Meditation: Why you should do it, and how to do it!

Hello everyone! ^.^

So I'm taking a break in my New Year's Eve preparations to write a new post to you. I've already found an outfit and got most things ready, and I promise there will be a "New Year celebration" post from us later!

Now, what I'm going to write about is something that's very important to me: meditation. I'm that type of person that usually take things on the go, and I tend to have very few worries(too few according to some of my friends). I keep peace of mind in my daily life, and try as much as I can to laugh away the problems. I also love to help friends with their troubles, and I don't mind having hour long conversations with someone to help them solve a problem.
But of course, we all have different sides of ourselves, and when my long, long patience disappears...it turns into a supernova of disaster! Just lately I had a serious breakdown after a long time with stress and pressure. You see, feelings are a very important part of being a human, but we often ignore them. Ignoring what you really feel, and always hide it away, is not only exhausting but it can also be dangerous!

How do you cope with you feelings? It's absolutely okay to cry and scream out your frustration when you're alone; do it whenever you feel like it! But if it's more a "sneaky" feeling, that always go around in the back of your head and destroys you slowly from the inside like poison...well, then meditation is right for you.
In fact, meditation is right for everyone! Not only does it release you from your feelings, but you're more likely to see solutions too!
So dry your eyes and heal your soar throat: it's a much more pleasant method waiting for you.  

What is meditation?

Meditation is basically getting in touch with your inner self. When you meditate you let both your body and your mind relax. It's different from screaming and listening to aggressive music to strengthen yourself, as those actions usually creates even more feelings. Instead of creating new feelings to cope with the old ones, you let go off them, leaving space for more constructive thoughts. ^^
There are many ways to meditate, and you will have to try a few times to find out what works for you.
In the beginning it's best to try to think as little as possible, and focus on one simple thing, like how you breathe.
Sit comfortable, in a position where you have good balance. I recommend the iconic "legs crossed and your back straight with your hands resting on your knees or balanced in the air". (Like you would picture Buddha)
Do not make it complicated though, it's hard to think of nothing when your ankle hurts "soo much"!
Music is highly recommended for relaxation and keeping focus. It doesn't have to be music, many prefer simple sounds.
My element is water, and I always relax the most to the sound of running water or rain.
Maybe you prefer the sound of a sparking fire, or rain forest sounds? Gotta try it all!

Myths about meditation:

Will I get strange visions? 
Not unless you have much fantasy that leads your thoughts astray, but you should try to focus on something simple. Let new thoughts come in, but don't let them stay too long. Picture your thoughts as a gentle breeze that blows through your mind. Uhm, or something like that.

Is it possible that I might call on a spirit or hear voices?
The one you'll be talking to is yourself. Some people though, claim that they hear the voices of God, protective spirits, angles or their ancestors. This is about religion though, and what thoughts you invite in. I'll say to listen to whatever comes up, that helps you.

Do I need a fitting environment to meditate? 
Not really. Meditation is about taking a journey inside your mind, not to a zen Buddhist temple in Himalaya.
It should be quiet around you, though. And YouTube can help you with nature sounds. With that said, meditate in the real nature whenever you can! It feels amazing!

Some music and sounds to get you started!
Rain of Purification by Oliver Shanti

Simple sound of running water

Forest sounds

Simple birdsong

Relaxation track with Chinese bamboo flute

Tai Chi by Oliver Shanti

Hope this helps everyone with stress and too many thoughts! ^.^

My day + 2013 New Years resolutions! ^.^

Hello cutie pies!

I have managed to catch a slight cold... Not funny because it's soon New Years eve and I don't want to be sick at the party, so I've spent most of today drinking cup after cup with tea. At the moment I'm sitting in bed with my blanket, a biiig cup of tea while listening to some music and watching some cartoon on the TV. So hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow! 

Apart from drinking tea I've been a quick trip to the town today delivering a late Christmas present and swapping a pajamas I got into a smaller size. Also managed to find a quite cute dress at sale in the same store. Lucky me! ^.^ Will most likely show it later.

2013 is approaching and I have started to work on my New Years resolutions. I have almost never managed to accomplish any of them... But I will try again this year!

