But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything

--- Alan Watts

Daily Tarot 

Thank you 2014

2014 -
A year with lots of quiet, support, painful growth, abundance, change, stillness, and new insights.

A couple of memorable moments in 2014:

The best New Years Eve 2013 - 2014 happend with beautiful friends manifesting the New Year with Tarot readings.
10 Days of Deep meditation lying totally flat (literally) at the hospital after a complicated spinal puncture. What a journey.
Dream It Yoga Collaboration with one of the most precious souls on Earth: Fatima

The yearly Celebrate retreat at Crete with my yoga brother Surya.

Crete is forever magic and it became even more magic when I had an surprise visitor coming to stay with me. Jannik will never stop surprising me. Deep love.
Lazy summer Days in Skåne with my favourite person.
Bordeaux and Silent Retreat together with Fatima. New insights and so close to center.
Crystal clear meditation.
Restore and Revitalize yogaretreat in Tuscany late Sept. So much love and beauty.
And all everyday moments in- between days
The best x-mas and ending of the year happend. In a cabin at the countryside in Värmland Sweden.

I´m grateful for every person in my Life. Thank YOU.


2014, thanks for holding me. For guiding me in right direction.

2015, I believe in Miracles

 ♥ ♥ ♥ Namaste.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

~ Viktor E. Frankl

www.rommelyoga.no

Beyond - "Holy Men of India"

I´ve seen this film many times and everytime I´m as facinated like the first time I ever saw it.
Altough I´ve been studying the concept of sadhus and it`s a lot of different meanings around their purpose out there.

I encourage you to watch this. 43 minutes. And then meditate :)
And here is a link to the photoserie ( and also the video ) :
Beyond

"BEYOND"
is an exclusive documentary featuring photographer Joey L. Set in Varanasi, India. The documentary by filmmaker Cale Glendening follows Joey and his assistant Ryan as they complete their latest photo series- "Holy Men."

Almost every major religion breeds ascetics; wandering monks who have renounced all earthly possessions, dedicating their lives to the pursuit of spiritual liberation.Their reality is dictated only by the mind, not material objects. Even death is not a fearsome concept, but a passing from the world of illusion.

The photographer largely focused on the Aghori, an intense sect of Sadhu who overcome all things that are considered taboo. “They may meditate on corpses, eat human flesh as part of a sacred ritual, or keep a skull as a reminder of the impermanence of life,”

Time for Tuscany

It´s a privilige to teach, breathe and share my yoga in this beautiful area once again.
Blessed be the Universe

Restore & Revitalize 2013

Going into Silence

s t i l l n e s s

“There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.”

 ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

this beauty made my day -thank you

“If you think you are enlightened; go home for Thanksgiving.”

Ram Dass 

be humble

Playlist Crete summer 2014

Ed Sheeran - I See Fire
Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi- Jonas Kvarnström
Azawade - The Touré-Raichel Collective
10 Laws -  East Forest
Crazy (Nôze Remix)   -Ornette Body Language
Govinda - Atman Eternal Dance
Only - Ormatie Balance (Mixed By Nick Warren)
Hanging On - Active Child You Are All I See
Optimist (Live)  -Zoë Keating Into the Trees
Satnam Sri Wahe Guru (Kirtan) -  Jagjit Singh Mitr Pyare
Temple Prayer - MC Yogi
I´m on fire - Bruce Springsteen
Guru Mantra (feat. Marti Nikko) - DJ Drez Jahta Beat: The Lotus Memoirs
Magic Mantra-Ek Ong Kar Satgur Prasad - SatKirin Kaur Khalsa Lightness of Being
Earthgarden  - Nada Butterfly Dawn
Crazy Heart - Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor Call of the Mystic
Gobinday Mukunday-  Spirit Voyage Artists Yoga Living Series
Peaceful Pathways  Desert Dwellers Asudha - Yoga Dub Grooves Electronic 
Fields of Gold - Eva Cassidy
Kärleksvisan- Sarah Dawn Finer
Oh, Why - Balam Acab Wander
Flying-  Garth Stevenson Flying
Durga Gayatri Mantra- Shiuli Subaya Raa Maa
Om Tryambakam- Indiajiva Universal Mother
Power of Prayer (so Purkh) -Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa Kundalini
Pranayama - Baird Hersey & Prana The Eternal Embrace
Shiva Shambo  - Buvana Songs of Light: Bhajans & Mantras
Mul Mantra -  Joseph Michael Levry Somethin' Else Mantra

The art of life is to stay wide open and be vulnerable, yet at the same time to sit with the mystery and the awe and with the unbearable pain — to just be with it all

-- Ram Dass

Always Time for Abhyanga

Abhyanga अभ्यंग or अभ्यङ्ग in Sanskrit,
(ayurvedic self oil massage)  is a wonderful way to show yourself some sweet love.
Makes you glow from the inside.

