A book that changed my life

“A house without books is like a room without windows”

Honestly I’m not a real bookworm but when I found a book that fits me I can completely lose myself in the story. Books are actually fascinating and can hold long forgotten wisdom from all over the world. It astonishes me to see how much you can learn from just one book, sometimes even more than from our daily lives. I think that is because books do not judge us, it does not expect anything from us. We are totally in control and if we read something that doesn’t suits our ideas, our way of life we can choose to close it, run away or turn the page. We can also choose for the confrontation without fear of any expectations or opinions from others. But most of all, what I love about books is the opportunity to connect with the story itself, to make it your own.  Creating with my own mind and paint the story the way I see it, making the characters alive and giving even more details to the story then is written on the pages.

“It astonishes me to see how much you can learn from just one book, sometimes even more than from our daily lives”

The book that changed my life is a story that has touched so many hearts all over the world and I’m sure it could touch yours if you would give it a chance. It is written by the amazing and beautiful soul named Paulo Coelho. A Brazilian writer who had to walk upon a very difficult path in order to achieve his dream, ‘becoming a writer’.
The book is called “The Alchemist” and is really worth your time. The story follows an Andalusian shepherd in his journey to the pyramids in Egypt, after having a dream about a treasure. This book is so easy to read but very well written, you quickly find yourself attached to the story and this Shepherd. I obviously do not want to give away to much of the content of the story but this book is truly amazing.

While reading this book I learned so much about myself, it helped me overcoming fears, difficulties in life and how to follow my own heart. The story takes you on a journey towards the greatest treasure that we all seek. It is spiritual, adventurous and full of fantasy, this book deserves a place on your bookshelf.

 

If any of you has read or is going to read this book, please let me know. I would be so happy to hear about your experience and learning. And if any of you has a book that they would love to share with me also do not hesitate. I’m open to any of your recommendations. Just share why this book and how it affected you or your life.
Thank you for reading this post and I’ll hope you’ll have a wonderful day.

Love,

Ines

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A rainy day in january

Today was a typical cold, wind blowing, rainy day in The Netherlands. Instead of staying inside I made the decision that the weather wasn’t gonna stop me from enjoying this day. I took some time for myself and grabbed my camera, took a stroll down the forest, baked a “home-made” cake and started writing a new post on my blog. Although it’s officially still winter, the snow is already gone and I stopped wearing my gloves. I think it is known that it rains a lot in Holland and that the dutch daily complain about the weather. It’s true we do complain a lot but I always try to make something out of the day and to enjoy the little things in life. In this blog post I’m gonna share with you how I survived a rainy day in january.

After lunch I wanted to go outside, being in nature to breathe in some fresh air. I prepared myself a cup of coffee (organic biological coffee) and thought about were to go for a walk.

Love a cup of coffee for some inspiration!

Near the town I live in they’re a few of forests and beautiful nature scenery to go to. I love to walk in nature, feeling the wind, hearing the birds and listening to the sounds of the forest. Connecting with my inner child. Being in nature always reminds me that we are part of something so much bigger than us, we are nature and nature is in us. I feel lucky living so close by nature, being able to see hares running in the fields, deers grazing fresh grass in the morning and field mouses crossing my path during a morning walk with the dog.

These boots are the best 🥾🐾🍂

After we (me and my boyfriend) made up our mind on which forest to go for a walk, we took the car and drove for like 10 minutes. It’s a lovely little forest very close to our home but because of the bad rainy weather we decided to go by car. This place is one of my favorite and in the summer it’s lovely to walk underneath the shades of the trees. Yesterday the whole forest was covered with snow but because of the rain everything has it’s originaly colors back. It was actually beautiful to see all this green and brownish colors again.

Connecting with nature

I took the advantage and shot some picture of the forest. Even though it is not Sweden or Canada, these forests are for me very special and important. They give me so much joy, inspiration and positivity. These forests breathe life and I always feel refreshed after a good walk in nature.

During my walk I got the idea of baking a cake and so that’s what I did. Besides, what better than baking a cake with bad weather at home? I really enjoy it, every time!

A Tip: put some ginger jam on your cake slice

This day was a good day because I choose to make something out of it. We always have a choice in life and even though it’s a difficult one, the choice is ours. I hope that this post maybe gave someone some hope or maybe inspiration to choose for enjoying the rainy day’s in the future and embrace these days by following your heart, by doing what makes you happy. I wish you all a wonderful evening.

Love,

Ines

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Yoga Teacher Training, India

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Hello dear friends,

It’s been a long time I’ve written or shared anything on my blog. I was in India attending the Yoga teacher training at the ashram Arhanta Yoga, Khajuraho.

