Katarína Varsiková

Autor -Katarina Varsikova

Tales from the Locked Town

Photo by Lula. Garudasana

We met with a friend to walk together through the lockdown town one late afternoon. We should not have – technically speaking – but we haven´t seen each other for months and spring is in the air. The little romantic Terboschen park is full of kids and parents and grandparents, the gardens of Abbey de la Cambre are less crowded, but people are more than present, around the Ixelles lakes, the same. I resist to give opinions on how to behave in the strangest of times, there is no receipt, I would say. The weather is dazzling spring luring beautiful.

Liana is telling me a story that happened in the self-service bank late February: a woman withdrew quite a lot of cash, a stack of fifty and twenty bank notes. A different customer was having trouble to get any money out. A beggar was observing it all, Liana too. The woman with the money offered a fifty to a seemingly stressed woman with no cash and.. after a moment of hesitation, gave her another fifty: Here, if that is of a help. It certainly is. Then, leaving the bank, she gave a twenty to the beggar. This was pre-dystopic times, the virus still far away in China. We discuss it with Liana – the symbolic of money. As Yuval Noah Harari writes, we are the only species who agree that a piece of paper represents a certain value. Money can be so comforting – in cash, on the account, received, apparently, also given away. We are standing under the trees, spring light shimmering through bare branches, grey stones of medieval monastery at the backdrop. Magnolias blossom early this year. It is a decision to see life as full of symbols and meanings, to live life with the freshness of the present moment. Liana commented on the bank story: I took it as a sign, life is generous, no need to be afraid of changes.

Yoga classes have moved online, temporarily, I hope. A new experience. I set it in my apartment – a mat, a brick, a blanket, a candle, the usual stuff, change the embassy clothes for a t-shirt and slacks. I ring to the group and see familiar faces popping up on the screen, vaguely taking in the backdrops of living rooms I have never visited. Then we switch the cameras off, I do not see them, they do see me, we feel each other. The pace is slower, more words used to precise instructions, we root and fly and twist and open, focus on breathing, on the awareness that breath is a gift. A fifteen-minute meditation to round the session: courage, trust, regeneration capacity, hopefulness, abundance. I have never felt this much gratitude for being able to guide a yoga sequence in my life. Another gift. After an hour and a half, the cameras are on and we look at each other for a moment, then let go.

The body is capable of incredible shifts. Yoga requires patience. For the first time I can join fingers in the head-of-a-cow pose – I have been working on it for months. One side is better than the other, as it goes, today, for the first time, I touched the tips of fingers on the stiffer side. Hilarious.

Physical abilities, as well as mental resilience, come as a fruit of a steady practice. And both come with acceptance of what is: what is the reality of the present moment. It includes sadness and doubts, clumsiness and silly remarks uttered without thinking over a coffee, it includes warmth and the silent joy of being around beloved people. It includes… Attentiveness to all.

Observing the present situation: Quite a few people say they enjoy the slowing down, the no need to wake up with the alarm clock, no need to commute and run from place to place; they enjoy to simply be and go for a walk to the river or woods everyday and shopping only once a week. I see some people lost without having a clear structure, hierarchy, orders to follow. Observing all, it is clear the pandemic situation bears lot of messages and signs.

With love to all you who share the experience of yoga, who share Love and Life.  With gratitude to all in helping professions, mostly to doctors, nurses and caretakers.

So far my favorite article on the world in this crisis from Y.N. Harari.

https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75?fbclid=IwAR0zDkIDdu7Hej6SOf9GvAbgTeHWnVuPjweuSQfOvSkLv6vqcNkiT6osORk

A recently discovered inspiration: Charles Eisenstein

https://charleseisenstein.org/

And a quote from the book I read for comfort over and over. Yoga enables me to feel exactly the same:

„Bailey feels oddly at ease. As though he is closer to the ground, but taller at the same time.“ (Erin Morgestern: The Night Circus).

