We Are All Connected!

This year has been full of changes, challenges and difficulties for all of us. One thing is certain in these uncertain times and that is that we are all experiencing fear, struggle and pain. The fact that we are bound together by our shared circumstances and emotions, is actually quite beautiful.

Most studios around the world had to close due to the pandemic and are still closed or closed for good. As the world was forced to go online, zoom meetings became an alternative way of staying connected. The yoga world was no different.

This transition has been a beautiful, and in my opinion also a revolutionary, way to stay connected with fellow students from around the world; in my case, also with some of my favorite yoga teachers who are in Istanbul or London.

The online yoga classes have given me the opportunity to keep on practicing with my favorite teachers regardless of where I am, as long as I have a good internet connection:)). I have had the opportunity to join a 30-hour Rocket yoga training with a teacher from London. In that training I had some beautiful experiences with people I have never met before, who were able to open up and reveal some of their innermost fears, struggles and experiences.

In the training we talked about “the five kleshas,“ which come from yoga philosophy. The five Kleshas are the root causes of pain and suffering and are avidya (ignorance), asmita (selfishness), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion) and abhinivesha (fear).

THE FIVE KLESHAS BY PATANJALI

In the training we each had to chose one of the kleshas and write about it from a personal perspective.

People from Italy, Spain, England, Israel and other countries shared their chosen klesha, which turned into a beautiful, vulnerable and honest conversation, which in turn inspired me to write this article. From heartbreak, losing a loved one, feeling pressure through social media and to identity crises, everyone had their unique story and they were all stories and feelings that I could relate to.

This deep sharing showed me that WE ALL struggle, go through hardships, experience pain, have self-doubt and live in fear. WE ARE NOT ALONE!

There is a beautiful quote by H. Jackson Brown Jr., “Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.”

It often feels like we are so different from each other, but when we look at it, we are not that different at all. We are all human with the same needs, the same desires and the same feelings.

Yes, some of us might go through harder times than others, but the underlying feelings are the same. I personally have struggled with insecurities, not feeling good enough through my work as a model, while on the outside people might think I must feel super confident.

It was precious to be able to connect and share common ground with so many people from around the world.

What can we practice more?

Non-judgement: “Live and let live“

Practicing non-judgement helps us to stay open, it creates inner peace and helps us to appreciate the beauty in ourselves and others.

No one is perfect, so it’s difficult to free ourselves from judgements, but by increasing our awareness of when we are being judgmental (against ourselves included) is already a good step in the right direction.

In the end, when we judge others, it only creates a negative feeling inside of us and we end up hurting ourselves the most.

Kindness and compassion

Remember: We don’t know what a person has experienced or why they act how they do.

This should not be an excuse when a person acts poorly, but it creates space for a deeper understanding, connection and forgiveness.

How often have we been too hard on ourselves? It’s easily overlooked. BUT, being kind to ourselves is just as important!

It can feel difficult to practice kindness in challenging situations. When we choose to respond with kindness, we often make the best decisions, both for ourselves and others.

Listen

“The greatest gift is to give someone your undivided attention.“

It is so easy to get distracted nowadays, everyone is on their phone and has a tight schedule with a long to-do list, while listening with half an ear.

What if we would practice to truly listen to another? Practice to be fully present with another person? THIS is powerful!

Often we don't need to say a lot, actions speak louder than words. By being fully present with another person we communicate “Hey, I am there for you, I hear you, I see you.“ This is something we all need to feel.

This is something we are being asked to practice more, to pause, to listen to one another and to listen to ourselves.

SHARE YOURSELF!

Finally, dare to be yourself and share yourself with the world.

If you are being truthful, vulnerable and honest, then you will inspire others to be the same.

Thanks for reading!

Make Connecting To Yourself A Priority

Stop for a second, take a breath and ask yourself: “What makes me feel connected to my- self?“ Maybe, it’s reading, writing, yoga, meditation, cooking or being in nature... It can be anything that helps you to recharge yourself.

You will realize that it’s often the simple things and yet, it’s exactly these simple things that fill up your cup with energy; which is WHY it is important to integrate them into your daily routine even if it’s only ten minutes per day, YOU DESERVE IT!

Was there ever a time when you felt guilty or bad that you took time for yourself questioned if you were being selfish? Often times, we want to take care of ourselves, but it takes a back seat and we put others first. A simple “no“ to a friend or family member can easily leave you with a guilty conscience.

We all live such busy lives and on top of that, making sure that we have time for family and friends, it’s normal to feel disconnected from ourselves.

Why make connecting to yourself a priority?

Remember that you can’t pour from an empty cup. So the question becomes, how to fill you cup back up?! How does making yourself top up your energetic cup?

1. It grounds you and helps to clear your mind.

2. It will have a positive impact on everything in your life. If you feel happy, content and recharged, your friends and family will feel it. You will naturally be more accepting and compassionate, to yourself and others.

3. It’s a way to get to know yourself better. You will start to figure out what moves you? What drives you? What scares you? Time for yourself creates the space needed to remove the layers that block you from seeing your deeper Self!

4. Showing up for yourself! It can feel empowering to make space for yourself daily. It means that you are setting boundaries and protecting your own energy.

5. Your physical health will benefit. If you make time for yourself, your overall awareness will increase which can lead to better life-choices.

Time for myself

with Coffee and good books

How to integrate it into your day?

1. Schedule it! When you schedule things, you are more likely to do them.

2. Put your alarm earlier. Your morning sets the tone for the day ahead. If you can fill your morning with something that makes you feel good, you will benefit from it throughout the day. Even fifteen minutes that you usually don’t have will give you more time to sit down, drink your coffee and read something that inspires you! TRY IT!

3. Date yourself. I once read the book “The artist way“ by Julia Cameron, where she suggested having a date with yourself once a week. On that “date“ you can do anything you feel like doing, visit an exhibition, go for a hike, eat out in a restaurant, it can be anything. It should help you get deeper in touch with yourself, refresh, make space for creativity and new ideas.

4. Write little reminders. Remind yourself to take time for yourself. You can place sti- ckers in your house that say “go out for a walk“ or “yoga practice at 9 am“ or “cook a delicious curry.” Simple reminders that help you not to skip your self-care practice. You can also add reminders on your phone (but something handwritten can be beautiful as it’s so rare nowadays).

5. Stay in the now. Try to practice to be more aware and bring yourself back to the now wherever you are. The mind is mostly in the past or future, but rarely in the now. How can you bring yourself back to the now? Focus on your breath (you can include breathing exercise like inhale for five and exhale for ten; concentrate on the inner aliveness of your body (feel your heartbeat and vibrancy in your body); feel your feet on the ground. The body is a powerful instrument that is always present (whereas the mind is not)! Connect to your body to become more present!

Things to keep in mind.

Self-care isn't selfish.

Being selfish means that you only have your own advantage in mind and eventually hurt or harm other people with your actions. Whereas self-care is to replenish yourself, without causing damage to another person. Like I mentioned above, self-care is necessary to build strength from within and therefore you have more energy to give to others.

There is no right or wrong way, do whatever makes you feel good.

What are you craving? What brings you joy? What makes you smile? What warms your heart? Listen and focus on yourself and don’t worry about what others think.

Doing nothing is also doing something

You don't necessarily have to do something, to recharge yourself. Sometimes just sitting, breathing and JUST BEING is enough!

It’s okay if you don’t feel at your best every day

Every day is different, filled with challenges, experiences and different circumstances. You will have stressful days, where you feel tired, exhausted and feel like doing nothing... and that’s okay! Exactly in these moments, you should have compassion for yourself as you would have for a family member or friend. The goal is not to be perfect, it is to thrive, to grow, to take good care of yourself, give it your best, ENJOY life and have fun!

These guidelines are just some suggestions to inspire your internal conversation with Self; do whatever works for you and remember that the smallest change in the right place and at the right time can have the biggest impact!

Take care!

What Modelling Taught Me

I started modelling when I was about fifteen/sixteen (relatively young if I look back at it now); I didn't know very much about the fashion industry, so I felt like I was thrown into the deep end. 

I remember running around the first time in Paris with my dad to visit various agencies. I slipped into my high heels on the street, while he was holding my sneakers and waited for me downstairs. 

Modelling came with many blessings, experiences, adventures but also challenges, which were not always easy to overcome (especially at that young age where I didn't even know who I was). 

These challenges took an enormous part in my growth process and taught me valuable lessons that I would like to share.

Modelling is not who I am 

I am not a model; modelling is something I do… it's not WHO I AM. 

Often I observed myself how modelling affected my mood and the way I felt about myself, which was quite depressing.

I clung my self-worth to modelling and therefore gave it too much power over me. I bound my feeling and mood up to my work, which made it an emotional rollercoaster.

I realized that identifying myself and trying to find myself through modelling (or anything else that I do) didn't work and wasn't the answer.

Which eventually lead me to another path: to look inward. 

"Who am I? ", "What do I like? ", "What do I wish for myself? ", "What brings me joy? ", "Where do I see myself? "

I've been on that self-exploration journey for a few years now, which was a game-changer. It increased my overall awareness and filled my life with more meaning. 

I needed to distance myself from modelling and see it for what it is: It's a temporary gift to work as a model, and I can use it as a tool to support me, connect me with creative people and explore the world.

Never give up 

As a Model, I had to get used to being criticized, judged and rejected daily. I always had to recreate my belief in myself. 

There were moments where I wanted a job so badly but didn't get it, which left me with a feeling of disappointment and being a failure. It triggered beliefs like "I am not good enough ", "I am not beautiful enough "or "I am not worth this job. " 

Modelling triggered me to doubt myself, my beauty, my abilities, my self-worth, and this doesn't count only for me.

I have seen countless beautiful girls with beautiful skin, hair and body's… blessed with their appearance, where an outside person would think: "They've got it all. " 

Well, I have seen many of these girls being depressed and doubt themselves; they didn't shine. People might think models are super confident (arrogance is another stereotype), but they often struggle with insecurities. 

Cameron Russell (a successful model who walked shows like Victoria's Secret), said in her Ted talk "Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model" that she feels Insecure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y

"Rejection "is a natural part of the fashion industry, and you can either let it break you or built you up. 

I learnt through that process to take nothing personal!

Don't get me wrong, I still take things personally, and it's easier said than done, but I realized the importance of constant practice to let go of the habit of taking things personally. Why? It's the best and healthiest way to respond; it protects me from overthinking and holds space for a feeling of peace. 

Over time, I've learnt that I have the power of choice: "Do I want to give my power away and let other people define my self-worth? ", "How I feel about myself? ", "What's possible for me? "(This also counts for everyday life and every person I encounter with not just modeling).

I have to meet myself with kindness, show up for myself, built myself up, give myself the validation and appreciation that I wish.

Acceptance 

Eckhart Tolle said in his book "A New Earth ": "Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it. That peace is a subtle energy vibration which then flows into what you do. "

A job didn't confirm, and things didn't go the way I wanted them to go, my expectations aren't met… I can either be upset about it (which doesn't serve a purpose and will eventually hurt me even more) or practice to accept what is in front of me and go from there. 

It doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with, appreciate or am happy about what has happened, but acceptance opens the door to let go and trust that something else awaits me.

Yoga, meditation, reading books (highly recommend "A New Earth "by Eckhart Tolle) taught me a conscious way to respond, and it is still a daily practice.

It helps me to feel more peaceful, content and happy regardless of the circumstances.

Follow your own path

Travelling on my own, meeting people from different backgrounds, having all kind of professions showed me that there is not only one way, but there is also no right or wrong… there is only YOUR way. 

Modelling and travelling on my own gave me a lot of freedom to discover and explore myself. It helped me to broaden my horizon and changed my perspective. 

It also taught me that everything is interconnected (people, places, events in life), and all the experiences moved me from one place to another. 

Growing up in an industry which is mainly superficial and can often feel quite empty lead me to discover yoga (first when I went to Sydney for work), which provided me with a deeper meaning in my life. 

Yoga helped me to deeper connection to myself, look inward and get in touch with myself. 

One thing that I've discovered is that nothing external will ever solve anything that is going on inside! 

My life is maybe not considered to be "the norm ", but I chose for myself to build a meaningful life, follow my feeling, look within and follow my path. 

I believe that everything is here to teach us and no matter which profession you are in or what you are doing in your life, it's all an invitation to learn and grow if you let it.

