Ever find yourself pulling into your driveway and wondering how you got there? Not in an existential way—just literally no memory of the last 15 minutes of driving. Congratulations: you’ve successfully completed autopilot mode. No points deducted.

Posture, Prana, Presence, a 3 minute , 6 seconds listen to…

Or how about that party, where someone is enthusiastically talking at you, you see their lips moving, probably about their new job or a juice cleanse—and you’re nodding, smiling, utterly unaware of the actual topic.
A true masterclass in social camouflage.

And then there’s the Talk. You know the one.
The Important Conversation with a friend or partner where you’re meant to really connect…
But instead, your brain is busy filing taxes, or wondering if you left the stove on, or daydreaming about a slightly better version of this exact conversation.

Being present—it’s hard.
Having your mind and body occupy the same zip code? Practically a superpower.

But here’s the twist: this isn’t your fault.
This beautifully scattered state of being? You came equipped with it.
It’s called Ego—your internal project manager.
Its job? Select, protect, overthink, and occasionally ruin a perfectly good moment with a memory from 2009.
Useful? Absolutely.
Overzealous? Constantly.

And in our era of infinite inputs and existential TikToks, Ego is pulling double shifts.
The cost? Sometimes your soul—spelled S-O-U-L, in case you forgot you had one—gets shoved backstage.

You end up:

• Driving without noticing the trees.
• Partying without seeing the person behind the personality.
• Talking without actually listening.

Posture. Prana. Presence.
It sounds like a yoga poster, but it’s actually the secret handshake for being human.
Stay grounded where you are.
Keep on breathing—not just because it keeps you alive, but because it reminds you that you are alive.
Feel your presence. Seriously. You’re right here. Try not to ghost your own moment.

So here’s the pitch:
Keep your Ego. It’s sharp. It’s efficient. It would make a killing on Wall Street.

Just… don’t let it drive all the time.
Check in. Breathe. Look around. Be in the actual now.

Wishing you a grounded and deep breathing presence in where you are nd what you’re doing right now

Ingrid

To the Body Language of Energy Pilgrim Circle Page 

The post Posture, Prana, Presence appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

a 3 minute and 16 seconds listen to.

Are you truly living life on your own terms?
Or are your choices shaped by habits, trends, and outside influences? Do you follow your own preferences,  buy only what you truly need, eat what genuinely nourishes you? In short: are you truly living the life you choose?

Take a quiet moment and ask yourself who’s really in charge of your life. Grab a pen and write down the first three things you bought, shared, or forwarded lately. Were they your own choices ? Or were they triggered by social media, the news, netflix or a stand up comedian?

Opinions vary of course , but it’s commonly said that we consciously choose only about 5% of our daily actions. The rest? Patterns  and likes we’ve picked up along the way.

In energy medicine, this is called “the habit field”: the things you tend to do; the route you usually take home, the train you always take, the food that is on offer at the supermarket, the clothes that are in season , the (Black Friday) sales you follow; most of it shaped by outside forces—marketeers, trends, influencers (a word I frankly dislike), and societal norms, rather than wat your inner self has to say about it.

Now imagine this: you get a full year away from it all. No ads, no social media, no breaking news, no latest must-haves. Just real, uninterrupted time. What would you do with it?

I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but people who go through a personal crisis often find themselves in exactly that situation, without ever asking for it. And when they look back on this life intervention you’ll ’ll  often hear them say it was a turning point, a wake-up call that made them aware of what truly matters.

So, let’s say you got that clean slate, regardless of your current circumstances. What would you leave behind in your old life? And what would you choose to bring with you in the new?

That question lies at the heart of the Lifestyle Vision Quest I’ll be hosting next Tuesday, the 20th, at the Natural Health Centre in Scheveningen. It’s part of what I call a Pilgrim Circle: a small group of no more than 12 people from all walks of life, coming together to reflect, share, and explore life’s choices in a deeper way.

If that resonates with you as k your search engine to look up thehague-naturalhealthcentre.com , click on the Events page and register for the Lifestyle Vision Quest.

And until then—each time before you go to sleep—ask yourself this:

What choice did my inner me make today that stepped outside the box of habit and expectation?

wishing you a day filled with possibilities,

Ingrid Schippers for Dutchbuzz, the radioprogram for internationals in and around The Hague

The post What to leave behind and what to bring along appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Don’t Offer the Good Biscuits; Abridged version of the spoken end-of-the-program-blog of June 11 2019 for Dutchbuzz; the radio broadcast for Internationals on The Hague FM, every Tuesday from 9-10 when in season.

a 3 minute listen to.

