I began practicing yoga in the early 2000’s. I had worked at a local fitness club expanding into a whole health and wellness service, where I planned, wrote and edited their membership magazine. As part of my payment, I got to practice for free. I started with lifting weights and then moved on to something called Body Balance. It was soft motions, yet strengthening, and it became the precursor to later take classes in Poweryoga. Poweryoga is based on Ashtanga yoga, although not as physically challenging and for one hour. I practiced there for a couple of years and later for another teacher too. 

Yoga to me, became a way to align the motions with a type of breath, that enabled me to endure more. Often, we practiced with lower lights and lit candles to really be able to relax and turn inwardly. In Savasana, the last motion laying down in our practice, I began experiencing stillness. A pause between my thoughts as I paused my breath. And in this stillness, I felt I gained access to the spiritual realm. 

When I went to Hawaii in 2004 and 2005, I bought a mat there and practiced at sunset by the beach, or on my own, inside my little studio, when I wasn’t studying Organizational Change. 

Back in Sweden, I focused more on my dancing but have kept practicing yoga at home, once a week or so, ever since! That is practicing yoga for 25 years! Besides at the beach park in Hawaii, I’ve even practiced inside a prison cell directly on the floor, when I at another stint back in Hawaii, was later detained by ICE. And I’ve practiced in hostel rooms in Portugal. 

In 2008, I was approached online by a man from Kerala in India, who wanted to teach me to chant the Gayatri Mantra, I gladly accepted and soon found a melody I could use for it. It became a way of praying for six years. Then I realized, it wasn’t right for me to do, as I had decided to become a devout Christian. At the end of my practices, I had begun feeling threatened and nauseous, just like with the type of Qigong I used to do, so I stopped the Indian chanting and nowadays only do Hawaiian for Hula, and on occasion I chant a Buddhist kind.

Does practicing yoga really mean that we have to become spiritual and study with a guru? A part of me really felt weird about that, to call someone a Master or Guru as if to worship them. That is not what I’m about. I was given Deeksha and Shaktipat and was introduced to the Oneness University by people in Sweden, who were associated with them, but felt a lingering darkness with it. I have read some of the Vedic books, but I prefer to keep to the Bible. If I would mention any Yogi guru that I like, it would only be Krishnamurti. He was born in 1895 and died in 1986 after spreading his writings in California. And he has advised to not follow any discipline, teacher, authority or guru, even himself, but instead focusing on living righteously in meditation and in full presence, always open for dialogue.

To me, yoga became a tool to get to know my body better. Since we most of the time, were doing the same motions, or asanas, it became a way to notice whether it felt different or harder some days and easier others, and why that could be. With time, I felt like I had gotten access to a better control of my body from within, a more open and flexible body that allows my organs to function better, which in turn has made me a better dancer, a little more centered. And I had just improved and was able to begin standing on my wrists for the Peacock pose, or Mayurasana, when I was abruptly forced into a psychiatric ward for two years by a yoga teacher I’ve never talked to, or met, in Sweden, but reported for plagiarism, instead of investigating that. So much for humility! I think there is a great risk of cult like powerplays with yoga practitioners trying to compensate letting go of their egos, with a spiritually founded ego instead. All becoming a false narrative of being better than, as a person, when in fact it’s been a refusal to communicate and solve our indifferences. How immature and evil! Not very enlightened and yogic. Unfortunately, I gained lots of weight unexpectedly, together with some other physical health challenges, rewinding my abilities to almost like on a beginner’s level. The good news, I still practice yoga at home of course. 

I strive to only follow yoga teachers on social media who are from India. When I was in Germany 2018, I shared hostel room with a girl from India, who invited me to visit Rishikesh if I wanted to learn more yoga. And in Portugal in 2020, I met a couple of Indian guys and asked them about their yoga. They shared that it’s a type of morning gymnastics in schools nowadays and they can’t understand the Western hype at all. It solidifies the importance to uphold indigenous traditions with integrity, which is what Telluselle Living Center is all about. To strike a pose, but with a local, in a local style.

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

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved to dance in a tutu, so what better way than to celebrate this International Dance Day, by cherishing my inner child and the joy it feels from dancing!

It was when I hadn’t danced for almost ten years and stepped into the old dance studio, where I had used to go for practice, that I felt my first contact with my inner child. You know the way we can’t help but smile and feel giddy with expectation. That is the way I felt when I went to my first West African dance class in Sweden 2004.

When I some months later was allowed to enter a Hawaiian Halau and begin learning their way of dancing, it was with a hidden awe and longing to be doing this instead of just all the tedious intellectual work I had been focused on. As I began to learn the various steps and some hand motions, I realized how creative dance can be and how our bodies not only are our instrument, but also have a language of their own. And by that I don’t mean just our regular body language when we talk to someone, but how we to music can let our bodies lead an improvisation and not just move by a pre-set choreography. If we learn a style well enough, we can even embody this style to make new steps and motions with it, completely organically. All through the dynamics of the different sides and directions, the contractions and releases, that makes up dancing. Often inspired by nature.

