spiritualgrowth – NINA SADLOWSKY

Oh Cambodia!

… for travelling.
… to have visited Cambodia.
… to have stayed in a yoga & meditation temple.
… that I found yoga & meditation for my life.
… that I meet beautiful people wherever I go.

Meeting new people is such a wonderful experience. When I travelled through Cambodia, I enjoyed this experience every single day. I stayed in a yoga & meditation retreat in Kep for 2 weeks. Check out Vagabond Temple, if you are looking for spiritual inspiration & growth, great yoga classes, guidance in meditation and meeting like-minded people from all over the world.

I also booked an Ayurveda detoxification package with sessions spread over 5 days, so you should be a guest for a minimum of 5 days. The package included 4 wonderful Ayurvedic massages plus a session with the founder of the retreat Kobi. My healer Maayan and me started with feet reflexology and seriously this woman has magical hands. I noticed fairly quickly how tight certain parts in my feet were, ouch!, but it all made sense, since these points related to my lower back and hamstrings and yes, they were tight. This session was incredible. Whilst I thought that Maayan was still massaging my feet, she suddenly stood next to me informing me that the massage was finished. What?! This showed me how deeply relaxed I was. For the afternoon she recommended to just be and relax and to take the afternoon yoga practice slow.

More being, less doing.

This is something so valuable I learned during my time at the retreat center. Not only Maayan mentioned this to me specifically to rest more, but also Pazit held an incredible Dharma talk about the topic “More being, less doing“. Why? Because most of us are so caught up with daily To Do lists, tasks & self-imposed responsibilities, social media and overall distraction, that we forget to simply be. Without looking at our smart phone. Without doing anything. Just being.

Just sit and be still.

Another aha-moment for me was when I visited Maayan the 2nd time for a full body Ayurvedic massage. She hugged me tightly and from her heart and asked me how I was doing. I replied: “Actually good.” She asked: “Actually?” Me: “Hm, no I’m really good.” This situation showed me that I was relativising my mood, although I felt awesome, freaking great, amazing. And so we started reflecting on this conversation and our impulse to relativise things. I instantly noticed for myself that I get the impression it’s more accepted in society to hold back, to be not that great, to moan. But if you say you are doing really great, then you are kind of weird. Different. Maybe arrogant. So, maybe that’s why we make ourselves worse, because we might also get more attention if we say “I’m okay.” Followed by the next question “Why, what’s going on?” as opposed to no question, when you say you are doing great. Well, at least that is my observation, as the entire blog is, just as a reminder.

We continued with a full body massage and again/still, my hip area was tight. I fully relaxed and even saw bright white and yellow lights. Maayan explained that the tightness probably comes from my will to push forward. Because I’m doing too much and being too little. She assured me that I’m still young and that I still have enough time to get to where I want to be. That it’s important to accept that life throws us back at times or makes us go left and right, but that we can continue our path anyways. Accept what is. Accept the throwbacks, meander and changes in life.

You will continue your path.

This inspiring conversation took me straight to my pink notebook wondering where the urge to do comes from. Am I afraid of dying before having fully lived the life that I always wanted to live? Do I do, because I want to live my dream life as quickly as possible, for as long as possible? Am I scared of regretting not to have done enough?

If you are following my blog since the start then you will know that I had my breakthrough in a Reiki session in Mexico, whilst travelling through Latin America for almost 6 months. And so it happened that Maayan and me included a Reiki session into my package. I would love to share with you my main learnings from this session.

Follow up on what you see in your dreams.
Follow your path.
Take care of yourself. Self-love first.
Do not absorb negative energies.
Go for it.

Go for it!

The last part of the Ayurveda package was with Kobi. After a few minutes of talking, we found ourselves in a very exciting talk about astrology and my sign (=Gemini). Kobi is an absolute expert in this field, so if you are into it and you visit Cambodia, schedule an appointment with him now. Again, details of this conversation would go beyond the scope of this blog post, but let me share with you my learnings which I’m sure will be so valuable for you, too, as these are independent from your astrological sign.

Letting someone read my astrological sign made me understand myself more, it gave me more empathy for me, my behaviours and my decisions.
Do not compromise on yourself. You are who you are.
Set your boundaries. Write down your red lines in the different areas of life.
Appreciate validation from others, but do not seek it.
Believe in yourself.

Believe in yourself.

Oh Cambodia! Thank you so much for having me and enriching my life so strongly and positively that I feel freer and more confident than ever before. Thank you to all of you wonderful people who accompanied me on this journey.

Love, love, love.

Yours, Nina

The fear of losing oneself

I realized that there is one topic that keeps popping up in my head which relates to the combination between personal development and distraction, especially relationships with men (well in my case). This article is – as always – written from my perspective; hence I’m relating to guys only. However, this article can be applied to men and women alike, I’m sure.

When you are so deep in your personal development journey as I am at the moment and as I have been for the past 6 months, when you realize just how wonderful this journey is, when you really enjoy it to the fullest (even if damn hard at times), when knots are bursting, when your life is shifting, when you feel like your whole world is rocking (mainly to the positive), then you obviously want to keep this momentum going and growing. Right?

What do you think it is we need to keep the momentum going and growing? Yes, we need discipline and consistency, but most importantly we need the will and hunger to keep going. In January 2018, I experienced this will and hunger stronger than ever before, I write weekly action plans to stay focused and disciplined, I have a daily yoga, meditation and gratitude practice, I listen to podcasts and I watch relevant videos on YouTube. I realized that my will is growing stronger, as my Why is growing stronger with every step I take on this beautiful journey.

