my life, spirituality, travels and more
SUMMER UPDATE: What I've been up to lately + how to listen to your body
Dear reader, thanks for circling back to my blog even after this mini break that I’ve taken. The reason for the little pause is very simple: I’ve needed time to recharge, reset and relax. I definitely still believe in the practice of commitment and consistency with blogging, but what’s even more important than that (or more valuable than SEO optimising), is to truly learn to wind down when you need to. And I feel like this is something many of us can relate to. People (we) need to stop glorifying being busy and make room for, well, nothingness. Can’t we just please start a new trend where doing nothing is the coolest thing on planet earth 😅!? No but, jokes aside I feel that especially as a yoga teacher and someone who teaches people to unwind and tune in with themselves, I also need to practice it, not just preach it. And that’s exactly what I am doing right now, sitting in my summer cabin overlooking the Baltic Sea and simply taking it super chill without any schedule nor plans. Thanks to taking this time for myself I’ve now finally felt inspired and energized again to start writing and I started to reflect over how much I’ve actually needed this, to just be still without the hustle and bustle of the city life.
Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time here at our summer cabin, which is just an hour outside of Helsinki. We are in the midst of remodelling a small cute summer cabin (the sauna house) and making it into a space for me and my boyfriend. It’s been a bigger project than we first anticipated but I won’t go too much into detail right now as I am dedicating a full blog post to it very soon (with before and after pics, so stay tuned!!). In addition to spending time here, I’ve also been to a friends summer cabin celebrating midsummer and then enjoyed a fun and wild weekend in Hankoo (the most southern city in Finland) with an amazing group of friends. I’ve also taught a few yoga classes, gone to an amusement park (Linnanmäki), but other than that it’s been down time and laying low. And lemme tell ya, it’s been very needed. I feel like I am still digesting my new life of living back in Finland and trying to rejuvenate from the heavy winter and the busyness of it all (my day job as an event planner can be pretty hectic). Luckily, I am planning to escape this winter for at least parts of it.
At Linnanmäki, pic by Jonna Monola. Pants Vimma Company.
So how do we make sure to stay energized, healthy and balanced without burning out or over exhausting ourselves? What it all comes down to is learning to listen to your body and knowing when to slow down. I wanted to share some practical tips I’ve found to be useful as I’ve learned that my body is often way smarter than my head let alone my silly ego. The thing with your body versus your mind is that the body is continuously giving you cues and subtle messages on what is good for you and what isn’t, the problem is just that we a) ignore them or b) don’t see these messages in the first place. The mind loves to come up with excuses, distractions and falsities. Listening to your body or yourself is applicable to not just your health, but any other area of your life as well. If you just learn to tune into your intuition and gut feeling more than staying in your head, you’ll start noticing how things unfold in a very different way.
But what if you don’t know how to listen or you don’t know what actually works for your body, then a phrase like “listen to your body” can feel like nagging or plain useless. The truth is we are all different. Not only through our unique lives, patterns, relationships, circumstances, jobs, living situations, rhythms, eating & sleeping habits, we also differ in what our idea of health is. So where does one start? I made a few key notes that I feel that can be helpful on this journey towards becoming more self aware.
Pic: Chiara Hammerer Watch: Aarni Woods
Every day make sure to have a quiet moment just for yourself where you ask yourself these three questions: What am I feeling, physically? What am I feeling, emotionally? What am I thinking? Pay attention to what comes up. Just like with any new skill, this will be a process and some days you’ll get answers right away when at times you’ll think about your neighbours dead cat. Lol.
Journal first thing in the morning for 30 days straight. Commit to this practice and write two pages each morning before anything else. You’ll be astonished at how much will come up.
If you feel like you need to learn to listen to your body more think about the why’s. Why do you want to listen to your body. What is it, that is not working for you? Do you perhaps already have some physical symptoms such as tiredness, headaches, bloating, insomnia, lack of energy, a disoriented body image, relationship issues, lack of drive or direction. Or anything else that does not sit right with you. Think about your goals. What are you hoping to achieve? Is there a specific goal you want to reach, such as a more balanced relationship with food or better stress-reduction habits? Why is this important to you? Any goal is most successful when grounded in purpose.
Meditation, yoga or any other practice, exercise or hobby that helps you connect with yourself.
SLOW DOWN. Your health is your greatest wealth and priority. If you don’t know where to start or everything else sounds like gibberish, this one is pretty simply. Just clear your calendar, baby steps.
Pic: Chiara Hammerer
Towards a healthier, happier mind body connection y’all.
Happy trails and summer smiles!
Con amor,
Evita
PS. I will be posting more often from now on now that I am feeling energized again, pinky swear!
Boundaries & the art of saying no
Boundaries & the art of saying no
(Aka The Murican word that we also need to learn to incorporate into our lives here in the North)
Beautiful clothing by Finnish company Vimma and photography by Jonna Monola
Today I felt the need to write about boundaries. How do we inforce healthy boundaries in our relationships (personal, work and romantic) and communicate them to other people wisely. It’s a thought-provoking topic and something I’ve at times personally struggled with. I am still learning to draw the line in certain areas of my life and unfortunately more too often than I’d like to admit, I have a tendency of being just a little too floppy which will result in me feeling drained.
Firstly, if you’re unfamiliar with the word ”boundary” or wording ”having boundaries”, what this refers to are your personal limits and guidelines (your rules so to speak) that you establish to identify reasonable, safe and permissible ways for other people to behave towards you. It also refers to how you will respond when someone passes those limits. Think about them as your invisible fences you have around certain matters. These boundaries can involve how you want to be treated in a romantic relationship, how you wish to be treated at work or just with other people period. Your boundaries are not static and they are also constantly being shaped and created and tend to shift over time.
News flash: people cross our boundaries constantly. What it basically means is that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world with other imperfect fellow humans. Our boundaries will get crossed as at some point someone will do, say or ask for something that does not feel right to you. Despite the mundane nature of having boundaries, I had never heard of the expression before moving to Mexico and befriending a bunch of Americans/Canadians. It’s simply not a word that is used enough in our Scandinavian culture. Thus, I feel like it needs to be addressed more, hence today’s lil blog post. Because at the end of the day what it comes down to is having the balls/ovaries of saying no when we don’t feel like it. Why one might ask, well the truth is, people are sick and tired, and way too many people in our society burn out due to their boundaries being crossed over and over again. But this is not just in the world of biz, maybe you’ll notice it in your personal life or perhaps even in your romantic life. Just a tiny example is if when you feel obligated to for instance attend an event you don’t want to go to but you go anyways. What this comes down to is your lack of boundaries/ your lack of communicating them. As you start to see, your boundaries are part of your everyday life in many areas as they determine what works for you and what doesn’t.
Some argue that having healthy and clear boundaries has a dirrect correlation with your self-esteem. I agree to a certain extent, but I think it’s more complicated than that. It also has to do with self awareness, your communication skills and the idea of being a ”yes (wo)man” or plain simple, just being too darn nice. In the corporate world there might be a myriad of reasons why someone is allowing the workload to keep piling up. Perhaps the person is afraid of losing their job, perhaps they are hoping for a promotion etc. The thing is, it’s not just black and white.
So how do we create healthy, reasonable boundaries? Good question. I am no master as I honestly like I mentioned, still battle with this myself, but, I have gathered a few tricks and tips under my belt. Below shared:
1. Gain clarity and learn to check in with yourself. Watch your emotions, feelings, energy level, mood, thoughts. If you’re feeling exhausted or drained, the odds are something is sucking the life out of you. If you notice yourself feeling resentment towards someone or something, most likely you need to change something. Recap of step one: become aware.
2. When you’ve pin pointed a situation where you’re unhappy or feel like someone is taking advantage of you or doing anything else that triggers you, mark it mentally. Figure out what, exactly, you're comfortable with and what you aren't. Step two is about learning about and setting your limits.
3. Make self care your priority. I’ve said this before, but the most important relationship you’ll ever have is the one you have with yourself. Put yourself first. For realz. Step three is taking your power back and wanting to change things.
4. Communication (surpise surprise!). Once you get clear on what matters most to you, then you can take the bigger step of communicating this to others. As hard as it is, you’ll have to verbalize where you stand and perhaps even break it down for others to understand where you’re coming from. Be direct. Like we’ve seen on Pinterest and the gram, growth (and sometimes change!) happen outside of the comfort zone. Step four in a nutshell: take action.
5. Baby steps. Just like with learning any new skill, it takes practice and courage. Start small and be assertive when communicating what you’re okay with and what not. Step five is a reminder of how you can be strict, yet soft at the same time.
6. Reach out. Sometimes we need a lil push/kick or enouragement from our peers, friends or fam. Talk to them about your feels and perhaps you’ll gain some new insight or another perspective around your issue. At the end of the day, we are all different and how we perceive the world is our reality. By changing perspective, your whole situation might change. Step six is a reminder that you’re not alone, ask for help.
What’s important to understand is that everyone has their own set of boundaries and we are all responsible for holding them and also sensing and respecting other people’s boundaries. As I am typing this I am also realizing how nuanced this topic is and how it actually affets all areas of our lives constantly. We have boundaries in all areas of life: emotional, career, relationship, physical, sexual and the list goes on. Like with all things in life, it takes some time for your patterns of boundaries to develop, and it may take some time to relearn and practice something differently, consistency is key.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. How do you communicate your boundaries without upsetting someone? Do you struggle with this issue? Do you find it easier to have clear boundaries in some areas of your life, but in others not so much?
With love and healthy boundaries,
Eva
Why did I move back to Finland?
Why did I move back to Finland?
Yes, why!? I guess it’s a fair question and a question I have received a lot. I mean, why would someone trade the tropical breeze, warm weather and an easy lazy lifestyle for slush, darkness and the 9- 5 grind? Why oh why would one leave a life of sipping margaritas on the beach and dem delish tacos for a society where the norm is not to say hi to their neighbors.. And lemme tell ya, dem tacos sooo good. So yes, I get it, it’s a legitimate question to ask and I understand that it might seem odd, and rightly so. But before spearheading into the why’s, I just want to acknowledge that it’s kind of impossible to write this post without spilling the beans on some sensitive and personal stuff. I will do my best to not dive into the details of things, partially to protect the people I have crossed paths with and also to protect myself as I don’t see it necessary to vomit my private life all over the interwebs. That being said, my aim has always been to be honest and to express my truth, so there obviously will be some personal sharing along the way. I also want to emphasize that life isn’t always what it looks like and this needs to be addressed more and more and more. The images we see on social media or in blog posts are merely little, snippets of framed perfect moments, so next time you see a chick posing with a coconut on the beach, don’t be fooled, she might actually be lost.
I mean, look at that beauty. By Jess Leigh.
Perhaps the first step towards answering this question is revealing why I originally moved to Mexico. Well, I moved there right after having graduated to help run my exe’s (important notice, he obviously was not my ex back then) family businesses in a small little beach town, called Sayulita, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. I had been to Sayulita twice before moving there and I had also spent one semester in Bali, Indonesia, so living in a tropical climate was not new to me. Even so, moving somewhere with the possibility of never returning can be a little intimidating. And that it was indeed. Initially, I felt a little anxious, ungrounded and lonely without my tight group of friends and my only support at that time was my partner. I’m a Capricorn and my people are my everything (you might know this if you’re into astrology, however if you think it’s complete woo-woo, well, let’s just say my friends and fam mean a lot to me), so the start was not just smooth sailing. I was surrounded by a new culture and a language that I did’t speak nor understand. I sometimes felt like a sore thumb as I stood out with my light blonde hair, even though Sayulita has a fair share of blonde expats and even more so nowadays. So, what I’m trying to say is, I was faced with some challenges in the beginning. But slowly, just like with anything else in life, I started settling in and making friends and gradually I learned to understand Spanish and then finally later to speak it. Life became easier, things started flowing and all of a sudden I was living the dream in a beautiful, vibrant, boho beach town of Sayulandia (a nickname for Sayulita). My life felt good and things were looking up.
My days consisted of co-leading my exes family businesses (hotels, surf school and shops), practicing yoga, surfing and watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, not too bad, huh? So it’s only fair to say that I had a few truly magical years. I was also running my co-owned yoga & surf company, hosting retreats and working for a handful of interesting businesses in a completely new environment. Boy, did I learn a lot and this time definitely shaped me. But as some of us might already have learned in life, life is not always a walk in the park, nor is it always a bed of roses and sometimes it can throw you curve balls. And as you might have guessed, a curve ball was thrown at me. Hard. Eventually it led to me and my ex parting ways.