In the world around me I see a lot of angry people. Angry at their governments for taking down perfectly healthy trees to feed the bio mass ovens. Angry about animals in the bio-industry being maltreated. Angry at the present president of the United States, – the one whose name we do not mention.  Angry at multinationals being exempt from paying taxes; while other workers- who earn far less than multinational CEO’s –  are being mauled between the millstones of the Dutch tax system.

And all of this is true! All angry people have every right to be! There is loads of injustice in the world! There are a great many inconsistencies in how things are divided. It is true people who pay mandatory health care premiums die or remain ill because the Dutch healthcare system denies them the care they are entitled to. And again the CEO’s of these insurance companies have million plus yearly salaries. Why? Because they are good at squeezing money out of the system they are part of; rather than good for the people they should be serving. It is all true! And yes the present president of the United States is a blatant liar and totally unfit to rule that office. Future historians and investigators will find he committed more than the just now visible crimes against humanity to serve his own interest and that of the billionaire people in his vicinity; the rich who apparently never have enough.

There’s also local injustice. Politicians lying through their teeth during election-time. Deals behind closed doors. Decisions by civil servants ruining other peoples lives; simply because they can.  All of that happening in your own city; a place where one would expect things to be just; a place that should  be just.

The thing though about targeting the negative is that it tends to take up the place of the positive.  Of course one should object against injustice. Beware however of getting stuck. Remember to also pay attention to the things going right. It is much healthier to put the main focus on the good things of life.   Positivity preserves and multiplies the radiant energies. Put the bad happenings in perspective by approaching them with a good sense of humor like the sign someone held up during the recent state visit in England of you know who;  saying : ‘Dear Queen, don’t offer him the good biscuits’

When we emanate the negative; we attract the negative.  Emanate the positive and attract the positive. This Universal law applies to everything.

So my humble take on this is:

• Humor the negative things
• Understand the Injustice without allowing it to take you Hostage
• Make the Difference
• Be The Change
• Live to Be Grateful
• Evolve into a life changing human being

While there are plenty of Nan Yar-Who Am I cards that fit the bill connected to the subject of replacing the negative with the positive (basically all cards really) I ‘happened’ (do these things really happen by accident?) to bump into a lovely practice presented by Prune Harris; one of the teachers I highly value in Energy Medicine.

This 7 minute meditation helps release emotions that no longer serve you

Wishing you loads of positive vibes and energy

Ingrid

The post Don’t Offer the Good Biscuits appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Audio recording  ‘Who else could have done it?” as broadcasted in the radioprogram for internationals ‘Dutchbuzz’ of May 28  9 pm on Den Haag FM.

Suddenly I see… a 3 minute listen

There are those moments in life where suddenly, while I’m right in the middle of doing something daily-life-like; in between the hustle and bustle of  all the things I feel I need to do and need to get; that the world directly around me seems to fade out and goes into slow-motion just like in the movies. I’m standing in a bubble looking out and see, with harsh clarity, something I had not noticed or realized before.

It happened to me last week as I stood in line at the cash register of a discount drugstore; where loads of things are for sale for less or 3 for the price of 2 or get-one-get-one-free. Everything was beckoning me to buy. It was screaming in my face I had to do it NOW; for it would be for my own good and in my own interest. The products without exception promised me I would profit if I bought them.

At the same time I also noticed how all the products within my range of vision were packed in plastic bottles, tubes or other form of environment unfriendly pollutants.  Without warning my minds eye started to picture the mountain of tossed-away packaging of only this shop alone. Then my mind expanded on the fact that this shop I was standing in, was only one of hundreds of other shops operating under the same franchise; and that in turn this franchise was only one of the hundreds of other franchises selling the same sort of products; of which all the useless packaging would all end up on our societies’ big piles of waste.

I also realized a roughly estimated 90 % of all the products within my eye’s reach were products I do not necessarily need . Perfumes; body glitter, make up,  plastic purple heart- shaped sunglasses, sugared drinks with colorings in them; candy in all sorts and sizes next to weight loss powders; scented candles in green plastic frogs with an open back; plastic flip-flops with plastic daisy ornaments;  all gathered within reach around  a 3 meter radius of the cash register

I had to think of the short time span these products will have; consumed, tossed out or forgotten within days if not hours. How did we let it come this
far? How did we grow to be people who soil their precious habitat and keep on polluting it with the proficiency of ants working their colony, except that ants don’t pollute or ruin the environment their next generations have to live in. And at least ants only use what they need and give back by being scavengers rather than consumers and serve as a nutritious part of the food chain; while most humans have Monsanto to poison them.

Is it just me? Or is it something to notice next time  you stand in line at the discount drug store; and  then maybe just buy what you need and what is good for you?

