Yoga Archives - Mittens and Sunglasses

This is enough

24 March 2025 Mittens and Sunglasses

Over the past few months I’ve been pondering about life a lot. Of where I want to go leading forward. For three months I cut down on work, only working 90% (meaning I had every second Monday off). It didn’t take long for me to realise it didn’t make a huge difference economically, and in general it made me feel better.

After my trip to India in October I have also realised that I don’t feel the urge to take the longer trips anymore. I feel quite content with what I’ve seen of the world so far. After all, most of the people of the world have seen by far less. I have visited around 30 countries, and there are still countries on my own continent I haven’t seen. Should I feel the urge of seeing a new country, I should maybe look closer to home?

I’m also trying to lean into a more slow way of living. I can’t say I’m there yet, but it’s also a journey. Fitting in meditation every day, working on being content with what I have and where I am. One of the challenges is how I miss living in Oslo. I love our house, and I am excited to get everything there sorted, but Oslo will always have a special place in my heart.

At the end of 2024, I signed up for an online teacher training course in meditation and mindfulness. It’s first and foremost for me to deepen my practice, but it’s also a part of the bigger picture. If I could teach meditation as well, I think I would be able to work less in my day job more permanently. Maybe cut it down to 80%? Time will show. I’m not jumping to decisions. Not right now.

As I’m writing this I’m on a flight from Norway to Ireland. I will post it once I’m in a place where that is possible.

For now, this is enough.

A small buddah statue sitting, with a mala around his neck. — Photo: Mittens and Sunglasses © 2022

Mountain Yoga Retreat 🧘

14 November 202112 March 2022 Mittens and Sunglasses

The first week of October 2021, I spent a week at Jønnhalt Gjesteseter in the Venabygd mountains in Gudbrandsdalen (English: Gudbrand Valley). For a whole week I attended a yoga retreat, and spent my time doing yoga, reading, and going for lovely walks.

Atman Yoga Festival 2020

8 April 20208 April 2020 Mittens and Sunglasses

I went to the Atman Yoga Festival here in Oslo, Norway, Saturaday 29 February 2020. Here’s my video from the day at the festival.

My first yoga inspired tattoo

18 February 2020 Mittens and Sunglasses

1 November 2019 I got my very first yoga inspired tattoo. I absolutely love the works by the tattoo artist Vincent Jacobs, and since he was visiting Oslo, I bookes an appintment with him. Not only was this my first yoga inspired tattoo, but it was also my first tattoo that was not dot work!

The tattoo on my underarm. — Photo: Mittens and Sunglasses © 2019

So, what does this tattoo mean? It’s pretty simple: Breathe. This ancient Sanskrit symbol is a beautiful reminder to do what comes naturally. It’s the first thing we do when we come into this world and the last thing we do when we leave it. The tattoo is placed in a space easy for me to see, and it can remind me to breathe.

So you have a yoga inspired tattoo? If you do, what is it?

Yoga Retreat in the Norwegian Mountains

8 February 2020 Mittens and Sunglasses

This is a very delayed post. In October 2019 I went to this amazing yoga retreat in Hedalen in Valdres, up in the Norwegian mountains. Under is a video I made from the retreat, and I think it pretty much peaks for itself.

Namaste!

28 June 2014 Mittens and Sunglasses

My first proper meeting with yoga was in 2008. It wasn’t very long after the car accident I was in that summer, and my body wasn’t wholly healed. To be honest with you, the meeting wasn’t at all pleasing. I went to a yoga class at the gym I attended at the time. I don’t really know what I was thinking, I managed to arrive pretty much as the class started, and felt as I was the only one there that had never done any yoga before. That, added to the pain I was still in, didn’t make a wonderful meeting.

Some time later I decided to try yoga again, much thanks to a friend of mine. I was living up north in Hammerfest at the time, and she’d done a course about teaching yoga. Because of her yoga interest, she managed to get a yogi coming from Oslo to teach yoga for a week end. This time, yoga was a whole different story, and I’ve loved it since.

Even though I’ve been yoga for a few years now, I still feel very much like a beginner. I would love to take more yoga classes, and I even went to classes at Satya Yoga here in Sandnes, but even though the teachers were good and I enjoyed it, they do Iyengar Yoga, and used a lot of props. I do see the usefulness of them, but I felt I lost the flow you normally get from Hatha Yoga.

Not long ago, I passed a new yoga centre in Sandnes though. It’s called Atha Yoga, and according to their website, they do different sorts of yoga. Having looked at their Sandnes schedule, they seem to be doing mostly Jivamukti Yoga. I must admit I’m intrigued! I’ve never tried Jivamukti Yoga before, and am planning on trying it!

I love foing yoga. It feels good on so many levels. Especially my body is happy when I’ve done a round on the yoga mat. But I feel good afterwards, all-in-all.

Namaste!

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
Photo © 2014