My friend once told me "Wisdom differs from knowledge; wisdom is what you learn out of an experience. "

P.S. Don't be too hard on yourself (It's my daily challenge) ;)

How to Start Yoga

“I am not flexible,“ “I can’t sit still“ or “I don’t have time.“

It seems easier to find the reason WHY NOT to start yoga than it is to find a reason WHY to start.

Common scene in a yoga class: one person sits relaxed in a full split while other people chill on the couch or another person is upside down... I understand that it be frightening to start yoga at first. I’ve been there and I still compare my practice from time to time to “super yogis“.

Yoga is not a competition of who is the strongest or the most flexible. It’s your own individual journey (even though you often practice yoga as a collective).

We are all unique, and so is our body!

We have different limitations and “weaknesses“ which we can work on individually. The most important is to realize that we can work through our limitations and outgrow our weaknesses, that’s the practice!

Sign up in a studio

Most common way: research local yoga studios, check them out and find one that resonates with you.
Signing up in a yoga studio can be a good motivation to be consistent in your practice.

The teacher can guide you, adjust you and answer questions if you have some. Usually studios offer beginner classes, which I recommend to visit first.

While other people find it motivating to practice with other people, other people might find it intimidating.

My advice: Let go of comparison!

Everybody visits a yoga class for a different reason and is at a different stage in their practice and their life... also, it doesn’t matter what other people are doing, the most important thing is that you are showing up on the mat... for YOURSELF.

Yoga isn’t about your physical performance, it is what you take from it and practice off the mat. I wrote an article “5 things yoga taught me“ to give you a deeper inside of my yoga experience, check it out, it might inspire you.

Start with Youtube Videos

Thanks to the Internet... you can find many yoga tutorials and flows (for every level) on YouTube, the best things it’s for free!

I still practice with YouTube videos. I save money and time, since I don’t have to travel to the studio.

Especially in Corona times, I appreciated the possibility to train online even more. It’s not the same feeling like going to a yoga studio, but it’s a good option and sometimes, the only option.

Here are some of my favorite channels for yoga:
- Boho beautiful: She offers yoga and pilates flows for all levels, beautiful mediations (I love her voice), videos about their travel experiences and vegan food tutorials.
- Chris Chavez: I did my yoga teacher training with him in Istanbul, he offers tutorials, full yoga classes from 75 up to 90 mins (All-levels, Intermediate and Advanced practice)
- Alomoves: They upload free yoga flows as a trial on youtube and offer full online classes on their website alomoves.com
- Mady Morrison: For my German readers

These are the main channels that I use for my yoga practice. There are plenty of other channels, just research and find a teacher that resonates with you.

Online classes and subscriptions

Many studios offer online classes via zoom or other programs, which you can join from anywhere in the world.

Especially during the lockdown, there was a massive increase of studios and teachers going online.

It is a beautiful way to stay connected!

From Germany and London, I was and still am able to join my mentor’s (Chris Chavez - Cihangir Yoga) classes who is based in Istanbul.

Studios or teachers offer online programs for beginners (check out Boho beautiful or doyouyoga).

Many website offer online subscriptions for daily yoga classes (My tips: alomoves, yoga international or glo).

The good thing about practicing online is that you are able to try out various styles like vinyasa yoga, hatha yoga, yin yoga, kundalini yoga and many more.

Research essential yoga poses for beginners

It is helpful to read about the basic yoga asanas (postures). It makes it easier to follow through the class. The traditional names of the asanas are in Sanskrit (not every teacher uses the Sanskrit names), but it makes sense to get familiar with the traditional names and the translation.

Here are some of the most important yoga asanas for beginners, which I recommend researching about:
- Surya Namaskar/Sun Salutations (there are two called Surya Namaskar A and B, it is enough to be familiar with Surya Namaskar A as a beginner) is part of almost every yoga class. It is a series that warms, strengthens and aligns the entire body. Sun Salutations are mainly used in the beginning of a class.
- Tadasana/Mountain pose: Is the base for all standing poses
- Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward facing dog: It’s part of almost every yoga sequence and
often used as a transition posture
- Bhujangasana/Cobra
- Urdhva mukha svanasana/Upward facing dog
- Uttanasana/Forward fold
- Falakasana/Plank
- Chaturanga Dandasana/four-limbed staff pose: It is part of the sun salutation, I recommend to
watch some online videos
- Virabhadrasana I/ Warrior I
- Virabhadrasana II/ Warrior II: It's a good starting point for many side postures
- Uttitha Parvakonasana/Extended side angle pose
- Trikonasana/ Triangle pose
- Paschmottanasana/seated forward bend
- Savasana/Corpse pose: Its always the last asana of the class. It is a pose of total relaxation,
which makes it one of the most challenging

Don't worry! It might seem a lot at first, but the main asanas are mostly part of every sequence and you will get familiar with them quite fast. Repetition makes the master!

My last advice is to find a “Yoga buddy,“ a friend who can start yoga with you. It is fun, a good motivation and beautiful to start this journey with someone if you feel intimidated to go alone.

Yoga is a gift for everyone and you will feel the benefits over time.

Let it unfold and enjoy the process!

From The Inside Out: An Interview with Model and Empowerment Coach Elles Ottens

Beneath the surface: a series that reveals the deeper beauty of models

What words come to mind, when you hear the word “model?” Most likely, words like “beautiful,” “tall” and “skinny” right?

Through this series, I would like to remove the surface-layer, from the often superficial view that we all have of models, and show the person behind the glossy photos. Through a series of interview questions, I would like to reveal a type of beauty that is often overlooked — inner-beauty!

This time I had the pleasure to interview the inspiring and beautiful Elles Ottens for my writing series: “beneath the surface: a series that reveals the deeper beauty of models.”

Elles is from the Netherlands and is 25 years old. She is a TEDx speaker, empowerment coach (certified as life coach, hypnotherapist and RTT therapist) and has 7 years of working experience in the fashion industry as a model.

After having worked full-time as a fashion model for many years, Elles is nowadays mainly focusing on her career as an empowerment coach. It is her mission to help ambitious models break through limiting beliefs, gain confidence in their own abilities and follow their purpose.

How did you start modeling?

I got scouted seven years ago at Queens day (we used to have a queen in The Netherlands). I was at a party and a man asked me if I wanted to work for him. It was crazy, because I was living in this tiny village, where only 500 people are living and already two months later I was living in Los Angeles, Hollywood. From a village with cows to Hollywood, I’ve got to admit that I felt pretty cool changing my Facebook location back then (smile).

Favourite place you have been to?

I really like Los Angeles a lot, just because it was such a life-changing experience for me. I also love Istanbul, but I think it’s because I made so many friends there. It was the first place where I really earned my own money and started to be more successful in the modeling career. I had my Ex-boyfriend there, lots of friends, I started to speak the language; it played a big part in my experiences.

I think top is Barcelona, Istanbul and Los Angeles!

What are your interests, passions, etc? How do you spend your free time?

I spend my free time reading, meditating, doing sports, taking foot baths (smile) with epsom salt, in a nutshell; lots of self-care. My passions involve creating new projects. Last years I organized lots of park clean ups and I am currently working on some new projects. I’ll tell you more about this on my Instagram page soon.

What is your most loved and most hated part of modeling?

Most loved part is that you meet so many people. You know it’s funny; I think love and hate is so correlated, basically I love the adrenaline of never knowing when you get a big job, it makes it very exciting.

At the same time, I also hate it because it doesn’t give any kind of stability. It’s a love and hate relationship, I guess.

What I don’t like about as well is that a lot of brands are not sustainable!

Many times the workers don’t get paid enough, the Image that the fashion Industry portrays is just too much perfection.. And besides that we all know that the fashion industry is pretty bad for the environment too…

I really want to focus on the brands with a meaning.

You are an empowerment coach, hypnotherapist & RTT (rapid transformational therapy) therapist. Can you share a bit of journey of becoming it?

I always knew I was very fortunate to have the ability to work as a model, I deeply felt that I could do more and that I WANTED to do more. I wanted to do something meaningful; I wanted to add value to the world. But what to do? And where to start? These were questions in my mind I couldn’t answer and often made me feel very restless and insecure. Lost, even…

I felt like there was more to me than what I was doing. But was I really willing to abandon a life that so many people could only dream of? Or was my need for a purpose stronger than the comfort of the exhilarating life as a model? Could I do both? I felt like it was a crossroad.

The only thing I truly knew was that I didn’t want to resort to a traditional 9–5 job. I wanted something as unique as the life I was living as a model — unconventional, exciting and desirable — just with more purpose, identity and meaning.

I set on a journey to find that balance and clarity for myself and build a purpose-driven business of my own. And that’s what has lead me to do what I do now: helping models find direction and purpose in life, gain confidence in their abilities and embrace doing what they love.

Helping models find clarity, break through limiting beliefs and finally go for the things they want makes me feel the happiness I wish other models to achieve, too. After all, who are we to not go after what we desire in this one precious life?

Do you have a routine that helps you ground? If yes, please share?

I use daily little habits to ground myself and to stay positive.

These habits might change from time to time, but 99% of the time I have some kind of routine (and the 1% of the time I slip, I can feel my mood slip as well;).

At the moment my routines are:

• Daily gratitude + proud journaling. Which means that every day I write down something that I am proud of, and that I am grateful for.

•  10 to 20 minutes of listening and sometimes also saying affirmations out loud.

Do you have any suggestions for our readers?

It is all about what works for you though. I highly suggest a morning and evening routine to start your day strong, and to finish your day calm and peaceful.

When you experiment with different kinds of routines, you will find out what works best for you.

How do you take care of your physical and mental health?

Mental health, definitely meditation, affirmations and gratitude. Physical health, I like to work out; I like to see that my body is getting more toned. I mostly work out three times a week, I eat healthy lots of veggies and beans. It comes very naturally to me; I don’t really need to think of it anymore; I created a habit.

Do you have a “key“ or something to tell yourself to feel beautiful?

I think what gives people a lot of charisma is kindness, listening, being pure and daring to be yourself. I think that’s the most beautiful thing that you can be, because than you really connect with people on a deeper level.

In general, always be mindful of what you are saying to yourself. The way you feel about yourself depends highly on how your self talk is. On days when you are not feeling well about your appearance, listen to affirmation audio’s focused on a positive body image. And always remember, confidence is the most beautiful trait you can have.

The mantra I like to use on days that I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin is: I am enough.

In which way has modeling influenced who you are?

Good question… I think it pushed me to build up my self-esteem, because many times when you don’t get jobs or you feel rejected, you doubt yourself. If I wouldn’t have worked on my self-esteem, I would feel way too low about myself.

I think without modeling I wouldn’t be pushed so much to the low points and I wouldn’t have done my best to work on my self-esteem, because it wouldn’t be as necessary. I am grateful that it gave me the low points and pushed me there for more.

Also, I think it helped me to become more conscious, because if you are doing all these castings, there is a lot of time to wait. I read a lot of self-help books and it was very good for my personal self-development.

If you could name some lessons, you have learned from your experiences, what would they be?

Beauty is about your energy! When you go to a casting there are so many beautiful people, but just some of them are getting chosen. I think it’s the one with the nice beautiful and radiant energy. We are all beautiful, so they need to make a selection. Give your beautiful energy!

Also… You are not your work! I really had to learn this through not getting jobs, I started to identify myself with my successes. I felt so low, so I had to learn to not identify with my achievements.

People don’t value for your achievements rather for the person you are, right? Who cares in the end if you have walked for Dolce&Gabbana if you are not listening or be kind to them.

You mentioned that you like to read self-help books. Which books have influenced you the most?

“Man’s search for meaning“ by Viktor Frankl, it really influenced me in a way that if he can keep his mindset positive or at least objective or neutral, in such a very intense situation… than I should be able to always control my mindset.

Another book is “The Power of Now“ by Eckhart Tolle. It again made me realize that nothing is good or bad, just the meaning we attach to it. If we just observe the moment, then we don’t need to feel good or bad… just to be. Just be the observer.

I read a lot of books… I like to read sometimes empowerment books for example “You are a badass“ by Jen Sincero, just to get some extra motivation.

If you could have a conversation with “younger you“, what advice would you give yourself?

Don’t doubt yourself, like yourself the way that you are, you are doing amazing! You will figure it out, go with the flow and keep going the way you are, but don’t overthink it. Flow with it!

Do you have any advice for people?

Share your vulnerability. Everybody is insecure!