Okay dokay, so there I was all alone on the other side of the world in a small Mexican beach town. Life hack: do not live in a small town with your ex. Ha, no, but seriously, you can imagine it might just be a little challenging. Also, rumours travel very quickly in small communities and I with all do respect, there’s definitely some cultural differences in how men view women and wether or not it is appropriate to move on (or even be seen out) after a break up (stay tuned for our next podcast on Machismo!!). In the grand scheme of things, I was was alone in Mexico living on the other side of the world far away from my fam going thru a break up in a place that felt like the Big Brother house and everyone was watching the show. As I had worked with my ex (we had a company together) and also with his family biz, it didn’t feel appropriate to continue working with them, so besides to dealing with a break up, I also had to figure out what to do business-wise. Luckily, I quickly found myself on my feet, working with new projects and clients and running my own mini one person company. I also started working within wedding production and for a big luxury hotel along with my private yoga clients. Life was okay…ish, but in all honesty my heart was broken and I felt lost. Fortunately I had a group of amazing friends to share my days with and the distraction of living in a party town. In lack of better phrasing, I had a semi-good time for a while, but as I didn’t fully have a direction in life and was kind of floating in this in-between state of not knowing what to do, I eventually started drifting just a little too much. Unless you have the discipline of a true christian, Sayulita will suck you into the mañana mañana lifestyle. Even tho the easy tropical party paradise lifestyle can sound like all fun and games, it kinda gets old after a while. Not to mention the non existing dating scene in Sayulita that is, well, extremely limited. Slim pickings y’all. Another coping mechanism I had was traveling, which I did to distract myself from the reality of things, and the truth was that I was completely lost. Being lost and ungrounded led me to a couple of very interesting picks on the dating scene (🙈). But they did serve a purpose as they also pushed me towards the direction I needed to go. Which was, back home.
Easy living in Mex. By Jess Leigh.
Slowly but surely I started playing more with the idea of moving back home to the motherland. I even flew to Finland in January just “to see” if I could cope with the darkness and cold weather after having lived in the tropics for so long. My conclusion and field research prove me that it was doable, however not ideal, so I needed to think some more, I reasoned. After my trip to Finland in the winter, I returned back to Mex to now in hindsight, seal the deal and confirm my exit. Another few negative challenges took place of which I can name these few; my house was broken into, my safety emptied (yes they use a lot of cash in Mex and the nearest bank was a 35 min drive away) and I got stung by a venomous scorpion. The latter one was pretty gnarly and almost felt like I was being kicked out of Sayulita. Or as my friends like to put it, I graduated from Sayulita. So being the intuitive spiritual tree hugger that I am, I finally listened to that little whisper inside of me that actually at this point was more like a scream than a whisper, saying “buy a one way ticket to Finland” and so I did. And after that, things just aligned.
Okay, if you spent any time in Finland last summer you probs know that last summer was pretty darn stellar. Some people might call it false marketing, but it surely lured me in. People were happy and smiling, the sun was shining and the weather was almost well, tropical….. but most importantly, it felt right. When you are aligned with your direction, things have a tendency of falling into the right places and sure enough I met an amazing person that summer as well. He might have helped with the whole marketing campaign of Finland being pretty cool 🤩.
So here I am, now 7 months later after having relocated back to Finland (I had to go back to Mex after the summer in Finland), feeling grounded for the first time in a very long time. And, yes, of course the winter sucked, and yes of course I miss Mexico and yes of course I miss my friends and yes Mexico holds a place in my heart forever, but YES, this is where I am supposed to be right now. And it feels freaking fantastic to FINALLY feel like you’re where you’re supposed to be. Because I haven’t felt that in a very long time. And at the end of the day, Finland is such a great place to live in (and we also just won the world championships in ice hockey!!), regardless of the grumpy, non saluting neighbours. And luckily I am privileged enough to be able to travel (yes, I know climate change, but there’s a blog post about this) and visit Mex, which I am planning to do in November (the suckiest month in Finland, come with?).
So if there’s only one thing you take away from reading this whole long story, it’s listen to your gut. Because it knows. Sometimes it’s hard to hear, but the whisper is always there. So pay attention.
Con amor,
Evita
Friends with businesses / badass women: Meet the Boss lady of Bär Bar
Friends with businesses / badass women: Meet the Boss lady of Bär Bar
When I first started blogging back in the day, I used to have a category called “Friends with Businesses”. As the name kind of gives it away, I will trust your judgement on what the topic entails 🤓. Now, after having relocated back to my beloved motherland, I decided to resume this category (along with blogging) and today I will introduce you guys to no other, than the badass boss lady, founder of the berry snack selling, superwoman and former study friend of mine; Jasmiina Ojala. I will from here on also initiate a new category called Badass women and this post will definitely be filed under that. Why? Well, the media (and even blog posts) play a powerful part in how we see ourselves, what we think we can achieve, and what limitations we put on ourselves as well. The more women are properly portrayed, the more women will rise up in leadership and business.
Let me tell you a couple things about Jasmiina. First of all, she is extremely friendly and smart and has a cutting edge sense of sarcasm. Not only did she graduate from the Swedish School of Economics, but she also holds a Master’s degree in Law. Oh, and in addition to being the empress of her own company, BärBar, she also is Head of Marketing for St1 and what’s even more exciting, is that she just made her biggest merger agreement yet (side note: this is her joke, not mine) and got engaged 💍! Woop woop! AND, top off that, she now carries a growing berry bundle in her belly. So, to say that things are up for Jasmiina is not an understatement. Congrats on all four things!
With that much on one’s plate and with such success, you might expect someone to play superior or perhaps be pompous. Nah, not Jasmiina. She is humble, grounded and laid back. I decided to pick her brain a little bit and present this amazing human to my fellow internet scrolling audience. Before we head over to the Q&A, you might wonder what BärBar is. Simply put, it’s a health snack bar selling takeaway smoothies made out of Finnish berries. They currently have one location in the heart of Helsinki on Fredrikinkatu 30, so make sure to go check them out. There was recently actually an article in Helsingin Sanomat about the benefits of incorporating berries and lingonberries into your diet and this is Jasmiina’s mission as well. My Q&A is written in both English and Finnish, voila:
Q: Who are you? (a weird one I know, it’s just interesting to see what comes up first)
A: I am a 33 year old mama to be for a little baby girl and I live in Helsinki.
Mama to be, superwoman Jasmiina Ojala and me.
Q: What do you do for a living?
A: My day job is working with marketing for the energy company St1. I started my career as a business lawyer but decided to swop careers to marketing, which feels more like my thing.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: In addition to running my own company, I exercise a lot, go to the gym and run. As a matter of fact, I’ve actually ran 5 marathons and hopefully several more 🙂. I also love reading.
Q: What is BärBar?
A: Bär Bar is a snack bar that sells healthy and delicious snacks made out of Finnish superfoods. We make wonderful smoothie bowls (Bär Bowls), fresh porridge and smoothies made out of Finnish berries. We’ve recently added vegan oat and pulled outs sandwiches to our offerings (made out of Finnnish oats of course). Our mission is to bring Finnish superfoods into the daily lives of our customers in a fun and easy way.
Q: Where does the name BärBar come from?
A: Well, the name involved the word berry (in Swedish) and bar. In Swedish the word ‘bärbar’ means something to takeaway or carry with you. This encapsulated our idea, as we love Finnish berries and we want to provide them into the lives of everyone in an easy takeaway snack form.
Q: Is there enough time for the mom to be to work with two jobs?
A: Yes, or at least still yes. The company is co-led by me and my partner and we work on it on the side to our daytime jobs. We have a team of four lovely girls working in the shop, so we don’t spend too much time there ourselves. That being said, our aim is to grow our business and our dream would be to one day be able to employ ourselves full time.
Q: When did you decide to start your own business?
A: We made the decision together with my partner and we first started talking about it in May 2017. The first BärBar openend its doors in January 2018.
Q: What has surprised you the most becoming and being an entrepreneur?
A: It requires perseverance and that you don’t give up. It also requires being innovative and having a lot of courage way beyond what I had expected. It’s extremely challenging to find good employees and when you finally do, hold on to them as tightly as you can.
Q: Any tips to new entrepreneurs?
A: Nothing comes easy and there’s no quick fixes. If you want to become an entrepreneur, you definitely have to be more of a doer than a dreamer.
Q: Would you change anything in hindsight?
A: I would’ve been more picky with our first location (we moved from Itäkeskus to Fredrikinkatu).
Q: What have you learned?
A: SO MUCH! I’ve learned so much about brand development and marketing. I’ve also learned about customer behaviour, the logic of retail business, how to increase customer visits, the significance of location and how to grow your business and the importance of being efficient and dynamic. I’ve also learned how challenging it might be to find good employees and the value of them.
Q: Where do you see BärBar in 5 years?
A: We’ve definitely grown and have more locations than just one (including abroad) and our brand is well known and our customer experience is rock solid.
Q: What message is it that you want to convey through BärBar?
Enjoying a berry good smoothie.
A: Finnish people need to cherish and appreciate more the wonderful, clean superfoods that we have here. We think it’s irrational to bring a bunch of superfoods such as goji berries, acai berries and exotic fruit, when our own forests are filled with the cleanest and most nutritious berries in the world! Globally speaking, our forests in Finland are extremely clean and the berries growing in them are off the charts! Also from a carbon footprint point of view, it’s insanity that we keep importing exotic berries and fruit pumped with a bunch of preservatives, when we instead could just benefit from our own local fresh ingredients.
Q: What’s your favorite berry?
A: I’d have to go with blueberry. I eat blueberries almost daily and I can honestly say, that I am nearly never sick and I feel healthy. This is something that has been more highlighted during my pregnancy. Many pregnancy symptoms such as vitamin deficiency and constipation are things that can be avoided by eating blueberries.
Q: What’s you’r favorite BärBar product?
A: One More Straw and the Tender Sea-Buckthorn smoothie. They are incredibly delish!
Q: Why should people eat more berries?
A: Because of their health! Berries are filled with good vitamins, fiber and dietary minerals. I guarantee that if you eat one cup of blueberries each day (all our products contain at least 2 cups of berries!) you will notice how your digestion will improve and how flues will stay away.
Q: Are there any more BärBar and Yoga events coming up? (STAY TUNED, GIVEAWAY NEXT MON)
A: YES! And perhaps even something for new mamas.
Q: What inspires you?
A: Positive feedback and the amount of loyal repeat customers that we have. People seem to like and appreciate our concept and our products and it makes me extremely content. I hope we can make people happy. It’s an important part of our concept.
Q: Favorite Instagram accounts?
A: @myberryforest - Not only is Tiina a lovely being, but she is amazingly talented in crafting tasty, vegan dishes made out of Finnish berries. Her pictures are also pretty. She’s designed many of our products and I hope we can keep working together in the future as well. Other than that, there’s not really any other favorites, I guess it’s nice to see what my friends are up to and admire beautiful nature photos.
Q: Life slogan?
A: This is a tough one. But if we have to dig a little deeper, I guess I’d had to pick one that entails the fact that dreams don’t work unless you do. The legendary Just do it from Nike is pretty good. And then perhaps one that encourages you to not to follow the mainstream, such as why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary.
Q: Share something weird about yourself?
A: I am afraid of water fountains and I like cold liver casserole (with raisins of course).
Thank you lovely Jasmiina!
Make sure to follow BärBar on instagram here. STAY TUNED, as we are hosting a GIVEAWAY next Monday for our upcoming YOGA & BärBar event later this spring in Pranama Kallio!
XX,
Eva
K: Kuka olet?
V: Helsingissä asuva 33-vuotias, tuleva pienen tyttövauvan äiti.
K: Mitä teet työksesi?
V: Teen päivätyökseni markkinointia energiayhtö St1:ssä. Aloitin urani itse asiassa liikejuristina, mutta vaihdoin muutaman vuoden päästä alaa markkinointiin, mikä tuntui itselleni luontaisemmalta alalta.
K: Mitä teet vapaa-ajalla?
V: Oman yritystoimintamme lisäksi harrastan paljon liikuntaa, ulkona lenkkeilyä ja salia. Olenkin juossut tähän mennessä 5 maratonia ja toivottavasti vielä monta lisää :). Rakastan myös lukemista.
K: Mikä on BärBar?
V: Bär Bar on välipalabaari joka tekee terveellisiä ja herkullisia välipaloja suomalaisesta superfoodista. Teemme ihania Bär Bowleja (smoothiekulhoja), tuorepuuroja ja smoothieita suomalaisista marjoista. Nykyään meillä on myös vegaanisia nyhtökaura- ja kaurapalaleipiä - kotimaisesta kaurasta tottakai. Bär Barin missiona on tuoda suomalainen superfood helposti ja hauskasti ihmisten arkeen.
K: Mistä nimi BärBar tuli?
V: No nimi piti sisällään hauskasti niin sanan marja, baari kuin mukaan otettava/kannettava (bärbar on ruotsia ja tarkoittaa kannettavaa), mikä kiteytti ideamme, eli rakastamme suomalaisia marjoja ja haluamme tarjota niitä ihmisten elämään helposti mukaanotettavan välipalan muodossa.
K: Riittääkö tulevalla mamalla aikaa kahdelle työlle?
V: Riittää ainakin vielä, yritys on minun ja avopuolisoni ja teemme sitä yhdessä molempien päivätöiden ohella. Itse baarissa työskentelee 4 aivan mahtavaa mimmiä, eli emme itse ole siellä päivisin töissä. Toki tavoitteenamme on kasvattaa liiketoimintaa koko ajan ja unelmissa on se että joku päivä pystymme työllistämään itsemmekin yrityksessä.