There are two ways of using our emotions when we dance. One is to use what we’re feeling, or what our choreography aims to express, and charge our motions and scenic expression with that feeling. For example, to dance the Isadora Duncan dance choreography called The Furies about going into the underworld and exploring what’s hidden in the dark and even the inferno, it becomes natural to use a little bit of fury, of anger, put into our motions too as an energy.

The other way, is to experience the emotions coming because of dancing. The grounding and released feelings. Sensuality and power. Or peace and harmony. All as an effect of our practice. The first time I danced Isadora Duncan’s The Rose Petals in 2014, I felt something similar to what I had experienced when I first had watched Hawaiian Hula. A way of becoming moved, as if stirred by grace and recognition on a soul level. At least, that is how I understand it. And, when I lived in Portugal and took a couple of Isadora Duncan classes through zoom, I felt a cooing laughter bubbling forth, a sincere joy, when I skipped around in my hostel room, reconnected to my younger self in my 20’s and feeling free and abundant. It was during this trip in Portugal 2019 to 2020, that I felt and experienced my inner child as an even younger spirit by me, like a child version of myself that I could talk to and learn about what traumas and fears had driven her away. It was like a sweet sensation of love, of a little girl standing on top of my feet and wanting to dance with me. I embraced this in my heart and danced with it! And since then, she is with me when she feels safe and well.

We can’t always explain what elates us. The music is of course an important part of it. Even if I don’t know all the choreographies yet, each melody becomes interwoven with the motions, that it soon becomes like one. Like the music is calling forth the movement. It’s a wonderful experience!

Would you like to dance? What often comes in the way, is our own inhibitions and our self-consciousness about how we look and the limits of our bodies. We don’t want to make a fool of ourselves and might fear not knowing where our feet are going and how. But there’s a trick. When we let our motions begin in our hips instead, or even our solar plexus for Isadora Duncan, our steps and hand motions become a natural extension of what we feel the music is beckoning us to.

To begin practicing this, listen to a drumbeat or the beat of a bass, feel it in your pelvis and hips, and let yourself move to this beat. Then the added instruments and their melodies and harmonies, become the foundation for the rest of our body’s movement. You might just sway from side to side, try forward and backwards, loosening in your shoulders and then let your arms swing however you please. This is how you can find dance from within.

What is a bit of a challenge with West African dance, is their variety of rhythms. Sometimes, the count is on 6, instead of the regular 8, in different combinations, while Isadora Duncan often incorporates the waltz on 3 and Hawaiian Hula is by 4. Then find the rhythm in your feet and become one with it. This often requires us something even more fascinating, which is to let go of understanding and thinking about what to do at the same time, and just do instead. It’s when we relax and rock ourselves into the rhythm, our bodies can take over and go from there. Through the repetitions of movement, we soon can remember the steps and motions, even in our muscle memory. It’s a way of storing a habitual way of moving our bodies, for better or for worse, because the body can also store and remember any harm that was done to it. Our muscle memory enables us to connect certain motions with certain passages in the music. So, whether you want to take a dance class, go clubbing or just dance around in your living room, let yourself feel joy today!

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

Since I tried dancing a little Isadora Duncan by the ocean, when I was in Portugal 2019-20, I decided to give it a try here in Sweden too. I live across the road from the forest and the big inflow of water from the East Sea here, called Mälaren, so it’s been very comforting to be able to both sunbathe and take a dip during summers, as well as see the seasons change up close. While it’s not nearly warm enough yet, to do that, I went down today to dance instead.

As with everything, the more we do something, the easier it gets. In this particular practice, getting used to move graciously on coarse sand, or grass, barefoot, has been a real challenge. But today I realised, how it’s also somewhat a matter of bypassing the sensations under our feet, very much like in a studio with wooden floors. When we’re focused and present on where we’re walking, the ground is perceived and sensed more. When we’re focusing on moving upwardly instead, it doesn’t become as difficult. Fascinating!

Have you as an adult ever practiced something outside, that you usually do inside? Give it a go!

Happy Merrie Monarch Festival! Imagine a dance coming from the heart and touching yours – that is the Hawaiian Hula. And right now, the yearly Merrie Monarch Festival is in full spring in Hilo, Hawaii, where the finest and best performers compete, but also meet and keep the culture alive.