What an experience, a truly amazing life experience. First of all the surroundings of the ashram where beautiful and peaceful, lot’s of Eucalyptus trees, cows grazing and green parrots flying arround. This place changed me!!! What I’ve learned during those weeks are priceless life lessons, wisdom and knowledge that are going to help me grown into the best version of myself.

Yoga is more than just poses, it is a way of life, self-realization to find the “Who Am I”! Did you know that the beginning of yoga was developed in Northern India over 5.000 years ago. It is said that at that time monks living in monastery’s, cut off from the world, used to meditate all day to obtain samadhi or enlightenment. Because of long meditation sitting positions, they recognized that their body got sick, ill or weak. For this reason they created a system that would rejuvenate the body and prolong life. They developed yoga to cleanse the body and mind.

Together with 26 other students we manage to work together, trust each other and believe in each others possibility’s. For four weeks we lived as monks and became family, a community based on love and compassion with one main goal, becoming a yoga teacher! Together we accomplished this goal all together and I will cherish every person I met there in my heart✨🙏🏾

Love,

Ines

The true cost of clothing

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First of all I want to start this blog post by explaining to you all how I came to the idea of sharing this. I’ve always been curious who made all the clothing we see in stores, under what circumstances and how can it be so cheap? I never took the time to do research and I just assumed that those workers were happy with having a job instead of living on the street. Just can’t believe how wrong I was. Yesterday I started watching “The True Cost” and I was shocked😱🤬 This documentary explains the real cost of the fashion industry, especially fast-fashion and who’s really paying for it. It goes very deep on showing us the impact of fashion on people and the planet🌍

What is fast-fashion? “Fast fashion”, inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends. So, what it basically means is that those brands make clothing at high-speed and low costs, underpay workers in Bangladesh, India or China while they’re making a fortune. It’s crazy when you think about it😠🤯

A lot of brands produce their clothing in countries were workers right don’t exist. The work conditions in those developing countries are so bad, unsafe, childs labour, slavery, undervalued, overworked and underpaid. Those brands know, they know it and do nothing. Instead they make use of those situations to make high fashion clothing at the maximum lowest wage possible. This makes me sick🤮

It’s I-N-S-A-N-E to think that almost all people                                                                   living in the first world countries are
paying for this. How could we know, when NO brand is telling us the truth. Everytime we are buying a piece of clothing from Zara, Topshop, Levi’s, Forever21, Primark, Victoria Secret (the list is endless) we are donating those companies 👎🏽to keep on exploiting people, our people.

⚡️GET INVOLVED⚡️                                                                                                                     I can already hear you thinking, uh how am I suppose to find nice affordable clothing? Well let me tell you.. it is not impossible😉. I usually shop second-hand at thrift shops , thrifting vintage or look online. Now I came to this realization it’s gonna be my mission to buy ethical fashion, becoming more aware of where I’m spending my money on. Support ethical brands like Asos Green Room, Stella McCartney, Style Saint or a local brand. Try to buy less stuff and look for hand-made, sustainable and Eco-friendly fashion. Be the change ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼

»The Ethical Fashion is a not for profit network, focusing upon social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry🙌🏽

Create a better world were workers are treated with dignity and have human rights💪🏽🌍💪🏿 Are you with me? Watch the documentary “The True Cost”, get involved.     Join the fashion revolution ✂️🙌🏽👚#whomademyclothes

💡 Sixty big name brands continuing to use sweatshop labour           

💡 check out the Fashion Revolution Instagram account fash_rev for more info. 

Keep smiling 🤩

xx  Inès

Why I stopped wearing makeup

“Life is’nt about being perfect, there is beauty in imperfection and growing. Never measure yourself against others, just follow what works for you”

❗️❕I’m really excited to talk about this topic❕❗️ So, first of all I didn’t entirely banished make-up out of my life, still use it when I go to work or for special occasions. In my everyday life I rarely use it anymore and it feels A-M-A-Z-I-N-G👊🏽

I started my vegan🌱 lifestyle in 2017 and that’s also when I begin this search on how to become my greatest version, a more happy & healthy me. Wearing make-up gave me the feeling that I wasn’t really being myself. I always had to wear make-up💄 to feel great or beautiful when we all know that happiness & beauty comes from within not through appearances or looks.