Shiva tancuje

Rozkvitnutý jazmín dnes ráno v Ixelles

Posledný deň pred zatvorením reštaurácií a kaviarní v Bruseli sme šli s kolegami na obed do nášho obľúbeného talianskeho bistra na rohu ulice Vandenkinderen. Pri jednom zo stolíkov sedeli dve seniorky, pred nimi tanier antipasti a pohár bieleho vína. Dáma, ktorá graciózne nesie svoj vek, bez stopy chirurgických úprav, ale so štýlom, skrátka môj obľúbený vzor, si odchlipla a povedala, „Trochu to s tými obmedzeniami predsa len preháňajú.“

O niekoľko dní neskôr je realita ulíc a života celkom iná, a hej, nebyť prísnych pravidiel, ľudia by sa snažili zákazy obchádzať a nevedome by tým škodili sebe aj iným. Má to však aj iný aspekt – v danom prítomnom okamihu scéna predstavovala víťazstvo života a radosť z drobných vecí a ako takú som si ju odniesla zapísanú kdesi vo svojom priestore. Všetko prejde, vravia budhisti, a kiežby som to dokázala prijať.

Tanec boha Shiva, stvorenie a deštrukcia, dve intímne prepletené sily, jedno dáva zmysel druhému. Nezdá sa mi, že som nejako pokročila v prijatí smrti, stačí mŕtvolka myšky ráno na chodníku, a čosi sa vo mne zmrští, protestuje, nerada myslím na fyzický zánik svoj či kohokoľvek. Trpezlivosť. Dá sa to trénovať: upratovať, čistiť, vytvárať priestor, dovoliť odísť (ach!).

Každá chvíľa na podložke je upratovaním, výdych púšťa, nádych prijíma. Stabilizačné asány – pretože chceme v skúsenosti stáť pevne zakorenení, rotačné – pretože čistia brušné orgány, potrava, ale aj emócie prechádzajú metabolizmom. Každá pozícia v zaklonenom oblúku otvára dýchacie priestory, rozuzluje, uvoľňuje, stimuluje, obrátená asána mení zabehané, životná energia prúdi do panvy. Všetko má v joge zmysel. Meditácia vďaky za to, že v skúsenosti nie som sama. A vďaky všetkým v pomáhajúcich a zachraňujúcich líniách.

Kráčala som z ambasády tichými ulicami, hoci nie celkom prázdnymi; kvitnú stromy, vtáky nedotknuté karanténou robia to, čo každú jar. Je to trochu ako v detskom sne, ktorý asi mal niekedy každý – sen, že sa zobudí na svete sám, všetci zmizli. Najskôr je to zaujímavé, všetky lákadlá sú to pre toho jediného. No každý, kto ten sen ďalej dosníval, si asi doň postupne vložil ďalších ľudí, aby bolo s kým a o čom.

Odvahu, trpezlivosť, drobné radosti. Moja dotyky milujúca, na zdieľanie navyknutá podstata sa teší na: objatia, horké, sladké, slané, voňavé a trochu aj nie, na pre mnohých zbytočné bisous pri stretnutiach, aj rozlúčkach, na kaviarne, donedávna samozrejmé, na…

Dovtedy? Čo práve treba. Možno by som, okrem jogy, mohla v rámci tréningu upratať skriňu s papiermi. Môj reflex je totiž zavrieť každý úradný papier rýchlo tam, kde naň nevidím. (Hoci… tu ma život naučil, už ich dokážem najskôr prečítať a tie dôležité aj vybaviť).

Psychické upratovanie? Ide to jedno z druhým. A toto sú náročné časy, tak hádam stačí byť k sebe dobrí a dovoliť si nevedieť, dovoliť si nebyť dokonalí.

Do mailu na ambasáde mi chodia v pondelok citáty zo stránky belgických optimistov – prebehnúť ich je fajn rituál začiatku týždňa, hoci upokojujúci efekt slov je tiež len vecou okamihu, tu jeden od priateľa Edisona:

Viem, že všetko riadi nekonečná inteligencia. Všetko, čo nás obklopuje, všetko, čo existuje, je dôkazom, že sú tu nekonečné zákony. Tento fakt nemožno poprieť, je matematicky presný. „

Obava, aj zvedavosť na to, čo všetko sa zmení, pretože sa musí, pretože Shiva tancuje.

Nahota a vďaka

Foto: Ruže od Alexa

Tento blog je tak trochu variáciou na anglicky napísaný článok o tvorivom zmätku. Občas ma prepadne chuť písať rodným jazykom, ale prekladať sama seba nie, tak nech je zároveň o novej a čerstvej prítomnosti dnešnej nedele.