We always feel like people have it all together, which makes us feel very disconnected. Share your thoughts, share your vulnerability, share your insecurities. I feel like we all have the same ones…

If we all act like we have it together and if we don’t share it, it makes us feel very disconnected. Those vulnerabilities make us connected on a deeper level. It’s okay to be imperfect, it’s okay to be human, and it’s okay to share those thoughts.

Especially in our Industry. It looks like we have it all together, but it’s so not true, because no one has it all together. It’s nice to show the real side too!

Any last thoughts you would like to share?

For models, don’t fall into the ‘I can’t make a difference’ trap. We can all make a difference and we can really influence the industry if we want to.

I think it’s very important to change the industry from the inside out.

Whatever you can do, it doesn’t matter if it’s small or big, just do it! May it be posting a selfie without makeup, just to show girls that we don’t look like the photoshopped pictures. Or when you share a bikini picture, don’t only share the pic with the best angle, share more ‘real’ pictures.

I believe that as models it is important to think more deeply about what messages we want to spread. Do you care about sustainability? Ask the designers you work with about their sustainability policy, even if it is just to make them think…

Do you find body diversity important? Share more about it. Try to collaborate with brands that stand for body positivity.

If we all stand for what we believe is important, we can create a beautiful ripple effect. Let’s not only be models, let’s be role models.

Find out more about Elles Ottens on her Instagram profile @ellesottens. Her website is launching soon!

Check out her TedxYouth Talk @Uden: https://youtu.be/8H0uhLxbvQ0

Healing My Body

When I was about 15 years old my relationship with my body changed, in a negative way. 

During puberty the body changes and through a growth spurt, I naturally lost weight (which pleased me).  About the same age, I had started modeling, so this natural “thinning,” didn’t help my already disturbed “body image.

During this period, I spent a lot of time in Paris, where there was a lot of pressure around the shape of my body. I saw many beautiful and thin girls around me and started to believe that it was the norm to be “that” skinny. I was already naturally thin, but at that time (through a silent process), I got thinner and thinner.

I had a “distorted body image,” which means that I saw my body differently then what it actually was. An eating disorder is a mental “disease;” which I now realize, shows just how powerful the mind is!

Through this condition, even though I would see food as “my enemy,“ paradoxically my thoughts constantly revolved around food: Where to eat? What to eat? When to eat? It was exhausting and I was always low on energy. 

This “way of living“ was simply not sustainable and made me unhappy.

Luckily, I found my path towards healing which I would like to share.

Physical health 

There was a time when I went running a lot and did sports just to burn calories. 

I was constantly pushing myself regardless if I felt weak, tired or sick. Why? Because being skinny was the most important thing.

After a long and difficult journey with my body, I came to this understanding: Listen to your body! Every day your energy levels will be different and it is okay to rest! 

I still enjoy being active and I workout regularly. Now, I think that exercise or physical movement is simply important for my overall health; but, I no longer torture myself!

It is a daily process to feel good in my own skin. From time to time I still question myself; but, I am always trying to remind myself of the incredible gift that I’ve been given, which is my body! This makes it possible for me to experience and move through the world freely and with joy!

I am always reminding myself that life is to be enjoyed!

Mental health

In order to heal my body, first I needed to heal my mind!

I realized that it came down to inner beliefs which were: “I am more valuable when I am thin,“ “I am more beautiful when I am thin“ or “I like myself better when I am thin.“ 

I can now see that this way of thinking was all about control. My weight was something that only I was in control of. This gave me something to grasp onto at a time when I was being faced with a lot of life changes.

Now, I can see clearly the necessity of taking care of my mental health; if I feel good, happy and content, I automatically feel better in my skin. 

I have found that yoga, meditation, writing, dancing or basically, doing things that bring me joy and make me happy, is a way of healing. 

Along the way, I also realized that I needed to change my negative self-talk, which was mostly based on a lack of self-love. 

How did I start to love myself more? I practiced accepting myself the way that I am, I talked to myself more kindly, I counted my blessings every day, I practiced gratitude as often as I could remember… AND, these are all things that I am still practicing on a daily bases. Why? Because mental wellness is requires constant work and is a continuous investment (if you want to be and stay happy)!

Loving and accepting myself didn’t happen overnight and there is still plenty room to grow! But, I am on a good path and growing every day. 

Yoga 

The body, mind and spiritual practices of yoga were, and still are, medicine for my body! 

The movement and breathing practiced in yoga are very therapeutic, it has helped me to rebuild my connection to my body.

I had developed an unhealthy relationship with my body and I felt everything, but didn’t feel love for my body.

Yoga taught me to listen inwardly and to tune into myself. I started to hear my inner voice craved for love!

The deeper I went in yoga, the more it helped me to be kind to myself, appreciate my body and to give my body what it what it needs. I started to enjoy and love my body. 

Simply put, yoga gets me out of my mind and into my body so that I can connect with my heart.

Nutritious food

I had restricted many kinds of foods like carbs, oil, sugar (even fruits like bananas) and much more. I know that it may sound crazy to anyone who has not experienced this… but, I was truly scared of some types of food and many gave me anxiety and stress to eat.

Step by step I integrated and “allowed“ myself certain types of food. It helped that I did it in my own timing!

Overtime, I also changed my “WHY” behind my food consumption. From eating to achieve a “perfect body shape,” I switched to eating to fuel my body in the most supportive way! 

Nowadays, I focus on food that leaves me energized, balanced and satisfied. I love oats in the morning with pieces of dark chocolate (my favorite), stews, dhals, carbs like buckwheat, rice or quinoa (carbs used to be my enemy, nowadays I can’t go without them:)! 

In the end, I realized food is vitality and one of the joys of life. It brings people together, allows us experience different cultures… Why miss out?!

Advice for young girls and women

I know it can seem like, that by being skinny you feel are more worthy or beautiful - especially in today’s social media world! I’ve been there and I can tell you, your size or weight or shape has NOTHING to do with how beautiful you are.

Every body is unique! And… so is yours!

I think the most important thing for all of us is to tune in and to listen to what our bodies need. 

If you are happy on the inside, you’ll radiate it outwardly! 

Lastly and more importantly… if you do feel that you have a problem with food and don’t know how to get out of it, don’t be shy to ask for help. Share it with a friend, family member, a specialist or someone else you trust. It’s okay to ask for help! We ALL need help from time to time.

Don't feel ashamed about it, I know that to speak it out loud is the one of hardest part but necessary.

You have been gifted this body… do your best to take good care of it.

Finally, I just want to say, YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE!

So, don’t forget to love yourself AS you are!!

Love, 

Marina 

From The Inside Out: An Interview with Model Sandra martens

Beneath the surface: a series that reveals the deeper beauty of models

What words come to mind, when you hear the word “model?” Most likely, words like “beautiful,” “tall” and “skinny” right?

Through this series, I would like to remove the surface-layer, from the often superficial view that we all have of models, and show the person behind the glossy photos. Through a series of interview questions, I would like to reveal a type of beauty that is often overlooked - inner-beauty!

I had the pleasure to interview the german beauty Sandra Martens for my first article of my writing series: “beneath the surface: a series that reveals the deeper beauty of models.”

Sandra Martens grew up in Darmstadt, Germany. She got discovered as a model at the age of sixteen and lived in some of the biggest cities in the world like Paris, Milan, London, and New York. 

Sandra is a successful International model and walked shows for Jil Sander, Elie Saab, Armani, Maison Marginal, Issey Miyake, and many more. She stood several times in front of the camera for Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire and other magazines. 

Eventually, her busy life as a model led her towards a deeper connection to herself and a conscious lifestyle.

How did you start modeling?

I got discovered right before my high school diploma at the age of sixteen. I spent my summer holidays in Paris, did fashion week, did a lot of test shoots and basically didn't earn money with it yet.

After my high school diploma, it got pretty serious I went from Paris to Milan and Milan to London and moved to New York for two and a half years. That was when I realized, that this is going to be the job that I will do for quite a while because I really fell in love with it and all aspects that modeling brings. 

What is your favorite place you have been to?

Probably Australia. I spent about one and a half months in Sydney and I have met the most amazing people.

I had amazing times in nature and I really enjoyed waking up at the beach. First thing in the morning going for a swim and just being in saltwater. Its been a great experience!

What are your interests and passions? How do you spend your free time?

My interests and passions… good question! I am very passionate about many things, I love learning about nutrition and movement. I studied Naturopathy and Business administration. 

I have a startup for one and a half years that focuses a lot on natural supplements and nutrition, that's something I spent a lot of time doing. 

I am also really passionate about nature! I love hiking, spending time in nature with friends, basically just being outside. 

My free time is quite split into movement and nature… but also sitting on my laptop and working my ass off.

What is your most loved and most hated part about modeling?

Traveling… definitely traveling. I love traveling, but it can get tough after a while if you haven't seen your family in like four-month. 

Especially, long-distance relationships can get to you after a while, but traveling is a big big plus point in modeling.

Do you have a routine that helps you ground? If yes, please share?

Yes, I definitely do have a routine. I try to use my mornings and do everything very consciously. 

When I wake up in the morning, I don't look at my phone! 

The first thing I do is take my dog and go for a barefoot walk, to kind of connect to the earth and ground myself.

When I come back from that walk, I basically go straight on the mat. I do a 30 to 45 mins yoga flow and end up with breathing exercises (I am doing a lot of Kapalabhati at the moment) and some meditation. It really wakes up my body!

Afterward, I feel like I really need a coffee. I go get a coffee and make myself a juice, drink some hot lemon water… all that “hydrate and caffeinated“… all of the important things. 

I have a different plan for every day, but my mornings are pretty much the same. It doesn't matter if I have a 7 am call time, I would just wake up really early or if I have a free day I use the rest of the day to go on my laptop, work on some projects, or on Ninjafoods.

You opened your own company Ninja Foods. Can you please tell us a bit more about it?

My boyfriend and I found Ninja Foods one and a half years ago, basically because we didn't want to take 10 different supplements every single day. We wanted to combine the most powerful ones into one super green powder. 

Our Ninjafoods or „Supergreen Ninja Powder“ consists of thirteen superfoods, they are all backed by science. One teaspoon a day mixed in a smoothie or prepared like a matcha will cover up your most important vitamins and mineral needs for one day. 

Ninja Foods - nutrition backed by science

How are you taking care of your physical and mental health?

I think mental health comes before physical health to be honest. I feel like if you are physically healthy, it doesn't really mean much if you don't feel good in your body.

Mental health comes first! 

The most important thing for me is Meditation. It doesn't matter if its 5 mins or one hour in the day. If I sit done, close my eyes, and quite my mind it has such a tremendous effect on my day.

I am also a person that naturally loves moving. 

I feel really good and beautiful if I combine my mental health with my physical health, meaning working out outside, spending time with my friends working out together, go hiking, climbing, or things like that.

Do you have a „key“ to feel beautiful?

Stop trying to think that you need to reach a certain goal to feel beautiful. Practice to accept yourself for who you are right now and be confident with it.

In which way has modeling influenced who are you?

I learnt so much about myself through modeling and that is something I am really grateful for! 

I think it made me the person that I am today. It made me confident and self-conscious as well, which I would never have gotten to without it I guess. 

It made me also really open to many people. I feel modeling gives you a little bit of a teacher jump into new situations. 

For example, if you go on set and there are 10 people all from different nationalities that you have never met before and at the end of the day, you became friends with everyone. You realize that you can connect with everyone… it's an amazing feeling to feel part of the whole I guess.

If you could have a conversation with „younger you“, what advice would you give your self?

Stop stressing and overthinking!

I used to be a person that it's in her head so much. Having a plan b, plan c, and plan d for every situation. 

In the last years, I learnt to just live in the day and not think about tomorrow. I still love to make plans and be organized. 

In general, I would advice to not overthink things, that you cant handle in the end anyways.

Learn more about Ninja Foods on www.ninjafoods.de

5 Ways to Boost your Mood

It’s 7.15 am and I am just waking up. Today, I am feeling sluggish and sleepy... 30 minutes later my energy has shifted and I find myself dancing, singing, and smiling in the kitchen.

Of course, every day is different. Some days, we might wake up feeling a little on the cloudy side, maybe a little more negative. The wonderful thing is that YOU have the power to change your mood.

I am sharing below five mood boosters that I like to use as a way of tricking my mind into feeling and being in a more positive and energetic state.

Dance

Moving your body helps to change your state of mind by changing the physical and chemical signaling that is happening between the body and the mind.

Emotions are linked to and can be seen in our bodies. For example, you can read in people’s body language if they are happy, sad, angry, etc. By changing our posture we send a signal to our brain, which can change the way we feel. For this reason, you will never see a sad person walking upright.

