Making mosaic is like a personal mood barometer for me. The moment\u00a0I make the\u00a0first movement with the mosaic hammer, I know immediately whether I have a good day or not.<\/p>\n
With positive mindset\u00a0and self-esteem I have control over what is happening on my\u00a0ceppo<\/em> and next to it and I proceed well and happily with what I am doing. This does not mean that then there is no room for beautiful coincidences. On the contrary, they appear more often and\u00a0if by magic.<\/p>\n Those moments\u00a0when\u00a0the hammer almost merges with my\u00a0own body, when\u00a0I can perceive the\u00a0materials with all my\u00a0senses and follow my\u00a0instincts, all those moments\u00a0have a wonderfully meditative effect.<\/p>\n Some just need silence in order to enter this mode. Others swear on\u00a0their music playlist to get\u00a0themselves into a positive mood. So do I, and most of the time it works fine.<\/p>\n Just as a good moods have their impact on mosaic making,\u00a0negative feelings and\u00a0circling thoughts we bring with us are a\u00a0300-percent project killer. Imbalance of body and soul, tension and discord manifest themselves immediately.<\/p>\n When my\u00a0neck and lower back begin to hurt,\u00a0for me the show is over. And in fact that is what happened to me\u00a0last week. After almost 2 months of Pilates abstinence (for that is the sport I regularly do in Spilimbergo besides\u00a0running) I felt like a\u00a075-year-old, with shoulders pulled up to my\u00a0ears, and my legs feeling\u00a0incredibly heavy. Neck pain and a whole bunch\u00a0of wild monkeys\u00a0circling in my head\u00a0grabbed me, a veritable “everything is bad” fever. And this despite the possibility to work with Emilie in Blaye as last year \u2013 this time by the way in nice\u00a0company of Eloise from\u00a0my class in Spilimbergo \u2013, the French way\u00a0of life\u00a0and all the great people\u00a0that surround me.<\/p>\n So one morning\u00a0I started practicing\u00a0yoga again.<\/p>\n And suddenly, my\u00a0positive energy came back. “Everything is bad” turned to\u00a0“Anything is possible”, my blockages and extremely bad\u00a0posture have disappeared and my thoughts no longer revolve around like on a rollercoster. \u00a0Within 72 hours I got back to my self and what I want in life \u2013 by 3 units with downward\u00a0dog, rabbit and Co.<\/p>\n Of course, Yoga is not the solution to everything, but it drives me\u00a0to re-sort my\u00a0thoughts, even on paper. It is as if everything snaps back where it belongs and energies can flow freely again.<\/p>\n While I was\u00a0writing these lines, an idea came to me for\u00a0a post:\u00a0I know a lot of mosaic artists who practice yoga or\u00a0Pilates or meditate\u00a0to be more focussed while working. Maybe some exercised already before making mosaics, maybe some\u00a0started due to hurting backs or migraine attacks.<\/p>\n Your experience may be helpful to others, and I want to collect some of your statements regarding mosaic and yoga. So please let me know:<\/p>\n When did you start with yoga, what exercises do you do when? What else do you help to sink completely in your mosaic project? If you want to send it a picture of you at the yoga and \/ or mosaic practicing.<\/p>\n Why I think yoga and mosaic build a\u00a0perfect match, summarized here briefly for you.<\/p>\n Sometimes \u2013\u00a0well,\u00a0actually very often \u2013 my thoughts race at a pace that makes me very jittery. Apart from my natural restlessness this is\u00a0certainly due to the fact that I always run multiple projects simultaneously and feel like I have to plan and work on them simultaneously, too. At some point, I normally get\u00a0overwhelmed by\u00a0everything and\u00a0get stuck.<\/p>\nMosaic as meditation<\/h4>\n
The other side\u00a0of the coin<\/h4>\n
Create a positive mood\u00a0through yoga<\/h4>\n
Tell\u00a0me about you!
\nYour experiences with mosaic and yoga<\/h4>\n
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5 reasons why yoga can help you\u00a0make better mosaics<\/h4>\n
1. Yoga clears your mind\u00a0and makes you stay focused<\/h5>\n