Zimné víkendy je mojím priestorom na tvorivé písanie občas wellness v Boitfort zopár kilometrov severne od Bruselu. Cez obed tam panuje pokoj, väčšina ľudí začína prichádzať po tretej, a tak sa dá príjemne prechádzať zo soľnej sauny do infračervenej a medzi tým posedávať a dívať sa do záhrady na to, ako víchrica kmáše holé konáre a ako vtáky s ľahkosťou surfujú na vzdušných vlnách. A rozmýšľať o ľuďoch, o telách a ich tajomstvách. Akú prvú som dnes videla drobnú blondínku v župane s barlami, a jednou nohou. Okamžite ma prepla do vďačnosti za život a za odvahu, ktorú ľudia v sebe denno-denne nachádzajú. Rada pozorujem ľudí, ako sa hýbu. V horúcej hradnej saune s výhľadom na vodu, záhradu a zámok, sedí pani s niekoľkými prsteňmi, náramkami, obrovskými náušnicami a knihou v ruke. V saune, kde sotva vydržím desať minút, si číta a do zápästia sa jej musí vrývať forma rozpáleného kovu. Alebo nie?  Sme rôzni a rôznym spôsobom to dávame najavo.

Herečka Gwyneth Paltrow spravila pre Netflix niekoľko dokumentov o rôznych praktikách  a výletoch do sveta subtílnych energií. V slovenskom denníku som potom čítala článok o tom, že je to nebezpečná zlátanina medicínskych nezmyslov. Myslím, že Gwyneth to má v hlave v poriadku a určite má svojich lekárov a vie, kedy za nimi zájsť. Zároveň, ako mnohí, vníma, že telo nie je mechanický konštrukt, ale živá energia v pohybe. Cítiť svoje pocity, vnímať reč tela, dychu, je súčasťou liečenia, hojenia a hľadania. Hej, Gwyneth a partia v slnkom prežiarenej Kalifornii vyžarujú pohodu za veľa peňazí, a prečo nie? Zároveň, čo v rozhovoroch  prebleskuje, je priznanie ich vlastnej zraniteľnosti, krehkosti, a tie máme všetci spoločné.

Deepak Chopra ponúkol ďalšiu zo série meditácií, tentoraz nazvanú Dokonalé zdravie. Nech meditáciu nazveme akokoľvek, vždy nás vedie cítiť život a uvedomiť si vďaku, a v nej prepojenie so všetkým.

Tu je teda žurnál vďaky týchto dní:

Alex ma včera zavolal do kina, na Jo Jo Rabbit, film, ktorý on už videl. Nakrútiť film o nacizme s takou mierou hyperboly vyžaduje odstup, a tiež odvahu. Sedieť pri Alexovi a vnímať jeho tichú prítomnosť je dar. Film je výborný, je to metafora o nacistovi v nás, nie tam vonku. A úžasná Scarlett Johansson, v skrýši-skrini hovorí ukrytej dievčine o zrelom ženstve. Film má humor, a drsnú priamosť zároveň. Pomenúva davovú psychózu, za ktorou je potláčaný strach jednotlivcov. Matka necháva svojho malého syna hrať sa na vojačika a samého dospieť k vlastnej pravde. Pán Adolf má dokonalé fúzy a žiadny driek v uniforme. Scarlett je skvelá aj vo filme The Marriage Story. Víťazstvo lásky, ale nie ilúzie toho, čo si vo svojom doráňanom vnútri pod pojmom láska predstavujeme.

Lula prišla v piatok na jogu v BYP, na ashtangu s Krystynou. Lula na vedľajšej podložke z vlastnej vôle, je splnené prianie a privilegovaný okamih. Takže prirátavam dary. A dnes prvé ráno, keď vôbec nemám pocit, že potrebujem z priedušiek dostať podnájomníka, ktorý zostal dlho po zaplatení poslednej splátky. Sloboda. Čo sa týka fyzického, energetického tela, mení sa neustále. Joga nás učí tieto zmeny vnímať. Hej, starnutie tiež. O to väčšia radosť, že sa dnes dostanem do asán, kde ma pred rokmi myseľ, či strach, či kto nechceli pustiť. Telo som mala kedysi skôr na to, aby nosilo hovoriacu hlavu, a ešte na pár vecí. A to sa zmenilo. Vonku leje. Tisíci dážď tejto zimy, v lese sa zabáram v gumákoch do mokradí, a miesto, kde som raz na jar urobila svoju prvú stojku bez opory, je teraz jazierko. No zvuku dažďa sa nič nevyrovná a stekajúce prúdy sú očistné. V saune, v prírode, tu aj tam.

