State of mind

The mind is a powerful thing. The mind can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. When in a positive state of mind you have the power to process anything that comes your way easily and you will find the necessary solutions to any problem or obstacle. However, when your mind is filled with negative thoughts you open your mind to fear and doubt. Creativity and insight gets blocked and it is much harder to find your inner strength and happiness. A negative mind can be very stubborn, making it hard to change direction.

How to change your state of mind when you are in a train not towards happy town but towards the train station of doom? The answer lies in the way you look at your brain. Your mind is nothing more than a muscle and muscles can be trained into a powerful positive force. I have recently read an article about Philippe Petit, the man that walked on a high-wire across the Twin Towers in the 70s. The article mentioned how he manipulated his own mind by eliminating negative thoughts. He focused on repeating certain positive thoughts over and over again. It helped him getting rid of his fears. Philippe was not manipulating his mind. He trained his mind to stay focused on positive and powerful thoughts that gave him strength. You can also train your mind to be a strong and powerful tool. Find yourself a positive mantra you can repeat infinitely. For every negative thought, fear or doubt you have, create a positive counterpart and repeat them as many times a day as you can until it becomes your reality. Every time your mind wanders off to the dark side change tracks by repeating your mantra.

Your first few attemps might feel awkward or even unsuccessful. However, the importance of training any kind of muscle is patience and repetitiveness. Remember the first few times you visited the gym or started a new training? Afterwards you felt like you have been put through the wringer and you doubted you could ever get in shape, BUT eventually you got stronger. The benefit of training a muscle is that once it is trained, even if you don't use it for while, muscle memory kicks in when you need it again. Making it easier to get back at the same level. It is easier for a trained mind to stay on the happy train track. A world of positive vibes will open up to you. To help you get started here is a mantra: A happy mind is a strong mind.

With love, Ana

By changing nothing, nothing will change

Are you one of those people, like me, who have taken procrastination up as a hobby? It is not even a hobby you wanted in the first place, but you have just gotten so skilled throughout the years, it is hard to give it up. I am with you all the way. Having a mind filled with hopes and dreams, but going from A-THE MIND, towards B-THE REALITY can be a task instead of a pleasuring JOurneY, if you take the D tour from A to, E to Y, to Z, ending up a bit hopeless wondering if you are actually at B. Only to discover you have become a marathon runner running in circles. 

There are all kinds of reasons you are taking the procrastinated D tour, and most of the time, it is not even on purpose. It is like wanting the other job, but fear is preventing you from taking a step forwards, or wanting to lose weight and go working out, but the action seems exhausting. Not to mention the all day consuming things such as, work, kids, a household and social contacts. If we don't prioritize, our hopes and dreams fade into the background and our daily tasks make us run on autopilot. That can be perfectly fine if you are content with driving an automatic car. I am, however, a procrastinator who likes a sports car, driven by a hopes and dreams engine. I use the stick, I call the shots. 

How do you drive a sports car? You need to take the action to learn how to drive. It is always a matter of getting out of your comfort zone, and taking the first step. "By changing nothing, nothing changes,"Tony Robbins said. Once you get the hang of it, and you get into some kind of flow, things will go easy and you will wonder why you didn't take that step before. The procrastinating itself is more all time consuming and exhausting than the actual step. Therefore define what you want, give if all your focus, take that step forward and persist. From that decision making point the Universe will present you events and the right people to guide you along the way. All our role models didn't become great by sitting on the couch wondering about life, they were living life by taking the right actions. 

Be happy,
~Ilona~

The path of the least resistance

Desires are a part of human nature, but there is a difference between wanting and actually receiving. Sometimes there is hope and there are many dreams about things without ever drawing it into our reality. This doesn't mean the law of attraction isn't working, it means that even though you've had an intention towards your desire, you weren't on the receiving frequency. 