The card that goes with this is without a doubt Temperance; the card that closes the line reflecting the journey of the soul. Our Souls are not dependent on the matter we buy and consume to identify ourselves with. The Angel on the Temperance card only uses wat It needs and gives back just as much; in perfect balance with the powers that be. It doesn’t abuse and doesn’t sell Itself for no good reason.

To read more, click the card

Wishing you insight and contentment with what comes your way,

Ingrid

The post Suddenly I see appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Over the years the theme of gratitude crossed my path in many ways.  I try to remind myself  to count my blessings. Yet like so many of us, I also tend to get drawn into the every day drama of life, often forgetting in that process how much I have to be grateful for.

I could of course claim this to be the inevitable consequence of living in a world  where many things have yet to change for the better.  But when I point at the outside world only, I overlook my own ability to make a contribution in how I experience life. It’s quite simple really. When I only focus on the negativity surrounding me; my view of the world literally becomes a negative one. When I focus on things to be grateful for, it soothes my heart and relaxes the frown between my eyebrows.

To quote an old Buddhist saying:

We suffer not because we live in the world, we suffer because the world lives in us

Or as, American author and personal development counselor Wayne Dyer puts it:

Most people spend the last minutes before falling asleep thinking about the things that went wrong that day; or how they were wronged by others.  By doing so they program their subconscious to marinate negative feelings all night long and wake up next morning with the effects of it.

The first weeks in January are quite notorious for people waking up in the morning feeling off. After the consuming Christmas holidays, life goes back to normal and back to the barricades. While sipping my morning tea last week in one of those early January moods, my eye fell on a social media post suggesting to take a big glass jar and fill it over the year with notes on things to be grateful for. Empty it by next new years eve and you have a year full of goodness to look back on.

I really liked that suggestion and adopted it with a little twist. Every year for Christmas my children give me a big personalized weekly calendar with little notes, thumbnail pictures and previews of highlights for the coming year to look forward to. In fact last year I had already started to record memorable events, adding small notes on the back pages of my weeks.

For this year, 2019, my resolution is  to write down at least one thing I am grateful for with every passed day in my calendar and use it as my mantra before I go to sleep. I’ll be curious to see how this affects my view on on the world and in effect my contentment in life.

The card that goes with this line of thoughts might well be the  Knight of Gifts; the knight who observes the world from within and decides accordingly what to think, rather than allowing the outside to determine the knights way of thinking. As such it is entirely up to the knight how life unravels itself…

Click the card to learn more and/or draw your own card on the right of this blog,

Wishing you a grateful day,

Ingrid

The abridged spoken version of this spoken blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM’ and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated January 15 , 2019 or click the link below

The post 365 days of gratitude appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Normally I switch off television or radio commercials, but the other day I accidentally fell into the message of a big Dutch supermarket chain urging people to:

Buy more so it will be cheaper.

So what they say is:

Spend more money so it will cost you less.

Which of course is ridiculous. What they really say is :

Buy more than you need so you spend more money on us.

Isn’t it surprising how many people still obey these kind of advertisements and run to the supermarket to actually BUY whatever it is that is so called on offer. Is especially Western Society so brainwashed that we fail to see the seduction?

Supermarkets are like casino’s. They tempt us with what we think we need the most to survive: money.  Meanwhile they take what we are willing to spend.  Their very clever marketing departments promise a chance to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It makes us spend our money on profitable products rather than foods that are wholesome and good. Of  course Dutch government helps by coming up with a plan to double the tax on healthy fruits and vegetables and lower it on unhealthy soft drinks.  Apparently this is better for society, economic health being regarded as more important  than individual health and welfare.

What happened to the good old times when we were thrifty and only bought good quality durable products and only what we needed ? How come many obey to the commands of Lord Economy, and spend their money on things they actually already have in another version? Or lack the nutrients food should represent?

Fortunately things are changing. On social media I see people becoming aware, refusing to buy non-durable products; choosing to eat wholesome foods; moving to smaller houses and decluttering their homes. Cudo’s also for a local  The Hague entrepreneur who celebrated the day of durability last week  by organizing a clothing exchange where people bartered goods instead of buying more for less.

In a way it is so simple: The thing to remember is to

Do As You Like and Be Content With What You Have,

rather than being seduced by the illusion laid out as bait by pocket fillers.

I challenge you to find out for yourself how much is possible by using your own imagination and freedom of choice rather than following the Pied Piper of marketing departments. Give it a week’s try and use your own creativity to buy more for less. You may well be surprised about how good it makes you feel about yourself….

The card that goes with this is ‘The Wheel of Fortune’, or as it is dubbed in The Nan Yar – Who Am I version: Freedom of Choice.  As members of a community we tend to follow the culturally conditioned rules; at times forsaking our our own dreams and goals by doing so. We also use the ‘wheel of fortune card’ at times to escape responsibility by blaming the outside world or individuals other than ourselves for the things that go wrong in our lives.