I’ve loved dancing my entire life. As a little girl, I took ballet classes and wanted to become a ballerina. When our family moved, I had to change to taking classes in jazz dance instead and continued with this for many years. As an adult, I put it aside for a while, when I was focusing on my copywriting career, but realized later that something that used to bloom inside of me, had started to wither. And that nobody should tell me to stop dancing, whether out of jealousy or envy. When my mother became terminally ill in cancer a decade later, I felt pulled to begin dancing again, and took to West African dance, remembering how I used to play with a girl and her family, part Nigerian and part Swedish when I was a little girl. The drums created rhythms my heart began to synchronize with, and I could reclaim my passion. Dancing barefoot and closer to spirit as my mother passed away in 2004, I longed for something softer to comfort me, while wondering what a true woman really should be and look like. And then… An opportunity to study in Hawaii with Swedish student loan arose! 

The stunning sunsets were accompanied by a group of Hula dancers at the Waikiki beach, where I watched them in awe for many nights. I then realized, I could learn this too. 

All my life as a little girl, I’ve always wanted to wear beautiful dresses and here, women wear dresses all the time, and with beautiful flowers in their long hairs! I grew long hair and started to practice Hula at the grounds of University of Hawaii, where my then Kumu Hula (Hula teacher) were studying and teaching classes in the evenings. While it took some time to relax and be grounded, I saw my future turning bright again.

Hawaiian Hula is a set of dances in various styles, both modern and ancient, that describes the life in the islands. Back in the day, Hawaiian was only a spoken language, where the songs, chants and dances kept it alive as a way to tell the history of the islands, honoring their kings and queens, about their battles, about the places, about their relationships and about the legends and myths featuring gods and goddesses in Hawaiian folklore. For example, Pele is considered the goddess of volcanoes that Hawaiian Hula dancers chant and dance about and for. When the white missionaries came to the islands with James Cook, Hula became banned and looked upon as barbaric. It couldn’t be more far from the truth! It’s rather believed that to be a really good Hula dancer, we should be pure channels for the Divine spirit and practice Aloha, which is compassion towards ourselves and others, while caring for the land in relationship, making us into true stewards and stewardesses. Luckily, King Kalakaua reclaimed Hula as an allowed art form, and it became practiced openly again in the late 1800’s. 

In 1964, Hawaii sought to improve tourism and began a festival, that in 1971 became the Merrie Monarch Festival with a yearly competition and re-enactment of King Kalakaua’s coronation with a parade through Hilo town. He is considered the merrie monarch, besides the beautiful butterflies that also live here.

Nowadays, the Merrie Monarch Festival consists of three parts: Men and Women dancing separately in the Kahiko style – a style based on chanting and drums, and in the ‘Auana style – with choreographies danced to music played on ‘ukuleles and traditional ways of singing, both in Hawaiian and in English. And a day when chosen women dance solos in both styles, to compete for the Miss Aloha Hula title. 

Watching the Merrie Monarch Festival, shows us how various implements are used, like bamboo sticks (called Pu’ili), rattle gourds decorated with feathers (‘Uli’uli), stones (‘Ili’ili) and small drums (Ipu Heke or Punius). We get to see how leis and ti-leaf skirts are worn, and how dresses, shirts and skirts are matching the song and the island it comes from with their printed patterns and colors. Altogether performed with a strong sense of unity, dancing in groups as one. Each step and hand motion shows us the sentiment and the meaning of the song, together with the dancer’s facial expression. The goal is to make the motions both defined and subtle at the same time, tuning into the power of the place the song is about, where each motion also holds this energy. When Hula is performed well, it creates a connection between the audience, the music and the dancers, and with God.

To learn more about my own experience of living in Hawai’i and beginning to learn how to dance Hula, read my book The Call for Divine Mothering ~ applying the keys to paradise, available on Amazon and Kindle.

To watch the Merrie Monarch Festival, go to their website at merriemonarch.com

Happy Feng Shui Awareness Day! Have you ever felt more at ease in certain places and homes than in others? This could be because of how the furniture and colors have been arranged according to Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is founded on Chinese Medicine and is a way to enable more positive flows of energy in various areas of our lives, whether to improve wealth, work, romantic relationships or our health. According to this belief system, each area corresponds to a specific color and natural element and can be found when we apply the Ba Gua or map with the directions of north, east, south and west on our property. It begins by looking at the auspiciousness of how our house is placed, such as if the entrance if facing water, which symbolizes more income coming in, while the back of the house should preferably face the mountains to provide a sense of safety. The same is applied when we choose where to sit in various meeting rooms, offices or in restaurants. Having our back against a wall where we clearly can see the door or entrance, makes us feel safer and is called a power position. This is also how we place the bed with room on each side and the headboard against a wall where we can both see out the window and see the door.

The adding of plants can enable better air quality as well as enliven our space and our areas of life where we place it. And putting little objects in pairs is inviting in good partnerships, especially romantic ones.