Jeden citát vo mne rezonuje, pri toľkej tej nahote:

Zdravá hanba je jadrom zmysluplnej lásky.“ (John Bradshaw, Creating Love, Vytváranie lásky)

Nie je to hanba za toto telo a život. Je to ochota a potreba vymedziť si zdravé hranice. A za tú tiež ďakujem. A tento článok je hlavne pre tých, ktorým dovoľujem pristúpiť blízko.

Miestom, kde duša môže bezpečne donaha, je denník. Prikladám odkaz, kde sa o metóde a možnostiach, aké poskytuje journaling dozviete viac:

https://www.plotbase.sk/blog/co-je-to-journaling-a-ako-zacat

Creative Confusion

Picture by Beya on the Bright Brussels Night. Valentine´s Friday 2020

Haven´t read a novel for some time; tried a few from my bookshelves that people brought or rather dumped here, no catch. Then, in the corner of the yoga studio, my eyes fell on a cover of Homecoming by Susie Steiner. Books can be exchanged at the BYP centre but I finally downloaded my copy into the reader.

At the beginning it was difficult to hook on, then at some sentence or paragraph I suddenly found myself immersed. The magic of fiction is working and I am glad my intuition is sharp in this area. Yorkshire farm, two brothers, family dynamics charged with many emotions, dramas, passions. For me, the book is about our alienation, the cut-off relationship to our bodies, feelings, needs. A wonderful coming home of a lost son story. Like a relationship, a story needs patience, attention, focus. Reading on, sometimes switching back to Bradshaw´s Creating Love.

Still recovering from a nose-ear infection but functioning again. First down-dog was not only pain, but also territory regained. Contemplating yoga practice these days: it is good that asanas are challenging, if they become casual, it is the moment to dive deeper in them. Each yoga school has the master parts and the pitfalls. Viniyoga is a great safe base with the attention to breathing and carefully constructed sequences with a concrete purpose. The downside is that one can stay on the safe side with it, practice in a kind of a comfortable trance and reinforcing habitual paths. Whereas yoga is anything but habit, it invites into less trodden territories. I do Ashtanga a couple of times a week – rigorous, rhythmical, it leads me into poses which I need to deepen – backbends, forward bends in combination with hip openers. And I love all kinds of flows José suggests in his big classes. With a sore nose, every breath was a pranayama. Slow twists at home, they enhance metabolism and organs. According to Ayurveda, any dis-ease leads us back to the belly. Healing is a multi-petal lotus, it is a combination of attention, intention, acceptance and letting go.

Why does western medicine see healing as a fight? A pertinent question. Medicines are here to enhance the system naturally opting for harmony. Emotions are here to be heard, not fought. Anger or sorrow connect us with the deepest parts of ourselves, and with the belly again.

A huge part of western medicine also fights other approaches and therapies. I understand, there is a lot power game and manipulation in the world of healers. But that exists in the classical medicine, too. And confusion, but confusion can be a healing tool itself, it brings a good dose of doubts, questions the all-knowing ego, it is a creative material.

Haven´t been this confused for a long time – but the difference is – I bring consciousness into the confusion and that transforms everything. Conscious confusion is quite fun, nothing is sure and the part of me called Madam Wise is silently sitting in the corner. She is there, otherwise I would not be writing this in the Boitfort spa between rounds of salt-infra-red saunas. The garden outside looks winter like, but the air is mild. The Brussels airport is a stone-throw away from here, so silence mixes with roaring of planes taking off. Red hearts everywhere, Valentine weekend. Last night, on Friday I came home to the cold dark flat and found a bunch or roses on the dining table. Modest, pale pink and green ones that I love, in a blue vase made by my friend Bibi. No note, not necessary. I knew. Tears, like everything, bring sadness and joy in one.

With gratitude to Deepak Chopra and the bunch around him for creating numerous bridges to healing and with love to all Travelers through Light and Darkness and back.

Three days of recovery – walks, food, laugh.