So about a year ago I also quit taking the birth control pill (this has changed my life and I’m so happy I stopped taking it!). Even tough I knew that skin problems where part of the cleaning process of my body after going off birth control, I definitely did NOT enjoyed that. My acne got very bad, I was so scared it wouldn’t get better. Because of my acne, I began to use more make up for coverage but it felt wrong, I knew deep down that my skin needed to breathe for healing. After one month of covering everything up my skin got worse. I could see that it wasn’t healing so I decided to just stop and take care of it. I got to that point when I thought ” hey, even though I have breakouts I’m still me, I’m the same Ines as before and my skin is going to heal itself if I treat it with love and have patience”. And that’s what I did! I stopped wearing make-up in my free time and use only mascara to work to still look decent.. if you know what I mean😉

“As a woman I really had to work on my self-confidence because it’s not easy at all to take off the mask when you already feel vulnerable. Still I’m so so so happy I made this decision and choose for health instead of my ego. I wish all girls and women would embrace their natural beauty and start taking off that mask” ✨💃🏼

After a few weeks my skin was already looking so much better. I started to use only organic / cruelty-free 🐽🌱 beauty products like argan oil, green olive oil soap, weleda hair shampoo 🧖🏽‍♀️ and made myself a detox skin boost scrub with organic coconut oil🥥, death sea salt & bentonite clay. Also I believe that my healthy diet, yoga practice and fresh air, drinking lots of water really helps!! 

It has been a year now and my skin looks finally healthy. Unfortunately it still happens that right arround my period I get here and there breakouts — but hey, that’s life. Still I am 💯 convinced that a healthy lifestyle and being aware of what you put on your skin helps on having this healthy glow we all desire, am I right😎. Look on the internet, do some research and try out to see what works for you.

The body is so intelligent, it only needs our support to heal itself. I have experienced that pure natural & organic beauty products are the best you can probably give to your body & skin. Our skin is the largest organ of the body, it absorbs everything you put on it. Knowing this, its easy understanding that what you put on your skin eventually ends up inside your body. Therefore its important to take close intention to the ingredient in your skin care products. Go to the closest organic supermarket and ask for advise on what product to use (Ekoplaza or Vitaminestore are my favorite shops in the Netherlands). In general they should know about the products they sell and about the ingredients that’s in them, so don’t hesitate asking for some help cause that’s how you’ll learn knowing what works and what doesn’t. Also make sure to use products that are animal friendly who have not been testes on animals. Look out for our planet and the animals 🐷🌎🐰.                                                                                              

🌈Be healthy, be you🧡

xx Inès

👉🏽Soon more about “why I decided to ditched the pill”👈🏽

Food for the soul

 We all know that eating healthy is the most loving thing you can possibly give to your body, but what about our thoughts, our words and our intentions behind it? 🤔

When I was younger I never knew that “self-love” was even possible. I did not know that everything I was thinking or even pronounced had influence on me or my life. As I grew older I came across an amazing discovery, that water has memory. 

 

This may sound silly and you might want to stop reading this blog post but please don’t, keep on reading! So I was saying that water has memory.                                     Dr. Masaru Emoto (japanese researcher) one day started an experiment by observing water crystals with his microscope🔬🔮 He started to observe the water crystal of frozen water after showing words to water like love or war. He showed pictures, played music and prayed to water. 

The results were fascinating. Every time he exposed the water with good words, playing positive music, and showing or offering pure prayers he observed beautiful water crystals💎 On the other hand, he observed disfigured crystals in the opposite situation by offering bad words and negative music 👇🏽

Water is of major importance for all living things; on average, the body of an adult human being contains 60% water💦 Everything you think, say, watch, listen to or surround yourself with has influence on you in a positive or negative way.  It’s therefore so important to become aware of not only what you put into your body but also what do you surround yourself with, becoming aware of your thoughts and becoming more positive. I know how hard it is but let me help you by giving you some tips that help me along my journey🙏🏽

〰️ Always start the day with a healthy breakfast, something that will give you some love fuel for the day.

〰️ Take a nice shower; start with saying some positive words for the day like, today is going to be an amazing day, I am a magnet of love, positivity, peace and happiness. 

〰️ Look at yourself in the mirror while brushing your teeth. Say I love myself, I am beautiful, bountiful, bliss. I am loving awareness. 

〰️ Write down some positive affirmations that you will read when you feel lost or down. Affirmations helps us believe in the potential of an action we desire to manifest. This can be a dream, a career or just happiness in your life. This really help me allot. I used to carry a little notebook everywhere with me.

〰️ Make a playlist of music that inspire you, feed your soul with positive songs and let go of those who feed your ego. 

