While a Christian mystic would refer to it as an apparition, a business strategist and/or life coach, think of a vision as something we create ourselves, but indeed as a picture. A desired picture of how we would like something to be or look like. It can be our own life or business, or an entire city or country.

When a vision has become defined, it can be distilled into one or several achievable goals, and is best done together with the group that is going to achieve them.

A good way to start, is to assume a perspective as seen from above, to get the whole desired picture. We can define it as a wish or a dream, when done alone, but for a group, creating a vision can also be a goal in itself to work towards, answering questions like:

Which resources do we already have in terms of time, money and knowledge? Map this out.

How would we like to live and work?

What is our purpose?

What can be done to achieve this?

What can we do?

Who else can we bring in to join us?

What will become the result for us as individuals, as an organization, and as a community?

There we have it!

When we feel accepted and held by a group, we feel more safe to fully express ourselves. A group can consist of anywhere from 3 persons up to 20, to feel at home in. Usually around 10 is a good number. when we want the group to be whole and not splitting into two. Often times, bigger groups tend to also develop an informal leader alongside the formal leader, which can bring about conflicts and insecurity among its members and in the culture we form.

I’ve been thinking about how I express myself orally and how it used to be, when I was part of an acting group growing up in my Swedish High School years. I think we worked together for some five years, putting up children’s plays, musicals and even a series of dialogues by one of the Swedish literary masters. Since we all got to know each other and were performing together, we also built a supportive disposition that enabled us to become better on stage, as we prepared, rehearsed and offered our audience our best interpretations in a closely knit collaboration. For this to become good, we all learned to accept and respect one another, had fun, and helped each other out as we practiced with improvisations. Thus, with the group as our foundation, we can bring forth our inner selves more, with our own quirks and authenticity blossoming, as well as in any roles we play.

Likewise, coaching in small groups in a round the table setting, can enable more open discussions with forward motion for our topic at hand. This is how we really can share on an equal basis with mutual trust.

At Telluselle Living Center, I hope to host support groups and coaching conversation circles, with various topics and concerns, to develop not only ourselves, but also our community, and in extension our society.

Many people choose to either dress or surround themselves with certain colors, because they have learned that if they do, they will radiate and attract what these colors are said to possess. While many colors can be likened with nature and what they represent for us, it’s not the same. Not everybody wearing dark blue will work in law enforcement or be presidents or in any powerful position. I choose color mostly depending on how I feel wearing it. Sometimes, I also like choosing colors according to trends I sense and what’s in fashion.

I chose this green for my spring coat, because it reminds me of meeting a Chameleon in Hawaii, that hid under leaves in this exact hue, and of my first Hula-skirt, my ‘pau, that unfortunately I was much hated in. Nonetheless, I still like wearing the color green. It also can be seen as symbolic for spring, nature and growth – naturally – while not at all symbolic of money to me, since we don’t have green bills in Sweden or in EU. If I would solemnly choose to wear this color in an effort to attract money, it wouldn’t work, since I don’t believe that I would receive money just for wearing this, given there is no natural reason. But, I feel happy wearing it.

So, the next time you ponder about buying a piece of clothing and which color to choose, just ask yourself how it makes you feel, and let that be your foundation for making your decision.

Today, April 30th, is the official last day of winter in Sweden, celebrated as Walpurgis night with special songs for the occasion and a traditional bonfire. Even so, the nights here in Stockholm, are still below freezing and I still need to wear my winter jacket. This, besides the culture and the suppression by authorities here, is the biggest reason for me to want to move from Sweden. Imagine having to be cold for some 8 months out of 12! I would never cold plunge.

In comparison, San Francisco is at the same latitude as Lisbon in Portugal, where it basically never freezes and where winter is only a couple of months, besides having more daylight. This is also where the UN was founded, where the Women Liberation movement started, and where living Eco-friendly first became an everyday alternative also for city people. Then add more liberal views thanks to the large LBQT community, and some lovely architecture and design, that I sincerely appreciate. And, this is where Isadora Duncan was born. It’s also a good place to do business with some moderate efficiency and tempo of life, less stressed and smaller than the regular large American cities. I’ve been to San Francisco twice in the mid 90’s, but the question is – is it still the same?

Honolulu, on the other hand, is always going to be a warm home.