K: Koska teit päätöksen perustaa yrityksen?
V: Teimme sen yhdessä mieheni kanssa, rupesimme puhumaan yrityksestä toukokuussa 2017. Ensimmäinen Bär Bar avautui tammikuussa 2018.
K: Mikä on ollut yllättävintä yrittäjänä?
V: Se vaatii vielä enemmän pitkäjänteisyyttä periksiantamattomuutta, kekseliäisyyttä ja reippautta/pokkaa kuin olin ajatellut. Hyvien työntekijöiden löytäminen on todella haastavaa ja kun niitä löytyy niin kannattaa pitää heistä kiinni.
K: Mitä sanoisit aloitteleville yrittäjillle?
V: Mikään ei tule helpolla eikä lottovoittoja oikeastaan ole. Jos haluat yrittäjäksi niin pitää olla ehdottomasti enemmän tekijä kuin unelmoija.
K: Tekisitkö jotakin erilailla näin jälkikäteen?
V: Olisin ollut vielä tarkempi ensimmäisen pisteen lokaation kanssa (Fredan pisteeseen muutimme ensimmäisen jälkeen).
K: Mitä olet oppinut?
V: TODELLA PALJON! Markkinoinnista ja brändin luomisesta olen oppinut älyttömästi. Samoin siitä miten kuluttajat käyttäytyy ja retail busineksen logiikasta, kuten asiakaskäyntien kasvattamisesta, lokaation merkityksestä, keskiostoksen kasvattamisesta
ja operaativisesta tehokkuudesta. Myös se miten tärkeää hyvät työntekijät on ja miten vaikeeta sellaisia on löytää.
K: Missä näet BärBarin 5 vuoden päästä?
V: Meillä on auki selkeästi enemmän pisteitä kuin yksi (myös ulkomailla) ja brändimme ja asiakaskokemuksemme on timanttinen ja tunnettu.
K: Mitä sanomaa haluat välittää/levittää BärBarin avulla?
V: Sitä että suomalaisten pitää arvostaa ja fiilistellä enemmän oman maan puhtaita superraaka-aineita. Meidän mielestä on älytöntä että raahaamme maailman toiselta puolelta tänne kaikenlaisia eksoottisia ns superfood tuotteita kuten gojimarjoja, acaimarjoja, eksoottisia hedemiä jne kun omat metsämme ovat täynnä maailman puhtaimpia ja ravintorikkaimpia marjoja! Suomen luonto on kansainvälisesti niin puhdasta, että siellä kasvavat marjat ovat aivan omaa luokkaansa. Samoin on CO2-päästöjen kannalta outoa, että rahtaamme lento- ja laivaliikenteellä tänne säilöntäaineilla pumpattuna eksoottisia marjoja ja hedelmiä kun voisimme sen sijaan hyödyntää läheltä löytyviä puhtaita raaka-aineita.
K: Mikä on lempimarjasi?
V: Kyllä se on mustikka. Syön mustikoita melkein päivittäin ja voin kyllä rehellisesti sanoa, että en ole melkein koskaan kipeä ja kaikki arvoni ja terveyteni on huippukunnossa. Tämä on korostunut erityisesti nyt ollessani raskaana! Esim monet raskausoireet kuten ummetus ja vitamiinipuutos on sellaisia joita mustikoita syömällä olen pystynyt välttämään täysin.
K: Entä lempituotteesi BärBarilla?
V: One More Straw ja Tender Tyrni smoothiet. Ne on aivan älyttömän hyvän makuisia!
K: Miksi ihmisten tulisi syödä enemmän marjoja?
V: Oman hyvinvointinsa takia! Marjoista saa älyttömästi hyviä vitamiineja, kuituja ja hivenaineita. Takaan että jos syöt vaikka 1dl mustikoita joka päivä (kaikki tuotteemme sisältävät ainakin 2 dl marjoja!) niin huomaat eron siinä miten ruoansulatus toimii ja flunssat pysyy poissa.
K: Onko BärBarilla tulossa enemmän tapahtumia (vink vink), kuulemma oli suosittu Chakra Tune Up meikäläisen kanssa?
V: On! Ainakin joogajuttuja toukokuussa ja kenties jotain tuleville äideille ;)
K: Mikä motivoi sinua/inspiroi?
V: Se miten positiivista palautetta saamme asiakkailtamme ja miten paljon kanta-asiakkaita meillä on! Ihmiset ovat tykänneet konseptistamme ja tuotteistamme ja se tekee minut aivan älyttömän iloiseksi. Toivon että pystymme tekemään
ihmiset iloiseksi. Se oli meille tosi tärkeä osa tätä konseptia.
K: Lempi ig tilit?
V: @myberryforest - Tiina on paitsi ihmisenä ihana myös aivan älyttömän taitava loihtimaan maistuvia vegaanisia tuotteita suomalaisista marjoista. Hänen kuvansa ovat myös aivan super hienoja. Hän onkin suunnitellut meille monta tuotetta ja toivon että voimme jatkaa yhteistyötä vielä tulevaisuudessa. Muuten minulla ei oikein ole mitään selkeitä suosikkeja, on vaan kiva seurata ystävien meininkiä ja ihastella vaikkapa kauniita luontokuvia.
K: Life slogan?
V: Hmmm, tämä on paha. Mutta jos vähän syvempää haetaan niin varmaankin joku mikä korostaa sitä että pitää tehdä eikä vain unelmoida. Niken legendaarinen, Just do it ? Ja sitten joku mikä korostaa sitä, ettei kannata seurata laumassa muita, mm why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary
K: Kerro jotain outoa itsestäsi (jotain mitä kukaan ei tiedä)?
V: Pelkään suihkulähteitä ja sprinklereitä. Ja tykkään kylmästä maksalaatikosta (rusinoilla tottakai!).
Kiitos ihana Jassu!
Get to know the girl behind the screen // 15 random facts you (probably) didn't know about me
15 facts you (probably) didn’t know about me
and didn’t care about in the first place…
Or maybe you do or did. Either way, I recently saw a post on my insta feed of my good friend and talented photographer, Jessica, where she posted a list of funny things about herself as an introduction. This inspired me to do the same, so without further ado, I decided to give it a whirl.
Proof of me juggling, well kind of. Pic: Jess Leigh
I’m Finnish Swedish
I am from Helsinki, Finland and a part of the 6 % minority of Swedish speaking Finns – I speak Swedish with my dad, Finnish with my mom. In addition to these two native tongues, as I lived in Sayulita, Mexico for nearly 7 years; I learned Spanish, I also understand French semi-fluently and well, English is a given. Another randomness for good measure: I lived in Bali, Indonesia, during my studies and during that time I could understand Bahasa Indonesia pretty decently (today, not so much, I only remember Terimakasahi).
In addition to yoga… I also like the gym, cute surfable waves, swimming, short runs (not marathons), long walks on the beach and berry picking (does that count as a sport?).
My favorite TV shows include…
Game of Thrones (duh) and The Office. Actually, if you’re in a dark place in your life or need any anti depressant, try watching a couple seasons of The Office and I can assure you, you’ll be in a better place.
I am highly sensitive and perceptive and have razor sharp intuition. I usually get a pretty good feel on wether people and situations can be trusted. That being said, there’s definitely also been some misjudgment and I’ve been burnt a handful of times.
I know how to juggle.
Only with three balls tho. Still pretty cool if I may say so myself.
I love to paint and draw!
I usually paint naked women and eyes. Why? Go figure.
I have a Master’s degree in Science (Economics)
Yup, I graduated from the Swedish School of Economics (Hanken) in Helsinki and I studied Marketing as my major, my minor was Spanish and Business Mgmt & Organization. I wrote my thesis about wellness tourism (no surprise there).
I’m currently working on or working with…
Event production (day job), various collaboration projects including the podcast I co-host, a yoga retreat in Mexico, corporate yoga classes, revamping our summer cabin by the sea and a secret super cool project that will be launched later this year (stay tuned, will ya).
I’m not allergic to anything (as far as I know)….
And my plan is to keep it this way. I’ve never been tested tho (well I don’t remember at least).
A lion once wanted to eat me as a snack.
True story. We were in Zimbabwe on a safari, luckily my mom’s friend pulled my down a cliff and there was a feeble fence in between.
I’ve been stung by a scorpion
And it hurt like a mother*** Seriously, worst pain I’ve ever felt. Imagine neuro toxin running through your body in waves and not being able to breath simultaneously. Ouch.
I am a cat and a dog person and my cat got eaten by a python.
And yes, you can be both a cat and a dog person. And yes, my cat got eaten by a python in Mexico. I know. It’s pretty dark.
My favorite color is…
purple, lavender, lilac, magneta, violet, plum. You get it.
My favorite flower is…
THE SUNFLOWER. GIMME. I love the Spanish name “Girasol” the one who turns towards the sun.
I love warm water.
The ocean or a hot tub, I’m there.
Warm water, yes please. Pic: Jenn Farmer
K, that’s all for now.
Love,
Evita
10 ways to use tech for your wellbeing
Greetings dear reader,
Nice that you found your way here, if you’re a frequent reader, I am glad that I didn’t scare you off 😂😱 with my most recent blog text, which certainly was written from a place of fire. I think it’s fair to say I have some frustration around being judged for sharing my love for yoga and it showed in my latest post. Perhaps it should go on my own list of “things to work on” and what can I say, I’m simply a passionate opinionated yogini and sometimes I let the sharpness pour into my writing and my blog is a way to funnel it. Either way, no matter if you’re a new or old reader, I am glad that you’re reading my scribbles and today’s post definitely has a softer tone 💛, think unicorns, cotton candy, daisies and marshmallows 🦄🌸 🍭 (sorry I took it too far there).
Okay dokay, well today I want to touch on a topic that might interest our tech and gadget loving humans: how to use tech for your wellbeing. The digital revolution is here and as it seems, it’s here to stay. Every industry is getting digitalized and unless you’re jumping on the bandwagon, you’re basically gonna struggle, or worse, not make it. This is also true for the wellness industry and there’s already a bunch of apps and gadgets out there that you can use to improve, measure and enhance your overall wellness. YAY. It’s also true for us yoga teachers as many of us use for instance the gram, blogging and vlogging as a way to reach more people.
I personally think it’s pretty dang nice that there’s a bunch of trinkets out there we can now use to actually measure and get data from. One of the coolest aspects about even the wellness industry getting digitalized is that now that there’s actually data and proof that displays the benefits, it makes more sense to invest in your wellbeing. And this again means, that the digitalization of wellness can serve a gateway to reach people who perhaps normally wouldn’t be interested in mindfulness, yoga or wellbeing in a holistic way. All around ah-mazing.
Alrighty then, so there’s a broad range of variety out there in terms of what you can actually measure, use and do for your wellness, but I decided to gather some of the most well known tools and apps and then also a few random ones that I know of. I personally use the Apple Watch and let’s just say I’m more or less in love with it. It gives me data on my workout goals, reminds me to breathe (I mean deep breaths and breaks) and is awesome for switching music during yoga classes (I don’t have to use my phone). Here we go:
The Apple Watch
Like I mentioned above, I use the Apple Watch for reaching my workout goals, reminders to take breaks to breathe, to measure how many steps I’ve taken per day, to change and adjust music during yoga classes and so much more more. Oh, and it’s also eye pleasing with its sleek black amazingness.
The Garmin Smart Watches
Similarly to the Apple Watch, Garmin has also launched a line of their own smart watches that you can use for comparable purposes as the Apple Watch. These smart little devices are also eye pleasing and they help you track your activity, then save, plan and share your progress with others.
Yogaia App & Website
Live and interactive yoga classes from anywhere. They have over 100 classes every week and a broad range of teachers and different classes. The cool thing is that you can actually turn your camera on and get live tips, feedback and cues from the teacher in real time.
Yogobe
Take your practice with you anywhere at any time. This useful app and website enables you to basically practice anywhere at any time. All you need is your app and a connection to the world wide web. One of my teachers, Satu Tuomela, whom I did my first Yoga TT with has several of her classes on this site.
Neurosonic therapy lounge divan
This is a new stress relief method developed in Finland that works through low frequency vibrations. There are three different programs you can choose from: recovery, relaxation and activation. It works kind of like a massage chair, but through vibrations, which are directed throughout the whole body. It has proven to be an astonishingly efficient method of recovery and there’s data on its efficiency. We happen to have one at our office, and it’s pretty damn stellar!!!
Yoga 15
Yoga 15 is an rad app thats message is pretty simple: EVERYONE has time to do a 15 min workout or stretching session every damn day! I met the beautiful founder and yogini Abi when I lived in Mexico and I remember how passionate she was about her work and app. She’s definitely gone along way and continues to share the love for the ancient practice in a modern way reaching both men, women, yogis, cyclers, runners and other sportsmen and -women! You go girl! PS. She also happens to have a gorgeous instagram feed.
