Motivational

Nature vs Humanity

Posted on by nico

I am living in Indonesia for almost 8 months now and during this time I had the chance to connect more and more with nature. I live in an urban area, the Special District of Yogyakarta, but in an area where rice fields are reachable in a 5 minutes walk. Actually, Indonesian houses, even in the cities, used to be surrounded by a lot of nature, having each their own jackfruit, banana, mango trees and maybe a small rice field hidden in the back of the house. But now things are changing. Concrete is making its way in every neighborhood for facilitating transportation, primarily by motorbikes, and people have started selling their land to support their urban lifestyle which requires owning a car and a motorbike.. or several motorbikes, one for which member of the family. I am not saying that urban development is good or bad, what I am … Continue reading→

Why is ‘being water’ one of the best ways to live your life?

Posted on by nico

We are all living these hyper-fast times in which changes occur every day. Few things stay the same and this apparent lack of stability or security stir up in each of us anxieties and fears. Each of us looks for her or his ways to cope with this situation: some develop addictions and attachments to food or drinks or drugs or other persons, others choose to go on regular visits to psychologists, psychiatrists and other mind therapists, other look for spiritual meanings and solutions such as meditation, yoga, qigong etc.. I’ve been through my own process of finding my way to be me in this world and I chose meditation and Qigong. About my meditation learning I wrote previously here. As about my Qigong experience it’s a lot to be said, but for the moment I want to focus on the awareness that it brought to me over the theory of … Continue reading→

Batik: fabled cloth of Java

Posted on by nico

My Indonesian experience so far enriched me so much! I am grateful to be living here in Java, Indonesia and to study from professionals the amazing UNESCO certified Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity certified Indonesian textile art, batik. It was one of my dreams to study art formally and this art form is so beautiful and it suits me so much. Besides the technique itself which has its challenges, batik is an art so full of philosophical meaning! Each type of batik says a story. Batik is a textile art based on the technique of decorating and (repeatedly) dyeing a fabric by using removable wax to save the parts of the fabric that are not intended to be dyed. Batik is centuries old and the diversity of patterns, motifs and colors used stand as a proof for the cultural diversity that can be found in Indonesia itself … Continue reading→

What I have learnt by practicing meditation …

Posted on by nico

I’ve been an on/off meditator for the last 6 years. I’ve been practicing it more regularly in the last 3 years and I’ve been working on making it a regular daily practice because I am utterly convinced of  its benefits! About its concrete benefits neuroscientists have undergone some recent studies that demonstrate that it actually helps reshape our brain. My interest lies more in how this reshape of the brain shifts our behavior – which is defined as the action and/or reaction each of us takes in response to external or internal stimuli. My biggest meditation lesson and challenge in the same time was attending a 10 days Vipassana meditation in silence. The word vipassana means seeing things as they really are. This meditation technique was re-discovered by Gautama Siddhartha Buddha more than 2500 years ago and it was taught to me in its original form, by attending one of … Continue reading→

Traveling, Travelers …and the Universe

Posted on by nico

Why do people travel? People have always traveled, but the reasons for it have changed their shape (but now their nature) throughout the centuries. Originally, people have started traveling, migrating, mainly out of bare necessity: to find better soils, better natural resources, better life conditions. Another reason of traveling is represented by the military campaigns and interventions that have the goal of conquering or preserving lands and resources, ultimately for the same above mentioned goal: better life conditions. Besides these strictly material/economical/political determinants, there’s also a spiritual cause illustrated by the religious missionaries. Nevertheless, in the last century, with the rapid development of technologies, new slightly different shaped reasons have emerged that determine people to choose to travel, such as getting a better (and sometimes cheaper) education in another area than the one in which you were born in or getting a better paid job abroad. Essentially economic, these two … Continue reading→

On bullying (I)

Posted on by nico

                                                                                             “If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us” – Herman Hesse Recently, I’ve been reflection on bullying. It is only of very recent date (less than I year) that I realized that I’ve been bullied at school. It’s a perfect illustration of the fact that if one doesn’t know “the name” or “the label” of something, it might pass by as being normal in a way, socially accepted. That is why knowledge is power! And why education is essential! Now, most commonly, one would find bullying related to pre-teen and teen behavior. But it just doesn’t end here (nor does it start there). Let’s just define bullying for a start. My American heritage dictionary informs me that a bully is 1. A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker … Continue reading→

Get out of children’s way!

Posted on by nico

Children are the most authentic beings on the planet! They know exactly who they are and why they are here for. Ask them and they know exactly what’s wrong with the world and some of them have even ingenious solutions for ending world problems. I remember fragments of my childhood … visions… back then anything was possible. What happened? I got a “good education”. After learning to walk, speak and read, I was told to sit down, shut up and look up to other people. Children know naturally what is best for them. What are their interests. Instead of labeling them with ADHD whatever not or worrying about their future, satisfying their needs and encouraging them to know and believe in themselves is the key.