How Covid-19 changed my life.

How Covid-19 changed my life:

I cook every day. The restaurants are closed. The pizza, pasta, burger that get delivered don’t convince me. I have no choice. I always wanted to prepare my own meals before Covid-19. But I used to be so busy in the mornings and suddenly when it was 1 pm, I got hungry. I often had not the wished vegetables for the imagined meal at home and many restaurants round the corner. They offer lunch, which is really OK and affordable. My meals at home are better and healthier. But I went for the lazy choice.

This has changed.I cook.

Every day during our lunch I repeat the sentence: This you won’t get in a restaurant. It’s true. My E agrees. It’s more enjoyable to prepare for us both a meal and not only for myself. Of course. To eat together is also nicer.

I get faster, I have more and more ideas what to prepare. Today we had risotto with green asparagus and green peas. A red onion, two limes and pepper added aroma. It was so delicious. Often I’m creative. A recipe gives idea, but I feel free to change it.

Today I read that 7 % of the Germans don’t want to eat out that often anymore. Also after Covid-19 they want to eat at home.

Restaurants have to make profit.

I want to eat healthy. Restaurants and myself have different goals.

Nevertheless we’ll meet friends at restaurants. From time to time we’ll go out for sure. But I don’t want to get back to that laziness that seems unsurmountable when I’m hungry. I realize now that it’s doable to prepare meals when hungry. I collect meals that are ready within 15 minutes (CousCous, pasta with vegetables). I won’t get my lunch that fast in a restaurant.

We stay at home. This also means to travel is impossible. This allowed me to establish a yoga routine in the morning, which is rather strong.

Many situations can turn into opportunities. Of course I like to go out much more than now. I cross my fingers that my fav small business survived. I’m looking forward to go to exhibitions again.

Nothing lasts forever.

Saturday is relaxing day

Matsyendrasana variation

On Saturdays I don’t practice Astanga yoga. If I cannot stop myself practicing asanas, I practice other styles of yoga. This morning I did pranayama and headstand. To change the order of the asanas makes a huge difference. In Ashtanga yoga headstand is one of the last asanas. In Sivananda yoga it’s the first asana of the series that the yogis practice. The body is still fresh in the beginning. It was easy to hold this asana rather long. I set a timer. One minute was over before I wanted to get out of the pose. Nevertheless after 40 minutes I lost interest to keep practicing. Tomorrow my yoga week begins. This one day off is needed.

We stay at home. It’s best weather here. It’s weekend and everybody wants to enjoy this spring weather outside of the four own walls. But this is dangerous. The pandemic gets worse, so we all must take care. Everybody shall stay at home. One might regret if one becomes too careless.

Not being able to breathe anymore is a horror imagination. Thinking of the possible consequences that getting the Corona virus might cause, makes it easy to stay at home. In a big city one meets people. It’s not always possible to stay away 2 meters.

Like every day I also cooked today. It was delicious. What gets attention, has the possibility to grow. Restaurants are still closed.

I have so much to do here. So many books sleep on the shelves, now I’ve time to read. I blog more often. I read journals and magazines to be informed what’s going on in this world. I’m busy as usual. But I’ll take care that I have time for yoga. This is my priority.

Take care.

How to get ready for a yoga practice

Cleaning rituals belonged to the yoga practice of former yogis. Before practicing asanas, they cleaned the body profoundly. Only few yogis practice these rituals today before practice on a daily basis. Or does anybody clean the nose with water (jala neti) ? I don’t know of a yogi who gulps tissue to clean the stomach.

These days it’s also recommended to step on the mat with a clean body. What does this mean?

First I want to mention that our cleaning habits changed over the decades and they are different in different cultures. In our family we took a bath once a week on Friday 40 years ago. Otherwise we brushed our teeth in the morning and in the evening. We washed our face, perhaps we washed under the armpits. Few women shaved the hair under the armpits. That was it. Today we have different standards. I asked people of my age if it was the same in their families. It was.

These days being ready for a yoga practice means:

1. I think it’s important to have an empty bowl before practicing. It can become a habit to get to the toilet in the morning before practicing. The body loves habits and rhythm. Drinking water can help. A cup of coffee can also help to get into this habit. This is a tabu to talk about it. But it’s so important, it makes a difference. As a yogini I’m interested in the functioning of my body.