Headspace
Unless you’ve lived under a rock, surely you’ve heard of headspace!? I’m KIDDING, no, but this app is pretty darn fantastic and so wonderful for taking up meditation as a practice. They have hundreds of themed sessions on everything from stress and sleep to focus and anxiety My good amiga Lucy (who normally perhaps isn’t that into yoga or the wellness hype) swears on this lovely app. Love you mama.
Period Trackers: Flo, M. Cycles or Clue
YESSSS and yes yes yes. These apps are making life so much easier! Now you can use an app to track your “safe days”, ovulation and expected period. The apps will also give you insights throughout the month about how your body is working at specific times. It’s particularly good for those looking to be able to plan around their periods, perhaps if they're booking a holiday and would prefer not to be on, or for those looking to get pregnant. If you’re already expecting, there’s also an excellent app to track the pregnancy throughout its different stages.
Strava
This one is for the ones who love to run and cycle! Strava is already one of the most popular activity-tracking smartphone apps out there and I use this as well. You can also use it on your Apple Watch, that adds to the convenience of recording movement from your wrist, so you can leave you phone at home.
The Moon
This one goes out for moonchildren out there. This app is great for checking the moon phases as you can view the current phase of the moon, see the moon on the day you were born, share the moon with your friends, get notifications for upcoming moon events.
In addition to these, there’s actually an app that can track your dirty mouth and scold you for cussing and help you stop swearing. Obviously there’s ALOT of apps, tools and widgets out there and another topic I didn’t touch on is wellness related podcasts and inspiring instagram accounts to follow (later in life) but if you know of any other cool or useful ones, I’d love to learn more so please, do feel free to comment below.
An Apple Watch, Buddha, Zafiro jewelry, singing bowls and candles. What else do you need?
Alrighty then, let’s all now be tech-savvy wellbeing badasses and have a happy EASTER 🐣!!!
That’s all for now. Go eat them chocolate eggs.
Con amor,
Evita
Why do I blog, but perhaps you should too?
Greetings dear readers,
Welcome to my world. Well, at least a glimpse of it. I started blogging (again) after a loooong break. Ever since I started writing again some people in my circle have been curious and reached out to me and asked me why I blog. This actually made me stop for a second and ponder that same question myself, and so I decided to open up and shed some light on it; WHY DO I BLOG. Ladies and gents lemme tell ya why:
First and foremost I actually enjoy writing. It’s a way for me to express and share my thoughts, passions, interests and ideas within my community. It feels really really good and empowering to put my thoughts down on a piece of paper (even if it’s in a virtual format). Interestingly enough writing is actually something that runs in my family, as my mama used to be a journalist and worked with communication until she finally retired this year. So, in it’s simplicity, it’s a way to communicate with you guys (ahum, if you’re actually reading this, comments are more than encouraged).
Secondly, I feel like it’s extremely therapeutic and I gain a lot of insight and clarity on how I actually think and feel about certain things or whatever it is that I am writing about, it simply helps me make sense of things. In addition to this, I feel like it’s making me commit to a practice or habit and teaches me to build discipline (self work, duh!). I also feel like it is helping me become more analytical and a better thinker, as I actually really think about the stuff I put out on the world wide web (aka my brain is getting more functional 🧠).
I also feel like it is helping me grow as a person, as I am putting myself and my thoughts out there and building my personal brand, and showcasing my world views and passions. That being said, I often worry and think “oh my gosh will they judge me, what will they think” etc etc BUT then I just remind myself that the thing is, I’d rather be judged than do shit, and actually judgment says way more about the person judging than the person being judged. Oh, and did I mention it’s the bomb for marketing and SEO? Yea, so I guess you should start now too (if you’re in the biz world)! In a nutshell, I gathered all my reasons here below:
I enjoy it + runs in the fam
I get to express myself, my views, thoughts, ideas, and beliefs
Great way to connect with my community and beyond
It challenges me and puts me out of my comfort zone + empowers me
It makes me more analytical and inspires me to read and dig more into the topics that interest me or the things I wanna discuss
It’s therapeutic
It gives me clarity and insight about how I feel and what I think
Personal brand development
It’s the bomb for SEO
It’s making me grow as a person (self development)
If you also happen to enjoy writing, it’s perhaps time you should give it a go as well?
Vamos.
Con amor y cariño,
Evita
Up close and personal.
Collaboration over Competition and (Comparison) + 10 reasons why to collaborate
Collaboration over Competition and (Comparison) + 10 reasons why to collaborate
Hear hear! I recently made a post about envy, if you didn’t give it a read, I suggest you at least eye it through to get an idea of my message. That being said, I completely understand your attention span might be below zero, so to save you some and effort and time I can briefly recap it here below in a few bullet points:
Don’t judge social media influencers or yoga teachers for posting pics on their feeds, they’re hustling just like you but in different way, they might feel insecure AF posting but do it to gain traction and biz. They’re simply using this channel for marketing (or at least I’d say many are).
Comparison is the seed for envy. Think about it. Yup, pretty darn accurate.
If you’re feeling envy: aim to emphasize instead of criticize. Remember errbody is a human and even if someone else’s life looks freaking glorious on the gram, EVEN they’ve had the worst raging diarrhea once (sorry not sorry I went there, lol). No, but for reals, my point is, we shall not compare as we have no idea of the whole story or their internal state.
Fight the feelings of envy through cutting the wings of comparison. If you’re feeling envy, try using it as fuel towards your own dreams and always remember that, that you don’t know the reality of their (whoever you feel envy towards) lives, they might actually be in a really bad place with themselves.
K, cool, great, now that you’re all filled in on the envy part I want to take it one step further. Collaboration over competition. Many of my friends are yoga teachers or at least work within the same field that I do. Some might argue that we’re competing with each other. The thing is though, that we all have something unique to offer, have a different vibe, our individual approach and a distinct way of teaching and we all attract a different crowd. That being said, you gotta play nice and fair and for instance being a copy cat is never cool. However, mistakes happen and one of my friends told me that she had just launched a Goddess Workshop (name changed) and was later contacted by someone with the exact same name, this was an honest mistake and not her intention at all. Communication, expression, honesty. It works, yup, the holy trinity once again.
Working together is powerful and so much more can be done in teams. I absolutely love projects and working with other people! Here’s a couple examples of what I’m doing/planning currently: co-hosting a retreat in Sayulita, Mexico this upcoming November (JOIN US!!) with my good friend & fellow yoga teacher Jonna Monola, co-hosting a singing bowl Yin + Sound Bath with Pauliina Kuunkajo this Saturday, soon launching a course with my friend Jasmiina Ojala from BärBar this fall (stay tuned), I will be teaching amongst a pool of other amazing yogis at the Magnesia Festival this summer, I am co-hosting a podcast (COMING SOON, launched this NEW MOON) with fellow yoginis Audra Rose Stanley and Sylvie Lacourciere and there’s a few more projects I’m not supposed to talk about just yet (aka keep your eyes open). So you, see, I LOVE co-creation.
An image from a collaboration I made with Jenette Skin Care.
K, well, why you might ask? Well lemme give you 10 reasons right here, right now, so read on folks!
First of all, there’s magic in coming together! Everybody has a unique skillset and different talents, you can just simply create SO MUCH MORE when joining forces with other people. Chances are you’ll also learn something new from them!
Co-creation is the shit for marketing & PR! You double up the reach (or triple up the reach) in whatever you’re doing. More reach, more business, more dinero. Easy.
It’s just so much more FUN! You get to share the workload and responsibilities PLUS it’s nice to have someone to hang out with. My friend Jonna and myself were recently at the Helsinki Yoga Festival with a stand promoting our upcoming retreat wearing sombreros and blasting banda music, imagine if I would’ve done that all alone. Lame.
Brainstorming & new ideas. Two brains are more than one brain. It’s true. More effective problem solving happens when you combine resources in talent and mindset. This also means you can come up with better ideas, projects, and workshops when you’re joining forces with someone PLUS you also have someone to discuss your ideas with and give you feedback.
Your tribe/network/clients get more value. Damn right they do. For instance in a yoga workshop: having two yogis instead of one yogi is amazing since you’ll get more hands on adjustments and help in your practice. If whatever it is that you’re doing is not yoga, you’ll still get more insight and value from having more than one {insert whatever}.
It’s time-efficient. Delegating tasks, planning, and implementation in a group or team is way more productive than doing everything solo.
You will learn from your mistakes and what collaborations/projects work for you. Not all collaborations and dynamics work, don’t let this discourage you. We are all different and it’s just like chemistry, everything does not work well together. Like oil and water = no bueno. Let failures be stepping stones towards finding the right people, organizations, and companies that do work with you. Kinda like fuckboys towards Prince Charming if you will.
Self-awareness. When you work with someone new, you’ll quickly notice your skills and also see what you need to work on. Yay. #selfwork
You’ll get inspired. Working together with someone new will most likely inspire you in some way or form, after noticing for instance your skillset and gifts and areas of improvement, you’ll most likely start working on the things you need to improve and start using more of your strengths to your advantage.
Community building + new doors. You get to create a community and you’ll reach a broader network for future projects with new possibilities and opportunities. Dope.
Cool. So now that the ball is in your hands. What do you want to create? Let’s create some magic together.
There’s a few things I can help you with and things I am working with currently:
Yoga classes + holistic wellness + self work (here’s what some of my students have to say)
Copywriting (if you didn’t notice yet, I love writing; my strongest writing language is English, however I can produce text in Swedish, Finnish and Spanish as well).
Promotion & marketing; either working on your branding or marketing, coming up with creative ideas, or then promotion through my own channels. I wouldn’t go as far as calling myself an influencer just yet as insta has been killing my reach with its new algorithm), but nearly 5K followers gotta count for something 🤷🏼♀️ Oh did someone mention #SHAMELESSELFPROMOTION 💅🏽🙋🏼♀️
Event production (past wedding planner & currently working within this field).
Modeling (yup, I’ll smile at a camera).
Get in touch and let’s make shit happen.
With love,
Evita
Incredible Iceland & why traveling is my vice
Incredible Iceland & why traveling is my vice
By now you’ve probably created your own eco conscious habits or if not, perhaps it’s time. Global warming is no joke and definitely not fake news, even if the misogonyst, racist, homophobic president of the US claims otherwise.
Taking action is something that must be done on a personal level and we all can do better. There’s many ways to live more ecologically and perhaps one of the most powerful ways is to start checking what you put on your plate, three times a day. If you’re a newbie to this concept, I recommend not just taking my word for it, but educating yourself and an easy way to start would be by picking up the following documentaries; Cowspiracy, Meat the Truth, Forks over knives and Before the flood.
I’ve been vegetarian for the past 9 years, on and off vegan (or wannabe vegan as I like to put it) and can semi proudly say that my carbon footprint is most likely smaller than yours, if you consume meat that is. That being said, I am no saint and I definitely have a footprint as well as my vice happens to be traveling. The thing with traveling is though, that seeing new places and experiencing the beauty of our planet is my thirst, a thirst so strong it’s hard to quench. And even if jumping on jumbo jet is not ideal for our beloved mama earth, it is lesser of a harmful activity, than consuming factory farmed meat.
So traveling it is. The last 9 months or so have been quite the whirlwind for me; I’ve been back and forth to Mexico twice, traveled to Morocco, Italy, Sweden a couple times, Estonia, the US (LA) and now finally last weekend to the beautiful, incredible Iceland. But my thirst does not end there and I find myself constantly longing to hop on the plane and visit new & old places yet again. And yes, I am very aware of how privileged I am and do not take it for granted. That being said, I do feel like it’s a choice to a certain extent. Before getting all agro on me, I mean if you live in a welfare society, or the fact that you have a device to be reading this blog, says that you have some cash to your disposal and it’s merely a consumer choice where you like to put it. Some love Gucci bags, some booze and some traveling. It all comes down to your likings and I am not claiming your preference is worse or better than mine. I am simply sharing mine.
Choices. That’s what it all comes down to. Dropping the steak is simply the most efficient solution you can do on a personal level to fight global warming and the cool thing about is it does not cost a dime, more on the contrary, it will actually save a buck here and there. And not only is it a kinder solution for the planet and the animals, it’s simply a way healthier way of living and being. If you practice yoga, you’ve most likely come across the term “ahimsa”, meaning do no harm to self or others, so it’s pretty damn aligned with the yogic philosophy as well (hear hear yogis aka practice what you preach). If you need more reasons to drop that sausage or entrecote there’s a ton of articles and material on the world wide web of the benefits of a plant based diet.
Okay dokay, so now that you understand my choice of vice and my personal reasoning behind my choice of vice, I will circle back to my passion, traveling. Being the millennial nomad that I am, I want to share some of the beautiful shots from last weekends mini getaway to Iceland. And holy smokes, lemme tell ya, I’ve traveled quite a lot, but never ever have I seen beauty like this before. This trip was a reminder of how versatile and beautiful our Tellus is and how there’s just so.much.to.see. It also made me reflect upon my own consumerism and choices, hence this blogpost.