2013 New Years resolutions!

1. Exercise and eat healthy!
I really wish to become more healthy and fit, but I always have a craving for sweets and unhealthy food... I am quite healthy compared to many, but I also have a weakness for unhealthy food... This unbalanced eating might not be too good for me. I love noodles and everything that is called pasta, but it is really not good for my skin or body, but that is gonna be one of my biggest problems... -__- oh noodle, why you so yummy..?

2. Drink loads of water everyday!
Water is really good for both skin and body, plus it makes you feel more full and less hungry all the time. Drinking water cleanses you from the inside and helps to hydrate you skin, so drinking loads of it is important. On this part I am actually quite good because I really like water, and can drink a lot as long as I have it close to me. This is where my laziness comes inn...

3. Be less lazy!
I am a very lazy person at times. Once I've sat down I usually like sitting there. The only thing I can say on this one is to get my ass up from here! So hopefully 2013 will be a more active year. :p

4. Be tidy!
My mum always questions if I'm really a girl or not because I am horrible at being neat. I keep my clothes and makeup neat, but my room, well that's a whole chapter for itself. I have quite a small room so it's not exactly easy to keep it tidy all the time, but I will try!

5. Go to bed early!
I am in need of more sleep. Because I take the buss to school I need to wake up early to be able to make everything before the buss leaves. Am also in need of my beauty sleep, but luckily I don't get grumpy or such in the mornings. I'm just really sleepy and almost in a trance until I properly wake up.

6. Travel!
I really love to travel and experience different countries and cultures. Me and Silje are going to Japan this summer and I am SUPER excited about it! Going to Tokyo is one of my big dreams and this is not gonna be the last time there I'm sure. I am very interested in language and I wish to study it once. This resolution is going to be accomplished.

So hope I will be able to do these ^.^ Do you have any reaolutions you want to share with us? Let me know so we can try hard together to reach our goals for 2013!
There might be more later, but these are the ones I can come up with now. Now I'm off to bed
Good Night! ^w^

Make 2013 your year!

Hey sweeties! 

First of all, I have to say thank you to everyone who's been reading this blog so far! We started just recently, but we've had a lot of views and and I have a good feeling about this! ^.^

2013 is coming closer and closer, and I have big expectations for next year. I'm continuing to work on this blog with Gulli, and hopefully it will turn into something big! Also, we are going to Tokyo for three weeks next summer!! How awesome is that? I'm screaming inside myself every time I think of it. We'll be going to a  language school and live with a Japanese family, so our language skills will definitively improve. And of course, we'll try to blog a lot while we're there, and give you a sneak peek on Tokyo in our free time!

Other things I need to do next year.. um, yeah, improve my grades. They're not that bad really, but I got an 3 (D) in math :( Math is really dragging my average score down. My teacher keeps telling me that math isn't dangerous and it won't hurt me, but I'm still convinced those pluses an minuses and digits are attempting to kill me slowly. My personality really doesn't match! In math there's always a correct answer, and I can't change it to my liking. I tried to invent a new way of solving math puzzles during a test that wasn't going too well which I called "Silje's alternative solution". I also added a drawing of a cute animal.
My teacher wrote "Well, at least you tried... [3]." Meeh :(

And what about you? What are you going to do next year? During 2012 I learned that a lot can change in one year. After all, nothing is more powerful than time. And in most cases, especially when you're young, things change for the better ^^
I really hope everyone dare to be themselves next year, instead of an illusion. Remember, satisfying others isn't necessarily going to satisfy yourself. I don't want you to walk around and be a meanie, of course, but let's just say...bitches are bitches, and superheros are superheros.
Another thing, don't be afraid to chase your dreams! I've already tried, and really, the worst that can happen is that nothing happens. Maybe you can't reach the main goal yet, but every big dream should be divided into many smaller goals. ^^ If chasing your dream means do something crazy, then go ahead! It's your life, and no       one can live it but you! If anyone is trying to bring you down, just use them as stepping stones to climb closer to your goal. ;)

I know that 2013 is going to be full of surprises and ups and downs, but we'll live through it just like a roller coaster ride. Oh, and don't forget us on your way to glory, we'll be cheering in the background! ^.^

Stuff I did this year, which I may (or may not) repeat:

 I got confirmed. (?) No idea what that is in English. Kind of a growing up ceremony thing. Wearing the northern Norway national costume ^^

 I went to Thailand. Picture taken on some island near Krabi.

