not a creative profession in itself, but being a model. It requires the building of a personal brand in order to influence others. To help people understand more about this, I’ve written a guide called “A book about Creativity”. Here is a slide show presenting some of its content:

To read more and receive real-life examples, you can find it on Amazon or Kindle!

Today it was below freezing in Stockholm, Sweden, when I woke up and my soar throat had gotten worse. It made me realise how grateful I am to have and be able to drink the kind of teas I prefer. I have chosen this brand since more than two decades regardless of whether I’ve lived in Sweden, Germany, Portugal or the United States and feel happy with them. In the morning, I enjoy Ginger-Lemon with honey, to wake me up gently and boost my immune system. When I want to give myself some more care, I choose a cup of Green Chai.

In the afternoon, I like to drink some Hibiscus tea that is both refreshing and re-energising without any caffeine. Sometimes I choose Echinacea to curb a cold or regular green tea to aid digestion.

All in all, making conscious decisions with awareness enable us both to feel free and in charge of our lives, at least in this department. And of course, this means that we can set the conditions for good health the way we want. A true life coaching necessity.

Which teas do you prefer? Or do you prefer coffee? And do you consciously choose tastes and brands when you go shopping?

One way to ignite your creativity and ensure that it’s not just a mere exploration of your imagination, is to think of something you would like to change or improve. This can be a method or a process on your job, the way you think about something, a problem you’d like to solve, or a call to create an actual invention. Our change in society is driven by creativity. We invent new technologies and through the use of it by majority, we also change our society. Some of these might feel imposed, just like when someone suggests a change on your job that you feel resistant or question to implement. But nonetheless, these inventions might be important to get to know so you can make an educated choice whether or not to adapt or to check in with what is working well to keep.

A way to think about changes thus, is through the lens of creativity. You reach these through posing curious questions like:

What would I like to change and improve?

How can I approach these changes too?

How can I benefit from undertaking this change?

How can I solve this problem?

Why is there a need to change?

How do I want it to look like?

What do I need to learn?

Who can I do this together with?

To help you see various perspectives and narrow down which action-steps you need to take in order to change, as well as come up with ideas how, meetings with a life coach like me will enable you unbiased and empowering support.

When you look at a change as a prompt for creativity, it becomes more of a positive experience.

Now that we’ve entered the month of November and thus are approaching Thanksgiving in the United States (It’s already been in Canada, and in Sweden we celebrate a day of gratitude the second Sunday in October), it seems like an opportune time to delve deeper into the practice of gratitude. Normally, I write down things that I’m grateful for once a week in a journal. But this can be expanded into areas, where each area can get their own attention and examples of appreciation.

So, the challenge is to write down 10 things you’re grateful for in 10 areas of your life! Areas can be:

• Health
• Family
• Home
• Work
• Friends
• Faith
• Past-time pursuits
• Finances
• Nature
• Knowledge

What we are grateful is of course individual, but it can be of things we have received, it can be meetings and what someone has said or done, what we feel we have and enjoy.

Take out your journal, or make lists on your computer! By all means, share it too. And remember, the more we’re sincerely grateful for, the more we’ll notice and receive.