My 40 days of meditation challenge.

I'm done. I've been doing the same meditation every day for 40 days. I felt like I needed to build a solid foundation. In yogic tradition we say that you need to do something for 40 days to experience a real transformation. Since Charlie came my highest priority is sleep. After that comes meditation, then yoga and finally running. I LOVE every single activity but when you need to prioritize you need to do the most important thing first.

The pros of making a decision to do something every day for a period of time is that you really carve out the time to do it. The meditation I did was about 30 minutes. And yes, sometimes it was boring. Sometimes I wanted to do something else. But most of the time it was a beautiful experience and it filled me with so much self respect for giving myself this gift every single day.

I will not jump into another 40 days now. I will enjoy the feeling that I completed this challenge and let my intuition guide me on how to continue. That's how I often do it. I tune into myself to find out what kind of meditation I need to do today. But of course that only comes when you have been meditating for a prolonged period of time and have become more tuned in to know what will suit you best in the present moment. I've been meditating on a regular basis for 9 years now so I have gained some experience in that field I believe.

Yoga.

My 14y old, Mattias and I did yoga together today. I simply love it! I love seeing their focus and their progress. I'm currently doing Vinyasa Flows because that's what I crave at the moment. Yoga for me is to get a stronger more flexible body. It is like playing with myself and see what we, my body and I, can do togehter in this moment. The feeling when the stiffness from a day at the office leaves my body is so relieving. Yoga for me is of course also meditation. I crave meditation too. Otherwise I don't feel whole. The first time I tried Kundalini Yoga I fell totally in love. And it was the meditation that gave me goosebumps. I felt that this is what I've been missing for so long in my life. It was like coming home.

Running - taking a shower in happiness!

I love running. Especially in the forest. Doing that is like taking a shower in happiness. The weather has been a disaster here lately. We haven't seen the sun for weeks. It's grey, rainy and cold. But even so, a run in the forest makes me just as happy as always.

This photo was taken in the summer but it shows exactly how happy running makes me feel.

How to sprout Broccoli and Alfalfa.

Good morning!

Maybe some of you are back at work and some may still have vacation. Whatever you do I hope you enjoy yourself.

I thought I should share how super easy it is to sprout at home. I have been sprouting for quite some years now but sprouting broccoli is something I started with recently. I googled and I found these organic broccoli seeds online:

For the Alfalfa I currently use:

My experience though here in Sweden is that Alfalfa are easy to find. It was the Broccoli seeds that were a bit more tricky to find. 

Well, let's start! 

Step 1

Soak the seeds over night. 

I always put some kind of lid on because otherwise the cats will drink from it. 

I leave it in room temperature.

Step 2

In the morning I pour them over to the sprouting box and rinse thoroghly. 

Step 3

I put the lid on and cover the box with a towel because the seeds sprout faster in the darkness. I leave it in room temperature.

Step 4

Rinse twice a day. This is very important. I do it in the morning and in the evening.

Step 5

The sprouts will be ready to eat in about 3 days. Put them in the refridgerator and enjoy! 

Broccoli sprouts ready to eat

Vegan 'meatball' sandwich with beet root salad!

On New Year's Eve, when Charlie was sleeping Mattias and I made ourselves some vegan 'meatball' sandwiches with beet root salad. A few days ago we started talking about how we both enjoy this meatball sandwich before we went plant based and of course we never have had it since. But yesterday we recreated it in a healthy, environmental friendly and non-cruelty version! What a joy!!! We used vegan gluten free home made bread, home made meatballs based on sunflower seeds and Mattias made the beet root salad and it was sooo yummy!

2018!

Our last day this year did not start well. Charlie was still ill. His fever started on Christmas Eve and we were getting worried. He has never been sick for so many days before. We were thinking about taking him to a doctor but after talking to his daycare mom we understood that many of the children here who goes to daycare mom had been sick from hand, foot and mouth disease (höstblåsor). They have had the exact symptoms as Charlie; fever that goes up and down. No fever in the morning but it started at noon every day. Some of the children had been sick for 2 weeks! Yesterday we where hoping and praying that it would be no more fever and finally it turned!! We could enjoy a dinner together and Charlie could enjoy some early fireworks through our living room windows. He had no fever today either but his energy levels goes up and down which is perfectly normal after having fever for so many days! 

Today we went for a walk in the forest, Charlie and Mattias played some table tennis on the dinner table and we also did yoga. I also did day 36 of my 40 days of meditation! 

Hopefully Charlie will have regained his energy in a day or two so we can see some other people :) 

I boost myself with healthy stuff like apples (great virus fighters), carrots (rich in betacaroten, also good for your immune system), fresh ginger and turmeric. I don't wish to experience what Charlie has been through. 

Cheers with a juice!

My favourite immune system booster!

I made my favourite immune system booster today. A juice made from apples, carrots and fresh ginger. This time I added fresh curcumin.

Fresh curcumin

Cheers!