 I dressed up in the Thai national costume in an amusement park. NO idea why...

I dressed up as a Mexican on the Norwegian national day (how ironic). Then I suddenly bumped into a REAL Mexican from a circus! And he had a donkey! And I got to ride it! While he was having a conversation with me that I didn't understand at all. All I said was "Si, si, grazie, grazie, amigo!" Ah, well. ^^

It's snowing! ^.^

Yes, finally! I've been waiting for this snow the whole Christmas time! Ironically we had a lot of snow before, but it disappeared when December started :( As a norwegian, I think it's rather uncozy to celebrate Christmas without snow. It's okay when you're in a warmer country, but up here in the north, you really expect it to be snowing in December.    

The picture is my dog Tinto who finally got to play around in the snow again. He has so much fur that I'm pretty sure winter is his favorite season! In summer he tends to hide in the shadow, anyway.

Hope you all have a nice holiday, and get to experience some real Christmas snow! ^^

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Holiday make-up + Christmas outfit

Hello!

I thought I'd show some of my holiday make-up and outfits. I really love playing around with colors and different styles both when it comes to make-up and fashion. My make-up is focused on the eyes and making them bigger and being visible through my glasses. The eyeliner is one of my favorites and I often use it both for everyday and parties.

Regular parties and everyday:

This is a look I'd wear to regular parties and also everyday. It's mostly white kajal, mascara, eyeliner and brown eye shadow. I really like this because it makes my eyes look really big! By adding sparkling eye shadow or glitter eyeliner it can be a more party look, and by removing the eyeliner or mascara, it gets a lot more toned down.

Christmas eve:

 I posted a picture of my make-up for Christmas eve yesterday, but here is one with my eyes shut so you can see the eyeliner better. I chose to go quite minimal, and mostly had eyeliner and mascara on.

And here's a picture of the dress I wore. It's really simple, and has a nice little gold detail on the left side of the chest which you can't really see here... The dress goes almost down to my knees and has a nice, little flow in it. :) Also added a black cardigan over to keep my arms warm. Paired it up with some black pumps too.

Here you can see my whole outfit. Really liked this dress. ^.^

So, how did you spend Christmas eve or Christmas day? And would you like more posts like this one? let me know :)

Christmas

Good day and a merry christmas to you all!

Today I woke up late and it felt really good. If there is one thing I love about holidays it is sleeping. You can relax all day and totally recharge yourself, and eat loads of good food. ^.^

So Silje just posted about Christmas and how she feels, so I thought I'd also post a little about it. Just like her, my parents are also divorced and I live with my mom. We have a very close relationship and can talk about almost anything. My relationship with my dad on the other had is a little different. We don't talk or see each other much, even though he lives quite close, but I am used to it this way so I don't think about it that much. I know he loves me, and he is nice to me and all. We are just not that close.

I have always celebrated Christmas alone with my mom and my grandma as long as she lived. Now it's just me and mom, and I sometimes get lonely when I think and hear about people celebrating with many family members. Wishing that I once can experience that. Last year we spent Christmas with some relatives and it was so much fun, and I loved the feeling of being many together. This year it was just me and mommy again, but it is the way it has always been. We have a just as good holiday as every other family. I think she feels kinda sorry for me that I don't get to celebrate with many relatives, but this is tradition for me, just the two of us.

Like Silje said, I told her that she could stay here if she wanted, and she stayed here from little Christmas eve (have no idea if that's what it's called..) to Christmas eve. We watched lots of Christmas programs and had fun. It was really cozy to have someone else here as well. She is my best friend and we have lots of fun together. I am so happy that we are friends and that we could spend some of Christmas eve together.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember that there is always someone who is willingly to listen to you. ^.^

Ideal Christmas?