Benefits:

• Cleansing your body (detoxify)  
• Nourishes mind and body
• Rejuvenates the whole body
• Increases longevity
• Delays aging
• Relives fatigue
• Builds stamina
• Increased circulation
• Toning of the muscles
• Calming for the nerves
• Lubrication of the joints
• Increased mental alertness
• Softer, smoother skin
• Better, deeper sleep at night
•  Pacifies vata and pitta

How to Do Abhyanga, a Self Massage with Warm Oil ( Banyan Botanicals )

Yoga retreats in Italy

Today I felt a tiny moment of Spring in the air. 
Sky a little bit brighter.
I saw snowdrops who survived their way from the Earth and stretched up into the light.
I had a moment of nostalgia. 
Springtime. 

You are invited to join me in Tuscany this Spring. 
I will return to beautiful Il Casone in Val d`Orcia Pienza 
Rise and Reconnect May 18 - 25
Yoga, meditation, contemplation and damn good coffee.

It is a journey for all your senses.
An awakening for your body. 
Turn your heart towards the sun.

See event on Facebook: Rise & Reconnect YogaRetreat

For more information, or questions, please contact maria@rommelyoga.no

If you wanna retreat and nourish yourself during fall, you are invited to join me for
Restore and Revitalize  Sep 21-28 2014 
The yoga and coffee are the same but the figs are ripe and ready to eat directly from the trees :)

Yoga Retreat 2013

Mercury Retrograde

Mercury goes Retrograde February 6–28 in Pisces then Aquarius.

Mercury is both a Magician and a Trickster.
There's magic if we listen carefully.
And opposite - it is like slipping on a banana peel if we not listen and rebel against the flow.

This happens three to four times per year, when the planet Mercury slows down, and appears to stop (station) and move backward (retrograde).
It's an optical illusion, since there is forward movement, like speeding by a slow-moving train -- as it recedes, it appears to go backward.

Mercury is the planet of communication, and more broadly, it rules connections of all kinds.

Under any ‘Retrograde Phase’  it is wise to get more rest, sleep and rejuvenate. 
This is truly a time to slow down.
In this case it is the ‘Mental Energy’ and mind that requires rest. 
If you rebel against it, it is possible to become more irritable, impatient and create more confusion.


This is also a time of feeling a lot, and very deeply. Allow your feelings and review of emotional experiences and growth to lead you to decisions and actions that result in a review of what we know or how we perceive things.

Don't assume that the other person is "on the same page" that you are.

Miscommunications are very common, and what you think was communicated may not be what was actually heard.

Double check everything, and be prepared for surprises and delays.

Stay flexible as much as possible.

Give your brain a holiday by spending some time in your Right-Brain :)

You can read more of this insights here: mysticmamma.com

Värmland

S U R R E N D E R - and unfold your true Nature

A certain darkness is needed to see the stars

Osho

Sognsvann Stillness

"When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."


~Harriet Beecher Stowe

Soft Vrikshasana - India Mandrem Beach 2011

Ganesh

I bow to Ganesh with the beautiful potbelly.
Thanks for always guiding me.

Ganesha ( also spelled Ganesa, also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka)
is immediately recognizable as the elephant-headed god.

Ganesh is the master of wisdom and knowledge.
He is the remover of obstacles, and guardian of beauty, prosperity, grace and compassion.
Ganesh is the first deity to be reverenced in Hindu rites and a guardian of doors of houses and temples.
He is the God that removes the internal and external obstacles of our success, and he is the one that grants the opening of our spiritual gifts.
Ganesh is the Lord of Beginnings and also the protector of all beings.

His mantra is Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha. 
This particular mantra which can be loosely translated to :
Yo! Wake up the energy of transformation so I can move through any obstacles in my life. Hooray!
Most importantly, we are calling upon the powerful energy of Ganesh.
  
Click to listen:  Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha. 


A very loose translation might be:
Om = Salutations! Everyone wake up!
Gam = The secret power sound of Ganesh. It is his “seed syllable” or bija mantra.
Ganapataye = Another name of Ganesh, the breaker of obstacles.
Namaha = Yo! Ganesh! You da God!
 

Ganesh - India 2011

This view

Imagine see this magnificant view over Mount Amiata every morning?
And meditate with the energy of Her.
So precious.

I recognize how easy it is to get used to daily impressions.
I see the same woman smoking her cigarettes in the window across the street every day.
The sky from my bedroom in early mornings.
The roses in the backyard.
And so on.
While teaching a retreat in Tuscany a couple of weeks ago I could indulge in this amazing view over sacred Monte Amiata every day.
I just couldn`t get enough of "her". I could drink this view throughout the day and night.
I´m quite sure I get used to it if I lived there. Maybe.
Or maybe I would indulge and merge with her as often and amazed as I did the ten days I had there.
Who know?

I will remind myself to look around and see my usual  surroundings with even more curiousity.
With childlike wonder.
With presence.
And allow myself to be moved and touched by the everydays Beauty.