Remember you are unique and own the birthright to create your own life life in your own world, where you take responsibility for your own actions; for the way you turn the wheel, rather than following the Pied Piper.

Card number X is the third card of 7 cards that represent the path of the soul while on earth, meaning it represents a universal truth that cannot be disguised by the veil of illusion.

To read more, click the card.

Ingrid Schippers, 16-10-2018

Visit my website  to draw your own card or for more information about card readings, either by Skype or in person

More Questions? Mail me at info@energycounseling.nl

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated  October 16, 2018.

The post The Wholesome Spending Challenge appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

In the old days – and by those I  mean the days that we were all still living without the help of multinationals, stock markets or pharmaceutical industries- when we travelled; we did that basically to explore ourselves through exploring the world.

On a personal level the aim was to observe other ways of living in other cultures  and find means of survival in the way one provided for oneself.  A Journey with a capitol J,  during which someone learned to change the world by changing oneself, broadening the horizon in more than one way.  Adolescents from indigenous tribes sometimes still go on this sort of self-quest.  In Australia it is known as Walkabout; a rite of passage to make the transition into adult life.

Back to Stardate 2018, in our consumers society  day and age, the concept of traveling has roughly divided itself into three groups.

• There’s one group of people, youngsters mostly, that pack their backpack and travel to far away countries. The quest to find oneself certainly in the loop here.
• Then there’s another group of travellers, where people expect to be pampered at snow white beaches, cruises and restaurants for affordable prices.
• The third group is sort of a middle of the road group; people going to wellness resorts , hiking the Himalayas or walking the pilgrimage to Santiago; a combination of the quest for Self, while enjoying the hostels and restaurants that have sprouted in a touristy sort of way to accommodate their pilgrims.

Now, while a Walkabout is pretty much a metaphor for the Journey of Life itself; acquiring insights and getting to know oneself better; I can hardly state the same for  going on an all inclusive hotel in some tropical destination; the extreme of version 2 in my overview, indulging in too much sun, drink, dance and food. Even more so I think that modern day tourism is often more an escape from life and oneself, than an exploration into how to expand yourself as a human being.

It is with utter amazement that I watch these programs on televion of young people on Greek islands drinking themselves into a coma, subsequently being treated in the local hospital for alcohol poisoning.  My amazement is build both on the self- destructiveness of these young people as well as the fact that it is shown on television as entertainment. Or is it to warn the public against the evils and degeneracy of the human race? Maybe I missed something.

Another thing that seems to have escaped the pampered tourist’s attention is that flying to and staying in all inclusive hotels in touristy places. causes enormous environmental stress,  not just because of the airplanes and airports but also to the locals who on average aren’t that rich; and now have to pay even more for their daily groceries thanks to the resorts and their lavish menu’s pushing up the prices of local products.

So maybe when planning you next getaway, you might want to reconsider what it is exactly you are looking for? Is it indeed an ‘escape’ or is it a walkabout?

Ingrid Schippers, September 4, 2018

click the Queen of Tools card to read more on its meaning

The abridged spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated September 4 , 2018.

The post Walkabout appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The human body is the vehicle or mindfulness, empathy and willpower.
When we are less comfortable with our bodies; these energies are less comfortable with us.

Today’s Body Language of Energy blog;’ highlights the 5 minute daily Energy Routine, designed by Energy Medicine pioneer Donna Eden; who shares the principles of this knowledge already  for many many  years.

We’ll see two people demonstrating the daily routine; Donna Eden herself and Prune Harris.  Observe, Compare, use them alternately; whatever way feels best for you.
Even when you know the routine through and through; it’s nice to do it under guidance and go with the flow.

When you are more comfortable with your body; your body is more comfortable to contribute something for a better world.

What the Donna Eden 5 minute daily energy routine will do for you:

• Give the energy systems of your body a head start.
  By tapping certain acupressure points on the body, the energies are given a ‘kick-start’  (1 minute)
• Ensures the energies are crossed over.
  Similar to the left hemisphere of the brain guarding the right half of the body and the right hemisphere of the brain guarding the left half of the body; the energies used in daily life are crossed over as well.
  At times however the overwhelming amount of information and impressions we receive on a daily basis, can be stalled out of self protection. This means the energies turn homo lateral (run in the same direction) and in a proverbial sense raise the white flag.
  A simple marching-technique put them ‘straight’ in cross-over position.   (30 seconds)
• Balances the energy-circulation system.
  The energy pathways of your body both nourish and are nourished by each other.  A for instance stress full situation can cause the stress-support-meridian to draw more energy  from the other meridians.
  By balancing this system of give and take, every organ in the body is given a chance to function optimally.
• Protects you against absorbing negative energy.
  On a daily basis we receive many more impressions than we register.  Some of these impressions however do not go by unnoticed in the sense that they leave an imprint on our energies. A negative remark, an unpleasant message or something that keeps coming back in your life and makes you weary.  A simple ‘zip-up’ exercise (taking only a few seconds) prevents negative energy from crawling under your skin.
• Support and increase your emotional and physical resilience
• Help tone down degenerative processes
• Support your well being throughout the day.
  

