Happy Earth blog

Everything is a process, growth and improvement take time.

You will achieve whatever your heart wishes for if you are consistent and patient. There are no shortcuts to success, no 12-week programs, no magic workshops, courses or pills. Everything is a process and needs time and the right environment to reach its full potential. Whether you’re on a spiritual path or set yourself a physical or a practical goal, don’t be unrealistic. You don’t expect an infant to become an adult during childhood, you don’t expect a tree to blossom in winter and you know you have to wait till night to see the stars. So why are we in a hurry when it comes to our own process? We live in such a fast society. Consumerism and its smart marketers taught us that we can have it all and we can have it now. So we came to forget about the process, the natural flow of things.

Take time to do what you love to do, do it repeatedly and it will improve. You want to become healthier or get fitter? Think about it as a two or three year journey at least. Yes you can jumpstart things with programs or diets, but there is no such thing as ‘summer is in 6 months, so let’s work out’. It’s about what you persistently do and what you will repeatedly do for the next years. If you make the right choices, your body will reach its best state in a couple of years, don’t worry about the summer too much, there are plenty of summers ahead.

I’m learning, I’m learning that yoga is not about touching your toes. Whatever you do, don’t think about the end results or perfect looking postures you want to be in, that is just your ego talking. Just make it a good practice in which you observe your body and open your heart. Take it one practice at a time and notice how things unravel.

You are an artist and get frustrated because things are not moving fast enough? You’re focusing on the end product? Remember that it is your soul you are portraying. Your soul grows, your practice grows, your technique grows and eventually your work will grow. This also is a process, think about it as everything else in nature. The tree doesn’t blame itself that it doesn’t produce the fruit soon enough. It just allows itself to be, waiting for the right season, while soaking up the sunlight to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. According to environmental factors, one year may result in a better harvest than the other, but eventually there will be fruits. Why? Because it is the tree’s nature to do so. So if your nature is to create, with the right environmental factors and trust in the process, your efforts will be fruitful.

With Love from the Happy Earth Kitchen.

It is proven that smiling helps with a lot of things. It can help relieve stress and enhance our mood. It boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, releases endorphins and helps you stay positive and good looking. Smiling is also contagious. If someone looks frustrated or is not acting very friendly, the odds are their attitude will change when you smile at them. What you give, you receive. Also things feel so much better when you smile, even the things that normally take effort. For me, running with a clenched face results in such a different workout experience than running with a smile. It will set you in the mood and bring you in a flow, you will be able to see beauty around you, even in bad weather conditions.
Connect, be aware of your expression. Now shift into a smile, deepen your breathe and observe. How do you feel, how do things appear?

Practice smiling everyday. It will help you through bad days and it will make the good ones even better.

With love from the Happy Earth Kitchen.

Compassion & Non Violence

Everything in the universe is connected and there is a spiritual interdependence and equality between all forms of life. Every atom, in the human body, in food, in rocks, plants, animals and even the atoms in man-made objects came from a star that exploded. We might not have the same bloodline, the same gender, religion, color, or even belong to the same species, but we all are made from the same material and are all piece of an amazing and vast Universe.

Since ‘you’ = ‘all other life forms’: treat everything and everyone as you would like to be treated. Trust in the law of causality. Take responsibility for your thoughts, words and actions and their consequences. Realize that the smallest of creatures have the same life force just like yours and the ability to feel pain. So think about your diet, does it involve pain or does it involve compassion? Think about the ethics behind your personal goals, whether it’s increasing your income or improving your looks. Think about the clothes you’re wearing, did animals had to die or (worse) suffer? Were people exploited during the production? How does it effect the environment, the air that I’m breathing in? Soften your heart, let go of attachments and practice compassion. Always do your best to not intentionally harm any other living being. Transitioning might be hard, especially because of conventional thinking and the status quo, but try not to let it get in your way. It is scientifically proven that we don’t need as much protein as the meat and dairy industry made us believe. A whole food plant based diet prevents many Western diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease etc. and provides plenty of protein for the human needs.

Jainism (an Indian religion) prescribes a path of ‘Ahimsa’, which means non-violence towards all living beings. What makes it even more interesting is that Ahimsa is not only applied to physical acts, but also to words and thoughts. We naturally get mad, furious and upset when faced with injustice. We might even want to take violent counteraction. There is so much suffering and injustice in the world, but the only way to overcome it, is to not contribute to it in the same way. Not in actions and not even in thoughts and words. The Dalai Lama said: “You must not hate those who do wrong or harmful things; but with compassion, you must do what you can to stop them — for they are harming themselves, as well as those who suffer from their actions.”

I personally believe humankind has the intelligence and compassion to overcome greed, sexism, racism and speciesism and by doing so fix the challenges societies and our planet are facing. Don’t think one person won’t make any difference. Start doing what YOU can do, and inspire others to do the same. The world might not get a better place overnight, but YOUR world most probably will, and that my friends, is a small step towards greatness.

With Love from the Happy Earth Kitchen

I will enjoy more, love more, feel more and receive more when I stay connected.

Don’t let any moment go wasted because you forgot to be present. It doesn’t mean you have to sit in a lotus pose and meditate all day. Even in times of rush and deadlines, do everything you do with dedication. Feel the rush, embrace it, widen your vision, be present and be proud when the job is accomplished.

Don’t munch away your dinner thinking what you will have for desert or how the laundry is piling up. The food on your table is a gift, something that needed time to be sown, to grow, to be harvested, transported and to be prepared. Appreciate. Especially when you’re eating animal products, take a moment to say grace. Your pleasure means another beings pain, be grateful.

Remember that all is connected, and every single life form on earth has its purpose. Everything and everyone on this planet is made of the same atoms from stardust. So everything in the Universe really is connected. We might not have the same bloodline, the same gender, religion, color, or even belong to the same species, but we all are made from the same material and are in this together. Feel this connection. Nature has the power to end the existence of humanity and humans have the power to destroy the planet. Be respectful and take care.

Don’t just wipe away the spider in your window frame while cleaning. Look at it, observe the power and the life force it has been given. Take a moment to realize it has been made of the same stardust as you. Then gently put it outside, there is no need to harm it or kill it for no reason.

With Love from the Happy Earth Kitchen.

Go 24 hours without complaining at all, and watch how your life starts changing.

The weather, unmanageable hair, public transportation, the size of your waist, the size of your home, a pimple, the prices at the farmers market, slow wifi, the content of your wardrobe, the battery life of your smartphone, your workout results, the character of your boss, the color of your teeth, the number on your paycheck and the line at the checkout. It’s never the situation that makes us unhappy, but our attitude towards it. You can’t change the situation by complaining, but it will definitely give you an unpleasant mood and affect others around you.

Here’s a trick: Visualize the look on the face of a 3^rd world citizen, a refugee or a child soldier when you would tell them about your complaint. That look will be so awkward, that you actually will have to laugh at yourself and will remember how ridiculously, tremendously blessed you are. Wake up every morning, having a big glass of water, looking in the mirror and promising yourself you will do your very best today to not complain. At all! Repeat the next morning and watch how your life starts changing.

With love from the happy Earth Kitchen