What I’m trying to get at is that this journey and the beautiful outcomes fulfill me so much, that I sometimes fear being thrown off this journey. By distractions, whatever they may be. However, majorly I noticed a fear of distraction by men. I am a happy single at the moment, yet I do wish for a beautifully fulfilling relationship amongst equals. At the same time, isn’t that exactly the challenge? To find the other half that wants to support you at all times, that wants to see you grow, who is himself grounded, positive, and is aspiring a healthy, free and abundant lifestyle? A person who you can be 100% authentic with, a person who is motivating you, a person who you can look up to, yet at the same time feels inspired by your energy and positivity and not threatened. Are you still with me? Can you resonate with my feelings? My impression is that guys are indeed scared sometimes, of themselves, of a woman that knows what she wants, of really living the life they want to live. I want to emphasize though that this is my impression only and that I don’t want to generalize this statement, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Then there is me, self-confident, convinced that I’ve chosen the right way, simply because I feel it, my flow and happiness, with the universe making things happen for me. Yet, there are moments, where it’s like I’m ‘forgetting’ my values, my boundaries, my wishes for the next relationship, my big vision for my life. But why? Does it depend on my mood, on the day, on the weather, on the guy? I don’t know really, but in case you bond with what I’m talking about, then let me tell you one thing. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Accept that you may have weak moments just like I had in the last few months, accept that you may have a ‘down’ phase, but know that the next day will be the start of an ‘up’ phase again.

The other thing I would like to share with you is that I strongly believe that the right partner, my soul mate will come into my life, when it is right, when I am ready, when he is ready. We attract what we express, so just be in your flow, in your higher self, and your other half will step into your life.

As for me, I’m sure I will be able to stand my grounds, stick to my values and life vision and set my boundaries, meaning that I don’t need to fear distraction by a relationship. Because in the right relationship, you don’t need to fear such things. So, don’t be afraid of your spiritual growth, keep shining your light, keep going and live the life you really want to live!

And maybe we sometimes need to lose ourselves in love to find real love? Just a thought.

Yours, Nina

When wishing for the pause button

As the year 2017 came to an end, I reflected and reviewed my big and small wins and well as what I failed at, what I could have done better. No worries, I’m not going to write this all down here, but I think it is important for every single one of us to complete that bit of work. Not to beat ourselves up, but on the contrary. Because I noticed that I actually achieved a lot, there were loads of small wins, that I didn’t give myself enough credit during the year. Btw, I’m not only talking about projects, but also shifts in my mindset, changes in my behaviour and actions taken. Of course I also recognised my failures, but the good thing is, you can only learn from them, you can make things better next time. Just be conscious of yourself, your behaviours and actions. Be mindful of those behaviours and actions you’d like to change and then just think “Oh, I was just about to do it again” and then act differently. Break that habit!

Be mindful and break that habit.

After I reviewed my big and small wins, I also pictured my 2018. I wrote down my vision for 2018 at the end of last year. My vision relating to various aspects in my life, like my job/work situation, health & fitness, love, relationship and my ideal set up to live. I thought to myself “Well done, Nina” until I had a call with my coach on 2nd of January to dig deeper into my vision and my associated goals. Despite my daily gratitude, yoga and meditation practice, there were still a few challenges and limiting beliefs that needed to be melted in order to reach my true vision – speaking from my heart. And we did. After the session, I went back to my vision and it sounded too rational in a way, so I re-wrote it completely. I moved from my head to my heart. And I was brave enough to listen.

Move from your head to your heart. And listen. It will reveal the truth.

My coach also asked me what I wish for my spiritual growth in 2018. And here we go. I have a little story to tell to answer that question.

I’m writing the 31st of December 2017. I wake up with a content feeling. The sun is out and it’s already 12 degrees outside, yes really. I jump out of bed (and that day I literally did!), I quickly changed into my running gear and 20 minutes later I was out of the door, direction Isar river in Munich. The second I stepped outside, I was just feeling so happy, so calm, yet excited about life, so grateful, so whohoooo, a feeling difficult to describe. My almost ecstatic feeling even intensified when I started running and moving my body, feeling the sun on my skin and in my face. I couldn’t do anything about it (and I didn’t want to), but I was running around grinning like a Cheshire cat. Even now whilst writing this, I have to laugh.

And whilst I was fully enjoying the run, the sun, the movement, and simply my own company, there was this second of thinking “I want to hold this feeling.” This thought instantly moved me from being in the here and now to longing for something. I tried to hold on to something beautiful and let’s be honest, if there was the possibility sometimes in life to hit the Pause button, we might all happily use that button.

When wishing for the pause button…

Interestingly I find that the topics that I’m engaging with, suddenly appear everywhere in different shapes and forms. One appearance was in a yoga class. The teacher opened the class with exactly that thought.

We try to hold onto things we like and we try to get rid of feelings we dislike. But how about letting go of all likes and dislikes? How about loving what we love in the moment we love it? How about enjoying what is in the moment the enjoyment is present? How about accepting what we dislike in the moment we dislike it? How about accepting suffering (dukha) as part of our lives to be able to fully enjoy the pleasures (sukha)?

…makes you fall out of the here and now.

So, to bridge back to the question, what do I wish for my spiritual growth in 2018?

I want to let go of all likes and dislikes to be in the here and now, at all times.

Yours, Nina