Enough said, let’s go and do something….:) :

The 5 minute Daily Energy Routine presented by Donna Eden

The Daily Energy Routine with extra’s presented by Prune Harris

Ingrid

The post The Donna Eden Energy Routine. appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Can you imagine yourself doing absolutely nothing for 5 full minutes? I thought it would be a nice challenge for you to try out. Especially women seem to suffer from the always-doing-something affliction, scouting things that still need to be done.  Men apparently have a nothing box that they can go to with a ‘gone fishing’ sign on it; but even then….they’ve gone fishing.

Humans seem to have a problem when it comes to doing absolutely nothing. We have brains that constantly keep us on the go. Just imagine cats or dogs having a brain like that. Would they be able to sleep the amount of hours that they do if they did have the ability to think things over? Cats and dogs react on instinct.

Humans don’t have that convenience. Humans constantly measure, interpret, compare. Everything they see is negotiated. What comes first? How much will I gain? What should I do in order to get what I want?  We are all constantly thinking.

For most people; even when they meditate, they do the meditation. They put on a CD or go to a class and listen to words guiding them to the sanctuary within. A good place to start for sure but also difficult with a consumer society brain that is turned on 24/7, to evaluate things.

A hilarious example from Kripalu Yoga teacher Stephen Cope tells the story of someone who, in the middle of meditation class bursts out in anger after observing the other meditating group members through his eyelashes. It seemed everyone around him was serene and emerged in stillness while his mind kept mulling over all sorts of things from past, present and future. Once he shares his feelings of frustration with the group; the other members admit, they too have difficulty letting go of judgment and evaluation while observing themselves and the thoughts that pass before their minds eye.

A do/think absolutely nothing exercise given to me once by my mentor Cees van der Kroef, was to look at a painting without thinking anything of it. Simply see the painting. Observe it without judging it. You may establish which colors are in it and what it portrays but refrain from having a verdict, such as liking, loving or disliking it.  Step out of Facebook-mode for a while. You’ll find this to be surprisingly difficult but once mastered it’s a wonderful practice that will help you to sit back and relax. Once practiced on paintings; you can move on to situations involving people and stress triggers.
Of course some things are unthinkable and will always trigger emotions, but many of the triggers we respond to on a daily basis are really better left ignored and will thus give some peace of mind.

Conclusion: Switch of your brain when it comes to judgment. The world will become a better place because of it.

Ingrid Schippers, 22-01-2018

 Click on the card to learn more about its background

The spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday  from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated January 23rd 2018

Blog picture: Me at 17 practicing doing absolutely nothing

The post The Do Absolutely Nothing Challenge appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

A friend of mine who celebrated Christmas in England worded it exactly right. In the text message she sent me around midnight of Christmas day she wrote:

“I’m like an enormous beached whale. Finally alone on top of my bed with a scalding hot cup of tea”

Then she continued by sending me pictures of what her family and she had been preparing and eating. It all looked straight out of  Christmas Cooking Glossy.

It supported some thoughts I have been having already for a good number of years. I hardly dare voicing them though. There’s a penalty on being negative about the way we celebrate Christmas. Social media, Christmas specials on television as well as most Hollywood movies, all tell us how merry we should be. Even my own children say I’m a party pooper, when I voice how the way we indulge ourselves when celebrating Christmas in our culture is way over the top and filled with a high degree of decadence.

We’re supposed to be celebrating the birth of someone who allegedly saved humanity and repay that by over-consuming, while most people in the world , including an embarrassing number living right under our consumer-society-noses can’t even afford a nourishing meal.

Another friend posted an interesting hypothesis on this behavior, which said:

“The Problem With Society Isn’t Greed. Greed Is a Symptom of a Deep Need Going Unfulfilled”

Now we have it! Apparently the world isn’t as perfect yet as we thought it was. The post came from a non profit- organisation that goes by the name of films for action. It advocates change in the way we view and treat our world and co-worlders. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks the way commercials and television shows cheat us out of a clear understanding of what the world truly needs.