Dancing is in our nature, baby’s naturally move and dance, when they hear music. The desire to move and feel good is naturally in us!

Dancing releases endorphins in the brain and it's a form of meditation, when you become one with the movement, you silence your mind and shift your focus to the present.

Just close your eyes, put your favorite music on and dance. Dance however you feel like, it doesn’t matter how you look. Feel free and have fun!

Sing

Have you ever sat in your car singing your favorite song? If yes, you know much fun it is and how releasing it feels.

It doesn’t matter if you feel like you can sing or not, singing is like dancing, it releases endorphins and can make us feel energized and uplifted.

In Yogic tradition, people chant mantras (“man” means “mind” and “tra” means “instrument” or “freedom.” It helps to release stress, to focus the mind, to heal the body and to become more present.

Put your favorite song on, let go and feel free. Singing combined with dancing is even more fun!

5 minutes mirror self-love practice

Often we look in the mirror and almost immediately we criticize ourselves. What if you look in the mirror and instead of criticizing yourself, you count your blessing? How would it make you feel?

TRY THIS: Just stand in front of the mirror and put a timer on for five minutes. Speak out loud the things you love about yourself it can be inner or outer like “I love my eyes,“ “I love my lips,“ “I love my curiosity,“ etc. If you don’t know what to say anymore just repeat the compliments you have already said.

The exercise can help to change the way you look and feel about yourself. It can help to strengthen self-love and the practice of self-compassion, which has a positive impact on your mood.

It might feel awkward at first, that’s normal because we aren’t used to talking to ourselves like this.

Try it out and see how you feel!

Journal

It’s a great practice to start your day with journaling!

If you’ve never journaled before, start by listing things that you are grateful for. The practice of gratitude can positively affect your mood for the entire day!

Apart from gratitude, you can write everything that comes to your mind. Let the pen move over the blank page and flow, without editing or judging yourself.

Journaling in the morning is about releasing what’s in your heart and on your mind.

After releasing all unwanted thoughts, you can write empowering affirmations, things you like about yourself, or things that you did great. The intention of these “exercises “ are to shift the focus from the negative (flaws and struggles) to the positive.

You can also Journal at any other time of the day. It’s powerful to see your thoughts written down, which gives you the power to realize the ‘unimportance’ of them.

These are just suggestions, write whatever feels good to you.

Meditation

A stressful day can leave you feeling anxious, drained, and in a poor mood. Beside all the stress, you deserve time for yourself to nurture your well-being.

Meditation is a powerful tool to enhance your mood.

Apps like Headspace and Insight timer or YouTube videos, offer a range of guided meditations which can help to shift your state.

It doesn’t matter if you meditate for three, five or ten minutes, just close your eyes and be with yourself.

You can’t pour anything out of an empty cup, so take time to replenish your energy - take care of yourself first!

A Balinese healer told me once: “Don’t worry, be happy“... he was right, life is too short. We should enjoy it!

Lessons from Quarantine

Everything has a reason, reason causes change, change teaches lesson - Prashanth

It’s been almost seven weeks since the quarantine has started... I have been reflecting on some lessons learned which I would like to share.

Creativity

I guess I am not the only one who got more creative during the quarantine. It is beautiful to see that so many people started to paint, learn new Instruments and many of us cooked like never before.

As I meditated on what I was seeing around me, I realized that no matter in which circumstances we find ourselves, no one can take our creativity away, creativity is our power and that in itself is beautiful!

I got more creative in my writing, cooking, video creation and I also tried out new meditation techniques.

It is fun to be creative, it gets me out of my head and into my heart. I find it truly fulfilling to create something.

If you think you're not creative or you feel you’re having a creative block, check out the book „The artist way“ by Julia Cameron, it’s a guide to unravel creativity.

Everyone is creative in their own way, that means you too!

Gratitude

Thank you for my health, friendships, family, home, food, being safe, having running water, the love and kindness I receive…

There is always something to be grateful for and the more we focus on them, the better we feel.

Many studies have shown the benefits of practicing gratitude to include an improvement in physical and mental health.

My experience during quarantine helped me to take less things for granted. Often we realize the value of something when it is no longer there anymore like good health for example.

Cooking, reading, yoga, writing... it’s the little things in life that bring me joy and leave me happy and fulfilled, especially during lockdown.

Sometimes it feels as if we have all the time in the world. Every day is a gift and we should remind ourselves of that and embrace each day and fill it with love.

My daily gratitude practices are journaling in the morning, I am saying thank you throughout the day and I list things that I am grateful for before I go to bed.

Practicing gratitude helps me to shift my focus from the negative to the positive. TRY IT!

Acceptance

I am used to traveling often and being in a new place almost every week or every month. I am usually thinking, “where should I go next?”

The quarantine ‘locked’ me in one place and I am grateful for it. It gave me the chance to calm down and fully arrive in one place.

Through my job as a model, I was used to running from one place to another and I realized that it had become an unconscious desire of mine to always be in a state of change.

The lockdown helped me to practice acceptance by accepting the “here and now” and making the most out of where I was.

We always have the choice how we respond to the circumstances that we are in, which starts with acceptance; from there, we are able to respond with a better attitude regardless of the situation

Doing good deeds

We are all in it together.

Quarantine is challenging for all of us, some people are more fortunate than others, but still, everybody has their own problems and struggles.

In a time like now, it’s even more important to think of others. Doing kind acts like writing a card or showing someone appreciation can brighten up someone's day.

Instead of further separating ourselves, we can practice seeing one another and learn to work together.

Many people are experiencing an increased feeling of loneliness, which shows that humans need connection. So, let’s connect!

Living a more sustainable life

We can’t change the world until we change ourselves.

The Himalayas are visible from Northern India for the first time since 30 years, Venice’s canals have clearedup, animals have reclaimed land... I think there are many examples that show that the planet is healing through the lockdown.

We can’t just look away and continue living and consuming the way we did before. We have to rethink and redirect our lives in a more sustainable way.

Everything starts with ME: How can I live a more sustainable life? Which small changes can I make in my daily life that don't harm the planet?

Here are some of the things I am trying to do more of: Reducing plastic, taking the bike, walking more often, buying sustainable products, save water. These are just a few examples and there are many more possibilities.

When Shops and restaurants are closed what’s left? Nature.

I think through quarantine people start to reconnect with nature and if we rediscover our connection to nature, we might naturally want to take better care of our planet.

I gave myself the task of getting informed on how to live a more “environmentally friendly life” and then to make one change each day.

During quarantine, we all had more time to reflect and go inward, I hope the lessons and positive changes we learned will stick.

Which lessons did you learnt during the lockdown?

Live Conversation on Mindfulness with Diego Dosal

I had the pleasure to have an Instagram live conversation about mindfulness with Diego Dosal. He is the founder of Zunya an upcoming regenerative conscious living concept in Costa Rica. Zunya is a future home for the development of cultural and environmentally conscious projects and a nest of creativity. 

In our conversation, we talked about Diegos project in Costa Rica, our own journey, different mindfulness tools, advice for mindfulness, and books that inspired us. 

Diego: How is your quarantine experience so far?  

Marina: I enjoy the quarantine, it has given me the space to be more creative and I think especially now, it is important to become more mindful. It is beautiful to see that everything is going digital, people are sharing more of themselves and their gifts. 

In everything situation, we have the choice to make us feel better through different techniques like journaling, meditation, or anything that helps us to feel more balanced. 

We have the choice if we want to give in to our fears. Fear shouldn’t control us, many things are uncertain at the moment, but it's important to sit with yourself and ask yourself questions like “How do I feel?”, “Why do I feel like this?” Or “What does it makes me feel?”… and consciously choose to see the good even though it seems hard sometimes.  

Diego: Corona is pushing us to find that inner peace without looking for it in the outside world, which is not possible. The quarantine is a chance to ask yourself deeper questions! 

In a way, it is an invitation of mother earth to show us that this was not the way, we are given the opportunity to realise that there is much more to life than we know and that it can be taken away from us in a second… If our freedom is taken away then what do we do? Where do we find contentment if it is not within?

Marina: Share a bit Diego what you are building in Costa Rica? How did you come to the idea to build it?

Diego: Do you know the saying It’s been a very crazy journey?... and its been exactly like that.

It’s important to share that you don’t become aware from one second to another.

I was completely shattered and broken through my journey and my life. I broke into many pieces six years ago, I started to ask myself many questions, started to read books, learnt about different philosophy.

I realised that these philosophies are all interconnected, they were just trying to explain their reality according to the time and place in history. 

If you analyse them I would say that 80% of them are trying to explain the same truth, which is beautiful. 

I started to continue this journey and created the Burning man community “Humano”. The Intention of building the project was always the same: „How do I reach out to the people who can make a difference in this world?“... I was already at that point, trying to align and create a sustainable way of living. 

The more I was aligning and surrendering to the daily challenges of life and being deeply grateful for everything that is happening... even when we got expelled from burning man which was a massive scandal. 

I came to the realisation that it was an opportunity to create something that could be more permanent and sustainable.

Beautiful mother earth

Two weeks after they announced that we got expelled from BM last year in January, the land in Costa Rica manifested. 

I was looking for six years and I started researching Costa Rica.

The government is putting a lot of effort to make Costa Rica a pioneering country related to sustainability and the environment. 98% of the energy they produce is sustainable and they don’t have an army, there are only two country’s in the world, who don’t have an army, its Costa Rica, and Switzerland. 

They have a lot of nature and 30% is protected land. I felt it is the right place, they invest in nature and we lost our connection to nature.... this is how the project started.

We are trying to reach out to people that are deepening on their path and came to the realisation that there is much more to life than just trying to accumulate financial and material wealth.

It’s time to develop our gifts and share them with as many people as possible in order to empower each other to become the best version of ourselves.

If you wake up every day and say thank you to god, the universe, nature, or even if you don’t believe in anything…  thank you to be alive and if you are willing to be the best version of yourself no matter what happens… I think that is when you start to embark on a beautiful journey.

Marina: Yes, I agree we can’t control our circumstances, but we can choose how we react to them. We have the power to choose our thoughts and become mindful of our self-talk.

For example, I had a live yoga online class and I had negative self-talk like „It’s the worth class you have ever taught, your language is bad…“. I got conscious about my inner talk and transformed them into empowering thoughts like “I am good enough” and “I am doing a great job”.

In the end, my feedback was great... It's crazy how your inner voice can disempower us!

Diego: Of course… I think it is important to understand that we all have this voice in our head and it is not just one, it’s more than a few! One of these voices is the critic or the inner child and they are all trying to fight for the attention. 

There are many tools like you where saying yoga, journaling, meditation, reading, being in silences, fasting… that we can use in order to try to lower down these voices.

You have the ability to control these voices which takes a lot of strength and you can use these tools to find inner peace. 

I think the invitation which we are all having right now is to go within!

There is a book called “The way of the warrior”, he is saying that the war to end all wars is the war for the human heart and that can only be fought within.

If you are able to find the inner peace within, you will automatically become a better human being, you want to take care of yourself, others, and nature. We all came here to serve when you give you receive more than you could have imagined. 

Diego: How did you start with your practices? Since when are you going deeper?

Marina: I was always fascinated by spirituality, philosophy, religion, and mysticism.

I really went deeper two years ago when I went to a retreat on Bali. It completely changed my life in a positive way, but it was also me putting in the work afterward. I stopped watching Tv, I started to meditate daily, did kundalini yoga, and read many books.

I realised for myself as well that most of the books have a similar message. The Bhagavad Gita (I read “The Bhagavad Gita” translated by Eknath Easwaran) had a huge impact on me, if you read this book you don’t really need to read all the other books.

I also saw the similarities of the Hindu teachings and other religions like Judaism, which is beautiful to see. 

Diego: Would you say this one is the one that changed your perspective?

Marina: A lot… “The Untethered Soul” and “The Surrender Experiment” both by Michael A. Singer changed my perspective the most. It's important to read one book at a time, I believe books are coming to you when you need them. 

I am reading currently “The Autobiography of Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda, which is great as well.

Diego: If I would recommend books in order it would be: 

Book 1: “The surrender experiment” by Michael A.Singer

Book 2: “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle 

Book 3: “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle 

Book 4: “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A.Singer 

I think the combination of these books could become the sparkle to embark on a mindful journey. The responsibility of each one is to find this alchemy in a combination of those practices that we need in order to become more mindful. Find your own tools, to find out our inner purpose. 

