A lot of people asked me questions about traveling in India.
And there are a few things, which are good to know before you start your trip through India. That brought me to summarized my top 10 advises, I can give you from my own experiences: Continue reading “10 things you should know before you travel to India”
#17 HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I am fresh and energized for an new beautiful year: 2014.
I would follow my reading in Vedic astrology, it will be a year full of changes and happenings in my life!
We will see. But don’t put your whole life in the hands of your destiny.
We can work in this life with small steps to a greater life.
And New Year is a brilliant time to review the last year, analyze your lessons learned and set your goals for 2014.
1. Review 2013:
Write down a review of each month of 2013. Note your wins and improvements. (I would recommend to do it more detailed and categorize it in fields of work/finance, relationship/family, love & communication, health/fitness , personal growth)
2. Goals overview 2014
Set first your “Big 5” goals for 2014 and then break it down to your Top 5 goals for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. To achieve your big goals, its good to set short and longterm goals over the year.
3. Execution plan 2014
Lets brake it even more down and make it more detailed.
Create your execution plan, month by month, with key milestones and rewards for achieving it . This gives you overview of your plan and help to avoid any distractions.
I head a great morning run on the first day of the New Year. Probably one of my fittest New Years Eves ever.
Maybe Goa is not this party area that it was years before, but it’s still a party place.
On the beach during my run you could hear the bass booming of the different “after-hours“.
And during my sunny and lovely run at the beach, a man stopped me and offered me drugs!
…Goa’s party life is not completely dead.
# Lessons Learned:
The ocean is deeply connected to us and perfect for giving and receiving. In meditation or in ritual let go of an old stuff and throw it into the waves. They will wash and clean all of it away and clear your mind, thoughts and material energy opening space for new ones. (Indian bar tender, Goa)
# 16 At the end of the paradise / Silvester
| At the end of the paradise / SylvesterBine and me went to the Paradise Beach. Its so beautiful, peaceful and empty, not crowded. It’s a really paradise here. This place is known for bike rides at the beach. One of our rare chances to do this. So let’s do it. Here is a short video to share with you guys this experience. We celebrated our New Years Evening quite calm – and this is a party area of Goa. But after the party two days earlier, we had enough party for the next couple days. So we decided to stay at the beach with Acroyogis, singing together by the fireside. We watched the fireworks at the beach and went to bed -for me quite early- at 2 am. # Lessons Learned today: End up the year with something great what you love. The paradise is so close. Its already here inside of you. Just listen inside and you will find your Paradise Beach where you can drive into the next beautiful new year. |
# 15 Goa Nightlife
| Goa Nightlife Goa isn’t that Party area as it was 20-30 years ago. They banned all the open air parties at the beach. If you search for parties and think this is an India Ibiza, you won’t find what you are searching for, but there are still a lot of parties in the clubs. And Goa is well known for hippies and dropouts. A lot of individuals, musicians, Yogis and artists found their place here in Goa. Today is a lazy hangover day with sunny beach and Ayurvedic massage.# Lessons Learned today:
Sri Sri Ravid Shankar recommended “Go slower. Time is running fast. Live is to short. Every event is passing away. So, stop for a while and look at yourself, look within. Where am I running? What am I after? What is the purpose of my being here? |
# 14 Fed up with traveling
| I am fed up with traveling!!After – in the end – the 28h trip from Amaritapuri to Goa. I finally arrived in Goa. I WON’T move my ass into any train, bus or other tranportation vehicles until I leave India!! puuhh. that was enough for now. Time to stay.
And finally today I met Bine!!! Its so great after two weeks of traveling alone, being with friends and people you love and know. Actually its very important for me to spend some time by myself, but sharing experiences and love just some times is a very great gift in life! In the evening went out to Katzensuppe in Vagator. Well, it was a long night with too much alc. But we had fun. Nothing to add today… # Lessons Learned today: To share your life and experience is as much important as to spend more time with yourself. Take your time by yourself, but build bridges instead of walls. |
# 13 24h hours trip from Amritapuri to Goa
| 24h hours trip from Amritapuri to Goa.
Morning mediation at 6.30h at the beach or Amaritapuri, made my day. Everything that followed, was just a „skip forward“ button: 4hrs drive by taxi from Amaritapuri to Kochin. From Kochin to Goa another 22 hours. From Goa bus station to Arambol 1,5 hours. In total about 28 hours for 800 km!!The bus trip was quite heavy this time. The bus driver was more than following the rules of the Indian traffic system. I really never became see-sick on the sea in my whole life. But this time I did. The way he was driving the bus was more than an adventure. Additionally the permanent honking for saying“ Attention, I am coming!“ and the snoring man next to me, made it hard to stay a-life!. Inhale…OMMMM! “Ok, time to work on some skills.” Although it was not easy to write and draw during this time, I started to scribble in my daily scribble book. Here some extracts, of how it looks like.