It is our human right to be informed properly about the state of our world.  Hollywood Movies don’t do that! They give us an illusionary view of what life is like. Television commercials  don’t do that either! They only aim to make us think a certain way to increase the profits of the companies who finance them.  And is what they advertise really what we lack?

My 2 cents? Use 2018 to explore what it is that truly lacks in this our world. Which deep need is going unfulfilled?  Not just in the world but also in all of our individual lives. I grant everyone a Christmas celebration again in 2018 for sure; but not without having thought about what lacks in this world first.

In that context, I wish you a positive, prosperous, content and insightful 2018.

Ingrid Schippers, January 16, 2018

Click on the card to learn more about its background

The spoken version of this blog, features as end note on  ‘Dutchbuzz’, the radio hour for Internationals every Tuesday ( with the exception of summer and Christmas recess) from 10 to 11 pm on ‘Den Haag FM and can be found in the Programme Archive of  the Dutchbuzz podcasts, dated January 16th 2018

The post On Beached Whales and other post Christmas thoughts appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Do you recognize this? When you feel like giving yourself a treat, you go and look for it outside your regular environment? A short getaway to be away for a while? But away from what, one may wonder?

Wouldn’t it be better to change your regular environment? Take a different stand towards your daily routines? Re-apply the energy it takes to do on a daily basis what is expected of you? Or what you think is expected of you? Or what you expect of yourself?

On coming back from their holidays, some people tend to get the holiday blues, with their time-out having been so nice that they are reluctant to return to the daily treadmill.

Todays inhabitants of the fast-moving society, are constantly directed through stress, with adrenaline consistently urging the body to go to its limits. In some ways this is even experienced as pleasurable because the hormones responsible for making us active, also have the added effect of making us feel ‘on top of the world’.

In itself ‘stress’ is a healthy and natural response of the body to take action, a mechanism humanity has tagged along since the dawn of (wo)mankind.

In our hunter and gatherer days ‘stress’ was desperately needed to outrun the sabertooth tiger or hunt for food. But 5000+ year ago, that wasn’t something we did all-day-long.

There was no 70-80 hour ‘saber-tooth-avoiding-working-week’. Nor was there the necessity to be able to buy all sorts of material trophies; possessions of which commerce tells us we can’t live without them.

Yet what do these trophies actually bring us? Peace and quiet? Relaxation time? Can we finally unwind when we have the latest television sets in our rooms to watch the latest news? Or the latest action-movie? Does our daily environment support our self care needs? Or is the balance somewhat off, slowly undermining the constant flow of energy; if you don’t watch it, to a point where you desperately need a holiday…

Maybe it’s time we did what our ancestors did and weave holiday self care into daily life.
The Hunter and Gatherers certainly weren’t hunting and gathering all day. They took their moments in between, made sure they were as comfortable as possible during what was expected of them. They certainly didn’t take a break for a couple of days to be away from it all.

Literally for a start, a simple way to achieve this in today’s world, would be not to jump out of bed immediately after sleep but take some time instead. As if you are on a holiday. Stretch. Take a look out of the window. Take it easy. Make yourself some breakfast. Sit yourself down and observe your environment, like you would on a holiday. Take a few moments entirely for yourself; repeat that a couple of times throughout your day.

Another one is: Don’t rush. If you’re late, you’re late. Being anxious about it does’t change being late. Getting up or leaving 20 minutes earlier,- taking your time-, does.

And it doesn’t require any material trophies.
It’s free! It’s within you and always there when you need it.
It’s the Art of Self Care

Ingrid Schippers, September 6 2016

Visit the other pages of www.energycounseling.nl for information on the Body Language of Energy and Nan Yar – Who Am I personal development Group, Individual and Skype sessions.

To connect send me a mail at info@energycounseling.nl, optionally with a phone number.

And before you leave….draw your own Nan Yar- Who Am I card of the day on the right of this blog. Click the card and let your subconscious do the thinking…

The post The Art of Self-Care appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Description of the featured Nan Yar – Who Am I card: the 4 of Challenges: Patterns

The downside of  the number 4, as number of balance, is that balance can get us stuck in habits that not always serve us as much as we assume they do.
Stepping out if that box can indeed be a Challenge, but is definitely worth a try.

Read about my unusual experience when I took my whole family, including 4 young kids, on a family holiday across the ocean, to a yoga institute, where breakfast was held in silence and daily routine started at 5 am…

Stepping Out Of the Holiday Box

There are these memories that sometimes pop up and make you cringe. ‘How could I ever do that’ they make you wonder.
One of mine popped up this morning when I saw a post on Facebook from a Kripalu yoga teacher.

Kripalu, for those of you not familiar with the institute, is a yoga teacher training center and health resort, located in the mesmerizing Berkely hills of Massachusetts.