So Iceland, If you’re planning a trip to Iceland, I recommend renting a car (a SUV that’s 4X4), getting the full insurance and driving down south to at least these few locations (thanks Wille for the tips):
Seljalandsfoss
Skogafoss
Svínafellsjökull
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Diamond beach
Reynisfjara Beach (Black Sand Beach)
Reykjavik is also cool to see, but it’s pretty small, so you don’t need to spend to much time there. My recommendation is to just hop on the car and drive drive drive. You will be in awe of the beauty, at least I was. Below you will find a collection of some of my fave shots. I mean. Oh. My. Goodness. BEAUTIFUL!!!
I hope you enjoy. Feel free to tell me about what your vice is and how you perhaps counterbalance that vice with the choices you make.
Con amor,
Eva
My first poem online
Making peace with the past - a poem by me (my very first online poem).
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There is so much, yet somehow nothing to say.
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It all took me where I am today.
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The tears. The loss. The pain.
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I know, it was never in vain.
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Forever within me it will stay.
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And in all honesty I don’t even want it to go away.
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Because even if I broke,
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and wanted to choke.
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I somehow found my way home.
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To my safe little dome.
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The space that is within me.
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I learned to to see.
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The power that I hold.
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It made me bold.
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Now I am strong,
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and I know I’ve also done things wrong.
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This is not to blame.
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This is not to shame.
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And it sure the hell is not a game.
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I needed you, the past.
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You helped me cast,
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The path that I am on now.
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So let me just say wow and
.
Thank you.
Picture by Vuokko Salo in Sayulita, Mexico
Envy
ENVY
There’s a lot of hype around sisterhood, goddess power and the sacred feminine. There’s a big movement called Women Supporting Women and there are a lot of strong women out there yearning to co-create, support each other and collaborate. I am one of those women and I would go as far as to say that it’s even in my blood, my lineage and my karma. My grandmother was amongst the first women in Finland to get a driver’s license and a dedicated yogini (before it was cool & trendy) and my mom, whom I’m very proud of by the way, has always been an avid feminist and worked to support women. She served as the president of the Finnish Women Entrepreneurs for several years until she finally retired this year. Cheers to you mama ❤️ I recognize your hard work.
I believe that there’s power in numbers and union and supporting each other is absolutely beautiful and we should definitely co-create, collaborate and work together. Unfortunately, however, there is something we fail to talk about openly, the big underbelly of sisterhood called envy. It’s understandable, I mean who would want to bring up the nasty, big ole’ envy with its ugliness, and it surely isn’t something to use when marketing. But envy is real and as much as women would love to have the support of each other, unfortunately they (we) are the first ones judge, criticize, belittle and smack talk each other.
I’m going to use myself as an example. When I first started my blog a few years ago I decided I needed to write at least twice a week and post on specific days. Consistency was key and every marketing savvy person would advise new bloggers to do this as it was considered to be the best method for SEO optimizing and gaining more readers. This was in 2016. The blog scene was already pretty established and I was kinda late to even be jumping on the bandwagon. I decided to give it a go anyways as I thought it’d be cool side project and something that would help me build my biz in Mex. Well, It didn’t really go as planned and life happened, I lost interest, dropped the project and stopped writing altogether. I felt a lot of insecurity in my writing and felt as if what I had to say wasn’t valuable, interesting or good enough. I was reading other blogs and felt that my posts where silly, unimportant or just shitty compared to the other stuff out there.
Fast forward three years, a lot of craziness and rapid growth and I suddenly find myself typing again. Unexpected, unplanned and unintentional. But this time it’s not forced, this time it flows, it feels good and I feel like I can stand behind everything I am writing without feeling insecure, without worrying about what other people think. Because I know better. Because I know myself. Because I’ve grown. But perhaps most importantly because I’m not comparing my writing to anyone else’s. It feels like I am finally using my own voice. It feels good to write and it feels good to share my opinions, thoughts and learnings. And if I can touch someone with my writing, or make someone think, even better.
We are all unique and have something different to offer.
My aim is to be real, genuine and write about the hard stuff too. Like envy. Not just the picture perfect life that social media can portray (and I am very aware of that my own insta feed displays this, hence the blog with more depth), but more about lessons, growth, life, whatever comes to my mind really. There’s no guidelines or restrictions. It also feels very therapeutic and more free as I have no set rules on how often to post, I simply do it whenever I get a splurge of inspiration, like right now at this very moment. And right now I feel like talking about envy. Everyone’s felt it, everyone knows what it is, but nobody really talks about it. So let’s.
So what is envy? Well, it’s thinking that what someone else has or is, is somehow better than what you are or have or are doing. The root to envy is comparison. It’s counting someone else’s blessings instead of yours. It’s feeling less than someone else. It’s the feeling of lacking. It’s not being happy with who you are or with what you have to offer. Heavy stuff huh.
So there are two very likely outcomes of feeling envy, either you’ll start feeling resentment towards the person or then other nasty side effect: you’ll start talking shit. But does either method make it go away? Hardly. So how do you make it go away? Perhaps the most important thing is: to stop comparing yourself to others. The saying “comparison is the thief of joy” truly is the truth. Comparison will not take you anywhere and you are only comparing yourself to an perceived image, not the actual truth. “Don’t criticize, emphasize” is a good one, because you have no idea of knowing what the person you’re envious of is dealing with, what they’ve been through or about their struggles or issues. So recognize their mundane humanness and simply stop.
Okay, so if there’s no way that you can stop comparing yourself with someone else or emphasize with them, there’s one more way: start working towards your dreams. Use the feeling of envy as fuel towards your own goals and start making shit happen. And this, ladies and gentlemen is empowering AF.
Lastly I would like to say that if you notice that you’re feeling envy towards a friend instead of a random Joe, try be open and honest about it and talk it out as difficult and even embarrassing it might feel. It takes a lot of courage, but the truth is energy doesn’t lie, and most likely your friend already felt it. Communication is key, to absolutely everything, even in dealing with envy amongst friends. Because if not, you’ll start wishing them to not be so successful or good or whatever it is you think they are, and eventually your friend will have to turn to people that wish them the best.
Life is hard, support each other and recognize your uniqueness. We all have something to offer and we are all just trying to figure it out.
Thank you for taking the time to read my typing, it’s nice to know someone out there is reading this.
Con amor,
Evita
10 things I’ve (re)learned after having relocated to Helsinki
10 things I’ve (re)learned after having relocated to Helsinki, Finland
Some of you might already know that I spent a big chunk of my twenties residing in a beautiful vibrant little beach town called Sayulita. Sayulita is located in the state of Nayarit on the Pacific coast of Mexico, just an hour North of Puerto Vallarta. Sayulita is a very magical town and holds a strong energetic pull. I can talk about Sayulita for days, so I’m just going to leave it at that for now and make a completely different blog post about Sayulita and its magic later on. So when I say that Sayulita is a small town, I mean REALLY, really small. If you go visit and ask a random person in town (given that it’s a local, not a tourist), “hey do you know Eva from Finland”, the odds are quite high that the person does know me or know of me. This will perhaps give you a better idea of what I am referring to when I say small.
Living on the other side of the world in a completely different culture, mindset, and country with a different language, different customs, and traditions truly left its mark on me and it definitely shaped me as a person a lot. In all honesty, I am somewhat Mexecuted (all my Sayulita friends will understand this expression) for the rest of my life. What that means is I am kind of “fucked” as my heart is torn between two different places. Life tends to have a plan and I am simply following it as it is, so you will never know where it will take you, you’ll just have to flow with it.
So flowing with life is what I did. It’s funny now thinking back of a time when I swore I’d never return to Finland, well, I guess they’re right when they say never say never. It’s been an interesting journey to come back to this lifestyle and there’s definitely been some adjustment issues and challenges trying to mold back into this kind of living. I mean for starters, it’s cold as FUCK or at least right now. Well, luckily there are good things too. So I made a fun little list of some of the things that I’ve noticed after having returned back to Finland. Some of them I obviously knew before too, but I guess I am wearing a new pair of goggles after having lived in Mexico.
The funny thing is though, that Helsinki, Finland and Sayulita, Mexico are the complete opposites, in every.single.way. Lemme give you a few examples for starters: Finland: cold Mexico: hot, Finland: organized, Mexico: not organized, Finland: don’t salute your neighbors, Mexico: tell the coconut man about your dental issues. And the list goes on and on. So this blog post is a collection of these little observations and differences for you to enjoy. Please keep in mind that these are my personal remarks and I hope you take them with a grain of salt. My intention is not to offend anyone that represents either part of the two cultures and I truly love both cultures, countries and customs a lot. So here ya go:
1. People expect you to always be on time, they get upset if you’re 5 min late
Okay, seriously Mirkku, take a chill pill, scroll thru the gram, 5 minutes is only 5 minutes. If we were in Mex, I wouldn’t have even left my house yet. Sure sure sure, some of you might argue that it’s selfish and rude to make someone wait and I get it… but 5 minutes, seriously!? Anyways, I’ve noticed as a custom you’re supposed to let the person know that you’re meeting that you’re 5 minutes late. This will make it more tolerable and acceptable. Anyways, some of you Sayulitans might smile.
2. People mean what they say
So you know when you bump in to a person on the streets of Sayulita that you somehow (weird huh) haven’t seen in a while and you say to each other “we should catch up and hang out sometime, maybe grab a coffee”. When you say this in Finland they will literally pull out their calendar and set a date. It’s kinda nice to know that you can trust what someone is saying they actually mean and people don’t just say things to because it sounds nice.
3. There is no small talk
I love small talk. I love chit chatting about random things, talking to strangers and I truly enjoy it. It’s a nice way to acknowledge the other person and exchange some words or thoughts. Not just that, it will make time pass way faster if you’re in a bus, elevator or anywhere were you might be waiting for something. But unfortunately Finns don’t do it, they keep to themselves and think that you’re crazy person if you talk to them. I am trying my best tho and will keep chatting, even if they think I am crazy and have no friends (sometimes that’s the assumption). Luckily, however, there has been some positive change lately as Helsinki is becoming more international and the traveling Finns might not be completely turned off if you start talking to them.
4. November equals death, it’s simply the worst month. Run. Escape. Avoid it at all costs
As much as some people in Sayulita might hate the rainy season of July through Sept, lemme tell ya you haven’t experienced November in Finland. I made the novice mistake of coming here in November (dumb dumb) and holy fuck, what the actual fuck was that. Not only was it cold, but the worst thing was the lack of light. Because there is none. NONE. Let me repeat that and let it sink in. No daylight. Well, maybe like a couple hours each day, but nearly no day light. It’s the complete opposite in June though, the sun won’t set and the sun is shining 24/7. The thing for me is that the amount of light has a direct correlation with my mood and energy level. I felt as if someone had just pulled the plug on me. So my advise is, if you live in Finland and want to feel like a human being, escape November. There’s not really any other way. I already made my escape plan and next November you’ll find me in Sayulita sipping margs, doing yoga and soaking in the sun. Come with if you also need to escape this crazy month that people somehow survive. Srsly how do they do it?
5. The tap water is pretty amazing
The drinking water in Finland is the cleanest water on planet earth. I shit you not. It’s cleaner than the bottled water you buy in grocery stores anywhere and we even use it to flush down the poo poo and pee pee. Yes, that same drinkable, beautiful, delicious water goes down the toilet. This is one of the cool things about living in an organized place, little perks like drinkable, clean water. In Sayulita there are days when there just simply isn’t ANY water in the entire town, for days. When you live in a place like Sayulita, you learn to truly appreciate the things Finns take for granted. So wow on the tap water in Finland.
In Finland always loving Mexico. Photo taken at Flow Festival last summer.
6. The trash bins are super small
This might be a weird observation, but why the heck are Finnish trash bins so tiny!? I mean, you have to constantly be emptying them. In Mexico and the US they have BIG trash bins that can take a lot of trash. Anyways, minor detail but still something I’ve noticed.
7. People are afraid of germs
I don’t know if this is just me, but I’ve noticed that when people in Finland drop something on the floor (in their homes) or even on the table, they decide that it’s not edible anymore. Maybe I’ve acquired a stomach of steel living in Mex, but why wouldn’t I eat something that just fell on the table for a second? Another weird thing is how people obsess over the best before dates, I mean, they’re recommendations. It’s just something printed on the product because of legislation, but it doesn’t automatically mean that the item has spoiled at that specific date. Smell it, taste it and you’ll figure it out. I don’t know, this might be a personality thing and has nothing to do with culture.
8. There are systems and apps for everything
Finnish people are Very (with a capital V) efficient. There are apps for everything and systems for everything. Every process is simple and quick and user friendly. Mobile Pay this, order your bus card with that, order food with Wolt and book your yoga class with that. I mean holy smokes.
9. Everything is so clean, there’s no dust
So fresh and so clean clean. Ha! Well, yes, in Sayulita you see people constantly sweeping the streets and watering the streets for dust control. Nope not in Finland, there are machines for this too.