The Ba Gua map is held either with our back to our front entrance, or according to the north, east, south and west directions. There are two schools for that, which can both be applied. But here is a summary:

The center of the home is for health and considered the earth element, supported by the colors yellow and brown, with square shapes.

Relationships are also earth and supported by red, pink and white, with square shapes. To activate this area, place things in these colors and shapes in Southwest.

Family can be found in the East, goes best with the colors green and blue, harmonized by rectangular shapes and the wood element.

Children and Creativity belong to the element of metal and are centered in white and pastels, with round shapes in the West.

Travel and helpful people show better up in life with a focus on metal, with colors like silver, grays and whites, with round and oval shapes. The area of our home for better travel and helpful people can be found in the Northwest.

Career is considered belonging to the water element and is best enhanced by black and wavy shapes. This can be found in the North of our home or direction of the house.

Self-cultivation and knowledge become activated through a deep blue color and the element of earth with square shapes. This area is located in the Northeast.

Wealth and prosperity can be strengthened through the use of purple, and things related to the wood element with rectangular shapes. This can be found in the Southeast corner.

And finally, fame and reputation can use some fire and red or orange with triangle shapes. This can be found in the South. 

So, when we choose furniture, various fabrics for our curtains, mats and pillows, for our throws and objects we like to decorate our homes with, we can be more deliberate about what we buy and place where, to increase a better sense of flow of energy, based on their colors, shapes and material. White is considered metal, while brown and green is wood. Not surprisingly, water is blue and fire is red. Altogether this is one way of creating more harmony in accordance with nature, where we live and where we work.

Then we can add being more conscious about choosing eco-friendly alternatives, such as what wood. Birch that grows in abundance or bamboo, rather than rare kinds only found in rare places like Hawaiian Koa. We can choose fabrics made of organic cotton or silk, before mass-produced polyester, and not waste neither our own nor nature’s resources, by too much clutter with things we neither like, nor need. To begin your Feng Shui makeover, start by standing in your doorway and see what you are welcoming in. Then walk around the different areas and see where you place your things and which can be moved around, discarded and bought new. If you think about it, Feng Shui is simply a more sophisticated way of just being practical and stylish. How is your home designed and decorated? How would you like it to be?

To get help with decorating or even choosing your next home, contact a Feng Shui practitioner in your area.

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

Happy Easter Sunday! This holy Easter Sunday, we use the theme of resurrection to revive a project or goal, and to instill hope for a better future, grateful for those who had to sacrifice something before, for us to live as well as we do here and now.

What is a resurrection? We know that Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day, taking on our sins and became the son of God. It tells us that death isn’t always final, whether to live on spiritually or how we continue to make an impact after our passing on earth. In Jesus case, this means to walk in his footsteps by showing tolerance and compassion. Then we must ask ourselves: Which kind of legacy would you like to leave behind or to lead the next generation with? I think most people think of what they leave behind, after coming of age or seeing a loved one pass away. 

The collective evolution is the sum of all those who have lived before us and what they have created. Life is sustained by our developments that the next generation continue to use and develop more. Take a moment and acknowledge your gratitude for those who have invented something you use every day, like those who have built in electricity into our homes and offices, as well as manufactured phones and laptops that we nowadays almost take for granted to have. I’m so old that I remember using a typewriter first. My dad, who is an author, had first a regular mechanical and then an electric. I got my own first typewriter at the age of ten, when I published my first little paid letter to the editor for a youth page in a daily Swedish newspaper. First time I used a computer, was at a job where I digitalized an entire inventory for a car part firm in my early 20’s. While we might sit in front of our screens too much sometimes, it certainly isn’t something I would like to live without. Would you? Is there something else that is an invention you use daily or often, that you really appreciate? Who made it?

To resurrect something can also mean to reset something or to revive it, which is in line with reusing that is an important aspect of living sustainably. My example is, that I have just recently begun to redo an old exam paper for my Master’s degree in Worklife Science in Sweden. It’s one of those annoying things I’ve been carrying around as a totally un-necessary failure that could have been corrected already more than 20 years ago when I first wrote it, would I have just gotten clear direction about what it needed to improve. I never did then and had been working on it for almost six months, including travelling to do interviews with coaches in New York City, that then was a new profession in Sweden. Perhaps too new and therefore somewhat controversial and suspicious looked upon. The whole institution at my old university got cancelled and there was a lot of humdrums. My focus then, and now, is the dialogue and how this is used differently as a tool for various professions and how the Socratic dialogue is the one to strive for, to enable true personal learning and growth. Now, I’ve received feedback on my old thesis to know what to improve at another university, where I’ve registered and will be focusing on perfecting for the next couple of months. And… *drumroll*! This, I’ve just recently found out, also enables me to become more eligible for one of the categories to apply for a green card to live in the United States, which is something I’ve wanted for a long time! How is that for a goal becoming a reward! So, back to the drawing board, back to reading course literature and writing in an academic manner. I’ve also realized how much I have learned since then, which makes it both easier and more motivating to get my thesis done. Do you have any old projects, plans or ideas that you’d like to revive and resurrect? What is needed to make these happen? What can you restore and develop?