Marina: I agree every person needs to find their own way, but we can inspire each other to do better. 

Regarding the books, you have to digest the information. I realised for myself, when I read too many books in a short time, that I actually just need to meditate and ask myself “What’s true for me?”.

You can read many books, but until you don’t use the information and apply them to your life, it’s just something you read.

Diego: What are your daily practices/routines that are helping you to align yourself?

Marina: The morning is my favourite part of the day, I enjoy the silence and alone time, it helps me to get ready for the day.

When I wake up my phone stays on flight mode! I start my day with journaling, meditation and kundalini yoga, which usually takes about an hour. I also like to listen to affirmations, I try to feed my subconscious with something good. 

Later on, I have breakfast and I am usually doing some yoga or work out. 

In the evening, I mediated as well and sometimes I do some kundalini yoga. 

Zunya in the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica

Marina: You just came back from a trip to the jungle. How was your experience? 

Diego: I went into the jungle just by myself, it was the most profound experience I have done so far its called “vision quest”.

You go by yourself, you have a tent, a yoga mat, a meditation pillow, a candle and a lighter. They will bring you to a completely isolated place in the middle of the tropical rainforest and you fast for 96 hours.

It was probably the most profound, the most terrifying and the most life-changing experiences, I have ever done and it was just this weekend.

You hallucinate, you face all your fears, your insecurities and all your doubts. There is a moment, where you are in a way broken and you can’t hold it anymore where you have a realisation what they call “the vision”. 

I had a beautiful one, I just wanted to continue aligning myself with the process in that I am in order to be more aligned with the universe, so that we can continue manifesting everything that is happening right now. 

It was mind blowing, you are just by yourself! It is crazy that you have the power to be able to tap into these energies without the use of anything else, it was really beautiful.

What we are trying to create here is a space for as many people who are willing to do the work to be able to have a sanctuary or refuges to recharge themselves, connect with nature and share their gifts. 

Diego: What would be your three advices on mindfulness?

Marina: My first advice would be to create a morning routine, your morning determines your whole day!

Start your day without your phone, your messages or Instagram shouldn’t be the first things that you read in the morning. Do something that makes you feel good and set you up to have a good day. Give gratitude, write down things you are grateful for.

My second advice would be to mediated - Mediation is key. 

Mediation teaches you to see that life is still great, even when the circumstances are not the best right now. 

I always try to remind myself, that “Life is happening for me not to me”. Everything is an invitation to learn and grow. 

My last advice would be to start yoga, there are plenty of videos on YouTube, I personally like he channel boho beautiful. 

What are your three advices on mindfulness Diego?

Diego: Definitely no cell phone in the morning, my own personal practice is that I try to invest the first three hours of the day in myself.

I shower with cold water, it requires the sacrifice, I would say you have to do one sacrifice per day.

Start with a mediation just sit down in stillness, it doesn’t matter if it is 5 or 10 minutes, if you start to enjoy it you can extend it. 

I start my mediation with gratitude,I do yoga and read in the morning 

I am trying to enjoy these three hours as much as I can, if I nurture myself than I am able to give and to help more.

Every moment throughout the day, I practice to be grateful, there are no good or bad things, there are only lessons!

Ask yourself questions like “Why is this happening to me? What is the lesson?”and try to be grateful for it. 

I put an alarm three times per day that reminds me to be grateful for whatever that is happening time. 

I hope you enjoyed our conversation and it inspired you to deepen your own path. Enjoy the ride!

Living Life out of a Suitcase

I’ve got my suitcase, my passport and ME.

Sometimes I have to smile at myself when I am standing somewhere in the world with my suitcase waiting for a new adventure. 

At the age of 23, I have already visited many places. Modeling has given me the opportunity to work in various country’s and experience many different cultures. 

I feel blessed to travel and learn about and meet new people, but the life out of a suitcase is not always easy.

Traveling has taught me a lot, it has helped me to expand my mind and my world view; yet, my life is filled with a certain level of uncertainty, since I never know what's coming next. 

I wanted to share a few of the ups and downs that I experience while traveling on my own: 

Loneliness

As a model, life can get a little lonely; always in new places, far away from your friends and family. 

Yes, you are meeting new people every day, which often does’t amount to much more than small talk. It takes time to fully arrive in one place and build deeper connections with people. So, it’s easy to feel lost when you are alone in some of the biggest cities in the world. 

When I first arrived in Mexico City, I didn't like it at all, it was big, messy and a completely different culture than I am used to. Once I met the right people, I fell in love with the city and I ended up staying for five months. I was lucky to meet the right people, but this is not always the case. 

It is also difficult to have a relationship. I have experienced a long-distance relationship and it was very challenging. 

The feeling of loneliness can be difficult and is mentally challenging; however, it also contains within it, the gift of learning how to be comfortable with yourself.

I have always been the type of person who enjoys their alone time. Being alone for such long periods and intense periods of time has helped me to get to know myself more deeply.

It is a powerful skill to transform feeling lonely into the appreciation of precious solitude time. 

Also, the feeling of loneliness has taught me to open myself up to new experiences and people. 

I realized that the emotion behind loneliness, most of the time, is the need to feel loved. Recognizing this helped me to distance myself from the emotional weight of the feeling and simply observe it. Once I changed my lens, I realized that I am loved and I am always loved, no matter what!

Friends all over the world 

I have friends all over the globe. 

I started to travel as a model at the age of 16 and I have met many people along the way, some of them became close friends of mine. 

I went through different stages of my life in different cities with different people, which formed me into the person I am today. I look back to these moments in time, good and bad, and I am thankful!  

I feel blessed to call many people in various countries my friends; I can visit many foreign lands and live the life of a local. 

My travels have taught me how many wonderful people are out there and that I am not alone; I always meet people who share similar values or ideas.  

It feels good to connect to new people, who inspire me, help me grow and feel at home while being far away from home. Isn’t it what why we live, to connect to others? To share? To learn? To give? To grow?

Exhaustion

“Is my accommodation nice, clean and cozy?“  This is a typical thought that is going through my head when traveling to a new place. 

I always sleep in different beds and have to make myself a home again, wherever I am. Many things are uncertain and, as I mentioned, it takes time to adjust to a new place.

It can be draining to travel, sometimes I find myself mentally as well as physically exhausted and ungrounded. 

Yoga has helped me and is still helping me to ground myself wherever I am.

I enjoy the community aspect of yoga, it connects me to people and helps me to feel safe and secure, no matter where I am.

As you might have guessed, I love to check out yoga studios all around the world. 

For example, last year I was in Athens and the city didn't resonate with me, luckily I found a great yoga studio, which helped me to feel better and I ended up having a good time in there.

What else is helping me to ground myself? Journaling, Meditation, charming coffee shops, a good book and spending time in nature!

There are always ways to make yourself feel better, regardless of where you are; try to listen to yourself and make the best out of every situation.

Looking back at all my struggles and discomforts, they are what made me stronger and helped me grow the most.

Unique Experiences

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.“ - Anita Desai

On every trip, I am learning and exploring new parts of myself. My journeys are very much a part of the person that I am today.

Still, I am craving to explore, meet new people, see new places and experience different cultures.

I came to the realization, that what truly counts in life are experiences. It is not the clothes you wear or the house you own; it’s your personal experiences that form you and make you and your life unique. 

I think our experiences move us from one place to another and prepare us for the next thing. 

Looking back on all my travels, I wouldn't change a thing. 

For now, I haven’t found the right places “to settle down” and so I will keep living the life of a nomad. 

I trust that one day, I will feel when I am in the right place to plant roots. Until then, I will follow wherever life takes me. 

My Yoga Teacher Training

I just finished my 200-hour yoga teacher training in Istanbul, it was a unique experience filled with joy, new learnings, new friendships and growth.

I want to share my experience, reflections and advice, in case you are considering participating in a yoga teacher training.

I spent a lot of time in Istanbul, I made beautiful new friendships and fell in love with this magical city

Background information

My yoga journey began about two-and-a-half years ago in Australia, where I lived right at the beach and very close to a yoga studio, I practiced almost every day.

In the beginning, my main attraction to yoga was primarily for the physical benefits; this shifted with time and practice. I became very passionate about yoga and I felt the desire to take a teacher training.

It took me a while to find the right training. When I signed up for my teacher training, I was an intermediate practitioner.

Note: You don’t need to have an advanced practice to take a teacher training! That being said, it helps if you are not completely new to yoga either. I mention this to point out that there is no need to hesitate to sign up for a training if you feel your practice isn’t good enough. The training will help you to develop and deepen your practice - for sure!

Finding the right yoga training

If you google yoga teacher training, you will find endless options.

I searched for a long time for the right location (Bali, India, Costa Rica, etc.), but it was hard to choose from a wide range of trainings.

In the end, my path led me to Istanbul, where I ended up completing my 200 hour training. Why Istanbul?
In summer 2018, I got to spend some time in Istanbul and I lived close to a yoga studio called Cihangir Yoga. Over time, I built a good relationship with the studio, I felt very connected to the teachers and the practice style (CY method a vinyasa-based system), it really resonated with me.

Last year in April I had to fly to Istanbul for work, I arrived exactly one week before the new training started (which is once a year). I took a chance and signed up for it.

In the end, it was the best decision I could make and I am happy I took this big step.

My training was split over 10 months, which gave me time to digest, reflect and apply my new learnings. My body had time to open up, I built stamina and I increased my overall flexibility in mind and body!

There are many places that offer a 200 hour course as a one month intensive, I haven’t experienced that, so I have no opinion about it, one way or the other.

The only thing that I can say is that you receive a lot of information, so I was happy to have some time to process and apply what I was learning in my home practice.

My Advice:
- Find a studio and teacher that resonates with you and that you feel connected to
- I suggest practicing with the teacher before you sign up for their teacher training. In the end,
you will learn from his/her style and technique; it’s like when you were in school, you didn’t
resonate with every teacher.
- Make sure that the training you are considering is a registered yoga school through The Yoga
Alliance
- Trust that when you are ready, the right training will find you; keep your eyes open, research, try
out different studios and teachers and when the time is right, you will feel where you are supposed to be. There is a very nice yoga saying that i like, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

Deepening our practice

Content

A teacher training comprises a theoretical and practical part. You will have lectures, practice yoga, and do partner or group work as you apply your new skills.

Topics we discussed in my yoga teacher training:

- Tradition: why do we practice yoga?
- Yoga history
- The Bhagavad Gita
- Tattvas
- Anatomy
- Subtle body
- Practice: Alignment principles
- Pranayama (Breathing) and Bandhas
- Meditation, mantras and mudras
- How to instruct (theme for a class, room structure, the language of instructing poses,
observation)
- Adjustments (physical adjustment, verbal adjustment)
- How to do “demos”
- Building a sequence for a class

As you can see a teacher training contains many elements, it is full of valuable information that can be taken off the mat and into life.

My teacher training helped me to deepen my practice and understand the many layers and aspects of yoga.
I can tell from my experience, that it can be very challenging, and it takes commitment. It will be hard to persevere if you are not passionate about yoga. You will have to push yourself and go to your limits, but that’s when the transformation happens! It’s rare that amazing things happen in the “comfort zone!”

Don’t worry or stress about the challenges of such an undertaking, you will feel motivated by your own progress and achieve levels you never expected being capable of. Your body will open up over time and you will feel the shift in your body, your mind AND your heart!

One lesson yoga taught me: everything is possible if you put your heart and mind to it.

Through yoga I developed a completely new feeling and appreciation for my body, I was always fit and skinny, but not strong. I built a lot of stamina and strength, which feels empowering.

What I learned is, if you feel good in your body, you will good in your mind as well!

No pain no gain!!!

Invest in yourself

It’s important to know that not everybody who takes part at a yoga teacher training is planning to teach.
There are different reasons, why people take such a training, often they want to do something good for themselves and invest time in themselves. It is a great chance to get to know yourself on a deeper level, to find out new parts about yourself and to challenge yourself.

I believe that an experience like a teacher training can improve the quality of your life, as you will become more conscious about life itself.

My driving force to sign up for my training was my passion for yoga, to deepen my practice, to invest time in myself, to learn new skills and to learn how to teach.

Yoga helped me to reconnect with my body, and I want to pass my yoga experience to other people and help them feel good in their bodies.

I think it is a blessing to share the gift of yoga and I am excited to teach more!

My teacher training was a unique and valuable experience that transformed my life in positive ways and opened many new doors.