Hi cuties!
So today I wanted to write a bit about something that seems to be quite taboo in our modern society. What is Christmas? How should it really be celebrated? Maybe we put so much glory in the ideal Christmas that those who can not celebrate it that way, are left behind.
When I was 4 years old, my parents split up. Me and my mother moved back to her hometown, while my father stayed behind in the far south of Norway. It's not like it hurt me deeply. I was young, and I don't remember much of it. I got used to our way of living, and I was always excited when I was sitting at the airport, waiting for the plane that would bring me to my father. In fact, the first time I traveled by plain alone, I was only 5 years old!
Me and my mother lived alone all these years, and I never missed anything. But once I got older, my thoughts took a new direction. Why had everybody else a dad? Why did everyone have these perfect core families, with two parents and siblings? I started to feel lonely. When I was younger I was a quite vulnerable girl, and I had a lot of friends that treated me wrong. Nothing like it is today!
The worst time was Christmas. Before I was quite fund of it, but not anymore. I hated it. Me and my mother used to have a lot of fights, and in Christmas I was basically locked up in the house. It was a taboo to be with friends during Christmas time. Of course, I could meet them in daytime and play outside in the snow, but the afternoons and evenings got longer and longer. In Norway, most of the winter time is dark, since we're so far north. It's really cold and dark, and it very easy to get depressed and lonely.
I ended up crying in my bed on Christmas Eve, and New Years Eve were no different.
Okay, so this post got quite personal, but my question is: Are we expecting too much from Christmas?

There are many people out there celebrating Christmas all by their self, and there are many who can't afford to buy gifts for their children. Old people sitting all alone, and glancing out of the window.
People like me, who took a long walk outside in the cold winter night, and looked at the Christmas lights and through the windows of happy families celebrating together.

I decided for myself that this Christmas was going to be different, and so I talked to Gulli, which is my best friend, about my troubles in the past. We made an agreement to spend a lot of time together in the Christmas holiday, and if things got really bad, I could even spend Christmas Eve there! I didn't, but it felt great just to have the offer there. I mentioned this to another friend of mine, and she instantly replied: "Are you serious? Christmas is a family holiday! I would be really annoyed if a friend wanted to come on Christmas Eve."
That was not exactly supporting, and it just shows how hard it can be for some people to understand that loneliness comes in many forms.

Anyway, I wish you all a very merry Christmas filled with love and friendship! Remember, it's always okay to let people know if you're feeling down, instead of keeping it to yourself :)

Hi everyone! :D

Gulli already introduced herself, and now it's my turn ^^

My name is Silje Nikolina, 15 years old, and I live in a small town in northern Norway. I love fashion, music, people and culture in general, as I come from a quite international family. That can be a bit frustrating when you live in a small community where most people follow the local norm. Luckily, thanks to my family I get to travel a lot, and see new parts of the world! I also love languages, and I'm always interested in learning a new one. So far, I can only speak English(and Norwegian of course) fluent, but hey, I'm young ;) What language I speak best except for those two got to be Japanese, even though I'm not really good at it.

Here is a picture of me taken in July, when me and my family where on a vacation in Thailand.^^ What I loved the most about being in Thailand, was the exotic nature and climate(especially for a Norwegian), the friendly people and all those little shops by the beach where you could get so many unique things! We went to Krabi, Phi Phi Islands, Phuket and Bangkok. We only had a few days in the capital, so I didn't get to see much there though. :/

I look forward to write more to you, and I hope we get more readers over time ^.^  I've had a couple of blogs before, but it never worked out completely. I started to think that people were not interested anyway, so I stopped before it got popular. This is also my first blog on English  and I love the idea of an international blog! Now, with Gulli by my side, I'll be more motivated, and keep on writing until everyone out there discovers us! ;) Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope to speak to you again!

Introducing me! ^.^

Hello lovelies!

I am Gulli, a 17 year old fashion, beauty and music lover from Norway. I love Asian pop-culture and dreams about traveling to Asia. My fashion and make up is basically inspired by gyaru, ulzzang and k-pop idols, but toned down to work here in Norway.

My outfit for our last day at school ^.^

Make-up for Christmas eve 

I will be posting about fashion, make-up, beauty tips, music, some everyday stuff and life in general. We will appreciate it if you tell us what you would like to read and give constructive critique. We'll look forward to hear your opinion :) wow, sounds like an advertisement... but pleas tell us what you think. ^^

Bye for now~ ^w^