It is when we put in our effort sincerely and like what we’re doing, that we naturally increase our hope for a better tomorrow. We enable it ourselves when we blow more life into our creations and even more so, when we work in community. Together, we find a new purpose or renew an old. What do you need to learn to move forward with your plans and dreams? Who can you learn with? And how can this become your purpose?

And speaking of manifesting. I’ve been missing having a hair clip with a Plumeria flower on it for some time and last week, a cute set of various colors appeared in my local suburban grocery store in Sweden!

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

Happy Planting Day!  Living in Sweden, means to not only wait for the surface to thaw and become soft, but also the core of the ground 5 feet underneath, where it still can be frozen for a month more. This must be thawed too, for the seeds to be able to grow roots and to hold, if there’s a night or two more of frost. By this we can understand that for us to grow as people, our core must also soften and be open to change. Making superficial changes might not get to the issue, which often is based on our mindset. This is where lifecoaching and inner work comes in. Learning to understand your views on the world and how you’ve formed them, can help you on a deeper level to let go of what no longer serves you and to broaden your perspective.

When it comes to indoor plants, this is also a good time to repot those who have outgrown their pots or seem in need for a bigger space. All of them can at least benefit from a little extra soil on top. Also here there are sustainable alternatives, where you can choose organic soil, with no added chemicals to the mix. And a metaphor often used for pots, is how we live. We too can be seen as little plants living in pots, which we sometimes outgrow or need new energy from others to thrive in. In fact, looking at yourself like a plant can help you understand how to increase your self-care and tend to your needs regularly. How your plants are doing show how you are doing. Are they dry and bristle? Are you dehydrated?

When it comes to our creative projects, it’s therefor easy to use plants as a metaphor too. In fact, when I started my coaching firm Balansfokus in Sweden late 2001, I got help from a student incubator program at Malmö University, called the Greenhouse! 

The idea is the seed. The idea is everything. We can perfect our craft, polish our skills, use the best of resources, but if we don’t have a clear idea, a clear message, that we would like to improve the world with, it’s not really creativity. So, before planting a seed, define which need it will satisfy. What is a problem you’d like to shed some light on, a solution you’d like to see or something you simply like to share?

Then investigate the pot. This is where you’re going to work on this idea and where you’d like it to be shown or sold. The pot can be a studio, or at home on your computer, or in a co-working space with others to collaborate with.

The soil is what you infuse your idea with, such as your knowledge and skills, developed from education and training. What do you need to learn to develop this idea?

Next comes the watering. This can be compared to the hours of work we must invest into our project. How often and how much do you need? How will you sustain yourself meanwhile?

Add a little sunlight. Often some good advice and opinions of others can help you to see what you can improve. The right feedback will enable you to put in the extra effort and make your idea grow into blooming. Who can you ask to take a look?

And then when you think you’re done, it’s time to prune it. Do you really need everything you attached to it? Often, we’re afraid of letting things just be as they are, when in fact it’s rather the opposite. The better the idea, the less need of embellishments and additions. 

Hopefully, you can now get a harvest. After you’ve gone through all the details, such as edited your book, or removed any extras not congruent with your core idea, it’s ready to harvest! When you get paid, or followers, or an audience sees your project on stage, you have harvested recognition.

Whether art or an invention, it’s your true uniqueness that the world needs. Your touch on it, makes the difference.

To learn more about the creative process and get tips on how to get inspired, you can order A book about Creativity on Amazon and Kindle for only 8 dollars or check out the presentation on my YouTube channel for free! In this guidebook, I have compiled a couple of coaching questions to each chapter, so you can apply it directly. 

Everything in life is the result of creativity, including our relationships and our interactions with others, so: Which seeds are your planting this season?

If you’d like to listen to this blogpost as a podcast, you can find The Source Podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Photo shows my homegrown avocado.

Happy Spring-Cleaning Day! And St Patrick’s Day, if you celebrate that. Today we’re focusing on making room for spring through some thorough cleaning. Next week is the Spring Equinox, so why not gather your cleaning tools and make your home and your life ready?

There is something very sincere and revealing about the increased sunlight exposing everything in our homes now. Our dark corners, beckoning for our attention to be cleared out, alongside other things. Besides a regular dusting, vacuuming and mopping of your home, there are three areas that I like to include in my spring cleaning at least once a year. I defrost my refrigerator and freezer. I go through my closet. And I clean the windows. These things can be added with a perspective of Feng Shui to them, using their principles to improve our lives with it. 