Don’t hesitate to do a teacher training, because you don't plan to teach, you will learn valuable skills that you can apply in daily life. Who knows, maybe you will become so passionate about yoga, that you will start to teach... Let it unfold, it is full of beautiful unknowns!!!

And... if you do end up teaching yoga, just share yourself! Everyone has something of value to share!

Community

During a training, you are walking a path with like-minded people, which is a beautiful experience. You are in it together! I met wonderful people at my training and made new friendships.

It feels good to meet new people, who are passionate about inner-growth and who equally want to learn and invest in themselves.

Yoga is your own personal journey, yet you walk the path with a community at your side, which gives you strength and inspiration.

Furthermore, I enjoyed doing my training with international people. I love to learn about other cultures and the training gave me the chance to spend more time in a foreign country which allowed me to expand my experiences and perspective.

Sunset yoga flow - I love to practice outside in nature

Fears

Where one journey ends... a new journey begins. What’s next?

Ten months are over, I have completed my yoga teacher training and insecurities arise like “Am I ready to teach?“, “Am I good enough? “, “Where should I go?“ or “What should I do?“.

I think it's natural that fears arise when something ends and uncertainty faces you. I try to replace my fears with excitement and trust, it’s just the beginning of a new journey.

It’s time to jump in the cold water, trust that I am good enough and start to teach. Learning by doing!

My Post-Training Advice:
- Trust in yourself! You are good enough
- Start to teach and try out different things
- Write down your language and speak it out loud
- My teacher suggests us to record ourselves and to improve one thing at a time - Be kind to yourself, sharing yoga is a gift and not an examination
- Give yourself time and room to grow

My first teaching experiences

My first teaching experience was positive and challenging. It was something completely new and it felt unfamiliar to take the seat of the teacher.

It seems easier than it is, to stand in front of people and instruct a class with a clear language and communication. I see it as a chance to grow and to learn how to stand and speak in front of people with confidence and clarity.

In the end, teaching took away my fear of teaching! I have fun doing it! It feels good to share my knowledge and to help others on their path as they connect with themselves.

I truly believe that yoga can benefit everybody and I am excited to share the gift of yoga.

Last words: Invest in yourself, follow your dreams, follow your passion and share your light with the world!

Five Things Yoga Taught Me

About two-and-a-half years ago, I got deeper into yoga; nowadays, it is one of my daily rituals.

On my journey, yoga has taught me valuable lessons and has brought me closer to myself.

I believe that yoga is a gift for everyone, everything that you practice on the mat you can apply to life.

In the beginning, my main attraction to yoga was primarily for the physical benefits; this shifted with time and practice.

When people think of yoga, they will usually have the physical aspect in mind, but it’s just one aspect of it, yoga is a way of life - it is a state of being.

Yoga “happens” anytime you do something with intention and feeling. Any time you are present in your actions. Any time your heart and mind are united.

I found in a yoga a way to reconnect to myself and heal my body, mind and heart. 

Here are five lessons yoga has taught me:

Patience

Everything has its own time.

Your body needs time to adjust to different postures and movements. It’s a process to build stamina, strength and flexibility.

When you try to force and push yourself into a position, when you are not ready, you increase the risk of injuring yourself. 

So in life I learned, like in yoga, that if I want something and try to force it (rather than taking mindful steps), it will often backfire. 

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t push yourself to the limit, but there is a difference between giving your best and forcing yourself. 

Listen to yourself, you will know how far you can go and what is best for you.

Consistency 

If you put in the daily work, you will be surprised about your improvement.

It is not what you are doing once in a while, it is what you are doing every day. 

It helps me to show up on my mat every day! My practice isn’t always the same, on some days it is a mellow flow and on other days it is a strong practice… and that’s okay, each day is different. 

The most important is to show up, to step out of your comfort zone and to create a habit that is supporting you and the life direction you want to take. 

Discipline

Consistency and discipline go hand in hand!

I know how it feels when you want to stay on your couch, but if you want to improve in yoga as well as in life, you need to put in the work to move forward. 

Kundalini Yoga has taught me the most discipline. I have been practicing a certain kriya for over 220 days straight! A kirya is a series of postures, breath, and sound that work toward a specific outcome and that is done daily, if you skip one day you go back to day one. 

There are days when I don’t feel like doing my kriya, but the fact that I’ve created a habit out of doing it, that’s what keeps me going. 

We often underestimated what we are capable of. Discipline teaches us that everything is possible if we put our mind and heart to it. 

Sunset Yoga in Istanbul

Acceptance

This was a big lesson for me to accept where I am on my path and to accept my body. 

Sometimes I have thoughts in my head like “I want to do a handstand, I want to do this… and that…“ 

We are always trying to get somewhere rather than enjoying and embracing where we are RIGHT NOW. 

It is important to celebrate small successes because it keeps us motivated. 

I had to be honest with myself to see where I am standing in my practice as well as in my life and then go from there. 

I am guided by questions like: “What is the next right move? Or How can I embrace where I am right now?“

Instead of always wanting to change something, let’s accept where and who we are and ask ourselves how to make the best out of it all.

Mind-Body-Heart Connection 

In my past I was struggling with an eating disorder, through yoga I reconnected to my body. 

The movement and breathing are very therapeutic, it has helped to rebuild my connection to my body. 

Our bodies, minds and hearts are one united! There is no part of us that is separate or less.

When my mind was fighting against my body, it also closed my heart. I wasn’t giving my body enough nutrition, pushing myself hard in the gym and had negative self-talk. 

When I got deeper into yoga, it helped me to be more kind to myself, appreciate my body and give it what it needs. 

Be Present

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.“ - Eckhart Tolle

The constantly thinking mind: “What am I eating today? Why did this happen to me? What am I going to do next week?“

We often forget to be in the present, because our mind is full of thoughts and memories that are in the past or the future. 

Yoga and Meditation have helped me to become more present and focused in my mind.  

I am more relaxed, happy and content in daily life when I focus on the now rather than worrying about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. 

In my practice I use the breath as my anchor point, it helps me to stay present, maintain my balance and prevent my mind from wandering. Especially, if I am in a challenging asana (posture), coming back to my breath is what keeps me up. Side note, it also helps in stressful life situations.

I see life as my biggest teacher and I am glad that yoga became a part of it; it connected me more deeply to myself and changed my life for the better. 

I encourage everyone to see yoga as something that serves you on many different levels. Each practice provides you with the opportunity to get exactly what you need that day. 

The Power of Affirmations

„We can not become what we want by remaining what we are“ - Max Depree

A few months ago, I had the urge to change the way I feel about myself and I knew something needed to change for that.

I started to write affirmations and I integrated them into my morning routine. 

I wanted to be stronger than the little voice in my head, that constantly criticizes me and looks for my flaws. 

Every day we are telling ourselves unconsciously affirmations, which are mostly negative like „I am not good enough“, „I am not talented“, „I am not efficient enough“ or „I am too this… I am too that…“. 

I know it too well when you stand in front of the mirror and almost immediately the negative voice starts to talk.  

This negative self-talk impacts the way, how I feel about myself, it disempowers me, limits me and in some ways holds me back. 

I wanted to take my power back and not let my negative self-talk rule me, this is why I started  changed my affirmations to the positive and integrated them into my life. 

You and I have the power of choice and we can choose what we believe is to be true.

Here are some ways that has helped me in that process: 

What you think you become 

If you want to change your self-talk, you first have to become mindful of the things, that you are telling yourself. 

Simply start to observe your self-talk and try to see which affirmations are most dominate. 

Once you become aware of your thoughts and self-talk, start to replace them with empowering thoughts. 

I like to come back to a self-chosen mantra if I feel that I am getting caught up in negative thoughts, I try to stop myself and say „I am good enough“, for example.

Journaling 

I collected a list of affirmations in my journal book that I keep ongoing back to and read out loud. 

Additionally, I am writing any affirmations that come to my head, when I journal.

Try to list your negative affirmations and replace them with positive affirmations, for example, change „I am not looking good today“ to „I am always beautiful“. 

List on the Wall

I pint a list of affirmations visibly on my wall, it helps me to see the list right when I wake up.

When you first awake, your subconscious mind is the most receptive, and it’s one of the best times of the day to say affirmations, which can over time rewire your brain. 

Here are some of my personal affirmations:

• I am good enough

• I am beautiful 

• I am lovable 

• I am talented 

• I am exactly where I need to be 

• I am doing my best

• I trust 

• I trust that everything that happens is for my highest good

• I am living abundantly

• I matter 

• I am deeply connected to myself and others

• I let go of all my fears 

• I love and accept my body and my appearance 

I read my affirmations out loud on a daily basis, as cheesy as it may sounds to tell yourself these affirmations, you will feel the shift in your well-being if you practice them consistently. 

Imagine that you are planting seeds, if you water them, they will grow and you want to make sure that you are planting the right seeds. 

You will notice that the voice in your head will get louder and will try to fight your new affirmations. 

There is a quote by Buddha, which inspires me: „All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made of our thoughts.“

Feel

The most important is to connect your affirmations with an emotion, by doing that you supercharge the effect of your affirmations.

If your new affirmation is „I am loved“, then remember the time when you truly felt loved, feel it in your body and connect the feeling with your affirmation. 

Finally, I would suggest you to collect a list of affirmations that feel good to you and match your values. 

Ask yourself: „How do I want to feel?“, „What do I want to change?“ or „How can I empower myself?“. 

You can say the affirmations to yourself, either out loud or silently, whenever you feel like it.

Another powerful tool is to listen to affirmations, there are plenty of youtube videos (I will attach my favorite video links below). 

Affirmation Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNS70QJh4Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZssjZnsN4Gg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz16YqpWkz4

Try out different videos and feel which ones resonate with you.

It is a daily process and it is not about perfection, some days will feel easier and other days will feel harder. 

The one thing that counts is your commitment and decision to change your life to the better at any given moment.

… remember you are always loved, always guided and always protected.

Time to Reflect and Set Intentions

Time flies!

It’s the end of 2019, this whole year felt like just a month yet it was full of new experiences and learnings that will last me a lifetime.

December is always a time to get cozy, go inward and reflect.

Last year, my friend gifted me a journal book for Christmas and wrote down a quote on the first page:

“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help to create the fact. The power of trusting in yourself is the strength you need to create amazing changes in your life.” - William James

Last year on New year I was in Paris, I remember I sat down to meditate and wrote things I wished to manifest in 2019. Recently, I looked back at my notes, I realized I manifested almost all of them.

Looking back at this year, the quote above truly fits the things I learned and experienced in 2019.

As I reflected on some lessons that I learnt this year, I wanted to share them:

Trust more

I like to be in control or at least I like to feel that I am in control. But... what do we really control?

It takes a lot of work to take care of our inner world, apart from that everything else is out of our hands.
I'm trying to replace my fear with trust and slowly let go of control. I am constantly reminding myself to see the bigger picture and trust that everything is for my highest good. It brings me a sense of peace and calmness, it gets me out of my mind and connects me with my heart and intuition.

Meditation has helped me and still helps me through this process.

Love and accept yourself

This has been an important lesson for me.

Through my job, I’m often challenged by situations that trigger my insecurities. Nowadays, I feel grateful for challenging situations, because they help me grow. I realized the importance of loving and accepting myself the way I am.

Self-worth shouldn’t be conditioned by anything external, it’s more a constant inner state of feeling good about ourselves.

Never stop developing yourself

I love to learn and I truly believe that the time I invest in myself, is the best investment I can make!

Working and evolving myself has helped me to change my perspective in challenging situations and work through them with more mindfulness.

Especially towards the end of this year, I really noticed a difference in the way I am thinking and how I handle challenging situations.

Let go!

We like to hold on on the past, but by holding on we are blocking new things to come, new things that could be beyond our imagination.

This past year, I caught myself, holding on to things (past memories and experiences), which were not serving me anymore. These were things that I knew were not good for me, but it was hard for me to let them go.

It's easier to stick with familiar things, but in the longterm, they can hold us back. I am practicing letting go more, moving on, and I must say... it feels good!

Follow your own path

I have learned to listen and to connect to myself, which has encouraged me to continue to follow my own path. Following my intuition has taken me to places and connected me to people that have helped me grow, evolve and that has inspired me.

I feel that when you truly follow your heart, passion or interest many doors will open up for you.