I’ve got my first journal when I was seven years old and started to document what I had eaten and done during the day, including buying clothes with my mother and what I had received. I continued journaling throughout my upbringing and soon found comfort in sharing my worst feelings and fears. I also grew very fond of Anne Frank, thanks to our own family history where my grandmother survived the Holocaust and we visited Anne Frank’s hideaway in Amsterdam when I was a young teen. I decided to save all my diaries in case I one day would be discovered too…

My mother was a language teacher and my father worked as a journalist and author, so it was only natural that I became a copywriter in the beginning of my 20’s. Unfortunately, all my diaries became destroyed in a fire in the attic, in my apartment building where I had kept them. But, I also found relief to write about fun things, products and services that are useful and make me curious, and even tried writing some poetry. Most often, poems come to me naturally in their own form of inspiration that just enables me to write them down, with a little finetuning and editing.

In my 30’s, I began to journal more consciously, with self-assessment tools, affirmations, plans and goals, and lists of gratitude. This became the beginning of my career as a life coach and I also wrote a newsletter for a couple of years, with different theme words for each one, after finishing my Swedish university degree in Workscience.

Hence, after my mother passed when I was 34, it was only natural for me to process it all in writing. I had also written down the story of my life to this point when I was 25, after I had come out of a destructive relationship with a man I used to work with. This, however, was never published after an agent’s recommendation to not have it backfire, more than it already had with lots of gossip around town.

My grieving process took me to Hawaii in September 2004 to study, which I did from December to June 2005. During this time, i got ample time to renew my perspective and ambitions for life, while also looking to define love in an effort to heal myself. I soon realised that I wasn’t feeling my true feminine essence, which became the focus of my journey. After some years in Sweden, where it was first written in Swedish but without publisher and I also had changed my name, I decided to translate and develop it into a version more fit for an American audience, from where I have drawn much inspiration. It was my goal to have it published and marketed in 2011, while moving to San Francisco, where I also wanted to build Telluselle Living Center, after another year in Honolulu to get my Master’s degree, or a Graduate certificate, in Organizational Change. I had just gotten a promise to be able to publish it with Hay House’s self-publishing department called Balboa Press, when… I was detained and put into a legal jeopardy by Hawaii Pacific University, who delayed the transfer of my Swedish graduate credits.

Soon, I understood that I also had to heal my masculine essence and how my father has shaped me. Often, men are seen as authority, wherefore it became easy to see my battle with authorities as an extension of battling with him. So, another book became about in 2012 and 13, after I had been deported. I also submitted about a dozen witness testimonies to the UNOHCHR to ensure a better respect for Human Rights of immigrants to be upheld. The UN in Geneva, made their own investigation and conducted more interviews with others in 2014-16. And in 2017, I edited both my books to the best of my ability and was ready for the big launch with the kind of PR I have gotten my entire life…

But. Some people in Sweden, including authorities, have some kind of problem with my career development and most of all perhaps, with my personal development as I stepped out of the roles I’ve played. and instead developed a stronger sense of self. I also knew that I had to heal my inner child from its own perspective, to let it be reclaimed and integrated in a more lifegiving way that also has enabled me to experience true joy. This is why I lived in Portugal in 2019-20, after which I had originally planned to move to San Francisco.

Instead, the same envious and jealous Swedish woman tried to sabotage me even more, that has resulted in a legal battle ongoing since 2015, but escalated since 2018, that I’d like American authorities to help me with, since I also was made homeless during this time and had to wait for 3 years to get my teeth done, due to someone’s wrongfully registration of my whereabouts in the Swedish tax records. Now, it’s 2023, and after summer, I hope I can finally move, depending on my skincancer and any other circumstances out of my control. Meanwhile, I work as a freelancing translator and life-coach, while always practicing my favorite wellness practices, and dancing too of course.

So, stay tuned! And, if you so would like, read more about my books here, available worldwide on Amazon and Kindle.

When I started life coaching in the south of Sweden 2004, I also held motivational speeches and did some practices with small groups. One of the things we did, and that I like to continue with, is lighting up others.

We all carry a light within. Usually, it shows when we talk about something that excites us, or when we feel very well and ready to share our talents with the world. But, what we shouldn’t forget, is our interdependence and that we can re-ignite the light within others too. When we really see another person, we recognize their light within. We can thus pass ours forward and reignite it.

