Category: Volunteering

Nice sunny weathers have given us chance to get out (even if its a bit) and to enjoy the sun and fresh spring feeling. This will be very refreshing and game changer, if:

you enjoy at the moment
letting sun to pet your face
giving your ears a melody from birds
feeling the warmness and freshness in the air

Fresh(er) you and fresh(er) ideas! This means, you are now loaded with inspiration… inspiration to create a hope .. for yourself .. or for the whole world!?

Keep creating and share the inspiration!

#have #a #faith #in #2020

Since 27 days we practices: „Stay at home, save lives“. The most diffiult thing in this time for me is: not to go into the wood, not to lay on the gras, not to lean on a tree….. I need the nature as much as my friends and my family. Since Tuesday we are allowed to go a little bit farer and so maybe this weekend I could be in the forest!

Meanwhile I appriciate the clean air here in Innsbruck! There are no aroplanes, less cars and so the are is free from CO2 and polushion.

In the last days I often heard: Earth is breathing!

So – every coin has two sides: as bad as this crisis is, it means a breath fort he environment. CO2 emissions are falling, the water is clearer than ever and every day we hear about dolphins and other fish in ports, where normaly only large cruise ships sail.

So for one or two or ten minutes I invite you to stay with the earth and to recognize this changing.

Standing with the earth  „is a call collectively to pause from action, to stand in silence, listen to and connect with the Earth, humbly acknowledging and deeply sensing our interbeing – a starting point for any measure taken to meet the urgent problems of our time.“ https://standing-with-the-earth.com/

I got to know this form of activism two years ago and I am very impresed about this very simple format. „It could be that silently reconnecting with the Earth is the most radical thing we can do.“

The founders want to implement a ritual into the field of political activism and in every day life. So also in times of Corona it is possible to STAY WITH THE EARTH and be activ. This could be a daily or weekle routine.

On 22th of April there will be the annual Earth Day. All over the world people will celebrate our big blue planet and our connection to the earth with diffenent rituals, formats and activities. In time of Corona we can use the format: Staying with the earth.

So I invite you to do so on the 22th of April at 11.50 o’clock. Together we will stay 10 Minutes with the earth to say thank you, to recoginze the changings and „to just stand with this violated planet, acknowledging and feeling her wounds, as well as her healing power, sensing that we are inseparably connected, that we are the Earth.“ I am shure: the earth will answer – so let‘s listen.

Happy Easter – Martina POJAT

I always loved cooking and baking, experimenting new recipes or creating own dishes. It is still one of my favourite times of the day standing in the kitchen and preparing something to eat, taking time for details, surprising others with my creations. This intuitive thinking, this making choices based on your own experience, this feeling confident about every movement, this reunion of all senses, it’s all just something that brings an incredible joy to my life. And it’s not anymore about having a nice and ready meal on your table, it’s about all the process and the anticipation. It’s about every little step from the planning what you want to make, over to the shopping of great ingredients, followed by all the cooking process. It’s about being aware what you are eating, where it comes from, how it is made. It’s about experiencing it with all your senses. And in best case, it’s also about sharing.
Specially in times like these I like to spend hours in the kitchen preparing food. It’s kind of a ritual for happiness. There is nothing like good food to make you smile again. But it’s also in times like these that we need inspiration, that we need inputs to try something new and not run out of ideas ending up always eating the same. Let’s variate, let’s get crazy in the kitchen, let’s make our senses travel all around the world. In this sense I collected some ideas from other volunteers and our coordinators to share with you some recipes, soul foods and inspirations to make your cooking days more adventurous. 

Pancakes – my soul food

I think I will never get enough of pancakes in my life. It’s this perfect breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It doesn’t matter which time of the day it is, it always fits perfectly. Either salty with cheese inside the dough or filled with vegetables, or sweet with lingonberry jam, maple syrup, apples and cinnamon, strawberries and vanilla ice cream… there are just so many options that make this dish simply suitable for every taste. Also as vegan variations with banana in the dough. Simply perfect easy good mood food!

1 egg
150 ml milk
flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbs sugar
salt
butter

Wisk the egg with sugar and salt. Add the milk and mix it. Add the flour and baking powder until it has the right consitency (not too creamy and not too liquid). Bake the pancakes in a pan with butter until they are golden-brown. If you like thicker american style pancakes then start by separating the egg and whisk the egg white. After mixing all other ingredients (making the dough a bit thicker) incorporate the egg white.

Rice dishes – different variations

Always a good option if you have some vegetables or legumes and spices at home. There are so many variations that you will never get bored. Try out your favourite combinations. 

