Passion, inspiration and joy

September 28, 2017December 6, 2017 | Nina

What brings you joy? So much that, at the thought of it, your heart makes a little leap of joy and you can’t wait to begin?
Here’s my passionate, almost pressing advice: follow your joy, that interest that tickles you so deliciously. It will lead to true value and profit – it will bring you real happiness, meaningful connections and lasting value.
As you’re happily skipping along the road of your inspiration, you’ll meet others who share your special kind of craziness. Cherish them, they are your tribe.

Seeds and plants bring joy to me – well hello there, friends! Yes, I’m the crazy plant lady with a garden crammed full with plants in the ground, in pots, in the air and as seeds, overflowing my storage boxes for them. I invest in plants.
This plant-lover of yours here is a hermit, but I can enjoy an understanding remark like this for days on end: on the plant market at the local botanical gardens someone answered to my question about a *special plant* that it can not survive the local winter. “I’ll have to wait until I’ve saved up a greenhouse” I said. “Or keep it in your house in the winter” he said and there was a suspended silence as we grinned and looked into each others eyes and then burst out in laughter exclaiming together: “it’s already full!”

When we moved here ten years ago, I dived head-on into gardening. As a complete beginner, I watched in awe the poppies and tomatoes taking over my little plot of land in the first season. Seeds germinated and grew into these fantastic beings!

Since then I’ve changed my mind about “what my garden is about” a gazillion times. Every time I turn my idea around, I’m honing it, from “aesthetic” via “edible” and “healing” to “beeplants”. Currently it is all four of these.

There is a deeper meaning to this play.
Your passion contributes to a bigger picture.
There is a social, spiritual and/or ecological aspect to it that helps our world evolve.
Can you see your “hobby” as a seriously meaningful practice of healing this dear world of ours with your special flavour of passion?
What if you’d bow in respect to your joyful Heart and commit to your happiness? Make your inspired practice your path = fulfillment and happiness.

Plants are a promise of a greener future, in every sense of the words. I allow myself to get carried away with new ideas, as long as I tend to old acquintances. I’m a novice and an old soul master at the same time, depending on the depth of connection I have with what I’m doing. Time loses its meaning, seasons mark the rhythm of life. I’m gratefully raveling the beauty of green shapes and colourful flowers, the sweet and strange scents and tastes, and marveling the shapes of seeds and how they’re packed by nature. I do my best in “paying back” by tending the gardens, loving individual plants with my warm breath and keeping an eye on the wellbeing of these green companions.

The knowledge and finetuning I acquire in the garden seep through into other areas in my life. Into the kitchen, where flavour, texture and colour bring nourishment and satisfaction to our bodies. Into the Gatherings – I love a deep, meaningful conversation with another, reflecting on our uniqueness and sameness as Souls on Earth at the same time. Onto the massage table, where pressure, touch, warm scented oil and skin – so many kinds of skin and bodies! – speak the language of chi, life force flowing through our world.

What is your passion?

Thank you, Mia, for pressing the “launch” button of this thought-rocket, and for Grytsje for laying the table for play.

Some seeds, bulbs and dried herbs are now available!

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A call for a mindful transition

September 14, 2017December 6, 2017 | Nina

Back in the suburban September. Enjoying apple pie, the last plums, saving seeds, organizing the gathered and dried herbs and casting a glimpse at the near future: the Gathering, and planting more trees in October, and a workshop amulet making in November. As the storm wind tears at the green foliage outside, I re-read my words from the summer:

“Sweet summer time.
The lush greenery, the golden heat of the Sun, the mellow rhythm of days and full, sweet, juicy flavors of ripening summer fruit… soak it all in, now is the time!
It’s also time to harvest herbs, store the abundance of fruit in personally useful and appealing ways and to ponder about where all the haste and to do lists have gone.

I found myself noticing that this deep relaxation had brought about a very natural rhythm in the days, a seemingly continual focus in the here and now only. No plans, no worries, no stress. And my questioning mind comes up with the question:”Why isn’t this our state of being all the time?”
Why do we let ourselves be tricked into should-be’s and to-do’s? Why do we long for more?
Why is this, that-what-is, not enough?

I’m minimizing the visual impulses to sunsets and flowers, the things around me that are truly real and worthwhile, including a selection of books.”

