The book everybody is talking about

Apparently it has sold over forty million copies worldwide. Time to find out what the buzz is all about. I'm one chapter into Fifty shades of grey. Literature student Anastasia Steele has just interviewed entrepreneur Christian Grey. The excitement is already building up.

Awake and ready for action

After an hour's walk a pair of big blue eyes are looking at me with curious expectations. Time to find out what's going on outside the buggy.

Sporty baby!

Guess what I'm doing?

Those eyes, filled with...?

At the hairdresser's, waiting for the return of my natural haircolour. Little dog is also waiting. For the piece of chocolate that I'm holding in my hand.

Permission to grunt

I'm always surprised by the volume in the gym, especially in the corner of free weights. I'm not referring to the music but to the people using the weights. Why not work in silence and focus on the breath? Why the loud grunting? Is it a reflection of a need to emphasise how hard they are working and a call for attention? Surely that must be the case as the sound effects are much exaggerated.

So I thought. Until this morning when I had my premier with a PT. We were not even close to the free weights corner; it was all about functional training. But now I realise that the grunting can sometimes not be controlled. You live and learn. 

Old become new

It's time to remove the summer clothes from the wardrobe and make space for jackets, polo necks and knitted dresses. About once every second year I also go through the box with "parked clothes"; a box with clothes waiting for a decision to be made. When they move from wardrobe to the parking box, I'm ususally fed up wearing them but I'm still not sure if I'm ready to say goodbye. Seeing them again after a long break it is either a "no no" and off they go to the charity store. Or it is a like a meeting an old friend that you really like and want to start seeing again. This time I found a couple of old friends. Like the three quarters trousers from Banana Republic. I still remember when I bought them in NY. Long time ago...

Monday morning at the central station

All those people. Empty eyes making their way through the crowd of fellow commuters, clearly on autopilot. Imagine having to do this five days out of seven. As it is, I'm just a guest who knows my home is elsewhere.

Something from my Sunday reading...

Anger is energy. Energy cannot be destroyed: it can only be transformed.

Yoga International, Autumn 2012

Facebook style

Completely rested after a long, deep sleep; still in bed with a magazine and a cup of tea. Soon breakfast with fresh bread from the bakery. A Sunday full of possibilities ahead, but without any stress. The rain is tapping on the roof and window, which is a good reason to stay in bed a little bit longer. Other than that, silence and harmony.

How provoking isn't that for the stressed out mother who had a bad night's sleep from being woken up ten times? Now she is in the kitchen cleaning up last night's dishes while the children are watching the telly, demanding attention and breakfast. If there is a husband, he is nowhere to be seen this morning as he is still in bed curing a hangover from a night out with the boys. The Sunday will then be spent driving the children around to parties, football and gymnastics.  Back home, it's time to get ready for the coming week. Laundry, packed lunches for excursion day and homework.  Finally, the children are off to bed and she can pick up her laptop to do some work as she is miles behind on the project with a deadline coming up next week.

The picture that everything is perfect is what we see on Facebook. That's where people go to the gym at lunch time, have candlelight dinners with seafood from the foodmarket, drink chilled white wine and meet friends in relaxing settings. The perfect coffee, the successful deal, the pretty shoes, the sunny afternoon, the refreshing walk, the great restaurant, the trendy bar, the romantic date, the happy children. It never stops. We all know this is a small fraction of reality, but somehow all these fractions add up to a desireable lifestyle.

Just like photoshopping. Erase the bad nights' sleep and the children fighting. Emphasise the sunshine, the glamour and the healthy living. Why not? If it makes us happier. But if it creates unrealistic expectations and makes us discontent with our own lives, may be it's time to log off from Facebook for a while. And perhaps log off from some of those "Facebook-style-blogs" too...

Saturday in pictures

Walk, museum and lunch followed by an afternoon on the couch with magazines and tea in front of the fireplace. A Saturday filled with relaxation and a feeling of being a tourist in my hometown.

Happy Friday

Fresh flowers, Indian take out, red wine, two films and a bowl of Swedish sweets. Together with someone special. That's a winning receipe for a Happy Friday.

Delivery hangover

A night with disrupted sleep as the brain continued the activity from the last three days of intense delivery has left me hangover without any intake of alcohol.

Delivery of induction training, delivery of yoga classes, delivery of seminars and facilitation of big groups. Last night my head was spinning and all I wanted was to sit alone in a dark, quiet room. Or with a loved one in company of candles and gentle conversation.

I'm grateful I don't have more than three meetings and one yoga class to deliver this week. Other than that, time to enjoy the fresh air, reflect, read and write. Just like that.

Lunch at Ecoist

A new found place serving healthy, organic food and smoothies. We are only women here. May be the lack of meat and carbs have something to do with it.

Footballer's wife trainee

Or perhaps footballer's mum trainee. A lot of activity going considering it's a Sunday morning. Equipped with a latte and a pair of sunglasses, this is not bad at all.

Lost and found

Preparing for more classes, I was going through my unedited notebook and found the following:
"Physical and mental toxins create stiffness and tension. Anything that makes us stiff can also break us."

Some toxins may be hard to detect before they make their way into the body. But there is a way to balance stiffness and tension...it's called yoga. That would be my advice to anyone who would like to complement their pension insurance.

Making room for what I like doing

Cinema chairs and jakaranda table from the seventies. That's what you get at the retro café in the bohemian part of town. Strong coffee and soft music. Fortyfive minutes to spare before today's yoga class starts. Perfect moment to start the prep for my own classes next week when I have the honour of filling in at my teacher's pregnancy yoga. A room filled with pregnant women fills you with admiration and respect for life.