I strongly believe that we can either be our own best friend or our worst enemy. We have the choice to become our greatest version so why not start today?                          Keep smiling🤩

xx Inès

 

Why I quit smoking & drinking alcohol for life 💯

WOW it’s been 3 years now and I feel amazingly strong & healthy! Every morning I prepare myself a nutritious fruit bowl with nuts, seeds and lots of fruits🥑🍌🍉🍓🍑. I’ve started practicing yoga six month ago & put my blog online for everyone to see. I’m truly following my dream every day in a positive way🙏🏽✨

I’ve not always been like this healthy. Those who knew the old me must remember my smoking addiction, as my drinking & party lifestyle every weekend. Yes, I used to go out almost every weekend with friends and party like there was no tomorrow. Honestly, I’m not proud of that at all and I wish I‘d never started drinking alcohol & smoking my first cigarette. 

With saying all of this, I’m not judging anyone who’s drinking or smoking but it’s just that for me quitting all of it was necessary to reach my goal, whish is optimal health and becoming a Yogini. Everyone has the right to take the path that the think is best for themself. If you’re ready to take the responsibility of your own actions, then feel free to explore as much as you like. So, I’m not saying what you should do, I’m only sharing my story.

What’s the deal about alcohol?

Alcohol is a TOXIN. It goes directly into your blood, and your liver tries to filter it out before it poisons you. Most of us think that alcohol is an upper! That we will feel warm, happy, social and fun when in reality alcohol is a downer 😨😵. Alcohol is a type of drug known as a depressant, which slows down all of your body’s and brain’s processes- including your ability to think clearly and breathe. Drink too much, these processes eventually stop. Drinking alcohol is not without risks.

What’s the deal about smoking?🚬

You know that cigarettes contain nicotine and tabacco, but they contain a lot of other chemicals too. Arsenic- used in rat poison, Lead&Cadmium- found in batteries, Toluene- used in paint manufacturing, Methanol- rocket fuel and Butane- used in lighter fluid. That’s a lot of chemicals in just one cigarette 👨🏽‍🔬🚭. Smoking cigarettes just can’t be good for any human being alive, it’s slowly kills you. For example if we look at nicotine (found in tabacco) we see that in large amount it can interrupt the proper functioning of nerve and muscle cells! These nerves and muscle cells are needed to provide movement so you and I can walk, run, go to work, live.

Why I quit?

Beside removing those chemicals and toxins out off my life, I also stopt because I felt that it was blocking the door to my true self. I used to drink alcohol just to feel better about myself, to feel confident and to be more open and fun in public. Deep down I never was that social, I’ve always loved being in nature and I never really dared to show myself to the world. I never felt understood because of my interest in spirituality, God and the purpose of life. That’s why I’ve always kept it away and tried to do what most of people my age did, partying and drinking alcohol. I was just trying to fit in, like most of us do. About 4 years ago I met my lovely boyfriend Roel, who some of you might know. He did help me and supported me to quit these bad behaviours. Together we stopt smoking and drinking alcohol and ended our partying lifestyle. I must say that having someone supporting me really helps on pushing through. It’s really important to surrounding yourself with positive people, friends who are going to lift you higher instead of down. 

Now I am so blessed and grateful that I took the decision to quit. I feel so much more me because I am not pretending anymore. I wasn’t born to drink alcohol or to smoke. I can’t continue this unhealthy lifestyle if I choose to love myself. 🌼🌸

Keep Smiling

xx Inès

 👇🏽Down bellow, some health benefits after quitting drinking & smoking👇🏽

Benefits of quitting drinking!

💜 Improved Health- Your liver will be happy, you’ll decrease the change of developing alcohol related diseases or heart problems, start a healthy diet with some exercise to lose all the weight you have been carrying arround from all that drinking.

💙 More Productivity- When you drink too much, the hangover makes it almost impossible to anything properly. Stop drinking and you’ll get more done and your productivity will rise.

💛 Improved Psychological/Emotional Health- Ever seen a violent bar fight? Or someone so drunk, crying on the dirty floor in front of everyone? These situations are examples of when alcohol takes over our emotions when we’re under influence.

 

Benefits of quitting smoking!

Quitting smoking is very hard as it affects you physically and mentally, so be prepared for that. But did you know that you will feel the benefits, even just minutes after quitting?

Healthy body, Healthy life

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos- the trees, the clouds, everything. -Thich Nhat Hanh

Eating healthy does NOT have to be boring. Think of all the combinations you can make with just fruits, vegetables, nuts&seeds ✨🥑🍌🌶🍠🥜🥕🍉🌽🍋🍍🍓🍊✨ Becoming aware of what I put in my body has been, and still is, a big challenge for me. I think the most of you can relate to that.

First of all, what’s the definition of Nutrition?