I defrost my refrigerator and freezer. I take it all out and let all the ice thaw. This feels like a symbolic measure in harmony with how our winter now is thawing away (hopefully!). It makes it possible to make an inventory of what we have and what we would like to have. Maybe make a list joined to your usually grocery shopping, where you write down things you’d like to store in your freezer. Some extra ice-cream, bags of your favorite ready-made meals or even some of your own baked bread?

I go through my closet. I put away my winter jacket and boots and take out my coat for spring. I also like to clean and polish my shoes and make sure I clean all my winter cardigans. This too makes it a good time to go through what you have, what you’d like to keep and what you’d like to renew or add. As a lifecoach, I advocate becoming a personal leader for your life. This includes your wardrobe! To feel put together and prepared can make you feel more confident and ready to go out and socialize more, as well as to seek new job opportunities. No more shopping on a whim or having nothing to wear. Decide beforehand what you’d like to have, look for it online and order your preferred items directly or save the pages for later in an online folder. You might even want to make a Pinterest collection or a mood board with colors and fabrics you yearn for. Fashion is an excellent way to both be practical and creative at the same time. It can also inspire you to try doing new things, if you get the gear necessary and use them!

I clean the windows. Not only is it nice to get some new fresh air into my home after keeping them closed the whole winter season but for a couple of minutes once a week, I literally also wash away any marks of snow and rain which makes the sunlight flooding even greater and my view even prettier. Cleaning the windows can be done with a simple solution of regular dishwashing detergent by hand and warm water that you scrape off in big sweeping motions from corner to corner. You can also use some white vinegar to polish with and a cloth to dry off the windowsills. 

And not surprisingly, our windows not only show us the world outside, but can be seen as symbols for our outlook on life. If you live with a huge wall right outside your window, you might feel obstructed, while a view free of any intrusion and a beautiful horizon like I have from my balcony and my living room, makes my choices feel open and endless, while safe away from the eyes of others. I think this is especially important after having been detained under surveillance cameras during my immigration detention in the United States for almost a year, and of course the regular use of surveillance in society can sometimes make me feel watched in an unwanted way, besides having to deal with a stalker. Looking out the window every morning, makes me feel more present both with the weather and nature and her seasons. When I grew up, I learned an old ritual. Every time we move into a new place, we’re supposed to count the windows before going to sleep. Then it’s said that we’ll dream a true foreboding of what is coming. Whether you believe in that or not, is up to you, but having clean windows for sure make us feel accomplished and shows our home some extra care. 

Then what we place in our windows is said to be the eyes of our home. Do you have some nice potted plants and a set of curtains that frame them as cozy? In Hawaii, the culture teaches that we’re not supposed to have any green plants indoors, to not compete with the beauty outdoors. There, the seasons are different and almost non-existent, so it’s always green all year around. Here in Sweden however, it’s different. Here, having green plants indoors both makes the air fresher to breathe, and provides us with something alive during the dark winter months. We simply become less depressed and feel better with potted plants by the windows and a bouquet of fresh flowers now and then!

So, to conclude: What would you like to store at home? What would you like to wear this spring? How do you perceive the world and your place in it from the perspective of what you see from your windows? And what does this say about your outlook on life?

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

Happy International Women’s Day! Women have been treated lesser than men for centuries, even though we’re the gender capable of carrying a life in our wombs and giving birth. And even though, all men have needed their mother to love them. While I don’t mind that men take the fight for security instead of me, that we should be treated as equally worthy, shouldn’t even have to be an issue nowadays! But, instead of going on and on about how awful it has been and how much women have had to sacrifice in their pursuit of a career, in addition to keeping up their womanhood and beauty, I’m going to focus on the importance of sisterhood. After all, if we can’t show one another support and compassion, how could we ever teach men to?

Sisterhood to me, is to have in mind that the women around us, especially those we might be in a conflict with or don’t know so well, have too been discriminated against and treated poorly just like ourselves, or even worse. There is something sacred about recognizing our inherent worth as women together, without the competition, envy and gossip. It can feel so much more offensive, when a woman goes against another woman. A man might not know better or understand better or simply even be a lost cause (although I don’t really want to believe that), or just insecure about how to deal with his and our sexual desire. But that a fellow woman can’t respect another’s right to get her needs met, and be treated with dignity and respect, can only be because of two reasons. Either, she is more oppressed than you are, more institutionalized in the manner of taking on men’s bad ways of treating women and internalizing these ways into her own, becoming taught to, without awareness and discernment. Or, she is being evil. 