As mentioned before like attracts like, therefore it is important to get on to the same frequency as your desires. Wanting often comes with doubting. You want something, but you can't believe you can actually draw it into your reality. That creates resistance towards the desire and blocks it from coming in. People often manifest the things they want when they have forgotten about it. Why? As soon as they can forget about it, they release the resistance creating a free path for it all to come to them. This can be a long process.

The way to manifest without losing the focus that is needed is to monitor our feelings. Happiness is the path of the least resistance. We often don't know how the Universe is going to bring us the things we want. The easiest way to tab into the receiving frequency is to feel good and trust the process. We preach happiness for a reason. Every happy vibe you send out comes back to you, putting you in a state of receiving all that you want and more.

Be happy.
~Ilona~

Ten (TH)INGS to dreambuilding

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" ~Eleonoor Roosevelt. If you wish it, become it. Keep your dreams alive by dream building on every occasion. To give you some inspiration we have made a top ten list of all the (TH)INGS we do on a daily basis: 

- Scripting our dreams

- Pinning pictures on Pinterest

- Putting wishes in a wishjar

- Creating a vision board

- Dressing up for the occasion 

- Visualizing before falling a sleep

- Sticking Post-its on a wall

- Burning a candle

- Making a dream plan

- Playing a happiness music list

Be happy, 

~Ilona~

About manifesting your desires

Your thoughts as well as your desires emit frequencies. In order to manifest you need to vibrate on the same level as your desires because according to the law of attraction like attract like. How can you put this into practice?

First of all, clearly define what you want and choose something you know you can believe in. From the moment you have decided the manifestation has been set in motion. It is there, just not drawn into your physical reality yet. The key is to focus on what you want with intensity and power. You do this with feelings and anticipation, as if you already have it. If you want something you automatically have a high desire for it. All you have to do is to let the good thoughts about it flow. Duration is important, try to focus on it for as long as possible. Believe in it without a doubt. The way the universe works is mostly outside your vision, therefore just trust the process. Look at it as filling a bucket with water, when the bucket with water is filled and flows over, that's when the physical manifestation occurs.  

Sometimes life can be all consuming and before you know it days pass, weeks pass, and you totally forget to think about your desires or your initial enthusiasm has faded away. The emitted frequency has weakend, while it is important to put out a frequency strong enough to get what you want. Thoughts will always be drawn into your life one way or another, the wanted and unfortunately the unwanted thoughts as well. You get what you think about most of the time. The magnetic pull gets stronger with positive thoughts and good feelings. Therefore keep your positive thoughts alive by dream building everyday. I build my dreams by pretending I am already what I want to be. For example, I have dreams about going to Ibiza together with Ana. Every morning, I pretend I wake up at Ibiza, put on my bohemian outfit, have breakfast at the beach and after that I go to the market (Pinterest) to pick out hippy style goods that I love so much. I eat, breathe and sleep Ibiza. I soak up Ibiza like a sponge!

Be like a sponge ladies and gents and miracles will start to happen. Don't spend time worrying about how you are going to get it, your task is thought creation, the possible actions you need to take will be presented to you along the way.

Be happy, 

Ilona

Let it flow

Life is ever changing. The ways we deal with these changes define our future. All the seeds that you plant right now, you will harvest later. That might be tomorrow, in the near future or years from now. Circumstances and unexpected life changes can be a struggle sometimes. However if we struggle in the now, we will attract struggling in the future, and that resistance will prevent these seeds to grow. So how can we let these seeds grow? 

Water your seeds of life

We simply need water.  Bruce Lee once said: "Be water, my friend." Water flows, water is strong, water adopts to every environment. The principle of becoming water is not a new concept. Bruce Lee was referring to what is called in Taoism wu wei 無為. These words can be translated as non-action, or let things take their own course. 