Nutrition is about eating a healthy and balanced diet. Food and drink provide energy and nutrients you need to be healthy. Understanding this nutrition term may make it easier for you to make better food choices.

Why is Eating healthy so important?

Not only can eating healthy make you feel en look well it can also save your life. We all know that our body needs nutritious food to stay energetic, build up muscles and to fight off bacteria/diseases. Our body is a temple who should be treated with respect and love, not with greed and lust.

What I’ve seen om my journey is that we easily mistaken greed over hunger. Most of the time we think we’re hungry but it’s our mind, our ego who’s playing games with us. Learning to feel when your body is really hungry and what it needs to be strong and healthy is the first step. It’s a real challenge that takes time and discipline. Because of this stressful life that most of us have, we do not take the time we need to really listen to our body as to make good food choices. Most of the time we just grab some easy food and go to work. For dinner we order something or just look in the fridge for leftovers. Healthy food should be a priority because every human needs healthy, fresh food. 

Why I love food

I love food that just comes out of the ground, the ones you need to wash before eating. For me that’s the best food in the world.. nuts like almonds and walnuts too and what about water or tea for hydration. This subject is so interesting if you take the time to make research on the healing magic of food and plants. So many fruits, vegetables, nuts&seeds are full of amazing benefits that can boots your immune system or even heal a sickness. The practice of using plants for healing purpose is as old as medicine itself. Ancient cultures who respected nature’s capability to cure sickness and diseases, did not hesitate to use these medicinal plants for their own benefits. They understood nature and learned to listen with their own body.

It is my belief that if we want to gain optimal health we must make the right choices by listening. Becoming aware of our own habits is so important! It is only when you truly understand your own behaviour & mind that you can start changing it into something you really want..like optimal health🤸🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️💪🏽

Soon more about foods to eat & healthy recipes you can try at home!

Keep smiling🤩

xx Inès

Follow your highest excitement

It really amazes me that children do not learn about love, peace or how to follow their highest excitement. We are all told to follow the herd, “finish your study, get a job, earn lot’s of money, buy a house, get married and have children”.

When I was in the final year of highschool I had to choose a study and found this very difficult. Not knowing at that time who I was and what I wanted in life, I felt a bit lost and confused. I remember telling my mentor that I did not knew what I wanted to do the rest of my life, that I wasn’t ready but he insisted that I should choose something quickly because not doing anything wasn’t an option.

I do not say that I regret making this decision cause I learned so much but if I would have listend to myself I would have grown so much faster. They should give children a few other options to choose from such as volunteering abroad, taking a year off to find out what you want to do or if you like to paint.. just be a painter. Schools must offer more support by helping children/students finding their true self. Knowing who you really are is much more valuable then having all those materiaal belongings. Having this knowledge is a gift only you can create, you will be able to reach your own happiness. You will be free at creating your dream.

But what is the secret? How to become your true self and follow your highest excitement?

Well, what I found on my journey is that we need to stop comparing ourself with others. You are not your neighbours, friends or parents.. you are you. There is no one on this earth that can tell you who you truly are, only yourself. Deep down you know it and it’s up to you to let it come out. When you’ve succeeded on doing so, you’ll be able to start following your own path without being influenced all the time by the world arround you. You will start following your heart, choose to do the things you love doing and let go of everything that is no longer serving you. Whithout hesitation you wil follow your highest excitment. It means you will choose to do what makes you happy. This will learn you to listen to your inner self and how to find the way back when you’ve lost track of your path.

xx Inès

The yoga path

Well, I first came across this yoga lifestyle when I was in Bali, Indonesia in 2014. Although I was there for an internship, we had lots of free time to explore the surroundings of this beautiful tropical island. We met some people, made some friends and on the beach is where I had my first yoga lesson. I remember that I wasn’t even able to touch my toes back then but this feeling while practicing these postures made me curious about this yoga path. I got back to the Netherlands and forgot all about it. A few years later I found a very interesting documentary called ‘Awake: the life of Yogananda’. After seeing this beautiful documentary I immediately bought the book ‘Autobiography of a yogi’. This book truly change my life.

Now I’ve been practicing yoga for six month and I love it 🧘🏽‍♀️💫

On my yoga mat I feel free of all todays expectations, stress or any negativaty. In that moment only my breathing exists. For me it’s all about letting go of the physical body, our thoughts and emotions. Yoga showed me my true self, the stillness inside.

What are your thoughts about yoga? Are you a yoga practitioner or interested in this yoga lifestyle? Leave me a message in the comments down below or subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news📩✌🏽

xx Inès