It’s so sad and annoying when women keep comparing themselves to others’ looks. I used to be a very skinny woman. My entire life, I’ve had to struggle to gain weight and could eat whatever I wanted and when, without ever, any of it showing. Meanwhile, many of my friends, and a fellow dancer in my early 20’s especially, would go through my cupboard and fridge in the kitchen to check what I was eating, while she struggled with bulimia thinking she could gain fellowship in gulping down package after package of ice-cream before forcing it up again. I would never. Outwardly, she was beautiful as a doll, with curly long hair and the perfect shape of her breasts and waist. She danced with both a charisma and a groove of her own added to the choreographies that she learned in a heartbeat. She always smiled and was friendly. Yet, she told me how much she hated herself and wanted to learn my secret… We watched the movie Thelma and Louise together, smiling towards one another when she drove me home afterwards. While I wish nothing but the best for her, our friendship ended, because in a way I was also envious of her, even though I knew it was partly a fake persona. I too wanted to be able to dance as well as she did, and not to mention to look like her. But was it then friendship, if we both were just envious of each other?

Fast forward some years, and I found myself in a much better position with girlfriends from various circles, rather than just hanging in one. This way, I had some from my teenage years, some friends from my time in advertising, and some from my university education later on. While there were certainly an element of competition among us sometimes, both in regard to men and to jobs, at least we were more colleagues than foes. I began to enjoy spending time more with those complimenting me with their knowledge and personalities, rather than just being with women who are more like me. I think we need both.

But, it wasn’t until I was living in Hawai’i, I really experienced sisterhood. Being detained for almost a year in a federal detention center among mostly regular Americans, that is, regular Hawaiians, in Honolulu, gave me respite and the position to both be helped and help others on their healing and personal growth journeys. By sharing our vulnerabilities in how we got to this place and why, we could develop a sincere compassion and respect. That doesn’t mean that we always agreed, or that there weren’t conflicts and fights, but no wonder in such closed quarters. We all were able to ask one another for forgiveness and to move on, as our masks peeled away. There is nothing stronger than when a woman stands up for another woman, against men. Here through, our bonds can solidify.

Perhaps, this is why I can’t stand the superficialities of Sweden any longer, where popularity and fame seem to drive everyone to be fearful of the ones who have more, rather than developing their own confidence and heart. Nobody daring to get to know someone for real. Then they miss out on the very core of the matter: The deeper the secrets we share, the deeper we can love. So, share!

Luckily, these dramas were also something Isadora Duncan understood and lived through, so now I can instead dance them. And we can of course look to find a woman that can be a good role model instead. When I grew up, I found that my step grandmother Hanna, was how I’d like to be. That is why I named myself Hannah, after her, who couldn’t conceive. My grandmother, who was my grandfather’s second wife, could turn any dish into a gourmet meal, saw and knit clothes that lasted for generations and made the best of raspberry jam! She also really cared for my grandfather, cared about me, and cared to look her best for us. What are some women qualities that you’d like to develop or already feel that you have and can be proud of? Who has been a female role model for you? Who is a woman you can honor?

Happy Last day of February! Today, I’m going to offer you a theme of respecting time. And life! Here are two questions to work with for your personal growth and seeking of purpose.

We all know that February is the shortest month of the year with its only 28 days according to the Gregorian calendar. This was created in order to ensure an even count of sunlight days and moon risings, that aren’t exactly 24 hours every day, which therefor becomes a 29^th day every four years. The next time we have such a day extra, will be in 2028, but I thought we could use this as a life coaching theme anyway today too. So, the first question is: What would you do if you had a day extra? A day extra, where you don’t have anything planned that you must tend to. Most of us, either must follow our schedules of work or school, or simply go about our days pretty much the same way anyway. In one way, this is good, because at the end of the day, the calendar is something man-made, that we need to function together in society and to sync ourselves with each other, to manage our trade and living. On the other hand, if we must live according to this calendar in the Western world, we might as well take advantage of it! So, what do you long for to do? Start by dreaming without limits. If you had all the resources available to you, what would you like to do? What is the feeling in this that you’re seeking to experience? What other things can bring about this feeling? What can you do with lesser resources? Dreaming like this, can help us expand our minds and open us up for receiving more or at least feel more inspired. Is there something you haven’t done for a long time, such as visited a museum in your own town, or snuck into a movie theatre in the middle of the afternoon? When can you do it?

The other way of looking at a short month like February, is to remember the fragility of life. We don’t know how many days we have left to live. Or how many days our loved ones have. On occasion, especially when I feel stuck, I like asking myself the question: What would I do if I only had three months left to live? What would you do if you only had three months left to live? This of course, is not exactly reasonable if you’re severely ill and can’t do much but rest, hope and pray. But the point isn’t to stress people dealing with life-threatening illnesses, but for us who don’t struggle with it at the moment, to always remember to respect and cherish both our own time on earth, and others’. 