In the group, I let everybody stand in a circle and then we passed a candle around together with acknowledging the other.

What makes you enthusiastic? Can you help spread it with others, who might need a nudge?

Have you ever heard the expression: Being one with nature? This is referring to recognizing the spirit of nature, the aliveness, and feel our own role in the eco-system. One way to feel one with nature, is by tending to animals – horseback riding can for example make you feel one with the horse, when the two of you charge over the fields in full gallop or gently trott in a dressage program. Or by petting a furry little friend, like a bunny, you can feel the bunny’s aliveness: its heartbeat, its warm and fluffy fur.

However, we can also foster a caring relationship with Mother Earth by spending time in nature just walking about, and simply acknowledge the more subtle aliveness there too: The sound of birdsong, the flow of a stream, the wind in the leaves, the scent of pine and fresh grass, the surface of rocks, the feeling of soil and sand running through your hands, and the little wild flowers making their presence known through their fierce will to grow through the winter cold dirt with the first rays of the spring sun.

By taking frequent and undisturbed walks, with no special focus or expectations at first, but with a sense of discovery, without threading the same predetermined and usual trails, but daring to take a couple of steps directly into the woods, enable you to sense true wilderness. If we have gotten used to walking a certain way, it’s easy to remain in our thoughts, rather than being present on our path. Explore and notice your surroundings instead. Then, after doing so, you can develop a relationship with the place you’re in. You can make it a habit to check how the trees are doing, where there are new buds arriving, or if there are any new animals to be seen, any berries you can taste, or any differences in daylight, and where there is shadow to rest.

Let the oxygen you inhale feed you with more life, as your exhale feeds the greenery back. This is to share breath, to share Aloha.

If I were to eat according to the natural climate in Sweden, when it comes to fruit and vegetables, I would have to only eat potatoes, carrots, cabbage and apples most of the year. And perhaps some strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in late June and July. No bananas, no kiwis, no passion fruits, no mangoes, no papaya, no pineapple, no oranges or lemons. No broccoli, avocado, zucchini or eggplant. And probably tomatoes only during summer too. Would this be good enough for my heath?

Thus, we must import the most, which in turn creates more demand and pressure to produce big crops, wherefore greenhouses also become an alternative. But is that good? In one way, it feels wrong to buy large scale produce, but on the other hand, since we can do so – are we not supposed to? To ensure that everybody on the planet becomes fed? To reasonable prices.

Add fish, chicken, eggs (besides tofu and quorn) and my favorite carbohydrates in the form of Basmati rice, Quinoa, Buckwheat and Glutenfree pasta; made of rice and corn. Teas, seasalt and herbal spices. Nuts and seeds. I also prefer to eat organic and avoid all dairy based products.

If I’m lucky, this produce can be local, but most often not. This is why I believe, I felt I had much better physical health (which for sure affects my emotional, mental and spiritual health too), when I lived in Portugal.

How do you reason when you go to the grocery store? Let’s talk about this at Telluselle Living Center.

I took an interest in Feng Shui at the same time, I started practicing Qigong and received Acupuncture in 1995, since these practices are somewhat intertwined through Chinese Medicine. In 2001, I wrote a series of articles for a local e-zine applying a Feng Shui inspired perspective on a new neighbourhood built in Malmö, Sweden, that also was a fair about future living, in 2001. I also let a licensed Feng Shui practitioner have her say. So, now that I’ve moved to another apartment in Stockholm, Sweden that I was given by the city, I thought I’d share how it fits according to Feng Shui, so far.

It’s said that we should have a mountain behind us and have the ocean in front of us, to increase opportunities and feel safe. Especially facing East, since this is where the sun rises. My kitchen faces east and I can see the sunrise, sitting at my table. And another house, has my back.

In my living room, that is on the front side entrance, of the apartment building, I see the sunset, at Mälaren, the Stockholm river and inflow from the Baltic Sea, right down below me. I really enjoyed watching the sunset when I lived in Hawaii a decade ago, so this fits me well personally. It can provoke sadness, perhaps, and prove to be a little less social, but that is also how I like my home to be my own sacred refuge, first and foremost, with only specific and chosen friends and acquaintances by my invitation only, to visit. My address, also consists of to me, auspicious numbers, with a street name that echoes my grandfather. All, to create a more stabil and better foundation for my next step in life, when I’ve recuperated and gotten a good overview of my situation.

