Burnout

I am in the business of giving and most often than not this means giving pieces of my heart away – usually (but not limited) to human beings. And this is not it: we give instructions, we openly share knowledge and experience, we transfer emotions of positivity and joy. All this needs to come from somewhere – our well of energy within our soul. But a well is a well and it is not eternal, unless purposefully taken care of. It can very easily get depleted if we don’t pay attention to the amount of energy we have been taking out.

A burnout is a seriously unpleasant condition to find one’s self in. And I did. By the time I realized it was a burnout, there wasn’t much to do to undo it. The consequences: a halt in my normal routine and yoga lifestyle which started off due to a persistent pain in the lower back and then amassed to feeling sick for a week. I feel weak and out of focus.

So where is the good news? Of course, there is good news. This time was all about cleansing – both physically and mentally. Nonetheless, it bonded us and made us feel even closer as we were in this thing together, literally.

As much as it is important to learn from such experiences, it is ever better to avoid going this far. To help you learn from my mistakes, I’ve put a short list of tips to help you stay sane in this hectic world and in a good mental and physical condition:

1. Take a mental count of your daily interactions and know when enough is enough. Very, very important! If you’ve had a busy social day where you had to face and talk to a number of persons, then be reasonable and have a quiet restful evening for yourself. I find that people often confuse quiet and restful with boring, which is wrong.
2. Do not be afraid to say NO. Don’t take on more responsibilities than you can take, don’t promise too often, don’t meet people when you really don’t feel like. I know, it is a lot of don’t-s, but they are necessary. Oh, and another one – don’t worry about what people would say. Those who have to, will understand. And the rest – do I really need to comment on those people?
3. Plan for a rest: in the best scenario, you would plan for a daily rest – be it an hour or so, you need this time to recharge in order to face the world smiling again. Should you know for a fact that you would have a couple of busy days in a row, please be kind to yourself and schedule a well-deserved break afterwards. A day or two spent in nature would do the trick.
4. Breathe A WHOLE LOT!

I told you it was a short list! Namaste

My Valentine

It was Valentine's Day yesterday! I hope you had a wonderful one. Whether you spent it with your better half, a friend, family or simply spoiling yourself, all that matters is that you felt and spread love.

Here is what hubby and I did: we took a trip... To somewhere! Unknown! Without knowing what our final destination is, we hit the road and drove in a certain direction, leaving it completely to our intuition to guide us. And it was the perfect occasion to leave the so very common need to control out of the picture. We wanted spontaneity, we wished for non-conventional and different. And for something very us - so we went for a walk through the woods, did yoga on a sunny meadow, cuddled by a river and gazed at a small picturesque waterfall. Then simply by chance (or not?!), we ended up in front of a monument from 4th century. It was like we found our own treasure and we couldn't take our eyes off it. After we finally did, we kept on driving until we found ourselves at a point where we had to choose a town to stay the night. We didn't really have to ponder much as the right choice was laid out before us, literally, in the form of a road sign saying 'Koprivshtitsa'. Koprivshtitsa is the name of a historical town which was the epicenter of the revolutionary movements aimed at Bulgaria's freedom almost 2 centuries ago. Such an energized place; it can make every Bulgarian feel proud of our origins.

What else did we do there besides the tourist must-dos? Weeeeellll, we finally gave acro yoga a try! Something we've been prepping for a while now. How it was? As one can imagine - super-boosting and it gave us wings! We will surely be practising more of this exciting branch of yoga on a side, wish us luck :)
Warning: Do not try this at home unless you have a consistent and regular practice and have built a strong core.

So, would you also like try acro yoga?

September Yoga Challenge

Hallo friends!!

I can't believe it is already the 1st of September (as often as people exclaim this)! Seriously, it is like yesterday was February and we dreamed for summer to arrive, now we count down the days till its end.
It has been quite the mixture of a hectic and relaxed summer that I've been having. Surely many were envious of all the days I spent just walking somewhere, touring around, chilling, and oh - partying of course. I did study quite a bit which seems to have tired me. This is why I have decided to create for myself a September Yoga Challenge starting today. It actually started 2 hours ago when I started my first yoga practice for this month during which I intent to practice yoga every single day. This first practice took about 50 minutes and I mainly focused on twists and stretching and breathing (as am also tiny bit sickish so I need to restore my energies). Doing yoga every single day for such an extended period as my goal has not happened to me yet and it will soon be 2 years since I first discovered yoga. Hopefully this month will not only deepen my practice and help me achieve things I did not till now, go deeper into the poses, but also help me spread the word even further and gain more popularity. I wish to encourage more sceptics to come and try this 'yoga thing' at least once. This is why I created my own page Moga Yoga with Maya - to let people follow my practice, my struggles and the way I change my life bit by bit, how it affects me, hoping that this will intrigue some and push them to do that step forward and dive into this journey. Because it feels just so great! Challenge yourselves with me? Follow me and let's explore what happens :)))