Of Books and Yoga

It has been a long time since my last post. All this time I have often thought of closing this account, I have often written and then deleted some posts, I have often felt the urge to write my feelings however I just didn’t feel I should … so I let it be and hang around. As always many things happened. Many ups & downs. Many downs really hurt but I always got up on my feet again and went on for a new ride on this roller coaster that somebody calls L I F E.

As you know, I love reading books and I love yoga. Well, recently I have a hard time reading books. I get lost in my thoughts and cannot enjoy my reading. I haven’t practiced yoga as well. I keep on booking classes and then cancel them. I am sad about this, it is a strange feeling, I miss yoga but I don’t want to go … ? … and I don’t want to force myself to go!

Back to the subject of this post ‘Of Books and Yoga’ … I am reading a book out of curiosity and fun … I am so embarrassed about the title that I have put a cover on it … the title reads “Why Men Love Bitches” by Sherry Argov … I won’t go into details about the content of the book but I wish to mention that the “bitch” word is not related to a negative disposition but it is intended in a humorous way – along with the tone of the book – and refers to a strong yet kind woman. I haven’t finished reading the book so this post doesn’t want to be a review. What I want is to share how surprised I was this morning when I found a connection between something the author says and yoga … yes, I know that if you are a yogini you are shivering in horror … just let me explain!

Extract from page 110:

Your true power, therefore, is marked by:

• Realizing what your rhythm is, and moving to it

This sounds to me like “Follow the flow. Let the flow guide you.” a sentence I often hear at the studio

• Having self-control, because true power is the control you have over yourself

Isn’t this very similar to “Wisdom comes from not losing our cool in turbulent moments.(Taken from ‘40 Days To Personal Revolution’ by Baron Baptiste)”? and isn’t this self-control the very self-control you should have while holding Pigeon Pose despite the overwhelming pain in your hips?

Up to now the strong message I got from this book is to respect yourself. When I realized this point, I instantly was not ashamed of the book anymore … however, I will still keep the cover on it!

… Big teachings come from different sources, in different ways, for different reasons but in the end they often harmonize in meanings and scopes.

Ciao and enjoy your day!

Merci Camus…

Au milieu de l’hiver,
j’ai découvert en moi un invincible été.

 

Nella profondità dell’inverno ho imparato alla fine
che dentro di me c’è un’estate invincibile.

 

In the depths of winter I finally learned
there was in me an invincible summer.

When Strength Comes From Fragility …

Almost everyone thinks that I am a strong woman. Many different reasons and one conclusion “You are so strong!” … every time people tell me how strong I am I feel a sharp pain like the thorn of a rose when it gets under the skin.

 

The reason why I feel this way is because deep inside I feel fragile …

 

… it is true that I have made choices that other people would hardly make … and it is true that strength and determination let me make hard decisions …

 

… but at the end of the day, when I am left alone with my choices it is not strength that I feel but rather the thorn of my fragility …

 

I am back … home!

I am back in Italy for the summer holiday and I am loving it!

After a few days back in my hometown, I realized how much I needed a break from the chaotic Hong Kong and from its intense life. I am enjoying the slow pace of my hometown, quiet streets, people walking slowly while looking around or stopping for a chat with a friend. Cappuccino and croissant on a Sunday morning, aperitivo with friends before dinner, relax-relax-relax!

On Sunday, while sunbathing, I felt a wave of happiness and energy spreading inside of me. It was forceful and full and I found myself smiling at the sensation. I finally felt balanced, the balance that I lost in the last few months and that I even stopped looking for because it just didn’t want to come back and I didn’t want to force it. I didn’t know that it was growing inside of me like a flower…

 

Growing…

I feel happy                                                     I feel me

I feel life

I feel joy

 

Everything I feel vibrates inside of me and it is impossible not to feel alive!

 

Joy!

Realia#4

what     you dream
of     facing the hull of another wreck
it sailed off into the wild blue yonder     some
half-realized titanic with an emphasis on
iceberg     float in the fatal aqua
gah-gah     you still saw     see!
faux pas in guady gew-gaw     whee!
ooh!     ahh!     moored to the weird maw
of mine     pining the far beaches and outer reaches
without a flaw     no one on no horizon     one     fallen but freely
pink     all sun-swabbed and succulently
among palms as does late day downwardly     i know you
pretty town     you know my little city and what
bitter renown comes of trying     you must fly with no good-byeing
no sighing     no doubling up
bubbling over     troubling
stubbling up through the smooth sand and surface
to plant a kiss

Image by Princi
Poetry by Bob Marcacci

Mysterious Drink!

This morning I woke up feeling pretty bad but having to finalize a few things for work I pushed myself out of bed. Since I didn’t have time for breakfast I grabbed some fruit, yogurt and a great wild berries juice (now I know why they call it “Volcano”!) on the way to work. I also got the usual Short Soy Latte but with big surprise they gave me something totally different … and it is delicious!!! … Now I am sipping my nice and mysterious drink and with a delighted smile I am ready to face an other day of work!

Books…

Recently I have been reading books in Italian written by Italian authors. After 7 years spent in Asia speaking mainly English, reading books in English and watching movies in English I sadly realized that my expertise of my own native language was in danger! Words sometimes would skip my mind, or they would get distorted in my mouth … when grammar mistakes started I thought that it was time to look for help!

 

I found help in books…

 

Books have been my long time companion. I still remember sitting in my bedroom as a kid and reading, devouring books. Books were my escape from reality. I was diving into the pages and dreaming of faraway places. Just recently I realized that I was a lonely child. Apart from happy days at my friend G.’s house, I spent a lot of time by myself. My family was too busy with work and there were not many occasions to go somewhere for a trip and sometimes not even for a Sunday walk. If this was not enough, my mother being the hyper-protective kind of mamma that she was and still is, I was not always allowed to go out … and so my room and my books were the means of my escape.

 

I treasure books. I touch the cover, I flip the pages and breathe in their smell. I touch the paper and check the font size, is it big or too small or just perfect for the size of the page? I have a hard time reading books that are lent to me. I love to be the 1st person to open and read a book. I am trying to overcome this…but in all of my life I succeeded in this self-challenge only once! On the other hand I like to lend my books to people I know and I like. It is like disclosing a part of me. Sometimes when I lend a book I include a bookmark, so that the person is not tempted to fold the corner of the page!

 

I love books that are not too big so that I can carry them in any bag. Often, I add a plastic cover to the books so that they don’t get ruined from the in&out from the bag. I love to sit on the subway in the morning and read a few pages. Luckily my subway stop is the first to be open air so that thanks to the light coming in from the window I can realize it is time to close the book and get off…the other day I almost skipped my stop!

 

These are my top 5 favourite books ever, listed in reading chronological order:

 

Isabel Allende, Of Love and Shadows
Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
Murakami Haruki, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle ‘ねじまき鳥クロニクル’
Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
Cesarina Vighy, Scendo. Buon Proseguimento

 

What is your top 5 list for books?

(By the way, the top five idea is taken from the main character of High Fidelity by Nick Hornby)