Feng Shui, means to balance wind and water, and can also be applied in our home and businesses, by using a square map, where we can see which areas of a room, or our entire house plan, can be designated for each purpose (such as career, communication, socializing, learning and romance). Upon that, we can boost what we would like to increase in our life by placing our furniture accordingly, choosing colors, and plants and little objects, to inspire. You have perhaps seen many mansions that have a fountain in front of their entrance? This is instead of having the actual ocean there.

I’ll show you the lot, when my interior design is done!

Not everybody can become clients to a life coach. For example, if you have just undergone a trauma, or are in the midst of grieving, or on sick-leave, those are times that require therapy and rest. But, if you are willing to change and open for seeing new perspectives, while also taking actual steps towards implementing the change you seek, you are more than welcome to contact me, or any other life coach.

I think the best coaching sessions are live meetings in person. They include confidentiality and a neutral space where you can explore and discuss different relationships, situations and problems you would like to solve without interference. Nowadays, we can also do it through Zoom. Each session lasts for 45-60 minutes with a focused concentration. And we focus on the here and now, and where you would like to be – not so much on the past. The past can help us understand the need for change, but is otherwise an analysis better done with a licensed therapist.

You set your own agenda and while I will enable you forward momentum through my questions, mirroring and summary, you’ll still lead the conversation. This alone will help you feel empowered!

Sometimes, I will challenge you, so that you can better define and confirm which values you like to be your foundation, as well as question certain views, to gain more perspectives that can enable you to find more opportunities and ways to change. Wanting to reach a goal, is a desired change. Wanting to change your communication style in relationships, whether professional or personal, is also a desired change. While change can be scary and a bit dramatic at times, a life coach will support you all the way through, if you so would like.

Contact me here to schedule a first session for free, to see what it feels like.

Our bodies are like glass, both fragile and strong at the same time. We can stand strong for decades, yet break in a moment’s notice.

Since a couple of months, I’ve been experiencing pain in my shoulders, knees and groins, without really knowing why, more than perhaps due to weight gain and not walking as much as I usually do. Since I was told in my early 20’s that I have a bit too flexible ligaments, I went to see a physiotherapist, who now has helped me with some exercises to build strength in my specific areas. While we were talking, he said that I shouldn’t take any painkillers before my practice and explained to me how most of them simply block the paths to our brain so we don’t feel the pain, but it’s still there. We can even hurt ourselves by overdoing it, since we feel less pain. So, yesterday evening, I did yoga without any. I had to go slower, be more careful and do the easier versions of asanas than I normally do, but perhaps this is a good thing – acknowledging my body’s abilities at this time. After all, I’m also passed 50.

For many years, I have taken non-prescription drugs, mostly because of tooth-ache or headache, but maybe I’ve pushed myself too far and thus not been in balance with the strength and stability to match my flexibility; common for dancers.

How is your body feeling and how can you help it feel better with gentle practice?

Forgiveness is the key to moving forward in life with a lesser burden. We need to forgive ourselves, forgive others, and be forgiven. This is how conflicts are finally resolved and how we can improve as human beings. The way to find forgiveness when it comes to others’ treatment of us, is by finding common ground and relate to the accusation.

Let’s say that your boyfriend or girlfriend feels jealous and accuses you of cheating. He, or she, might have taken your phone and gone through your text messages, including some that are private about your relationship. You become furious, and soon mistrust is brewing. To stop this cycle, ask yourself if you have ever been jealous of someone, or judged another with a prejudice assumption. You probably have. Thus, you can relate. By relating, you can instead use compassion when you communicate with your significant other, and let him or her feel better heard, more seen, validated and loved. In turn, you will feel more respected.

Sometimes, our hurt and pain stems from feeling bad treatment throughout generations against another family and thus calls for even more forgiveness. This is why the Hawaiian prayer in their Ho’oponopono practice encompass both past, present and future.

Who, and what, do you need to forgive?

You can read more about the Hawaiian practice Ho’oponopono and prayer here.