So, after you’ve spent some time asking yourself what you would do if you only had three months left to live and therethrough realizing what is most important to you or what you really long for, that you should try doing as soon as possible, you can also think of how you relate to others. Are you respectful of other’s time on earth? Are you delaying, stalling, obstructing, hindering or even refusing closure with someone who needs it? And therethrough stopping that person from living a fulfilling life his or her last days? Who are you to do that? 

Here of course, it’s important to practice forgiveness, to see where you hold any grudges that you don’t want to carry anymore. To let go of them, forgive yourself and others, and ask to be forgiven as well.

It was when I asked myself the question what I would do if I only had three months left to live in 2008, that I felt my heart clearly say to go back to Hawai’i and see the people there again that I had gotten to know in 2004 and 2005. And what do you know, life offered me an unexpected opportunity to return a year later, which I did! Often, we’re walking on a path governed by “best practices” of the intellectual and logical kind, to be obeying citizens or obeying children still to our parents even if we have grown up and they might not have had our interests prioritized anyway. When the path where magic happens, is the path of the heart! Dare to tune into yours. Write it down in a journal or say a prayer to God or Universe. Then see what happens! You might get suddenly inspired to do something that will lead you toward your heart’s deepest longing. Have you tried?

Happy Global Change Management Day! It’s said that the only constant is change. And the sooner we learn to roll with it, the sooner we can learn to accept and embrace our own evolution through the changes we are undergoing. It might not always be so easy, but if we start by acknowledging that change always happen, just like the seasons always change, we can be more prepared and welcoming. This is the key to letting go of some of the resistance and make the change go smoother.

We can divide changes into either changing something we do into something else, or changing how we do things. We can also divide changes into those imposed by others and those we take initiative to do ourselves. When others, whether our bosses at work, our teachers or parents or any other authority figure, demand us to change, the most natural and common way to react is by resistance. The way to deal with both your own resistance and others’, is to understand why the change is needed and what you can get from it. If you’d like to be more in control, see the change initiative as something necessary and turn it into your own project by offering ideas on how you can do it.

A simple example is this: You want your child to keep his or her room cleaner and tidier, at least once a week. Instead of refusing and getting upset at being told to, offer him or her the reins and ask what they can do differently that can help themselves. Can you offer more places for storage? Can you allow them to re-arrange their furniture? Can they make it a habit to hang in their clothes every evening and only take out those they’re going to wear the next day and get to decide that themselves? How will this make them feel? If you know that you’re going to nag on your child every Saturday, encourage him or her to take control and do it on Friday afternoon instead, perhaps with a little reward after. When we take control of a change, we feel more powerful and confident, and lessen resistance. Enable others to feel more empowered thus, help us get the change underway too.

Now, take this example into the workplace. Let’s say that your boss wants you to implement a new IT-system where your documents and cases will be filed every Tuesday after a mandatory meeting on Monday morning. Instead of procrastinating and becoming stressed out at the end of your workday Monday, take a pro-active approach by asking what the benefits are for the company with this new system. How is it better for the environment? Then it will be easier for you to understand your own part in it and how you can contribute to more efficiency, something that will make you into a more valuable asset, if you too become more efficient. If this for example enables you to handle more clients or gain better oversight over them you already have, you can enable the company to increase their quality and make more money. By keeping track of this on your own, you will have a good case for negotiating your salary 6 months or a year from now. And the thing you can do to alleviate your own stress, is to file those documents already Friday afternoon instead. That will free up your time and even allow you to help others too.

Regardless of the kind of change that is needed, understanding why it’s called for, what its purpose is, and what the desired result will be, enable you to better follow along, as well as to see how you can come up with ideas yourself for improvement. Perhaps you see a solution not tried yet, that you can propose for the management? Can you try it out with a co-worker first and then get your whole department on board? When we see change as something that will have a positive outcome, whether that is to learn a new set of skills and perform better, or even to see why you might need to change your job instead or even your profession entirely, becoming a change leader, is the sure way of working with your own best interest at heart first and foremost, and then others second. And the better you feel, the better you will be at relating, working and performing. Take charge of the change!

If the change requires you to change your way, your approach and even your mindset so that you grow in your identity, it’s called a transformation. If the change is about doing what you already are doing but better and faster, it’s called an improvement. When you make an actual exchange, it’s called a change.

To get yourself into balance and to support your journey towards your goals, that always includes making changes, whether your habits, where you live or who you work with, consider working with a professional coach. He or she can help you clarify the steps you need to take and hold you accountable for taking them, with support.

If you’d like to make some changes in your business, don’t hesitate to contact a Change Management consultant or a Business coach to see how they can help you. 

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