Its very useful to increase your creativity and visual thinking. I started 2-3 month ago to work on my visual thinking and visual facilitation skills. I have often ideas and concepts in my mind, but don’t know how to express them and explain it to others. Or sometimes I have to write concepts or be creative, but I just see a black cloud in my head and a whiteboard. With the techniques of visual thinking you train your listening skills, thinking in concepts and processes, and your drawing. You learn to sketch your notes, doodles, canvas, diagrams and how to structure it. And all in all: it’s fun! # Lessons Learned today: Life is not an mp3 where you can play what you want and can forward it – but life is a radio where you have to enjoy what is played. |
# 12 AMMAs lovely hugs
| AMMAs lovely hugsI arrived at 10 am at the Amritapuri ashram. A very beautiful but currently very crowded ashram. But very peaceful. AMMA who built this Ashram, where she was born, are one of the famous living Gurus. She is very active with her aid organisations and projects to help people all over the world. She is also famous for her intensive and lovely hugs. Everywhere on the world she give hugs to the people. “Embracing the world” is the name of her institution. She gave her hugs already to more than 32.000 people all over the world. That means around 1.700 hugs each day in average.
After the evening mediation at the beach with her, I had the great possibility to get a hug from her. It was an amazing experience, which I didn’t expect before to get on that day. # Lessons Learned today: If everyone would joining the principles of „giving and receiving“, it would reduce or completely eliminate the chaotic system which has to be organized by rules and processors. |
# 11 Backwater vs. tear drops water
| Backwater vs. black water (or about the differences between societies)One of my sadest day of my trip. Today I lost my brand new GoPro cam in the sea. I double fixed it, before I went in the heavy ocean, but the waves and the current where to strong. 😦 I searched with a dozen of people around two hours. The people here are so helpful. Without any request they helped me to look for the cam. Without knowing me, they just spent 2 hours in the water and tried their best. I am so grateful. Wow, hard to find this helpfulness in Germany. We have no time to do it. Are busy with other things. Well in the end, I had to except it. The camera was lost. I did, but I felt bad and angry about myself. I am such a fool. Had to know that the waves were to strong.
On my way from Varkala to the backwaters in the taxi I started crying. It was not because of the camera. It was more the disappointment about myself. I share no arenas to material things. I am good in loosing my stuff. But anyway: Tear drops goodbye, Backwaters hello! The tour through Mango Islands, near Kollam, was very beautiful. Just pure nature. Small channels, a kind of river which ended in a lake from there the water flows into the sea. Around 20.000 people live in this area. Most of them work in agriculture. Fishing and coconuts are one of the biggest exports here. Did you know that a big coconut tree can produce up to 500 coconuts per year?! After a chilly tour an adventures trip to local place Karnugappally as followed: First I took the local bus. I payed 6 rubies, which is not more than 1 cent. I wanted to take the train, but than I would of have to wait for more than 3 hours on a station ware everyone is staring at me all the time, because I am a stranger. So I took a rickshaw. But we had to cross the water by a ferry. At the ferry I had an amazing experience. During the time I was waiting in the rickshaw a group school kids came. Everybody was staring at me, whispering. I felt like a stranger. I WAS a stranger. Slightly sensitive this day, I startet to cry again. It was not because of me. Now I felt for the first time, how a foreigner or stranger must feel, in other countries or societies. I just felt compassion, for all those, who can’t really change something and have to live with it. The teacher of the pupils from a local school came to me and asked me friendly some things. His students sent him to speak with me. They had never spoken to a western and english speaking person. Everybody wanter to touch me, shake my hands. they smiled at me, wanted to talk with me. Just a small 3 year old girl was crying. She never saw a western person. For her I was something like an alien, she was so afraid of me. On the ferry we started to sing together. They never heard an English song and wanted me to sing for them. I sang „light of my soul“ from David Lurey for them. That was after “Let it be“, the song that came first to my mind. We took some pictures together, and in the end I gave my sunglasses as a gift to one of the kids, because he couldn’t take an eye off to it. Habit „make somebody smile“ for today successfully absolved! 🙂 Arrived in Karnugappally. Unspectacular city, without internet anywhere, I went to the only restaurant there. Second time I had to eat my whole meal with fingers. And again, I was the only western person and everyone was staring at me. # Lessons Learned today: Realize that life’s struggles create wisdom, there’s a reason why everyone has their own cross to bear. |
# 09 Sunny Xmas – Part II
| Sunny Xmas – Part IILAAAZYYY! I had another beach day, jogging route and Ayurvedic massage (Nasyam, Ayurveda massage with herbal oil). Time to move a bit slower on my trip. Otherwise you won’t enjoy and experience the trip intensively. And secondly I won’t become more relaxed and get my mind clear.
# Lessons learned today: Before you go forward, learn to accept all that is and was in life. First when you start to except things, yourself and people around you – you will better understand the situation, feel more compassions and be more relaxed and happier in life. |
# 09 Sunny Xmas Part I
| Sunny Xmas Arrived at this really relaxed place on Xmas morning. I love rocky beaches, with cliffs, calm and vast sand beaches. Thats Varkala. First time I have seen so many tourists on one point. And this was even less in comparison with the rest of Varkala and Goa. Welcome to the bright sight of life .As a christmas present I gave myself a beach day (first time of my trip to India), a beautiful traditional Kerala massage and Shirodhara and funny xmas dinner party with a group of crazy english and Canadian guys.
# Lessons Learned today: A great person and probably an even better philosopher than me, advised me that everything in my life is waiting for me. “What ever you want in life: its already there. You have to take the next step to get it.“ So lets go for it! 😉 |
LIVE YOUR LIFE 