I did many a course there and one summer, when our family embarked on an American summer holiday anyway, I dragged all of them with me, 4 kids, then 4,6,8 and 10 years old, and their father.
None of them would have voluntarily checked into a hotel with only vegetarian food and silent breakfast; had it not been for me wanting to do my 5 day Kripalu Yoga methodology course.

I remember feeling guilty, starting my days, after the 6 a.m morning yoga class, walking up and down the corridor from the kitchen to our familyroom, carrying trays of breakfast, so that at least my kids didn’t have to go through the impossible experience of eating in silence.

In retrospect one may wonder if the whole adventure of being there with the whole family should be seen as an act of selfishness. But then their father didn’t want to spent a week alone with the kids during our family holiday and truth be told the surroundings of Kripalu are stunning and step straight out of a American Wildlife Movie.

First of all there is the silence, but for the sounds of nature. The area is vast. One can look in all directions and see no man made structures till as far as the horizon. The beautiful lake Mahkeenac (or The Stockbridge Bowl as it is also called) lies right at the doorstep of the landscaped garden,with  canoes waiting on its beach, for those who feel like experiencing the incredible feeling that overcomes you when you sit in a small canoe, carried by the deep blue waters, surrounded by vast pine tree forests.

Kripalu is a spot on earth that carries a natural magic, a vortex of regenerating energy and renewal. It is said that churches are often build on naturally sacred spots, which explains to me why Kripalu, a former Jesuit novitiate, ended up where it now is.

My children, now 18, 21, 23 and 24, still remark on that unusual holiday, so different from the family hotels or watersport resorts we would otherwise go to.

Sometimes they mock me for having brought them there, just as they would mock my yoga teacher status in their early teenage years, with my occupation in life being somewhat of an exception amidst the bankers, lawyers and captains of industry in The Hague’s Benoordenhout.

At the same time however, the fact that I actually still  hear them remark on that unusual holiday, says something about the memories it installed. Perhaps something to remember while planning this years vacation; to do something out of the box, something a bit out of line with expectation, something to jog the usual holiday experience…

Whatever its going to be…remember….The Art is to EnjoY It.

Ingrid Schippers,  17 June, 2016

This blog will featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of June 28 2016 and can be listened to on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm or on the Dutchbuzz podcast of June 28 2016

Click the 4 of Challenges to read more on the meaning of the card.

The post Stepping Out Of The Holiday Box appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Especially with our world today offering such a diversity of challenges,
daily life can distract us from what really matters to such an extend that we forget to take good care of ourselves.

Breaking news flashes, famous people dying, terrorist attacks, presidential elections fought over in the media;  commercials attracting us into thinking we need certain products in order to be happy, it simply doesn’t stop!
Thousands of impulses a day attack us from television sets, computers,  cellphones, billboards, shop windows and friends who go through exactly the same experience and share that again!

It can make you weary; by the end of the day feeling you’ve done all sorts of things, yet very little of it had to do with you.
Eventually, when you have many of these days in row, body, mind and spirit start to protest. They start to feel drained, perhaps even to a point where certain ailments start to surface, physical aches, colds, lack of resistance, mental issues, feeling wobbly, mental tiredness.
As a result; the next day like this, will take up even more energy to perform.

One option to escape this vicious circle  is to take a break, go on a holiday.
Unfortunately this is only a short term solution, for after the holiday it’s back to normal and the same cycles start all over again

Holidays are also infamous for fatigue that finally gets a chance to surface once daily pressure falls away, igniting anything ranging from mild irritability to illness and escape into excess drinking or eating.
Or holidays can be overshadowed by an inability to actually enjoY being away from it all, as too little energy  is left to do that.

So….what we can we do to break this cycle?

When ever I catch myself reading my mails or watching the news straight after waking up;
or spending too many hours behind my computer;
or using my time off to meet dead lines rather than relax;
then I know its time to think of our ancestors, the hunter and gatherers, who had to live without holidays, who couldn’t break the vicious cycle by going away for a few days and had to regenerate on a daily basis in order to stay tuned.

Suppose they would have jumped out of their animal hide beds first thing in the morning;
pick up their spears and start hunting and gathering for 8 hours or more, 5 days a week or more;
how long do think they would have survived?
And they didn’t even have commercials, presidential candidate debates, terrorist attacks or breaking news from all over the world thrown at them many many times a day.

So what did these people do differently from modern day men and women?
The answer is: they took their time and created their own space.
They took care of themselves while life was happening; nourished their needs on a daily basis, wove relaxation into every day activities; integrated well being into their daily life occupation no matter where they were went or what they did.

In my next blog I’ll reveal what our hunter and gatherer ancestors did to keep fit during daily life, using their own body language and their own healing powers.

