Hippie at Heart

At work I wear a dark suit everyday and I absolutely LOVE it. I love how it looks and how wearing it makes me feel. I am however realizing that I am a hippie. And I always have been. And I am okay with that. I can be a smart hippie businesswoman. And honestly, I am saying “hippie” in a cheeky way. What I really should say is that I am a “seeker.” And I don’t mean that Harry Potter and I are playing the same position in Quidditch teams. Oh man, another pop culture reference?! Usually I get a bit of Disney in my posts, but Harry Potter? Oh well. What I mean is that I am very open to new experiences of life. I crave learning so that I can better myself.  I feel it’s beneficial to be multifaceted, I mean to have many sides to oneself. But I have often referred to myself as a hippie so I will go with that term here. And my hippie-ness has definitely increased with my exposure to many different cultures via my world travels, even though I was always raised to be open-minded. Signs that tipped me off that I am a bona fide hippie:

Incense, I LOVE the smell of incense. I love going into yoga studios around the world and be welcomed by this, to me, exotic smell. In a previous blog post I wrote about one of the first times I went into a Buddhist temple, it was in Hong Kong, and the air was thick with incense.This experience was amazing to me and I felt so incredibly alive.

I use coconut oil for lotion and cooking (separate jars obviously), and in coffee. Yeah in coffee. Put a spoon of coconut oil in a blender and mix it with your coffee. It makes the coffee taste sweet without using sugar and it’s so good for your insides. It’s like a healthy version of a latte because the coffee comes out nice and frothy. I am always keen on figuring out natural beauty tips and tricks and have over the years put stuff like spirulina powder, raw honey and oatmeal on my face. I try to eat clean, but its also important to be careful with what you put on your body as it goes into your bloodstream. Ever read the backside of face creams etc? It’s terrifying how many unpronounceable ingredients they are crammed with.

Friends have at times asked me for “potions” to use when they have been feeling ill, thinking I had picked up on a few tips and tricks out in the world. I mean I am not a witch, but they are not wrong. Being exposed to different cultures has made me incorporating more seaweed into my diet and bee pollen to mention some stuff and these practices have helped my immune system I think.

I love essential oils and use them when I can. Sometimes I rub a bit of lavender oil on some pressure points for relaxation. Other times, when I want to create a nice scented atmosphere, I put a few drops of citrus oil in a container over a tea candle. This scent sends me back to a spa in the Dominican Republic as it was there I purchased the oil knowing I wanted to trigger that memory years later. I also love tea tree oil which is good for cuts and scrapes.

I love wearing malas (prayer beads) as jewelry. But I prefer the real kind and not some plastic crap you can buy in a cheap store. That kind of jewelry basically has no soul. (Can jewelry have a soul? Oh this got deep!) My favorite is made of real rudraksha beads (which are seeds) and created in Bali, a place where I am destined to travel to one of these days. I also have some malas from Wat Arun, a temple in Bangkok.

And speaking of Wat Arun, I still proudly wear the white bracelet a monk gave to me there around my left wrist. 12 months and counting! Yes it’s looking a bit tattered (make that VERY tattered) as I never take it off, but I will wear it until it falls off, as one should.

I love yoga and regard my yoga mats (yes plural) as some of my most prized possessions. And if one should feel this deep connection to possessions as a yogi, well that's a whole other discussion. All different kinds of yoga classes, such as classes incorporating singing mantras etc., intrigue me. I feel perfectly fine walking into a yoga class or meditation session anywhere in the world and not understand everything. It does not intimidate me one bit. Like taking a yoga class in Spanish with friends in Argentina. I find that people in these kinds of settings usually are friendly and will gently guide you to the correct action if you are lost. No need to have a common spoken language.

I have always been interested in the world’s many religions. Once representatives from Hare Krishna visited my High School. I came home raving about the experience. Pretty sure this made my parents a bit concerned that I would run off and not finish High School but hey, I am very glad my school gave me and my fellow students the opportunity. Years later I went with a friend, all dressed up in her Indian clothes, to a Hindu temple in St. Louis. It was an incredibly special moment for me and I am so thankful to my friend who treated me to this experience. The religion which always seems to be present in my life, and I have always been interested in, is Buddhism. I see it as a way of life, a philosophy, and not a religion per se. I have meditated alongside Buddhist monks on more than one occasion, both in St. Louis, USA and Bangkok, Thailand. While living in Sydney, Australia, I had the great privilege of attending a lecture by the Dalai Lama. This is one of the most important events in my whole life! I remember taking the day off from work, getting down to the venue (in Darling Harbour where I also lived) very early. The anticipation rose with each moment that brought me and the other participants closer to the time of the lecture. And we were not disappointed. He delivered some really profound teachings. And for the record, the Dalai Lama is a really, really funny dude!

I have recently started to dabble with meditation. Well I have for years, but I am more determined now than ever to practice it. I figured I got the whole “exercising my physical body” down, and has even served as a personal trainer for many friends, so why not cultivate a strong mind? Still at times I am planning what I shall eat after the session whilst I should be focusing on my breath, but hey, baby steps. I have had yoga teachers come up to me after class, put their arm around me and gently say: “So sweetheart, will it be pasta or salad?” And all along I thought I looked like a serene little angel meditating away. They just knew me too well. But I am willing to keep practicing. The keyword is practicing.

I have had a strong urge to burn sage whenever I have moved houses to clean out…eh…spirits?!...but I have never done it. Last year I wanted to in my apartment, well my sister’s apartment. Sister said no. I am not sure I pitched the practice to her the right way. When I moved into my own apartment I had planned to burn some sage before I put the first furniture in. Sadly to say, I kind of forgot. Realism won over utopianism. Had to be practical and actually focus on getting the furniture in order on the day I was off from work. Ideally I would have gone and located some sage, but no time for that. Needed to be practical.

On another practical note, I was vegan for 6 months when I was fifteen. Had no clue about food and where to get the nutrients from so it was a bad idea. Or I executed it badly I should say. I like meat, but I do believe my body and mind thrives on a plant based diet. I am a carnivore though, but I am consciously eating less and less meat. The other week I consumed large amounts of red meat during 4 days after basically only eating vegetarian for 2 weeks and my body went into full-blown yuck mode. So for me, personally, a little red meat is fine, but only now and then. And not to get preachy, but the world would benefit greatly from more people eating less meat. Just throwing it out there…

So there, I am and have probably always been a hippie. But I don't think that's a bad thing. Life is suppose to be yin and yang and balanced. So I will be a hippie at heart, dressed in a sharp black suit, wearing red-hot lipstick.