How do you look at where you live? Is your home a place where you mostly relax and wind down, or is for entertaining guests? Do you want it to inspire you towards more creativity? Consciously choosing how we live, enables us a more rooted stability in all our endeavours.

To me, I like my home to feel like an extension of myself, that my furniture and fabrics are like an extension of my clothes and daily style. This goes both for colors, and the way I place my things. To my assistance, I sometimes use the guidelines for Feng Shui, which is the Chinese way of interior design as a foundation for a more successful life. By placing certain objects in areas corresponding to our wishes in various areas of life according to the compass, called Ba Gua (that the logo for Telluselle Living Center is inspired by), it’s said our focus therethrough, easier can attract what we would like to have. It’s a matter of placing the furniture so that we feel safe, secure and enjoy a good flow of energy. To invite it in.

And this doesn’t need to cost a lot! I found this cute candle holder depicting Yin and Yang in beige and brown marble, that are part of my favorite colors, in a local thrift store for 50 cents! And the tealights are made of wax from rapeseed oil which is eco-friendly. What little things can you bring into your home to create more harmony? And what can you remove?

Sometimes, I like resembling humans with plants. I think it’s an awesome mirror for understanding how our true needs must be met and how they all have an effect on each other.

We need to have soil for our roots to grow in. The soil is our society and where we physically live.

We need to have nourishment. This is water and food, and to breathe.

We need to have light. This is the essence of our connection and oneness with all earthlings. We need both sunshine and shade.

We need kindness. Harsh words hurt us like abuse on the skin, while kind caresses us. Plants answer the same with green growth and lushness, or drooping and shrinking.

What if it’s this simple, that our spiritual channels in fact are the channel which air and light goes through and this is what we’re affected by? That, when it’s dark and cloudy, our minds grow weary, while a sunny day brings forth more clarity of mind? I think it is so.

Which plant would you be? How can you understand yourself better by comparison?

One of the things that I’d like to host at Telluselle Living Center, is sacred circles for conversation. In Sweden, we have a tradition called “study-circles” that are subsidized by our government, that pays out a sum to non-profit organizations having them. This can be for dancing, yoga, meditation and qigong, as well as actually studying and discussing various books or topics – like night-classes or book-circles for culture, crafts and the arts. It’s this concept that I’d like to bring with me to the United States and adjust to the market here, perhaps even suggesting a subsidy too. And as a professional life coach, I’m trained to lead these kind of conversation circles and have done so, both during my university education as well as taught Beginner’s English for senior Swedish citizens (and some Hula). These groups usually consist of 5-15 people and here is how they work:

Let’s say that our topic is Equality with the purpose to lessen discrimination. We will sit comfortably in a circle and let each person speak. The first round will be introducing ourselves and sharing our own purpose for participating. The second round we’ll discuss how we define our topic. The third round, we’ll all give examples of our own experiences and the fourth time around, we’ll discuss improvements that we would like and how these can be done. All concluded with an open discussion and a summary.

These group discussions may be only once for each topic, or developed into a semester course with literature and news-clippings to go with, and perhaps a brainstorming session, where we’ll come up with various solutions and ideas on how to proceed, whether it would be to write a bill and invite a politician or attorney, or start a consultancy business. We’ll have various exercises that we will do in between our meetings, to try various approaches at home, in our schools or in our workplaces, to implement our desired change. Then, we’ll reconvene and share how these exercises went.

This way of discussing, when properly disciplined with presence and real listening, not only enable us to learn more from each other, but also see how we can develop a topic with synergy around the circle. And we’ll find likeminded souls fostering a mutual sense of support, to improve society.

What would you like to discuss?

Yesterday, when I practiced Isadora Duncan dance, we were focusing on various technical details and noticing the difference between regular Modern and Isadora. How we hold our arms or lift our legs, is not the same. How we accentuate and express ourselves. Another thing Sam taught, was the various rhythms we must learn to navigate and communicate with.

We have the physical rhythm – how we move our bodies

We have the emotional rhythm – how we let ourselves be led by the sentiment imbued in the melody or the emotion we would like to express

And we have the musical rhythm – the variations of tempo and the dynamics within crescendo and diminuendo

All these rhythms must be incorporated and balanced throughout the choreography and the phrases.