I would like to share some books that have helped and inspired me this past year:

- The Untethered Soul by Michael A.Singer
- The surrender Experiment by Michael A.Singer
- The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran
- The four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Inner Engineering by Sadhguru
- The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
- Light on Yoga by Iyengar
- The Universe has your back by Gabrielle Bernstein

Regarding the new year I want to encourage you to take a bit time out of your day and set some intentions for 2020:

Here are some questions that I like to ask myself, when setting intentions:

1. What do I want to leave behind in 2019?

2. Which lessons did I learn in 2019?

3. What do I want to experience?

4. How do I want to feel?

5. Which person do I want to become?

6. Which qualities do I want to embody?

7. What do I want to create?

8. Which places would I like to visit?

9. How can I help others?

10. How can I improve my relationships?

11. What do I want to learn?

12. How can I improve my health?

13. What am I passionate about?

14. What makes me feel good and fulfilled?

15. Where do I see myself in a year from now?

These questions have helped me to create a vision for my life. I hope they inspire you!

I am wishing everyone a beautiful start into the new year, may all your dreams come true!

Love and Accept Yourself

I recently had an experience that challenged me and triggered my insecurities, I saw pictures of myself from a photoshoot which made me feel uncomfortable, because I didn’t like them... honestly I felt ugly. 

I got angry at myself, I questioned myself, I questioned my beauty and my self-worth. 

It was one of those moments, when I would rather run away and ignore my feelings instead of facing my emotions. 

As I realised this reaction, I sat down to meditate, to observe what was going on inside of me. I told myself that these emotions came up for a reason and it was an opportunity for me to learn and grow. Through this simple change in perspective, I started to feel grateful for the situation, it showed a part of me that needs healing.

Modeling has cultivated a lot of self-doubt and insecurities in me and has caused me to question myself a lot, especially my physical appearance. As a Model, I have had to get used to being criticised, judged and rejected on a daily bases. 

I am grateful for the chance to work as a model, it has opened many doors for me, but it has also been a constant mental challenge. 

We all know that we shouldn’t take things personally; however, if you are criticised regularly, there will come a point when you start to question yourself. 

I have seen many beautiful people (inside and out), doubting themselves, their potential or their self-worth. We may see a beautiful person and ask ourselves, ”how can they not like themselves?” In the end, how we look on the outside has little to do with how we feel on the inside.

So, instead of letting my emotions control me, I decided to take my power back and simply look at it and I asked myself “why do I feel this way? Where is it coming from? Do I believe it is true? What is it teaching me?”

Somewhere close to Jerusalem

Israel is my happy place, I feel always good there! I remember this moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything, I was just present

Every emotion that comes up is here to teach us something and to get a deeper understanding of ourselves. 

 I believe that “self-love” is about being honest with ourselves, look at our fears, emotions or insecurities, try to see what they’re teaching us and observe them with compassion and love.

In my case, it was to learn to accept and love myself as I am and to be aware of the voice that is saying “what’s wrong with me.”

In my yoga teacher training, we talked about writing down ”three things we did great today”, instead of ”what we did wrong.” I find that it is a beautiful concept, most of the time, we are just looking for our flaws and mistakes (in ourselves and others).

In order to rise above our fears and insecurities, we have to change our perspective and direct our focus towards the positive. I know it’s easier said than done to “focus on the positive,” but if we practice doing so, with openness and acceptance, we will find the good even in the hardest situation.

We can’t control the circumstances we are in, but we do have the power to change how we think and feel about them. It is not easy to face our fears, self-doubts or insecurities, but it is important to work through them and not ignore these feelings. It is about taking care of the world inside of us, which we will never be able to escape from.

I came to the realisation that I can’t let modeling define me or my self-worth. In the past, I have given it too much importance and power of me; now, it is a process of letting go and redirecting my focus. I have the power to choose what I belief, which in the end creates my reality. 

We identify with the things we do, but that’s not who we are. Our self-worth shouldn’t be defined by our profession, wealth or relationships, because we are something way beyond that.

Instead of letting ourselves be defined by something or someone, we should thrive to do and be better every day. Invest in the things we love, invest in our growth and become more conscious about our life. 

Life is a process of becoming a better human to give and serve more. We are all here for a reason!

This was my personal experience, which I felt sharing. We all have different problems and go through different struggles, through it all, may we all try to love and accept ourselves the way we are. 

Follow Your Own Path

I know how it feels to do something different in life, something that is not considered to be „the norm.” I didn’t go straight to University after high school, instead, I started to work as a full-time model, which allowed me to travel the world and learn about myself. 

Because I have chosen a different path, I am often asked ”when are young going to study?” or ”when are you going to get a real job?” Which brings up a question within me, “what is real?”

It seems that “real” is defined as something which is socially acceptable, for example, a doctor, a lawyer, a banker etc. By the way I think these are all great professions and I respect them all, but these are not the only ”real” professions.

If you’re doing something slightly different than the social norm, people can look at you with a critical eye.

We often look at people and their lives based on our personal experience and what is familiar to us. 

However, every person is unique with different dreams, desires, talents and life vision.

At the same time, we all have similar struggles, fears, and doubts. All of us long for connection, love, fulfilment and a sense of purpose. 

For example, a person in a well-established job may ask himself/herself, if it is the right job for them. They may fear the future as well as someone who just quit their job to travel the world. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we all fear the unknown. 

This is a reminder, that we all know just a little about someone else's life. So, we should be more sensitive of how we label, judge or criticise people based on their life situations. 

The way that we perceive things, doesn’t mean that they are necessarily true. Instead of judging someone, we can practice seeing the world through their eyes, be more gentle and more compassionate. 

Often times our life decisions are based on financial security. Indeed it’s true, money gives you freedom in many ways, it can make life easier and more comfortable. In the end, money can’t buy you happiness. 

So, what makes us truly happy? 

What I have discovered is that nothing external will ever solve anything that is going on inside! We have to look inward and get in touch with ourselves to find out what we truly want in our life. 

When I started to get more into self-development, yoga, and mindfulness a whole new world opened up for me and I started to become more conscious, I took responsibility for my life and the way that I feel. 

One of the things that has helped me is Meditation, it makes me feel good, grounded and helps me to work through challenges. It allows me to distance myself from a situation and gain perspective. With perspective, I can ask myself: ”what is the next right move?” and take my next step with awareness. 

I have learned to listen and to connect to myself, which has encouraged me to continue to follow my own path.

Of course, I fear the future from time to time and I do ask myself if this is the right way to go. However, I am trying to replace my fear with trust.

 I haven’t figured my life out yet, but I also wonder if there will ever come a time where I can say, “I have this figured out.” 

I think life is about experiences, that move us from one place to another. These experiences,  teach us and prepare us for the next thing. There is no destination, the journey is the way. 

We have to find the power and strength within to keep on going our own way and do what feels right for us!

When following my own path, here are some questions I like to ask myself:

1. What is the next right move?

2. How do I want to feel and which person do I want to become?

3. If money was no issue, what would I do for free?

4. What brings me joy?

5. How do I want my life to look like?

6. When do I feel alive?

7. What do I want to create?

8. What inspires me?

9. When do I feel free, creative or happy?

10. Do I invest my energy wisely?

11. Are my friends supportive or bring me down?

12. Do I focus on the negative or positive?

These are my favourite activities which support me on my path:

1. Meditation

2. Yoga

3. Journaling

4. Affirmations

5. Being in nature

6. Spending time alone

7. Reading

My final words that I would love to share with you are simple, follow your heart and do what makes you happy. 

My Path to Yoga

I was about 15 years old when I first got in touch with Yoga, back then I suffered from strong migraine attacks. My Doctor suggested that I try yoga for relaxation, on his recommendation I visited to my first Yoga Class. 

I was completely new to yoga and I remember I felt a bit funny doing the different postures, especially the breathing techniques. My Mum joined me for the class and I had to hold myself back to not starting to laugh. Nevertheless afterward I felt the benefits, I was more relaxed and simply felt good. I didn't practice regularly and with time I lost sight of the practice.

My next journey into yoga began in Sydney, two and a half years ago. One of the benefits of modeling is that I am able to travel the world for work. Luckily it brought me to Australia, which had a huge impact on my yoga journey.

Everything happens for a reason and if I look back on my life events, I see the connection in each of them. 

Typically as a model going to Australia, I stayed in Bondi Beach. Let me define Bondi for those who are not familiar with it.

Bondi is a beautiful tiny and fun hipster suburb in Sydney. It's full of healthy brunch places, coffeeshops (I love the coffee culture Down Under), Surfers and of course yoga studios.

From a disliking-coffee-person, I turned into a coffee-loving-yogi. Bondi has one of the most famous Australian beach called Bondi Beach. Dress Code in Bondi? Swimwear, barfoot or sports clothes. 

Australians also call it the ”Bondi Bubble” because you literally live in a bubble and you barley leave it. Honestly, I loved my little bubble, yes I got a little stuck there, but I had all I needed and I loved spending time in Bondi.

My friend motivated me to sign up for a Yoga membership next door. We ended up going every day, sometimes even twice a day.

Our morning routine became waking up early, getting an almond cappuccino and attending an early yoga class. Yes, it sounds cliche, but if I think back on it, it was such a great time and experience which still makes me smile. 

Bondi beach is a place, where people work out at 6 am or even earlier. I NEVER thought that I would be able to wake up that early just to go to a yoga class and I also had no intention of doing it. Guess what, after a while, I gave it a try. I woke up at 6 am to go to a Sunrise Yoga class.

I felt the magic of early morning hours and understood why people are in love with it.

It is a beautiful way to start the day with the sunrise, to see the first rays of light and watch how everything slowly wakes up. A sense of peace fills the air at that time. 

This experience taught me to be open to new experiences and try new things, especially if they are out of my comfort zone. I am happy I stepped out of my comfort zone, otherwise, I would have missed this wonderful experience. 

Now I say ”Yes I will try”, instead of ”No, I can't.”

I love the quote:  ”You are confined only by the walls you build yourself”

In the beginning, my main driving force to practice yoga was the physical benefits. I wanted to be in perfect shape and I knew that yoga would help me with that. My Practice was very fitness orientated. Through daily consistent practice, I felt not just a positive shift in my body, but with my overall well being. I felt more calm, content, peaceful and happy.

As time passed I recognized that yoga helped me on my path of reconnecting with my Body.

I found in yoga a way to heal my body and mind.

A long time I was fighting against my body and it was hard for me to accept my body as it was. My Body Image was negative, even though I was very thin. I was striving to achieve an unhealthy body shape and even if I reached a certain amount of weight it was never enough.

Through yoga, I started to listen to myself again and to be kind and compassionate with myself. It is very therapeutic to be on the mat, to move, to feel and to stretch my body.

After Australia, I kept on doing my own yoga practice at home and it became part of my daily routine.

I was very lucky to attend a yoga meditation retreat in Bali, which changed my life in a positive way. At the retreat, we only practiced Kundalini Yoga.

In Kundalini Yoga you practice different breathing exercises, physical postures and chanting and meditation to unlock and awaken the kundalini energy, which lies coiled, serpent-like, at the base of the spine. It is a powerful tool to reprogram your mind if practiced consistently. 

After Bali I went through many transformations, I stopped watching TV, started to read a variety of self-improvement, self-awareness, and spiritual books and started to meditate daily. I constantly increased and worked on my self-awareness and started to do more things that made me feel good about myself and be happy.

I learned, that the time you invest in yourself, is the best investment you can make. 

It was the first time that I practiced Kundalini Yoga, I personally love it. In my opinion, it is the most powerful and transforming style of yoga you can do.

On my retreat, I met two girls, who worked as yoga teachers, which I found very inspiring and I could imagine to do it as well.

It seemed like yoga started to follow me along my path. 

My experience in Bali encouraged me a lot to continue going my own way and listening to myself. I want to do things in my life, that feels good for me, which makes me feel alive and fulfills me.

I felt the urge to have a new experience, that's why I decided to go last summer to Istanbul. I wanted to go to a place, where I've never been before and where I don't know anyone. I wanted to be free and have no obligations towards others. Somehow I had Istanbul in my mind and I asked my agency to send me there for work. 

The process of organizing everything was quite fast and one month later I was on a plane to Istanbul. Funny enough my apartment was 10 mins by walk from a yoga studio (Cihangir Yoga). I remember that I jumped around in my apartment because it made me so happy.

Especially, because there was a special event on the upcoming weekend. The yoga studio where it took place, was quite far away. I decided to confront myself with a challenge and use public transportation. It took me over an hour to get there with the metro and tiny buses. It was definitely a unique experience and I quite enjoyed finding my way alone through a city with a population of 15 million people. When I arrived at the studio, I had to smile to myself.