Wow. The contrast is certainly present, but the imprints of summer are still so easy to reach. And there is more:

“In – between

In between seasons, past and future, the plans in the past, reflecting a future yet unfolded.
A stillness so profound there are but a few words.
Gratitude. Present. Awareness. Sharing.

The gift of the present moment. In this moment you are the most-experienced you’ve ever been. From this present moment you create the future world. What kind of a world do you envision for us all in the future? What can you do now to co-create a Loving world?

These things can be small. It is your attitude, choice of words, the quality of your energy that counts.“

The autumn equinox is drawing near, the balancing of day and night, outside and inside, yang and yin.
In preparation, I’m seeking the solitude and silence of meditation, in order to balance out the imprints of the past season, and to discern what I really wish and hope for the coming seasons to offer, and what I will express in return.

The alchemy of intent. The weaving of worlds by casting a vision ahead of us, mixing the now and future with the richness of the past, then stepping forth, bringing the vision to life by actively daring to expand. Excitement. Yes, let’s do this!

PS. You can find little nuggets of summer vibes in my Instagram feed

Five Elements: Fire

July 20, 2017 | Nina

The Five Elements principle comes from ancient Chinese tradition, teaching us that all life energy also corresponds with the Five Elements of nature: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood.

Come with me as I quickly walk you through my personal encounters with the Elements.
The first time I learned about the Five Elements was through Chinese astrology.
I was curious to learn the corresponding Chinese zodiac signs of my family members, lovers and friends. And I still am, it tells me a lot of their character and the possible compatibility in our relationships!
Find your Chinese zodiac sign through the same link as above (just scroll down the opening page).

Then, much later I came into contact with the Five Elements again via Touch For Health.
I learned that the energy lines in a body – the meridians – are connected to organs, moods, the Five Elements, times in day, and yin/yang energy.
At the same time I was studying herbal medicine, as in Western herbal medicine and Ayurveda.
The Five Elements correspond also with the moods or temperaments of a constitution, and have their most (and least) compatible herbal remedies.
It’s all intertwined in a deeply logical sense, but also so much information that I’m still (forever) in the process of integrating it to my practice.

And now most recently my Tai chi tao teacher revisited the Five Elements in her Fire element workshop.
Only there I learned that this principle originates from a deep study of nature and its laws over countless generations, adding up knowledge and practices as the tradition developed.
With a renewed enthusiasm and respect I’m diving into the wisdom of the Five Elements, in yet another cycle in my life.

FIRE

Summer, at its hottest, brightest and lightest, belongs to the element of Fire.
This is the season of ‘bathing in nature’, either literally in wild waters, or figuratively during a walk in the woods, meadows and along streams.
It is a time of song, dance and merriment, sharing good times with friends and family, getting together with the ones we love.

Outward-going (expanding), highly transformative and intense, this is the time to burn away the useless things of the past, shine a light into the shadows and dance wildly just because you can.
Step forward, express yourself, share your talents, participate.

Too much: as with all things in Life, it is also very well possible to over-do this energy.
The result will be a feeling of being overwhelmed, it’s all “too much”, and if you have a sensitive nose, you can smell a slight scorched scent. Too much fire!

the wisdom of this moment:
The Path unfolds,
unfold with it.

What are your associations with this season and its element? Do share in the comments below!

Your Spirit Animal

July 13, 2017September 13, 2017 | Nina

I recently bumped into a Facebook post (on a shamanistic group page) in which someone was saying that elements of shamanism are being ‘borrowed’ and used to market things, as shamanism is now “hot and sexy”.
Woo-hoo!! Finally I’m doing something hot and sexy 😀

No but seriously folks, time is something that passes, and anything that is related to time (like hot and sexy fashion) will pass.

What counts is what do you do with the time that is given to you.

I’d suggest you go for that which resonates with you truly.
Not just entertainment with the upper layers of your Mind/Ego, but stuff that shakes your Soul and makes your Heart skip a beat or flutter faster.

For me that would be the wonderful world of the Spirit, as weird and unconventional it might seem.

An aspect of the (shamanistic) Spirit world is the company and assistance of our Spirit Animal.
“What’s my spirit animal?!” an eager explorer might exclaim.
Hold your horses buddy, first you need to know why you want to know your spirit animal.

A spirit animal is: transport, safety, communication, information, signs. And more.