A Square with a Mexican Bar

There is a Mexican bar on one of the squares of Etterbeek; in summer it is shaded by acacia trees of delicate leaves. The bar is great, full of colors, music and goodies. It is run by a young couple and we spent there a cozy Halloween evening with my friend last year. I pass the place regularly; once, coming back from work, I saw the owners on the pavement yelling at each other in a family row, their little daughter was standing and observing. I did a mental judgment: What a shame, to have such a nice place and to behave like this. Later, I corrected myself: Not easy matching family life with running a restaurant business.

Around Christmas, the guys shut the place and left for holiday, as the note on the door said. Of course, you do not go to Mexico for a few days, they announced a closure for the whole month of January. Nevertheless, they left outdoor Christmas lights on, plus the wooden furniture, plus many pots of plants and decorations outside, as if they were only up the street and could show up any moment. Nice, to pass the place and see it lively, even without them, lights shining into early, wet winter dusk. It is a statement in this over-protecting, fence, alarm and lock obsessed world. On the door, there is a motto:

Life is not a problem to be solved. Life is a mystery to be lived.

Generous, I tell myself and it resonates with a topic I have been walking with these days: Open and secure. Shutting off/out/away does not protect, or, it does, but it only protects illusions. At the same time, I am learning to state healthy borders, which, actually, give real liberty to being. The Mexican bar also has the borders clearly traced: by the lines of decoration lights, by the wooden terrace construction, by the pots of plants and messages in the windows. The territory is marked in an open, playful, colorful way.

For years I thought I was sun-shy, protecting or failing to protect my skin. Now, I understand the deeper meaning, the skin as the protective zone, communicating the desire to defend one´s own values, rights, the unique self. Normally, in a healthy family, children learn this step by step with soulful carers. But parents are often wounded children themselves, so the lesson is passed partially or not at all. What I unconsciously learnt was, as many girls, I believe:

I am loved only when I please others. Okay, no regrets, no turning back, to be born psychologically is our own task and the time is always Now.

By the way, the owners are back from holiday, I went by today and saw the lights inside. The oven is on, delicious pizzas, cheese and ham and veggies. Bottles of wine glimmer on the shelves.

By singing our soul´s true song we gain the freedom.

The bar is called Terracotta.

The current book: Creating Love by John Bradshaw. A great teacher, an inspiration, this guy. Just one quote, related to a Jungian interpretation of the Greek myth of Eros and Psyché:

The nurturing soul mother in all of us must learn that we will love and serve our children and our lovers better by attending to our own fate, by healing our own unfinished past, our own time of enchantment and mystification. Only by confronting this past can we make it real and transform it.

Out there. Spots and Shots

Picture is ours: Dancers in the Town

What does a viewer get from gazing at large prints, most of them black and white, of the Swiss photographer? They are not too many exposed in the stunning, charming and dilapidated Botanique of Brussels (https://botanique.be/en/exhibition/balthasar-burkhard-2019).

Sea waves, mountain peaks, marsh landscape, nudes, a series of self-portraits and a few animal portraits.

In one print we peer into a place we rarely see so close. We, women, usually with gathered courage and a mirror a few times in our lives. Under favorable circumstances, we, women, let only a few men gaze so close into this single spot, the black hole, the centre of the universe, the guarded door to pleasure and pain. (Well, on depends on personal preference here, of course).

The few animal portraits are particularly touchy; the animals do not have egos, so they do not radiate doubts, questions, praise or humiliation through their bodies. I see dignity.

We went to the exhibition with Lou and with our two cameras to a half-forgotten spot in town: the terraced gardens with a city skyline not far from the metro station Le Parc. The architectural project was an ambitious one, though obviously did not prove itself, as it happens often. Handsome police officers poured out and crossed the huge concrete terrace, going on some practice training. A group of hip-hop dancers rehearsed their choreography in harsh winter wind.  The light is grey, both soft and hard, depends on positions. It a peculiar thing – to go out with the aim of photo shooting, an awkward – What? Why? How? – moment. Successful? According to whom? Based on what criteria? Easier is not even to try, but the sense of richness when we try is worth it.

We had lunch at a very quiet Japanese place whose owner served ramens and then said they were closed today, actually. And an expresso in a little Greek café where cakes appeared almost Slovak-style and the prices, too. The coffee moment ended in a short conversation after I knocked over a little statue:

“It is a fish.”

“No, it is a ship with an eye.”

“It is a fish and a ship.”

“No, it is a ship with an eye.”

All right, so it is a ship with an eye.

Lou says I always provoke talks with strangers, even at the cost of knocking over their statutes.