10. You don’t get cat called
Even if Sayulita is a melting pot for many different cultures and has a lot of expats (or immigrants, however you wanna look at it), as a blonde woman you’ll most like encounter some sort of sexual harassment, cat calling or machismo nearly on a daily basis. Not in Finland though. Even if it’s not completely equal and there’s still a lot of work to be done, such as equal pay and the employment of women in a fertile age, I’d say it’s still a pretty decent situation to be a woman living in Finland. You very seldom have to worry for your safety or get annoyed by someone whistling at you when walking down the street to go buy an ice cream (funny weird lil fact: Finns eat the most icecream in the world).
So those are just some of the things I’ve noticed. If you have some observations yourself feel free to drop a line in the comment section below.
Con amor,
Evita
Real and talk about instagram, selfies and self promotion
Dear reader,
If you're a millennial like myself you’ve most likely stumbled upon the expression “shameless self promotion”. If you’re unfamiliar with it, what it means is putting yourself out there with the idea of marketing something you sell, provide or do without feeling any shame about doing it. I believe the infamous hashtag #sorrynotsorry sometimes goes along with it and most of you have probably seen a cute selfie on instagram by someone you know along with the hashtag. I guess the #sorrynotsorry is a way to acknowledge that something you’re posting might trigger some feelings or opinions in some people but you decide to do it nevertheless. More than the #shamelessselfpromotion, the #sorrynotsorry is often used when someone is simply just giving themselves permission to post that cute pic (nothing wrong with that) and perhaps not as used when marketing a product or a service.
So like I mentioned the whole concept with shameless self promotion is basically not feeling any shame in blasting (presenting would be a nicer word) your services or products on the world wide web. In all honesty though, unless you’ve got the confidence of Kim Kardashian or Queen B (um, Beyonce hellooo) (not even sure she’s got that good of a self esteem actually…) the odds are you might feel some sort of shame or insecurity in posting pics of what it is that you’re trying to sell. I mean, at least I do. And I wanted to write about it openly and honestly. Social media and especially Instagram are great tools to gain traction for whatever it is that you’re selling or promoting. Good content on your feed translates to many likes that will lead to more followers that leads to a wider audience and that again will eventually result in more business. So yes, in a nutshell social media and self promotion are key parts of a smart marketing strategy. Unfortunately or luckily though (however you wanna look at it) if you’re a yoga teacher or someone whose product happens to be a service you sell yourself, it most likely will mean that the content you’re sharing will involve pictures, opinions or words of yours.
The raw truth is that we live in a world were pretty pics of pretty girls gain followers. I mean who doesn’t want to look at a girl striking a one armed handstand in a thong…. hmm, some might not actually want to. BUT many do. For some it might be inspiring, for others it might be entertaining and for others they simply enjoy the beautiful images. But the truth is these accounts have a lot of followers. The important thing is to understand that an image is just that, a glimpse of a moment, and a pose is just that, a pose. It all comes down to your perspective and the pair of goggles you’re using to look at your world though. Learning cool ass ninja tricks like arm balances or being skinny, fit or good looking does not equal happiness. Being fit and attractive are ideal attributes many strive to attain. Knowing how to rock cool ass yoga poses might be empowering for some. BUT again plz remember, it does not necessarily mean that the person is living a balanced happy life. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. We have really no way of knowing, unless we do. So remember that next time you’re scrolling through your feed. But that being said, pretty pictures work in marketing.
Posting pics on social media is a hard dance between creating content that empowers, motivates, gains traction and is beautiful and real all at the same time. As someone trying to promote something you’re obviously hoping to get likes and to gain followers in order to grow your business. But if you’re a yoga teacher like myself, how the heck do I do that in a graceful and successful way. If I scroll down my own feed for example and review the pics that have the most likes, I can see a pretty clear pattern (well now it’s harder after the new algorithm change). Not surprising, the pics with the most likes are close ups of my face or me in a swimsuit. So does that mean I think I’m the shit and hot as balls, well, nope, I can assure you NOT AT ALL.
To put yourself out for the world to see is hard and takes a lot of courage in the first place. Sadly we yoga teachers get constantly judged and criticized for the content we post on our feeds. And this does not only happen with yoga teachers, I see this with many women in many different fields of business. Why the fuck are we not allowed to be smart & sexy at the same time? Seriously though, who are you to say what is appropriate content and what’s not. I mean if you have a social media account clearly you want to share something with the world as well, so why is your content more appropriate than mine!? I remember it like yesterday when a person commented on one of my pics when I posted an image of a landscape “nice, not a picture of yourself”. This made me sad cuz putting yourself out there is already hard enough to begin with. Well watcha gonna do, haters gonna hate, right!?
This image has the most likes on my instagram feed. Taken by talented friend Jess Leigh Photography.
So my point is too often we might be too quick to judge and think “omg look at Bethany just posting pics of herself”. Well, lemme tell ya something Mike, perhaps Bethany needs a little extra validation and has a low self esteem…perhaps Bethany is dealing with a breakup and needs to feel good about herself OR WHAT IF MIKE, Bethany is actually trying to sell or promote something and is using the best possible marketing strategies she knows. So please before jumping to the conclusion and thinking that Bethany thinks that she’s the shit and throwing the first rock, I suggest you step back and check yourself. Sure, most of us might agree that if Bethany is simply looking for validation through social media, it might not be the best way to cope with her low self-esteem issues. But then on the other hand, who the hell are you to judge. I mean are you perfect? What I’m trying to say is, that we are all different and today the gram happens to be a big part of our lives, in the good and the bad, and we all use it in different ways, some for marketing, some for posting pics of their sushi platter, some of them surfing, others for selfies and some for posting pics of their their kids. And this is all completely fine. So please, Mike, try to be more understanding and kind in a world that’s already harsh and hard enough as it is.
With love,
Evita
20 things I've learned in the past 10 years
20 thing’s I’ve learned about life in the past 10 years
A couple of days ago I drank a cup of Yogi tea and got the quote “Experience will give you the power and confidence to be you”. Instead of just tossing the cute little tea bag wisdom quote away, I saved it and gave it some thought. And ta-da, this blog post was born.
One of the cool things about this mysterious thing we call life is that we are continuously learning new things. When I think back about how I used to be in my early twenties (or even my later twenties, or actually even last year) versus the person I am today, boy, have I changed. And this change is a result of experience and life lessons (read: pain, devastation and lots of tears).
I mean when you think about it, through eons of time people have always respected the elderly for their wisdom. So I guess there is some kind of truth that wisdom comes with age, and no, I am NOT comparing myself to an elderly person. I’m no Yoda and I am still young (I keep telling myself that) but I simply am sharing what I’ve gathered this far.
Okay, so I’m not 20 no more, but neither am I am middle aged. I’d say I am a young woman, not completely lost anymore, with some wisdom under my belt and with a few life lessons in my back pocket. I think moving to the other side of the world in my early twenties, starting a couple businesses and getting my heart broken has helped me grow. Add a line of bad decisions and falling one my face a couple times and voila this was my recipe to learn. Some of us learn these lessons at an early stage in life and have a lot more to deal with from an early start. I do consider myself lucky because my life has been somewhat sheltered, at least growing up in Finland. Everyones path is different and even though we often learn through experience and wisdom is something we gather through time, age is not always the measurement of wisdom or knowledge.
The list consists of a number of realizations that I’ve gained through the ups and downs, curves and cut backs of life and perhaps things I did’t know in my early twenties. I guess what I am trying to say is, if you’re in your early twenties the odds are you’re going through the fire and trying to figure shit out, or at least I did. … so here ya go a list or a roadmap to life hacking. Oh and as a side note, even though I’ve learned all of the points listed below, doesn’t necessarily mean that I comply (insert emoji with hands to the sides). So on with the list:
Trees are considered wise.
“Be like a tree.
Stay grounded.
Connect with your roots.
Turn over a new leaf.
Bend before you break.
Enjoy your unique natural beauty.
Keep growing.”
-Joanne Raptis
1. The most important thing in life is your health
When I say health I don’t mean you not being sick, I mean your wellbeing, your mental health, your physical health, your emotional health, your mind and your body from a holistic perspective. Everything else is trivial. You might argue, “no, but my family is number one for me”. Well, homie, if you’re sick AF you can’t be there for your family can you now. So this is the foundation of your life. YOU. Take care of yourself and treat yourself and your body nicely. Make yourself happy and spend time with just YOU. The most important relationship you’ll ever have in your life, is the one you have with yourself. Work on it. Constantly. Do things for yourself. Whatever it is you like, do it. Sleep enough, eat enough, exercise, travel, go out to nature, do whatever ticks you. Do YOU and take care of yourself. Also remember that you have to communicate your limits when it comes to work and relationships, if you don’t then your health is at stake.
2. Learn to say sorry
You’re human. Unless you’re a unicorn or an alien (it’s possible some might argue) you make mistakes. And like I’ve said in a previous blog post the odds are you aren’t an enlightened being, so admit your mistakes, take responsibility where you know you’ve fucked up and say “I am sorry”. These three little words mean a lot and build bridges instead of burning them. That being said, only say these words if you truly mean it. If you, however honestly feel like you did nada wrong then stand your ground (next point) and take no BS.
3. Kindness is gangster but take no SHIT
There are a lot of assholes out there and many ways to deal with them. Kindness is gangster and you can try to kill them with kindness, but frankly sometimes you just gotta stand up for yourself and tell them off. People that are rude just to be rude or people that put other people down to feel good about themselves aren’t clearly happy in life. Their behavior towards you is a reflection of that. It might be hard to remember this when someone is being offensive and often we either attack back or just sit quiet. I can’t say that I’ve fully mastered this lesson just yet, it’s more of a work in progress. I also sometimes struggle with boundaries, but I do recognize the importance of learning to say NO and defending yourself. Just like you practice anything else you can start practicing this skill. Next time someone is rude AF to you, you can actually reply in a nice way that that’s unacceptable and that you don’t put up with that kind of shit.
4. Travel is the best investment
It is. Try it yourself. I don’t regret any trips I’ve ever made in my life but I do regret spending too much money on fast fashion or stupid shit. A trip can be a life long memory where as a cute dress is just that, a cute dress.
5. Don’t react right away, there’s a reason they say sleep on it
Yup, it’s true. Sometimes when you get triggered you tend to want to just get your opinion thrown out right back at at whatever it is. This however is not always the best idea as you’ll probably say shit you don’t mean and adding some calmness and stepping back will always give you a better perspective and a smarter answer.
6. You are the author, producer and master of your life, make shit happen
You are the master of your life and you’re responsible for making yourself happy. If you hate your job or if you are in an unhappy situation or relationship, you’re the only one that can change that. I am not telling you to quit your job and to just lye on a tropical beach and soak in the sun (or I mean, actually you can), but to start by deciding what kind of life you would like to have and start working towards it step by step. Rome wasn’t build in a day and neither is your dream life (in most cases). Commit to your vision, commit to your goals and learn the difference between a dream and a goal (read number 19).
7. We are all unique and different
Yup, we all hold our own pair of goggles through which we look at life. We all have our own perspective and view things differently. We differ in personalities and are built differently from different value systems to different interests, hobbies, issues, insecurities, paths, pasts, ways of communicating, joking or even kissing. We also have different ways of showing love and love languages. Learn yours and learn your partners, if you’re unfamiliar with the concept expect to be mindblown.
8. Everything in Moderation, even moderation
This quote I learned from a dear friend of mine and he learned it from Laird Hamilton, a big wave surfer. I mean if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Everything in moderation, even moderation. Everyone can’t be on their top game 100% of the time or be super healthy all the time, sometimes you need to eat that cupcake, sometimes you just need to chill on your couch and do absolutely NOTHING. And sometimes you need to stop moderating everything and go crazy. Yup, there you have it, one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard. If you have another good one, feel free to drop it in the comment section.
9. When there is a will, there is a way
Sure is true. If you truly want something, I mean if you TRULY want something, you will find a way to make that work wether it is something you have to do yourself or it involves other people. I also love the saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”, which falls somewhat in the same category as it has to do with PERSISTENCY, but I guess this variation is more about complaining about something and getting a result that way. Either way, you will make anything (yet not everything) happen if you truly want it.
10.TRUST YOUR GUT, Everything is ENERGY, trust the vibes you get
Very true. If something feels off, it most likely is. Trust the vibes you get around certain people. Trust that hunch feeling, that little whisper inside of your head, because you already know the answer when you become quiet enough it’ll be loud and clear.
11. No one knows your body better than you
When someone says “you need to exercise at least X times a week” or “you should avoid coffee at all costs” might be true for them, but not for you. Learn to know your body, learn to know what your needs are when it comes to sleep, rest, exercise, diet, chill time and even socializing. Like I mentioned in number 7, we are all unique and you’re the boss for your body, so if you don’t already, learn no know yours cuz no one knows better than you what works for you.
12. Comparison is the thief of joy
No further comments. It truly is. And social media is a good channel for just posting the pretty pictures, but god dammit, they’re just pictures. Do not compare yourself to someone else’s gallery.