I’ve made a little document for you to download and print out about it. I hope you enjoy it!

(Just in case you need some guidance in gearing your attention from the busy outside to the different realms of the inside, here’s a little meditation audio to get you going.)

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Midsummer and flowers

June 20, 2017June 20, 2017 | Nina

This is the most potent, magical, energetic time of the year in the Northern hemisphere.

Whether you’re celebrating midsummer on Litha (or actually the eve before 21st of June – tonight!) or this coming weekend (‘the weekend after’ Litha = Midsummer, as in my original home country, Finland), take notice of the most extreme expansion of Light – the longest day – in the wheel of this year, and celebrate it in your unique way.

I have been missing in action online, since I was in action out in the green. Harvesting and drying herbs for herbal infusions to be enjoyed later in the year, making elder flower champagne, trying to organize my overfull city garden and having my own inner pondering conversation about how much green is too much and should I introduce more flowers into my garden or not.

After the colour explosion of this spring, the garden is now very green. Even though it’s my favourite colour, I’ve decided to turn my focus on flowers for a while.

Lots of green – and tomato plants. Later in the season you’ll see red spheres between the support poles…

Being a Healing Garden type of girl, I always considered flowers as a pretty extra bonus. But now, on the earthly level, two things in my life are pointing towards flowers: the welcoming of Bees very recently, and a colleague at the medicinal herbs garden where I volunteer, who is missing flowers in all that green. (Seems that my own healing garden is not the only one suffering a mild fatigue of flowers!)

Flowers

The reproductive organ of plants. A celebration of Life, in the plant-kingdom-way. Their interaction with Bees. Their beauty and fragrance. I mean – how fantastic is the whole spectrum of different kinds of flowers and fragrance, and the ‘fitting’ pollinators? There is something very special and magical about flowers.

Did you know that in flower essences, the energetic essence of a flower is captured in pure spring water, using only three (or four) elements: the flowers, water and sunlight, and the intentional focus of the herbalist?
To conserve the mother essence one preserves it in organic brandy.

The flowering of Sage is over, St.Johns wort is still in a tight yellow bud.

And in aromatherapy we use the essential oils of fragrant plants. The essential oils are vaporized out of the plant material and collected via a cooler into a receiver vessel, where you’ll find the hydrosol (fragrant water) and the essential oil floating on top of the hydrosol. Both matters can be utilized for healing purposes, one plant usually having several actions it can support in a human body. And several plants sharing some of the same actions with each other.

At the beginning of my herbalist career I was confused in the land of such abundance – what is the use of having multiple plants one could use for balancing out one discomfort? But now I know. It’s all about the energetics – the energy of a specific plant and its compatibility with a specific human being. Fascinating, complex, rich and abundant!

Talking about aromatherapy and essential oils…Finally the summer edition (2017) of my soul support scents is ready – just in time! You can find it here.

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Ayahuasca and Bees – a lot of silence and gratitude to share

June 8, 2017December 6, 2017 | Nina

How does one write a blog post when there are no words to describe this?
(Then don’t. Be quiet.) But I can’t, my Heart wants to share so that others might catch the flame as well.
I’ll try it in small bite-size bits.

Ayahuasca

It is about five years ago I heard about this Plant Spirit for the first time. Since then it has been circling around my attention and interest, slowly getting closer. A year ago I almost went for it, but not quite. This year, after a shamanic ceremony a short time ago, suddenly the time was ripe.

I prepared myself for the encounter for weeks, dropping alcohol and coffee early on. The last ten days I was eating a bland diet, which I thought would be extremely boring, but it actually proved to be interestingly tastebud-enhancing. I was so still, empty and ready as I could be.

The setting was warm, welcoming and supporting, and I felt very privileged to being in the situation of the whole experience. It was a private ceremony, with two wonderful people to watch over me.
(You can find them here)

I expected to be grabbed for a wild rollercoaster ride with important lessons and messages to take to Heart. Can you imagine my surprise (and that of the organizers) when, after having ingested quite a lot of this mighty plant ally, I looked my mentors in the eyes and said “it’s quite subtle”. As if expecting to go to a heavy rock concert that would last the whole night, but instead, getting four teachings whispered softly in your ear, with long silences between each one. Beautiful teachings. Empowering, affirming, magically wonderful teachings, but oh so very softly that I had to keep my focus on them, laser sharp and steady as a rock or I’d snap out of it.