I must really love yoga, to travel so far just to attend a class. 

I fell in love with the vibe of the yoga studio, I met wonderful people there as well.

The community aspect of yoga is another part that I love. I know wherever I go in this world, that I can find a place where I have the chance to meet like-minded people.

Yoga is very grounding for me, which I am in need of because I am traveling a lot and I constantly find myself in new environments. 

My six weeks in Istanbul were a wonderful experience. I practiced yoga one or two times a day, which helped me to improve and deepen my practice.

My love for yoga was constantly growing and I became more and more passionate about it. It makes me feel  good in my own body, it increases my creativity, my self-awareness and it helps me to connect with myself on a deeper level. 

My time in Istanbul strengthened my desire to do a yoga teacher training even more. My main intentions were to deepen my practice, I love any experience that transforms me and helps me grow.

Furthermore, as I mentioned before is that I found in Yoga a way to heal myself and I see many people who struggle with similar self-image problems as me.

I observe that many of us are disconnected from ourselves and our bodies.

Everything from society to media is limited to our physical appearance, to have the perfect body is kind of a status symbol. We define our self-worth based on our physical look, which is a loosing game. Nothing will ever be good enough or perfect enough.

There is no such thing as perfection and it is especially the imperfect things, that makes someone beautiful. It is the light, that someone radiates outwardly.

Yoga strengthens and connects you with your inner light. If you feel good in your own skin, you will radiate it outwards, no matter which size you wear.

Our body is a gift and we only have this one, so we better start to take care of it and love it.

I want to pass my yoga experience to other people and help them to feel good in their bodies.

I was looking for a long time for the right yoga teacher training. First, I intended to go for one month to somewhere like Bali. The problem was that most of those trainings are expensive, which I found difficult if I have never practiced with the teacher before. It is like in school, every teacher is different and has a different style, which may not always appeal to everyone. 

I knew, that my yoga studio in Istanbul offered a yoga teacher training with a duration of 8 months. Of course, this would have been my first choice, but I didn't know how to combine the training with modeling. Especially if I had to be there every second month. 

Well, here comes the lesson: surrender and trust! 

Somehow everything started to shift this year in April and I spontaneously had to go to Istanbul. I arrived exactly one week, before the yoga teacher training started, which is just once a year. It was obvious, that the universe presented it to me on a golden plate. I just had to take it... and I did! So far, it was the best decision I could make and I am very happy about it.

This event contained another lesson:  Anything is possible once we decide that IT IS POSSIBLE! 

I am excited to see what will happen on this journey and how teaching yoga will influence my life. All I can say is, that I am very grateful, that yoga came into my life. 

I highly recommend everyone to give yoga a try. Don't judge it after just one class, try different styles and teachers, you will find one that resonates with you; sometimes you just  have to meet the right teacher or visit the right studio. 

Remember, yoga is a process and you WILL feel the benefits over time. 

Yoga is your own personal journey!

Enjoy the ride!

Three Lessons

Life is an ongoing learning process, every experience and situation is shaping us. There is a lesson in everything and if we start to see and embrace them, they will help us grow.

Here are some lessons or better yet ‘realizations’ I had over the years, that I would love to share with you.

1. If you don't love yourself, no one else will!

I started Modeling at an age of 15 and it has been a tough business. First of all, I am very grateful that I have had the opportunity to do what I do, it opened many doors for me. Modeling gave me the opportunity to travel, to see the world and to expand my horizon. It has and continues to confront me with many challenges, which help me to grow. I wouldn't be where I am today without modeling.

BUT... it is a tough and superficial business where people judge and reject you on a daily bases. It causes You to question yourself A LOT and you always have to rebuild the belief in yourself. You have to develop a thick skin and try to not take things personal, which is very hard, and I am honestly still struggling with it.

My lesson from this whole experience is the importance how to truly love yourself. If you love yourself, you will radiate it outwards. Everybody has it, the chattering and criticizing voice in their head telling them things like: “You are not good enough” or “You will never be able to reach your goals”. The fact is, that this voice isn't serving you and instead is blocking you in many ways. Would you want to be friends with someone who is constantly trying to make you small? No, you would want to be friends with somebody who is listening to you and is up lifting.

I observed that many of my fears, insecurities and self limiting beliefs were based on my lack of self-love.

So what does it mean to love yourself? In my opinion, loving yourself means taking good care of yourself, which includes eating good food, taking care of your body, being active and listening to yourself. Furthermore, it is important to create healthy boundaries and learn to say no! I often find myself, having a hard time saying no, because I don't want to be impolite. Even though, if somebody is crossing your personal space, it is your right to say no. It seems hard at first, but by working to stand up for yourself, you will feel empowered.

Loving yourself also means becoming conscious about your self-talk!

We often don't realize how hard we are on ourselves! The negative self-talk seems normal to us, but by doing it that we disempower ourselves even more.

I learnt that you are the creator of your life and that you have the power to change your thoughts. If you can create disempowering thoughts, you are also able to create loving and supportive thoughts.

Ask yourself: “How do I want to feel?” And “Which thoughts and beliefs would support it?” It feels strange and like a lie at first, the negative voice will try to fight against it, but with time and dedication they will transform in a beautiful way.

I am working daily on becoming more conscious about my thoughts through journaling, meditation and affirmations. Of course some days I feel better than others, but it is about consistency and taking small steps that move you forward.

Finally, I would say that loving yourself is all about respecting yourself and that you make decisions that feel good for you.

I am curious what it means for you to love yourself?

2. People love to talk, no matter what you do!

It actually doesn't matter what you are doing, if you are working on a big career or you are just chilling out in life. If People want to talk about you, they will find a reason for it. I personally made peace with it and for me “the talk” is just mirroring their own insecurities.

Why should you invest your limited amount of energy in talking about other people if instead you could invest the time in yourself?

Furthermore, think about the amount of energy you wasted when you got upset about what other people said about you. It's simply not worth it, it is best to accept it and let it go. The next time when you are upset about something ask yourself: ”Is it worth disturbing my peace?”

It is a process and daily work to slowly let go of what other people think, but it is also liberating.

We grew up learning to seek the approval of others, to feel accepted and worthy. The truth is that we will never be able to meet other peoples expectations, it is just limiting us and holding us back. It is about breaking free from other people’s expectations and starting to listen to your Soul.

Live your life for YOU and for nobody else.

You don't owe anyone an explanation for what you're doing in your life.

Just go your own way, do the things that feel right for you and stay true to yourself!

3. The time you invest in yourself, is the best investment you can make.

I fell in love with the process of learning about myself and I became very passionate about self-growth and self-discovery. It is one reason why I created this blog, to share my experiences and to inspire and motivate others on their journey.

Our whole life people told us what to do, how we should behave, what is appropriate and what is not. We believe what we have been taught and that it is the only truth. We are living our life, but we always have the feeling that something is missing. The missing piece is the knowledge of ourselves.

We invest so much time in learning about all kinds of things that are outside of ourselves, but we barely invest any time to look inwards.

Self discovery for me, is about questioning everything you have learned and that you think you are. It is about stepping back, starting from zero and being open to everything new as well as questioning your beliefs and discovering where your heart starts to tingle.

I believe, that if you choose your own beliefs and find the things that feel right for you it will give you true meaning to your life. Furthermore, I feel that everybody has unique talents and life is about discovering and embracing them. If you work for something, that you are passionate about and want to share with the world, it will fulfill you on a deeper level.

There is more to life than just the typical eat, work and sleep cycle.

What I love about investing in myself is that, it helps me to change my perspective with challenging situations in my life. I once read the quote: ”You can’t control the events and circumstances, but you can control your reactions to them”. This is so true because you always have a choice on how to react. What comes around, goes around. If you learn to consciously respond instead of unconsciously react, you will make your life way easier. I learned that I always have the choice to perceive a situation in a positive or negative way and the negative way, will never be beneficial for me or the people around me.

Every Experience is a chance to grow and I feel that the Universe is always presenting us with situations that contain a lesson within, even if we often don't want to see the lesson.

These three lessons are based on my experiences and are from my point of view. We all perceive life in a different way and I think it is beautiful to share it. Everybody has something to say and we can learn from each other's experiences.

I am curious what your life lessons are? Share in the comments below xx

Create a Morning Routine to Have a Sweet Day

I became a huge fan of having a morning routine, starting the day in a good way determines your whole day.

Imagine a day when you wake up, you push the snooze button five times to get a bit more sleep, you check your phone and you read a not nice message from a friend. After checking out other people’s life on Instagram, you jump under the shower, you grab a quick bite and coffee while you realize you are already late to work. So your day continues, you rush out of the house, you are stuck in traffic and when you arrive at work, you are already in a bad mood. 

Now imagine a day when you wake up before your alarm goes on, you leave your phone on flight mode, you sit down to do a conscious breathing exercise and you give yourself the time to feel your body, after a night of sleep. You go to the kitchen, put on your favorite music, make a coffee, get a notebook and write down some Intentions for the day.  After Breakfast, you make yourself ready and go relax to work. 

If you have the choice, which day would you choose? Probably the second wouldn't you?

Here is the thing, you do have the choice! Humans are creatures of habit, often we are stuck in a routine, that isn't serving us and we know it deep down. We want to change something, but we have an excuse to feel better: „I don't have time“. Which is not necessarily true, if you would get out of bed 20 minutes earlier, for example, you would have more time.

Yes, it is hard to change something in our routine, because we did the same routine for the last five years. Furthermore, we would need to step out of our comfort zone. 

So why would you want to change something? Simply, because it is good for you and I can tell you from my experiences, it will have a huge positive impact on your life.

Five years ago, in the morning my first move was switching on the TV. I made Breakfast and ate it in bed, while it was hard for me to get up because my bed was warm and cozy (especially in Winter). Most of the time, I chilled too long in bed, watched some random TV Shows and had to rush to leave the house. 

I felt restless, tired and wasn't really conscious of how my morning controlled my whole day.

Everything started to change when I got more into Yoga and started to increase my overall awareness. I became aware of how different i felt in my body and mind because of Yoga and Meditation. I started to listen to myself and saw how my unhealthy habits controlled me. 

Furthermore, I began to read a variety of books, about self-awareness, self-improvement and spiritual books (for example The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle). 

I just felt I want to change something, so step by step I started to integrate new things into my morning and day. 

Nowadays I love my mornings and the time for myself, I feel more productive, content and happier throughout the day.

How does my morning routine look like?

1. I wake up early, most of the time I wake up before my alarm goes on. By waking up early I create more time to do the things that nurture me, so I can really dedicate my time to Meditation for example, without feeling pressured, that I have to leave the house soon.

2. I drink hot lemon water. Drinking hot lemon water in the morning has many benefits from improving digestion, hydration, better skin quality, and other things. Personally, I just enjoy drinking it first in the morning and I love the taste. 

3. Journaling. I write down things I am grateful for and I set my Intentions for the day. I am guided by questions like which Qualities do I want to embody, what do I want to achieve in the next 24 hours or how do I want to feel?

4. I meditate every morning and I love it. Meditation sets the tone of my day. One of my favorite is a Guided Meditation by Deepak Chopra (you can find it on Youtube). 

5. Yoga Flow. Yoga transformed my life in many positive ways. I became very passionate about it, that's why I recently started to do my Yoga Teacher Training. Yoga helps me to wake up my whole System and it feels great to move my Body, after sleeping.

6. Breakfast. I am a Breakfast person, it is actually my favorite meal of the day, that's why I always try to make enough time for it.

7. Since two months, I am actually taking an ice-cold shower every morning. Trust me, I never believed, that I would be able to do it when people suggested it to me. One day, I stepped out of my comfort zone, now I really enjoy it and it helps me to truly wake up. 

The length of my morning routine depends on the time I have to leave the house. Even on days, where I have to leave earlier, I set my alarm early enough to start my day in a positive way.

My personal morning routine is supposed to be an example and Inspiration. Every person is different, so choose things that feel good for you! Furthermore, choose a ritual, that makes you feel excited to wake up in the morning.

If it is hard for you to meditate, just try to do something mindfully. Meditation is not just sitting on the floor with your eyes closed, even mindfully preparing food can be therapeutic and is a form of Meditation.

Think about your why? Why do you want to change something? Why do you want to start your day positive? Use your why as your driving force! 

Try it out and transform your life.