13. Learn to laugh at your own mistakes
Because it makes it more light and is a great practice for self acceptance. We all make mistakes and learning to laugh at them will make life so much lighter.
14. Forgiveness is for yourself
This one has been a big one. Forgiveness is hard especially when someone has hurt you so so deeply. However, holding anger and resentment towards another person will not bring you the peace that you deserve. Forgiveness is simply that, letting go of the negative feelings so that you can feel free. This does not mean you have to accept the wrongdoings towards you, just release them. Everyone has their own personal karmic energy and will at some point experience a result from their actions. You cannot control their actions or their decisions, but what you can control is your feelings.
15.What you resist, persists
Life will hurt. The odds are you’ll get hurt, one way or another. You’ll deal with betrayal, grief, loss, pain or disappointment. Some of them will be big and others small, minor curveballs. Whilst dealing with your issues can be pretty upsetting, as human beings we’re really good at amplifying them and getting stuck in the injustice of it all. Unfortunately, we tend to draw out on our own suffering, rather than being able to move on. By accepting the inevitable pain, struggles and unwanted events that at some point will unfold in our lives, we actually choose acceptance.
16. Courage does not include no fear
Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
17. The more you feel gratitude, the more it will expand
Energy flows where intention goes. The more you focus on something the larger it will grow and expand. The more gratitude you feel, the more you’ll attract other things to be grateful for.
18. distance means nothing when someone means so much
You might grow apart or you might move to the other side of the world. But if you’re lucky, you’ll get to keep a handful of the really special ones even if you don’t see each other as often as you’d like. Also, sometimes distance means nothing, when someone means so much. I miss many of my friends so so much and even if I won’t see them in a while, I know that with some of them it doesn’t matter at all. We ‘ll pick up right where we left it.
19. A dream is just a dream, a goal is a dream with a plan
So you know that dream you’ve had in the back of your head for a while now. Start working towards it. Make an action plan and with baby steps you can start today. Even if you’re busy with life or your current job, you can still start. So do it, because this life is meant to be lived.
20. Love is the answer
It is the solution in this random and harsh world. Express it freely. Show it to the ones you love. It is the reason for our existence.
Your yoga teacher is not your guru
Your yoga teacher is not your guru
If you haven’t watched Kumaré yet, it’s about time. This is hands down one of the best documentaries of our time.
There is a number of reasons for people to go to yoga classes. Some do it to exercise, some to get a good stretch, some for the spiritual benefits, others to reduce stress, some to feel part of a community and some possibly for all of those reasons. The list goes on. I love meeting new people and I also love my dedicated students, so wether you’re coming to my classes, workshops or retreats, I am honored and grateful to have you share your time with me and I am thrilled I can share some of my knowledge with you.
In my bio I state that one must always stay a student and I truly emphasize this. Unless you’re Gandhi, the odds are you’re not an enlightened being just yet. That being said, the fact that you are practicing yoga and the fact that you want to become more connected with yourself and your surrounding world is an amazing first step towards the right direction and something worth celebrating. What is key to understand though is that yoga teachers don’t have it all figured out (hell nah!!). Sometimes actually they might even have more issues than the average Joe and this is what perhaps initially led them to yoga (take this with a grain of salt). So to fully lean on them with your problems and expect them to have solutions is not the best idea. I guess this must be why now they don’t really allow the terminology of “Yoga Therapy”. See, we yoga teachers are just as messed up as you. We get down on ourselves, fuck up and get lost in life. I guess the big difference from the average non yogi is that even though we also fuck up, we MIGHT (caps lock here) be more aware of it and we more importantly might be working on changing that behavior. And yoga can be an excellent tool to become more aware, awake and in tune with yourself. I can truly say that thanks to the world of yoga and its broad field of teachings, I am becoming more aware of my own patterns and issues. And recognition is a hella good first step in this long journey towards a better version of me. Cuz at the end, that’s what a lot of us want, to grow, to learn and to connect.
We can learn from each other. Pic of me and Abi.
Unfortunately we live in a time where people are getting sick. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sick from working too much, sick from stress and unrealistic expectations. This sickness and tiredness leads to us feeling stuck and unaccomplished and very often lost. Are we on our right paths? Are we doing what we are supposed to be doing? Perhaps we feel like we need a change but are just too tired, too exhausted and blocked from finding the solutions ourselves. Add some relationship issues or a broken marriage and bam! You’re open AF to having someone else steer your ship and take control. This is of course is okay if that person is a) your therapist or b) actually knows what the best solutions for you are and c) truly has your best interest in mind and works from the goodness of their heart and not for a financial gain. Don’t get me wrong, guidance and mentoring is not wrong and even in yogic philosophy we are taught that once the student is ready, the master will come. But the thing is, you are the master and you will always be your own guru. You hold all the answers to all your problems and what a teacher or a guide can do is, to aid you to see that, but at the end of the day, YOU are the guru. And this is super important to assimilate. The same thing goes for your asana practice on your mat. If something does not feel good in your body but the teacher is telling you to do it, hell nah! Get outta that pose! You know the best what feels food and what works for your god given temple, never forget that. And as a teacher I am only here to give you ideas and suggestions on how to move. If it does not feel good for you, if it doesn’t relate to you, you are more than welcome to skip.
To close the circle I want to say that you can learn a lot from your yoga teacher and they can serve as an excellent guide on your journey, but always remember that you are the captain and you navigate the ship, even if your teacher can sometimes work as the compass on giving you some direction on where to go. I am blessed and grateful to be sharing my teachings and what I’ve learned, but boy, I am still and I will always remain a student.
Namaste,
Eva
Vision boarding and the Law of Attraction
VISION BOARDING AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
I want to write about something that is very close to my heart and about a practice I do using the universal laws and this is creating a vision board. Law of attraction is real and for those of you who has experienced it, know exactly what I mean. Like attracts like and thoughts become things. Where you put your focus will appear in front of you. Energy flows where intention goes.
Think about it the other way around too, imagine you’re having one of those sucky days where everything simply goes south. One thing after the other, it’s almost like a joke and at the end of the day you’re not even surprised when something else shitty happens to you. This too, is the result of the universal law of like attracts like. When you constantly focus on the negative, guess what you’re attracting more of: more negativity. So this luckily works both ways. When you focus on the good stuff guess what you’re drawing to you, yup, more good stuff. And this universal law is the key that works with creating a vision Wether you believe in the law of attraction it is constantly working. Every thought, action and word has a frequency and is sent out to the universe. The universe will then respond by matching your thoughts, intentions, words, affirmations or actions. The thing is, time is a tricky one to understand, so there might not be an immediate result, but at some point that energy you put out will come back to you in a way or another.
So what is a vision board. A vision board is first and foremost a tool you can use to your benefit that uses this universal law. It is a collection of images, words and phrases that you feel drawn to or that somehow represent what you want to bring forth in your life. I’ve made several vision boards in my life and I am always surprised at how the universe will find interesting ways on how it brings forth these things in my life. It’s a magical feeling when you notice that something you’ve put in your board suddenly presents in your life. What do you have to loose really? Give it a try!
So how do you make a vision board? If you didn’t join me and Jonna Monola for our vision board workshop, worry not, I will spill the beans and share this magical little practice with you. All it takes is a little bit of time, some dedication, a pair of scissors, glue and a big pile of magazines. Before you start your little arts and crafts extravaganza I recommend getting quiet, putting on some relaxing music, meditating so that you can get clear on your hearts deepest desires and what is it that you want to bring forth in your life. Ask yourself; “If I had a magic wand, what would my life look like”? Other questions might be; what would your days look like, how would you feel, what would your living situation be, what would your home look like, what about your relationship, your body? Then I recommend writing these things down and then lastly start browsing through your magazines and looking for images and phrases that speak to you or that somehow match what you want to manifest. When going through the magazines you’ll very often even find more images and words that you want to include. Let this part be fun and intuitive. Once you feel like you’ve gathered enough material you can start gluing them on to a piece of cardboard. Once you feel ready with your board I recommend placing it somewhere you can see it as often as possible. The more visible it is to your brain, the more you’re sending these signals to your brain subconsciously and consciously and of course to the universe and somehow these creating magical situations and things of your dreams start becoming reality. What are you waiting for? Start now.
A vision board example, not mine.
Go make yours now!
Con amor,
Evita
Chakra 101 (Chakras for Dummies) and an infographic
CHAKRA 101 (CHAKRAS FOR DUMMIES) AND AN INFOGRAPHIC
Everything is Energy ✨ The thoughts you think, the words you speak, the actions you take, the food you eat...
Your physical body is just one layer, but beneath this 3D dimensional domain, lies a subtle body and a complex system of energetic centers, lines and sheaths.
I have always been curious about the unseen and into the energetic realm of things, which is why I am so passionate about the Chakra System. Energy does not lie and vibes speak louder than words. Think about it...Ever felt certain vibes of someone? Yup, that’s when you pick up their ”vibe”, I’m sure you’ve had moments you’ve for example felt someones bad mood, even if they didn’t express it in words.
Many are still clueless about what chakras are, how they function and what they govern. So, I decided to make an infographic (take it with a grain of salt and humor) and wrote this simple guide for you to get a basic idea and understanding.
Perhaps you’ve heard the term chakra but are still quite unfamiliar with the concept of it or don’t know what it does, how it functions, where it is (or where they are). Let’s dive in:
Let’s start with the actual word ‘chakra’. Chakra literally means wheel or circle and is a word from the Sanskrit language. What that refers to is the wheel like movement of the chakra.
So what is a chakra? A chakra is an energy center, a vortex and the focal point of subtle energy in your energetic body. Like i mentioned in the beginning: Everything is energy. How that energy presents itself in this physical realm, is what we call matter. But when we look at the body from an energetic perspective, there are certain ways the energy flows and certain places where that energy gathers and these are your Chakras.
You have seven primary chakras in your body. Each Chakra is connected to certain aspects of your life and certain areas or glands and organs of your body. Each Chakra is associated with a specific color, an element, a tone, a frequency and so forth. Below is a list of the seven primary Chakras and their elements, color and functions.
1. The Root Chakra (Muladhara)
Muladhara (“root support”) is located at the base of your spine. It is often depicted as a red four-petaled lotus, and it governs what are considered the four primal urges: food, sleep, sex, and self-preservation, but also money. It is the foundation of your being. Its energetic function is to help us maintain a sense of groundedness and inner stability.
Element: Earth
Color: Red
Affirmation: “I am here.”
Tone: LAM
2. The Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)
Svadhisthana (“her own abode”) is located at the pelvis by your reproductive organs. It is often depicted as an orange lotus with six petals, and it’s associated with creativity, sensuality, pleasure, fluidity, adaptability, emotions, sexual energy, and the unconscious. The second chakra’s energetic function is to help us regulate our emotions and desires, so as not to be driven by them.
Element: Water
Color: Orange
Affirmation: “I am a creative.”
Tone: VAM
3. The Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
Manipura (“city of jewels”) is located at the navel center. It is commonly depicted as a downward or upward-facing yellow triangle. This energy center is your personal power, your ego and it’s function is to navigate our lives with strength and determination.
Element: Fire
Color: Yellow
Affirmation: “I am strong”
Tone: RAM
4. The Heart Chakra (Anahata)
Anahata (“unstruck”) is located at the heart center. Anahata is typically depicted as a green six-pointed star surrounded by 12 lotus petals. On a spiritual level, it’s said to be the home of the higher “unstruck” or indestructible self. Anahata governs our joy, love (not just romantic love, more importantly self-love), compassion and openness. Energetically, anahata helps us tap into unconditional love.
Element: Air
Color: Green
Affirmation: “I am loving”
Tone: YAM
5. The Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
Vishuddha (“to purify”) is located in your throat. It is often depicted as a blue downward-facing triangle inside a lotus with 16 purple petals. This energy center is associated with speaking one’s truth. Its energetic function is to help us find authentic self-expression and honesty.
Element: Ether or space
Color: Blue
Affirmation: “I am honest.”
Tone: HAM
6. The Third-Eye Chakra (Ajna)
Ajna (“command center”) is located between the eyebrows and is.represented by a transparent lotus with two white petals. It is your wisdom center and the seat of the mind, your conscious and unconscious awareness. It is not associated with any element, as this chakra is considered beyond the physical elements. This is the center for intuition, vision, imagination, inner knowing, and self-assurance. The energetic function of ajna chakra is to help us learn to know ourselves on a spiritual level.
No element
Color: Purple
Affirmation: “I am seeing.”
Tone: OM
7. The Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
Sahasrara (“thousand-petaled lotus”) is located just above the crown of the head. This is the doorway into pure consciousness, it is often depicted as a thousand-petaled lotus with a pinkish aura, and in a similar way to the third eye chakra, nor is this chakra associated with a physical element. This chakra serves as a way of connecting to divine energy and is associated with our highest self. Sahasrara helps us function in a more enlightened way, cultivate self-mastery, and find a sense of connection with all.