Expectation vs. reality. I love the quirky nature of Nature, it absolutely cracks me up 😀
But even though the experience was so fine and subtle (exquisite!), it kind of simmers on… And although I immediately ‘got was I was there for’ (to get ‘clean’ and ‘to stand in my Power’) the re-set is still materializing as I’m writing this, still simmering on, as if it would be rippling through time and space, endlessly, solidifying…this, the experience and the knowing. See? Words are failing me here.

And to you, dear reader, I want to say: Thank you for reading this far. Follow your joy, your inspiration, your happiness. What ever you do, do it from this perspective of your own pure Soul joy, and it will form your Life to according to your specific perspective, slant, angle, niche… And the elements within that ecosystem of your joyous Life will fit together seamlessly and function beautifully in a symbiotic manner, creating and abundance of good and healthy Life, to you and your loved ones, and for the Planet, all by itself.

All you need to do is to get clean, clear and choose with your Heart. Your Heart is the ruler, your Mind the servant. Life provides you – with all the lessons, tools, allies and materials you need. Trust. Love. And have fun!

Bees

“When the bee guardian is ready, the bees will come” – that’s approximately how the words of my (biodynamic) beekeeper-mentor would translate to English, when I was asking his opinion on buying bees.

I’ve got my top bar hive in place for a little over two years now, waiting for an eager swarm to find it. And finally, we called a local beekeeper and agreed on a date when he’d come with a bee colony for my hive.

The day before the agreed date, our dear neighbor came half-running of excitement to our door “Nina, there’s a swarm in our garden!”. I dropped everything and hurried behind him to the spot. And indeed, in the middle of the garden, in a small tree or a large bush, at a very convenient working level, a swarm was gathering together.

To cut a long story short, these were the sweetest, most patient and forgiving bees. It took me four attempts to catch the cluster with the queen (and keeping her), but catching and eventually transferring the swarm from our neighbors’ garden to my hive was a success, and now they are settled and I adore them. There is absolutely no fear, no tension, just a blissful being-ness when I spend time with them. Pure joy of living, unconditional Love and a strong sense of belonging emanate from the bees and I’m so incredibly grateful to be allowed to offer a home to them.

The catch: no matter how long it takes, it’s so worth the wait. Have faith, have patience. When the time is right, it will come – and it’ll be sweet.

Post Scriptum

Life is in a fast-forward mode now. After all that winter sleeping time has kind of erased itself out of my experience (what a relief!) and things are rapidly rushing into manifestation. What a joy! What a relief!
I have no idea if this blissful state will continue or not, we shall see.

I’m sharing this because perhaps you are experiencing some mind-bending changes in your Life patterns, manifestations and reality. As always, check in with your Soul, it will know. Make your decisions with your Heart. Use your Mind as a tool, but don’t listen to it too much 🙂 Meditate more. Love.

Be well.

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Personal blossoming

May 18, 2017May 18, 2017 | Nina

Everything in Life has its time, its seasons. So does the multiple, ongoing unfolding of You.

After a long wintersleep my attention gently got kissed awake by the sprouting seeds that I had planted. My attention and awareness steadily grew together with the seedlings, destined for the new gardening season.

As I was tending to the new growth of green, somehow the nurturing and care got mirrored back to me as well – inside of me, processes were taking place, forming petals inside of a bud if you like, to allow blossoming later in spring.

And now the buds are opening, the blossoming is here, in its natural time.

It is the sensory knowing through my body (and not the perceptions of my mind) that intuitively checks in to the flow of this moment, right now, and accordingly follows the natural rhythms of action and rest, interaction and solitude.

This is so effortless it is hilarious: the contrast with all the struggles of trying to accomplish things at the wrong time is obvious, huge, grotesque. Information is now seeping to every cell in my body, saturating every minuscule particle of every cell. I AM. Not the body. Not the mind. But This. Self. Consciousness.

“The information” is intuition, skills, abilities, connectedness, knowing… I’m trying to describe with words a state of Oneness that I had experienced before for shorter periods of time during satsang and retreats, but then it got covered up again with the chaos of Life. Now it’s as if, ever so gently, one sentence (“Perhaps you’ve been searching in the wrong direction”) and admitting the Truth of it, flicked a switch. A gentle, soft…”click”.