Full fat facial please

A facial including massage of shoulders and eyelash tint. Two hours later I leave the beauty parlour with a dizzy head from all the pampering.

Today's frustration

How much time do you spend on booking meetings, cancelling meetings, re-booking meetings?

I just wonder as I think far too much of my time is spent on playing tetris with my calendar. Days are chopped up like Swedish "pyttipanna" (dish made of left overs, chopped in pieces) and all I really really want is a day without any meetings at all. So planning for meetings is not one of my favourite activities.

One of my biggest challenges is exactly that. Minimize the number of meetings. So right now the entries in my iCal that is just about "getting-to-know-somebody-to-see-if-there-is-a-mutual-interest-in-continuing-the-dialogue", score the lowest points. Energy draining. Still very difficult to say "No, I don't want to meet with you". Any tips on how to do that are much appreciated.

(Note: I have already tried the "It's a bit much right now, let's get in touch in a couple of weeks shall we", but somehow the meeting doesn't go away.)

Meeting with the jury

Time to nominate the future leader in the real estate industry. Three candidates have prepared a personal presentation and will now be grilled by a senior jury...

To do in between

One of the advantages of having clients in the middle of the city is everything you can do "in between". It gives me a rewarding sense of accomplishment and efficency. Almost addictive. So today, in between meetings, I:

• Took my (very) high heels to the cobblers, who managed to add some invisible padding here and there so that I won't step out of the shoes when I try to walk in them. Not that I will be walking a lot. The shoes belong in the category "sitting-or-standing-shoes".
• Organised a discount membership for someone who says she wants to start exercising again. A gentle push to see if she now feels obliged to come to the gym with me!
• Visited the mobile operator's shop, just to extend my current contract. It proved more beneficial to get a new iPhone and a new contract. Or so he said, and I believed him.

 Tick, tick, tick off the list.

Now a school girl

An afternoon with goddaughter, Lovely L and co.

Autumn for nails

The good old 505 from Chanel is replacing months of pink and coral.

Who is everybody else?

Breakfast at Gateaux in the suburb. In addition to the latte and freshly made sandwich, it's also a social study of the people who presumably live here. The young family with the toddler dressed in Ralph Lauren. The trendy mum stocking up on bread (for the family waiting at home?) on her way back from her powerwalk. The forty something man enjoying a quiet coffee and the newspaper, perhaps escaping home for an hour before the rest of the weekend activities kick in. Mums with children dressed in fotball gear, picking up lattes and croissants to then spend the rest of the day watching games of football.

Me? I'm just a visitor passing by...

To wrap up a Friday

End of the week, beginning of the weekend. A long walk in the forest to mark the transition.

Busy week

This week has been full on with work and teaching. Facilitation of groups, analysis of surveys, reporting to management teams and board of directors. After a week like this, a Friday without meetings, without having to leave home for an office, is so rewarding. My Fridays are sacred. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to be able to stay at home and catch up on emails, preparing bits and pieces which are both work related but also just personal admin. This is the time for reflection. There were some real highlights this week, which created a nice balance to the hectic pace.

Monday night dinner - with someone special. A glass of Chablis (of course!) and moules frites. Sitting outside, admittedly with a blanket and infrared heater, enjoying one of the last summer nights in 2012.

Wednesday late morning - a brisk walk with my youngest goddaughter while her Adorable mum had her hair done. Fresh air, sun and Baby M's smile; the best energy boosters.

Thursday afternoon - a call with my Dutch friend, ex colleague and coach. In many ways he has been my role model when it comes to finding a balance between professional and personal life. How can you organise your life so that you truly live your values and spend time on what really matters to you? I know forty hours per week in an office is not the answer for me (nor for him). It took me some time, but I no longer feel bad when I'm at home in the middle of a weekday doing something else than working.

Thursday evening - a dear reunion by coincidence with fellow yogini who happened to work in the studio that day. Last year we spent a month in India together and although we both live in Stockholm we don't really see each other. Warm and happy moment, which was followed by a lovely class with the instructor who also led our instructor training in 2011 and 2012.

Now - having time to write. Having me time, which is vital to recognise the sense gratefulness and freedom that fills me when I have time to stop. This is catch up time for the mind. A moment to realign body, spirit and mind into the present moment. Yoga is part of it to through the body quiet the mind and become present, but mindful reflection where thoughts are given room to exist is equally important to me.

So my gentle piece of advice today is to find a moment of me time. May be a full day is not realistic, but most people can find twenty minutes, or even an hour, if you make a concious effort. Give yourself an hour of your own time. Do something for you! 

This week's theme

Eighty percent of success is showing up according to Woody Allen.

This was the theme of yesterday evening's yoga class and it was also the theme in this morning's class. Different studios, different instructors, same message.

Just coming to the studio shows an intention, even if you don't have the strength or the will to do anything else. Just coming to work. Just coming to a meeting. Just making it to a dinner. The list can be long. In addition to "showing up" I would like to add "and being present". May be that increases the success rate to ninety percent.

To start the day with a butterfly

Probably one of the best ways to start a new week. Feet together, knees a part and a light forward bend with the support of a bolster. Favourite yoga instructor guiding us to a soft start of the week. The best.

From there on it has been downhill without too many gates to turn around. Also called being in the flow.

It's dark

I wonder how many tealight candles we consume per capita in this country? The lighting of candles starts now, peaks in December but goes on until April I would say. Independent of weather conditions.