No element
Color: White
Affirmation “I am connected”
Tone: MMM
Now that you have a basic idea of these energy centers, it’s key to understand that this energy is constantly changing. Energy flows in and out of these centers all the time and your chakras can either be balanced, unbalanced, over active, under active or even blocked (oh nooo!!). Luckily there are various methods to unblock, align and balance your chakras and these include nutrition, yoga, healing, rest, various activities, crystals, colors and so forth. This all depends on which of the chakras it is that is not in harmony. So how do you know if a chakra is inactive or blocked you might ask? Well, usually after getting an understanding of the chakras you might already have an idea in your mind. Perhaps you’ve gone through heart ache lately (maybe there’s a blocakge in your heart chakra) or did you just lose your job (first chakra) or maybe you never speak your truth and always hold your opinions to yourself, even if you should speak up (throat). But if you’re still completely clueless, there are ways to test your chakras and one method is using a pendulum or a dowser. The dowser is simply placed above your chakra and if the pendulum is spinning in a circular way, the chakra is in harmony, if it’s not moving at all or if it’s going back and forth, there’s a blockage or it’s under active, if it’s making a crazy big circle, yup you guessed it: it’s over active. Below a list of feelings that might be present if a chakra is overactive or under active.
Root Chakra
Overactive
Fearful, nervous, insecure, not feeling grounded; materialistic or greedy, resisting change
Underactive
Lacking a sense of being at home or safe anywhere, codependent, unable to get into one’s body, fearful of abandonment
Sacral Chakra
Overactive
Overemotional, very quick to attach and invest in others, attracted to drama, moody, lacking personal boundaries
Underactive
Stiff, unemotional, closed off to others, lacking self-esteem or self-worth, possibly in an abusive relationship
Solar Plexus Chakra
Overactive
Dominating, aggressive, angry, perfectionistic or overly critical of oneself or others
Underactive
Passive, indecisive, shy, lacking self-control
Heart Chakra
Overactive
Loving in a clingy, suffocating way; lacking a sense of self in a relationship; willing to say yes to everything; no sense of boundaries, letting everyone in
Underactive
Cold, distant, lonely, unable or unwilling to open up to others, grudgeful
Throat Chakra
Overactive
Overly talkative, unable to listen, highly critical, verbally abusive, condescending
Underactive
Introverted, shy, having difficulty speaking the truth, unable to express needs
Third Eye Chakra
Overactive
Out of touch with reality, lacking good judgment, unable to focus, prone to hallucinations
Underactive
Rigid in thinking, closed off to new ideas, too reliant on authority, disconnected or distrustful of inner voice, anxious, clinging to the past and fearful of the future
Crown Chakra
Overactive
Addicted to spirituality, lack of bodily needs, having difficulty controlling emotions
Underactive
Not very open to spirituality, unable to set or maintain goals, lacking direction
So, no that you have a basic idea about the chakras you can learn to work with these subtle energies and become more aware of your energetic body. If you want to study more, I highly recommend picking up the book “The Anatomy of The Spirit” by Caroline Myss.
You feeling aligned AF yet? ;)
Con amor,
Evita
The magic of a good playlist (sharing is caring)
THE MAGIC OF A GOOD PLAYLIST (SHARING IS CARING)
Music is magic. Simply put.
I mean think about it. What is music? One could say that music is an artful arrangement of different sounds creating a vibration that’ll change your mood, frequency, trigger a memory, create feelings of joy, sadness, grief, love, longing, you name it, the list goes on and on. Music is said to be the language of emotions. Studies have shown that listening to music releases dopamine. So why not combine music with yoga? Bulletproof. Duh.
I spend hours and hours discovering new artists and new music on Spotify. Playing an amazing playlist during yoga class is the shit. It gives me energy and inspires me and simultaneously I can see how that energy amplifies when the students get into the flow with some good tunes. I play music on my way to work, on my way home and always when I’m driving. My friends know that I won’t start the car if I don’t have a good tune on, no matter if we’re late.
Anyways, when I first started practicing yoga I started with Ashtanga, which I guess some people would argue to be quite ascetic. It’s rigorous, always with the same movements and no music. Oh, with the exception of the Ashtanga mantra in the beginning, if that counts. I remember back in the day when I would religiously practice mysore style with my good friend Elisa that we were even quite serious about the mantra. Lolz. How times have changed. And please ashtangi yogis, don’t get me wrong I still enjoy Ashtanga, BUT I love vinyasa flow and one of the reasons is: you can add music to your classes. And that adds an extra dimension of joy, so why not.
So to circle back to the magic of music I wanted to share with you guys what my students often ask me post yoga class, which is some of my favorite yoga playlists for you to enjoy.
These are my top 3 playlists currently (I made them public on my Spotify Account):
Con Amor,
Evita
2019, a year to manifest your dreams
2019, A YEAR TO MANIFEST YOUR DREAMS
It’s been forever and ever since I last updated my blog and A LOT has happened since. First and foremost, happy New Year (a little late as we are almost thru Jan)!!! I think I had almost given up on this fun little side thing I used to do, but oh well, here I find myself typing yet again. Happy that you found your way here too and are reading my scribbles.
In a nutshell 2018 was a crazy year. It’s hard to even recap everything that happened and honestly a lot of it is very private & sensitive information and not to share with the world wide web. That being said, with great growth comes some growth pain and what I can say is holy shit I’ve grown this last year. In some circles people refer to the years 2016-2018 as a metamorphosis and explain how the year 2016 was the cocoon year, 2017 the caterpillar year and finally 2018 the butterfly year. When I think about my own past it makes a lot of sense as last year was when I finally spread my wings and flew. Not just figuratively speaking, but I actually flew away from Mexico that’s been my home for the last 6 and a half years. This was a tough transition and something I’m still struggling with. Even if Finland is a great country, holy shit, lack of light is a bitch, I’ll tell you that much. Also, moving from the other side of the world to a new location, even if it’s your old home country, is challenging, on many levels. I feel like I am not the same person I used to be before and I don’t perhaps fully fit in. Yet.
Mexico holds a huge place in my heart and I will always keep going back. And perhaps this is just a lil breather, I mean who knows. Life tends to surprise us in many unexpected ways. Either way I feel that I am where I should be right now and that I’ve made some really smart and healthy changes. That being said, there’s still many things to conquer, manifest and master. BUT I’ve decided that this will finally be the year I step outside my comfort zone and actually make shit happen. If not now, then when!? I guess each January we get a spurt of inspiration and feel more driven, for me especially being a Capricorn and having my bday just a few days after New Year’s it truly feels like I’ve turned a new page in my life. And today I took the first step. I understand all of this might seem a little cryptic as I am not revealing what it is, but I promise you, if you stay tuned, eventually I will reveal and show you guys my new project.
To come back to the metamorphosis I’d say that 2016 was a brutal year in many ways. It felt like I was dragging myself forward and everything around me was collapsing. If some of you understand Tarot cards I’d compare the year to the Tower card in the deck. I guess the year 2016 was only preparing me for the the following year, which was even worse. All this while living in a beautiful paradise surrounded by warmth, the sun and happy people. I guess it’s true what they say that paradise is a state of mind and not a location. The following year, which is now last year, was when I finally made some changes. But the changes didn’t come smoothly. I guess they never do. I remember a teacher of mine always referred to the process of a seed sprouting and how violent the actual transition is as it breaks thru and that this comparison also goes with real life growth.
All in all life is full of mystery and I find that this time of the year it’s a good moment to pause, assess the last year (or perhaps even last couple of years), get clear about what it is you wish to manifest for the new year and do some goal setting. I am a huge fan of vision boards and truly believe in their manifestation power, if you’re unfamiliar with the concept a quick google will do the trick even here. I also love writing things down and journaling about what I wish to accomplish and again highly recommend this practice too. So finally, what I wish to say to you is, let’s truly go after those dreams, cuz if we don’t they’ll come and bite us in the butt on our death beds.
That’s all for now. Go get em tiger.
Con amor,
Evita
Where to stay in Sayulita
Greetings all,
my apologies for the silence, I escaped Semana Santa and did an amazing trip to Mexico City and ever since I returned I've been pretty slammed with yoga privates & other work.
I've been wanting to write this blog post already for a long while, since this is THE QUESTION I get the most. And as most of you already know, Sayulita is growing very very fast and there are also lots of amazing places to be found on Airbnb or Vrbo. This list is just a selection of my fave places I've hand picked for you to explore as your options for your next trip to Sayulandia.
In no particular order:
Hotelito Los Sueños
Hotelito Los Sueños (the little hotel of dreams) is located on the north end of town in a more quiet neighborhood. It has recently been remodeled with the addition of a second gorgeous HUGE yoga studio (can fit more than 40 people), a second swimming pool and x number of new rooms. The hotel almost feels like a beautiful garden as they've the walls are beautifully covered with wall climbing vines. They also have a smoothie bar and surfboards and bikes for their guests to use. All rooms have AC. Room rates vary from their Premium room (91 USD/night) to their Villa (178 USD/night).
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓ Yoga Studio ✓ @hotelito_los_suenos
Casa Love
Located next to the surf break, Casa Love this gypset styled boutique hotel is your go to if wanting to stay both close to the beach and town centre. The hotel is upstairs from the famous Pachamama Gallery and has a super cute roof deck to check out the surf. This spot has gotten loads of coverage on social media and rightfully so. There are six rooms to choose from, all uniquely decorated with big mandalas and hearts. There's a big living space with a kitchen and colorful hammocks to lounge in. Room rates vary from 90 USD per night to 190 USD per night.
Petit Hotel Hafa
Petit Hotel Hafa is a bohemian Moroccan styled boutique hotel located in town centre just above the famous "Wine Bar" (Le Zoave) and about two blocks from the beach. This family owned hotel has a beautiful roof deck overlooking the town colorfully decorated with vibrant pillows and cactus plants. With 6 different rooms to choose from ranging from 50 USD per night to 85 USD per night, this is the spot if you want to stay in the heart of Sayulita.
AC ✓ @hotelhafasayulita
Amor Boutique Hotel
Amor Boutique Hotel is a luxury hotel located on the south end of the main beach in Sayulita, yet perfectly secluded from the towns hustle and bustle. They offer complimentary daily yoga classes, free use of surf boards and SUP's as well as push bikes. Service on point, great location and stunning oceanfront views with 21 unique villas to choose from. All the villas were built honoring nature leaving big trees growing into some of them (Villa La Paz and Arboles). Room rates starting at 195 USD, if money is not an issue Villa Arboles (850 USD/night) and Villa Romance (850 USD/night) are to die for. Room rates starting at 195 USD/night. All rooms have AC. Definitely the most romantic pick.
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓ Yoga studio ✓ @amorboutiquehotel
Aurinko Bungalows
Aurinko Bungalows is located in the heart of Sayulita, just next to the town plaza. This charming boutique hotel is colorfully decorated with art from local artist and is a family owned business. Last year a wooden yoga studio along with a salt water swimming pool was added to their facilities. This hotel is your green choice as all the water runs through a filter so even the shower water is drinkable! They recently put in a solar panel for them to earn another feather in their cap. Nearly all rooms have AC. Room rates from 90 USD (one bedroom) to 150 USD (two bedroom units). This would be the greenest choice.
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓ Yoga studio ✓
Casa Ilusion
Situated on the north end of town, Casa Ilusion is a premier beachfront house with four bedrooms. The house features its own private beach with high palm trees situated atop a high seawall giving you privacy from the public beach, however if you were to want to frolick by the waters edge, you can easily walk down to the public beach. Another option would be to nap in on of the big hammocks in between the high palm trees. The house went through a huge remodeling just a few years ago, so the house has a very modern feel to it with its new kitchen and bathrooms. High season rental price 1,357 USD/night and Holiday season (Christmas) 2500 USD/night. Not for the budget traveler ;) but a vacay here will definitely we one to remember.
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓ @casailusionsayulita
Villa Pelicanos
Villa Pelicanos is a luxury oceanview property located just next to Los Muertos Beach. The main house of the property is located on the top of the hill providing a breathtaking scenery overlooking Sayulita and the ocean. There is a huge infinity pool along with a beautifully decorated palapa livingroom. This property is best enjoyed with a large group of friends or family that want to spend quality time together but also some privacy in their own casitas. The house can guest up to 14 people with its 7 bedrooms. There are four separate casitas on the property and each one has its own bathroom. There's also a separate casita for the kitchen and dining area. High season price at 1,900 USD per night.
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓ @villapelicanossayulita
Casa Santander
Casa Santander is a beautiful property in downtown Sayulita, just one block away from the beach and town centre. With four different units to choose from, this choice is perfect for the surfer as it's so close to the main surf spot in Sayulita. The property also has a swimming pool overlooking the beach and town. The four units can also be rented in its entirety which makes it a good pick for friends looking to stay together, yet having their own privacy. All rooms have their own kitchens and AC installed. Rates vary from 65 USD a night to 250 USD night depending on size & location.
AC ✓ Swimming pool ✓
Enjoy!
Saludos desde el paraiso,
Eva