Can we apply this to our regular life too? Which rhythms are we following when we are out and about in society? This was something that I specifically noticed upon returning to Stockholm, Sweden after having lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for several years. In Hawaii, people walk leisurely and take things slow, while in Stockholm people rush to even be on the right end of the train, to arrive at the nearest exit, and become ballistic if the train is late for 2 minutes. In Honolulu, one should be happy if the bus shows up within 2 hours. Thus, this is society’s rhythm.

The natural rhythm is a bonus to be part of. The way the ocean crashes on the shore or how the storm makes us rush inside to be in harmony with the seasons.

Which rhythm are you following and can you sense that there are different ones?

When terrible earthquakes happen like the one last night in Turkey, or the tsunami in Thailand, I become reminded of the greatness of power, how we in front of Mother Earth, are all equals. I’ve felt small tremors in the south of Sweden and in San Francisco. I’ve evacuated due to tsunami warnings in Hawaii, twice, besides watching lava flow into the ocean. And I’ve seen crashing waves and storms in Portugal. The question though arises: Is it foreseeable and even preventable what happens with our climate? Are our casualties not in fact due to mans’ own mistakes, of building homes and businesses in areas that are more prone to earthquakes and tsunamis? Would so many tourists have died in Thailand in December 2004, if they weren’t all so keen on laying at the beach by the ocean? Would so many people gotten killed in Turkey, would there not have been built so many high-rises in that area?

When I lived in Hawaii, I learned that tsunamis often happen during December-January and during full moon. Is that how it is for earthquakes too? Do they have seasons? We can measure Mother Earth’s movements and thus prepare for a volcanic eruption, a tsunami or an earthquake, but can we ever predict them?

One simply has to succumb to one’s conditions, or move to where they’re different.

We all know how well we can feel, after a good belly laugh. You know one of those, when we almost can’t stop, or even cry happy tears? Having fun is also a sure way to tend to your wellness and self-care, even with small giggles. So take out your journal, or have a cup of coffee with a friend, and come up with at least 5 things that you think is fun to do and make you laugh. Bring out the list regularly to ensure you also do one of them, such as once a month. And always add more things, when you feel it!

My list goes:

1. Watching old Pink Panther movies with Peter Sellers
2. Watching Fawlty Towers with John Cleese
3. Skipping barefoot as part of dancing Isadora Duncan
4. Having a glass of white wine and reminisce silly moments
5. Daring to put my head under water in a pool or the ocean

Laughter brings forth joy!

What if the actions we do, in fact are the seeds we sow? In one way, we can see it as karma between people, that we create through our communication and actions. All things have a consequence. So if you want love, sow love. Not to get, but to share and to be.

One of the most important thing for humans, I believe, is to recognize and remember that we are part of the eco-system and not greater than. We become reminded of a power greater than us, when storms, floods, fires and earthquakes happen. But, we should remember this always. What kind of effect do we create with our own individual actions?

We can see our actions and communication as seeds we plant into Mother Earth. We know this to be true for what we consume. If we buy eco-friendly products, and recycle or reuse what we can, we litter less. If we produce with care, we also contribute to a more healthy eco-system. It’s all about what we use. To clean, to eat, to live with. But, what if our services and our communication also can be seen as seeds? If we hold for a truth, that everything is energy, we always affect each other and Mother Earth with our energies. Think of every action as a touch. Be gentle.

Many of the seashells come in different kinds, depending on which beach they were found. These are from Estoril, Sao Joao, Carcavelos, Oeiras, Costa de Caparica and Caxias, in Portugal.

Would you like to ensure that your employees are healthy and fit for the job, thus have less sick-days? Would it be helpful to increase motivation and performance? To assist in creating more life-work balance?

In Sweden, employers can offer their employees a benefit in the form of a wellness payment up to 500 USD per year, tax deductible, to be used for regular fitness and wellness activities, such as for a membership at a gym or a dance studio. The question is, if the United States, especially the state of California, is in need of this? Would it be possible to implement here too? Not only to serve me as a prospective owner of Telluselle Living Center, but for all business and organizations to be able to offer!

The way it works, is simply an add into the employment contract alongside salary. Most often, the employee receives a bill from his/her desired workout place and then the employer pays that directly. Neither employer, nor employee, needs to pay taxes for it.

Everybody can use a better health…