And I’m on. Consciousness inhabits me truly, it flows right through me and radiates out of me. Life is effortless. I still carry groceries and cook of course, I do my things and search my mind for words when writing this blog. But the pressure, frustration, pushing, forcing…is gone.

From experience I know that I might forget that I always already knew. But then I can re-read this post 🙂

There is a time for everything.
Trust me; if it doesn’t work out now, then this is the time for something else. Relax. Go with the flow of Life.
Rest when you’re tired, eat when hungry, play when you feel like it. Enjoy Life.

PS. I’m SO excited to announce that I’ve found a wonderful space to give the Ayurvedic massages at!
Find out more on this page -> Ayurvedic massage: deep relaxation and increased energy

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Out of balance – an alternative Mothers’ Day post

May 11, 2017May 10, 2017 | Nina

Earth, our Planet is our Family and Home. You and me and the whole human race – we are the children of this Earth.

But we’re cranky, unwell. Like angry teenagers, we’re cutting ourselves off from the support net round us, from our Planetary Family (Mother Earth, our uncles and aunts the Plants and our brothers and sisters, the Animals) and we’re feeling agitated, lost, insecure, stressed out and very, very confused.

“When I get into that mind-state, that paradoxical dilemma where I feel stuck and frustrated…it feels as if my head gets six times as big as it should be. And my chest becomes all clouded, dirty and troubled.”, I told my dear sparring sister on Skype.

She adviced me to make a drawing of that state, and then, after that would be finished, to add a loving Mother to the picture.

So I followed her advice, and the clarity came as I was drawing.

As soon as I spend too much time in the artificial world of computers, smart phones, asphalt and media obesity, I get this feeling of being separate, cut off from belonging, my mental actions run rampant and my (energetic) head swells up to extraordinary proportions. I get grumpy, hard and negative.

But all I need to remember is that Mother (Earth, Nature) is there – always. She lovingly embraces me even when I don’t notice it.

I’m like that stubborn teenager. I need to soften, relax and open up. To rest in the arms of this omnipresent Love and re…calibrate. Come back to my own Nature, to my own balance and my pace. Return to my calling, my flow, my way.

And from there I can participate in Life in a meaningful way again.

Find your ceremony of re-balancing. Remember to return to it regularly. I call this ‘mothering myself’.

Help others to do the same. Refill your well of inspiration, then see what participating there is for you to do in this interconnected global Family of Life.

Get rooted, in you. Get Loved, by Nature. Open up and belong.

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Enhancing the chances – part 2 of Nature spirits

April 13, 2017June 6, 2017 | Nina

Let’s pretend you’ve warmed up to the thought that nature spirits exist, and you now want to attract them into your surroundings – because you like a touch of magic, enjoy the thrill of a possible encounter, or you want to enhance the energy of nature (any nature!) around you…or all of the above. Nature spirits as neighbors? I like that.

So how does one go about attracting nature spirits into the garden? Or the backyard even?

Anything that beautifies a place, by sound, light or carefully placed natural elements is pleasing for us and for the nature spirits.

Faeries like bells, so a wind chime with bells with a high tone would be appropriate. Wind chimes with bamboo, low bells, shells or stones have their own ‘vibe’ and will attract their own kind of folk.

Water is an attractive thing to nature spirits. A natural stream would be ideal, but a shallow bowl with clean water is also beautiful and effective. You could consider creating a nature altar, with a water element with it.

Spirals, labyrinths, small constructions with natural materials will all work.

Attractive stones, erected or piled on top of another work well as a focal point for nature spirits.

Small caves in rock and hollows in wood are natural altars that one can beautify further as a warm welcome for nature spirits.

And they do like friendly attention. Leaving a self-made gift, a flower-gift or some food and drink are thoughtful tokens of attention, and will be appreciated.

You can also walk/dance/meditate in your garden and call to the different wind directions:”Spirits, you’re welcome! Come, come!”… ringing bells, rattling rattles, drumming or playing a flute as you do it.

(I found this last option ‘a bit too much’ until very recently – but then I experienced it myself in a shamanic ceremony and found it magical and mighty powerful, so yes, do what you need to do!)

Below you can find some visual inspiration, harvested for your creative impulses from Pinterest. Enjoy!