2. We might like to brush our teeth and to take a quick shower. This should be enough to feel clean and ready.

3. Once a week we might take care a bit more of our body. The nails need to get cut, i.e. Perhaps we want to bath to relax the muscles. Some people like to shave their bodies these days. Think of the feet?

To relfect on our cleaning habits makes sense. I write this post because many people bought a lot of toilet paper because of the corona crises and the fear of a lack of if. People bought 70 % more toilet paper than usual. Is this really necessary? It’s not. We cannot survive without water. We also need to eat. The body can be cleaned with water. In India almost no toilet paper exist. Water does the job. It’s so much better. I don’t understand why people bought that much toilet paper.

Hygiene is important especially during corona times. So wash your hands with soap when you return home. Put your hands away from your face.

Stay clean, but don’t overdo it. Don’t ruin the skin with too much soap.

We have summer time now, that is if I want to get up at 5 am, I have to get up one hour earlier. For me the first highlight of the day is when I observe how the sun rises. I can rely on it. Hello, I’m here again, it tells me. And I think, yep, I’m still here, too. Hello sun. I sip my black coffee, I write my journal and from time to time I look up to see how far the sun has wandered already. When I’m ready, that is when I brought my cleaning ritual behind me, I step on the mat.

It is possible to practice at night or in the afternoon. The best time is in the morning.

When I saw the sun rising, when I practiced yoga I had already an excellent beginning. I feel so strong that I think: Nothing can ruin my day now anymore.

Take care.

Stay healthy. Stay at home.

Corona times

A virus with the beautiful name Corona threatens us human beings. There are deaths already all over the globe. Super fast this little virus travelled around the globe and found victims everywhere. We’re connected through our breath.

In the meantime those who survived the virus can told us about the experience. Some had only a cold. Others couldn’t breathe anymore. This is a horror. One woman said: It’s as if you’re under water and you want to breathe……

We’re all asked to stay at home and not to meet friends also not at home. Many people can work from home. We yoginis can always practice at home. No need to leave the house. I love to hear that those who have a yoga studio offer now online classes via zoom. I’ll join one of the classes for sure.

In the meantime I get up early again. Early means 5 am. I so love to see the sun rising. All my neighbors seem to sleep as I cannot see a light in the windows in the building across the street. Slowly a tiny part of the sky becomes red, then yellow and bluish. It doesn’t last too long and another day has come. What a gift to live.

Since my husband is working from home I moved to another yoga place in our flat. Next to my desk I roll out my mat. It feels good to practice there. I’m not distracted. It’s calm there. I can concentrate on my breath. I don’t yet know how to take pictures there, a solution will come.

Sometimes I see children and I think they have no clue what’s going on right now. But that’s not true. A little boy lately told me something about a virus. That’s the reason why he had to play at home. He smiled and he obviously made the best out of the situation.

I always wanted to cook on a daily basis. Now I have to. Almost all the restaurants are closed. My E also needs something to eat for lunch. Me too.

To be alone with oneself can be very beautifully.

Stay healthy. Times are dangerous.

There is so much to do at home

It seems so unreal, but it’s real. This busy world must slow down. It’s good advise to stay at home, so that the corona virus cannot spread that fast.

There is so much to do at home.

Today I cleaned the kitchen and my desk. I should have taken a before - after picture.

I’ve a pile of books on my desk that I want to read.

The times invite us to meditate. Finally there is time to reflect on anything.

I work from home for a decade now. For me it’s perfect. Yet every change requires patience. The body and the mind have to adjust to the new situation.

I always try to make the best out of a situation. I cook daily for instance these days. This was always my goal, but I live in a big city with many opportunities to eat out. Often I ate lunch in one of the restaurants downtown or round the corner . Now I cook and I’m enjoying it. I love the process of preparing our meals and the meals, too.

Everything can be an opportunity for something new.

Stay healthy, my darlings. Enjoy the solitude. It won’t last forever.

It got calm here in Munich

How quickly everything can change!

Nobody can predict the future. One month ago this world looked totally differently.

In Germany we’re advised to stay at home due to the corona virus. Theaters, museums, bars are closed. Only grocery stores are open.

I feel as if I’m part of a SciFi.

The current events are a cut around the globe. Amazing how fast this corona virus could travel around the world. It shows that we’re all connected. One world, so to say.

Take care!!! Keep breathing deeply!! Stay curious. Be entertained.