How to get into a state of effortless action

A world opened up to me when I first got introduced to the term effortless action, going with the flow.  When I think of flowing I imagine myself lying on an inflatable yellow boat, floating on a friendly blue colored river down the stream, surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees on the river bank. Some happy little clouds in the sky that are smiling from above. Alright, I am pulling a Bob Ross here, but can you still recall that calm voice, happily explaining how to make a (happy) painting and you immediately wanted pick up that brush and paint because he made it look so easy? This is the same principle, different setting. Get on that boat now, because effortless floating on life principles is that easy. 

Don't suppress negative feelings

There are only two ways to go, against the current or floating down the stream. Feelings of fear, worry, doubt and anger make you go against the current. It's important to know that you should never suppress those feelings. Acknowledge them, because they are not only part of your life stream, they also represent the things you are not happy about. However, since you are aware of them, you can make those important life changes.  Know that you are headed the wrong way and turn around. Just remember that if you hold on to these feelings too long they will put you in a state of resistance, you will lose good energy and your actions will become an effort. Now, don't go hastily turning around rafting down that river with high speed as soon as you hit some rock you don't like. Life is about balance. Imperfections appear in our reality so we can learn from them, just calmly turn around and pedal forward so your life stream remains effortless. 

In short we can say, let your life unfold by itself. 無為 wu wei, non action, except when you need to water those seeds from time to time.  

Be happy,

˜Ilona˜ 

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How to get into the runners mindset

How come New Year’s resolutions seem to be so much less appealing on New Year’s morning when you wake up and the only word you can stutter is; detox? That morning on January 1st is not the ideal foundation for the healthy eating plans and not for that long procrastinated run either. I realized that when I was stumbling around Berlin the morning after, wasting my time looking for healthy food while all the stores were closed and the only thing I could find were bratwursts. If I wasn't a vegetarian I would have definitely bought one, people were chewing on them like it was their mission to slaughter them for the second time. I there and then decided that I would never start my New Year’s resolutions on January 1st anymore. My advice would be to start a bit later or at the beginning of December instead, so you can guilty free chew on those cinnamon rolls on Christmas day.

Even for a gym junky like me a daily shot of endorphins can lose its glory sometimes. So, how to write a motivational piece about New Year’s resolution workouts without the standard ‘Ten tips how to lose ten pounds in ten days’ list? First of all, you have decided to hop back on that trainings wagon and that's half the battle. Congratulations! I am proud of you. The key ingredient to success is to set a goal and get into the right mindset to achieve it. To keep myself going, I always sign up for a half marathon in the second week of January. Although I am not a rookie when it comes to endurance training, the 21k/13miles running distance is not something I am a big fan of. Going out in the cold week in week out to train a certain amount of kilometers can often feel like torture to me.

Last year I have read some articles about the law of attraction that explained that thoughts and feelings become things. In short, you will become what you think. While reading I became really enthusiastic. I figured it could help me improve my running times without putting more effort into it, just as long as I was thinking, I am a runner! This is what I do. A week or two before a half marathon I get into the mindset of a professional runner. In my mind I start to live like a runner, adjust my diet, eat, breath and sleep like a runner. I keep telling myself I run faster every day. In my mind I imagine I am running that competition effortlessly and having that proud feeling when I cross the finish line. On the day of the competition, even when my knees and legs start to hurt towards the finish line, giving up never crosses my mind. Believe it or not, my mind exercise resulted in faster running times. 

You don't have to be perfect. Reaching your goals starts with getting into the right mindset and believing in yourself. As Henry Ford said;" Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you are right." Get in front of the mirror and imagine yourself being a 20 pounds less you, who lifts weights at the gym as if they are light weighted Birkin bags or a six-pack of Heineken. Become that runner, that bodybuilder or that amazing swimmer in your mind. Now that the right mindset is established I wouldn't want to hold my workout tips from the ones who were actually excited about the ‘10 tips how to lose weight’ lists. I will share my training experiences with you on a monthly basis and will post that list soon.

Be happy,
˜Ilona˜