Ingrid Schippers Friday 6 May, 2016

This blog is featured as spoken end note of the Dutchbuzz edition of May 10th 2016 and can be listened to on The Hague FM from 10.00 tot 11.00 pm or on the Dutchbuzz podcast of May 10 2016

The post Paleo Fitness: The Bodylanguage of Energy appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

While it  can seem nice, to mutter and moan openly about things one doesn’t like, there’s a catch to living in a free country and being able to say what you think. That catch being that merely complaining about something, without doing anything constructive about it, makes you a conspirator in what you are complaining about.

In short: being negative about the world you live in, generates negative energy in return.
Let me try and explain this with an example.

Suppose someone in traffic for instance lifts the middle finger at you, and you, getting angry , lift the middle finger in return. What you’re left with is two people lifting middle fingers at each other, NOT making a pretty picture in the middle of traffic.
So what can you do to change that situation?

You could smile for one.  I’ve noticed it takes people completely of guard. By reacting the opposite way of how they feel, you take away their leading role in the situation.
A friendly wave is a very effective tool in that context as well.

Now, you perhaps think I must be getting a lot of middle fingers raised at me when I’m so knowledgeable about the subject,  but here’s the interesting thing;
Ever since I began to understand that getting angry in return only creates more adversity, I hardly have any problems in traffic, or in other situations for that matter, for I’ve learned to turn away from the source of my anxiety.

There’s this ancient wisdom in the legend of the Archangel Michael fighting the Dragon. While he effectively fights the dragon, he doesnt look him in the eye while he fights him. The dragon’s anger does not become Michael’s anger. Michael fights the Dragon but doesn’t merge with its state of mind.  Instead, he stands above it.  That is a piece of wisdom with huge consequences, not to be drawn into the negativity somebody else is trying to impose on you, resisting the temptation to be drawn into other peoples feelings. It’s a challenge, but possible.

Test it once when a friend blames you for something you think differently about or when a relative, boss or teacher showers you in reproach; ask yourself: “Is this what I want to be part of?”

I predict that even merely becoming conscious of the fact you’re being lured into the story line of somebody else, will summon up a smile.

Ingrid Schippers 8 March 2016

This blog is recorded as weekly end-note of Dutchbuzz.nl, the radio program for internationals, every Tuesday on The Hague FM from 10 to 11 pm. All programs are archived at Dutchbuzz.nl.

The post The Catch of Complaining appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

‘Mindfulness’ is an ancient human capacity, that was rediscovered , much like Yoga, Tai Chi, Energy Medicine and other ancient forms of healing, in the course of the 20th century.
It came back into the Western world in all sorts of new publications, courses and seminars which, fortunately I might add, resonated with many people.

It was about time The Art of Being Mindful should surface from the vaults of what makes us human; especially in this day and age, where materialism is rife, together with the tendency to measure accomplishments in money rather than the ability to care about ourselves, one and other and the world that surrounds us.

‘Mindfullness’ has been around as long as humanity.
It is an ability that resides within every human being.
As with everything else, the mechanism of mindfulness, starts to work, when opening up to the principles of it and change our ways of thinking from defining how much things ‘cost’ to what they can bring us to be grateful for.

This is exactly why it is so necessary at this point in human evolution to bring the Art of Being Mindful back to our conscious thinking and make the world a little bit of a better place.

Being mindful goes beyond the pleasantries of buying someone flowers to say thank you or sorry or commemorate a special event. Being Mindful is about communicating from the heart rather than in terms of matter; respecting the feelings of others as much as you would your own, about minding the world as much as we would our own backyards.

At the same time, it is as simple as putting garbage in a garbage-can rather than toss it out the car window or on the pavement which is there for all of us to walk on.
It is as simple as helping somebody cross a busy street;
It reflects in the simple act of taking good care of yourself, taking a few minutes in the morning to do your stretches, giving yourself the pleasure of supporting your available flow of energy throughout the day.
It is as simple as taking a break before you get too tired;
As simple as making yourself a proper meal rather than eating ‘fast food’
As simple as saying thank when you feel grateful;
As simple as taking the time to listen,when someone has something to say.
You’ll find that in exchange for what you have to offer the world gives back to you.

Mindfulness is about investing in the positive rather than the negative, about being assertive in a mindful way.
Most of all…mindfulness is unconditional;
the ability be cared for without feeling you need to deserve it first
as well as the ability to care without expecting anything in return.
That is what makes the world go around.

Ingrid Schippers, 29-02-2016

This blog is recorded as weekly end-note of Dutchbuzz.nl, the radio program for internationals, every Tuesday on The Hague FM from 10 to 11 pm. All programs are archived at Dutchbuzz.nl.

The post Mindful over Matter appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.