7. February 2021 • Katja Laurien
Are you familiar with this nagging feeling that you’re not doing enough? I’m not talking about the times that you’re procrastinating, but about having this feeling hanging like a dark cloud above your life. I actually thought I had moved past this feeling, but during the lockdowns in 2020 I found out that it wasn’t over yet…When the lockdowns started I was a waitress and therefore couldn’t work for an extended period of time.
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1. November 2020 • Katja Laurien
The corona virus has quickly turned out to be so much more than “just” a health challenge. As if this wasn’t already enough, the measures and the consequences have led to so many different opinions and viewpoints, highlighting the complexity of modern life, the interdependence between people and even nations. We’ve been bombarded with numbers and “facts” which interestingly enough seemed to contradict each other, making it so difficult to know whom to trust and what to believe.
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4. October 2020 • Katja Laurien
The guest house
This human being is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival
A joy, a depression, a meanness -
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thoughts, the shame, the malice,
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6. September 2020 • Katja Laurien
This is the final post of a series of posts about understanding and dealing with our defense mechanisms which can help us see through the illusions we create in life. Therefore I’d recommend you first read the first two posts before continuing with this one. The approach I’ve been describing in these series is based on the work of the Dutch psychologist Ingeborg Bosch and her book “Illusions - How to escape the labyrinth of destructive emotions”.
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2. August 2020 • Katja Laurien
This is the second part of a series of posts which intend to help you seeing through life’s illusions. These posts are based on the work of the Dutch psychologist Ingeborg Bosch, who has developed the Past Reality Integration (PRI) Therapy which I personally find highly effective. In order to see through the illusion, you first have to start by understanding and recognizing your defense mechanisms which I described in the last post.
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5. July 2020 • Katja Laurien
The past months I’ve gone through an emotionally very turbulent period. This was not the first roller coaster I’d been through, but the fact that I couldn’t really pinpoint the problem, made it very confusing to me. I didn’t really understand what was going one with me, but I wisely decided to switch off my brain and just watch my thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Thanks to my dedicated meditation practice, it was not that difficult to stay in the observing mode.
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7. June 2020 • Katja Laurien
We’re more than just physical beings. Most of all we’re vibrational beings. We attract and repel things, people and situations into our lives according to the frequency we’re vibrating on, therefore our “vibrational hygiene” is of utmost importance. Maybe you don’t really believe in this wishy-washy idea of vibrations and frequencies, but I’m pretty sure you know at least one person who seems to magically attract negativity and who (surprise, surprise!
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5. April 2020 • Katja Laurien
This month it’s my blog’s third anniversary! Whoop whoop! This anniversary invited me to think back on why I ever started writing this blog in the first place, three years ago. While I was contemplating my motivation and reasons for starting this project, I realized that this decision has influenced my life in so many more surprising ways. Today I want to share with you this story which might help you in making smaller and bigger life decisions.
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1. December 2019 • Katja Laurien
We live in a time where everything is possible. Power, fame and abundance aren’t limited anymore to the “chosen ones” but can be achieved virtually by everyone. In a way this is great. We have more or less equal opportunities and for most people in the Western world the sky’s the limit. Unfortunately, this limitless opportunities don’t seem to make people any happier, but rather anxious and stressed out. So, where does it go wrong?
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6. October 2019 • Katja Laurien
We all sometimes struggle to set our boundaries. On the one hand we want to serve others, but we also want to take care of ourselves and serve our own needs and wishes. We could also turn this around and put it differently: We either fear rejection or we fear losing control. How can we find out whether we really want to help someone or whether we are simply afraid to lose their sympathy?
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