• Green curry with broccoli and rice

• Vegan rice pan with colourful vegetables

• Narakagni (by Josema)

1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
Chicken/ vegetable broth
1 glas of chickpeas
Curcuma, cayenne, tabasco

Wash the rice and let it dry for 10 min. Boil water in a pot and add chicken/ vegetable broth. Once it is yellow, add the rice, a little bit of curcuma, a pinch of cayenne, chickpeas and a bit of tabasco (be careful about the spiciness). Cook it on low flame until the rice absorbed the liquid. It is recommended to serve it with a plate of goat cheese, white bread or a glass of milk. 

Semmelknödel (bread dumplings)

If you are into typical Tirolean cuisine, then you should definitely try to make dumplings. These bread dumplings for example are very tasty and you can eat them in a soup or together with a salad, or a mushrooms cream sauce, and so on. It’s also very good to cut them in thick slices and fry them in a pan with butter.

Sweet things

It is definitely the time to make your soul a bit happier with some sweet treats. So, if you are vegan or not the next recipes will definitely inspire you for more.

• Vegan chocolate mousse

I’m always very surprised what vegan cooking options there are that I still haven’t heard about. It’s a full new world of options to discover. I mean have you ever thought about that you could replace egg white by aquafaba and that you can whip it the same way? I haven’t until today, but I will definitely try this and some other vegan tricks.

• Marshmallow caramel puff rice bars

Now it’s time for you to get inspired by all this different recipes and put hands on. Go to the kitchen and start with whatever you always wanted to try. Get crazy, try out things. The time for it is now!

“There is nothings less time wasting than cooking for the people you love” – Michael Pollan

Lena C.

In this special time I feel relieved when I can laugh. Then the tension within me is released. I want to share a great video with you which really made me laugh. In addition I was deeply impressed by this piece of creative art. Thanks to Philipp Klein for this ski video! There you go – enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/404007136

Next to laughing this special time gives space to meditate. I found a touching text by Wendell Berry in the compilation “Earth Prayers” which I’d like to share:

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild thins
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Berry

Lukas T – POJAT

 In we can find marvelous music tastes for everyone! Just search!
Today, in Hall in Tirol, is really    and warm, which is giving me summer vibes

what I could share with you through music:

And if you feel you want to dance through that  – do it!
Giving you good mood and nice smile is worth it, don´t you think!? 😉

Remember: music heals!

#enjoy #music #and #dance #through #2020

ingredients:

2 eggs

300 g flour

140 g butter

120g sugar

50 black chocolate

50g milk chocolate

½ bag vanilla sugar

¼ bag baking powder

a touch of milk

——————————-

Instructions:

Wash your hands!

Set the oven at 200°C

put all the wet ingredients (warm butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, eggs and milk) in a bowl, and mix until you get a homogenous paste.

in parallel, cut the black chocolate in tiny shaving bits, and the milk chocolate in medium-sized chips.

put the dry ingredients (flour, cut chocolate and baking powder) together.

in parallel, cut the black chocolate in tiny shaving bits, and the milk chocolate in medium-sized chips.

put the dry ingredients (flour, cut chocolate and baking powder) together.

progressively add the dry mix into the bowl containing the wet ingredients, and mix every time until you get a homogenous paste.

When all the ingredients have been mixed, Take a handful of paste of the size you desire, flatten it (with your palms or a rolling pin) and put it on a plate, over a sheet of baking paper.

Repeat until the bowl is empty and all your paste is on the plate.

Put the in the oven, and let it bake for 10 minutes.

Take it out and let it cool for a few minutes.

It’s ready!

Remember to wash your hand.

Do you know yourself? Can you define yourself? It will surprise you that it is actually hard or imposible for some people. Most of the people need someone that give themselves adjectives. Why? Insecurity? An unnecessary stuff? A waste of time? A weird and strange proposition? Hear what you may sound… If you are not defined, you are the same as a doll. Then these mental exercises might help you. Unless you have a powerful mind, I suggest you to have someone you trust to guide you.

The Exercise of the Air

This is the most important exercise because it is the basic for the following exercises. Why? Because it is as simple as breathing. Literally, it is breathing. Find a place where you can lie. Take your time to pose confortly and find your best position. Your chest and lungs must be wide open. The guide can give you now the next steps. Once you find the position, keep your eyes closed and start with slow and deeps breaths. Focus just on how the air enters into your nose and goes away through your mouth. Take five or ten breaths. The next five (or ten) will be the same… but you can fell how air enters into your nose, cross yourself until your lungs and they go away once more through you mouth. Take five (or ten) more last and feel how the air enters into your lungs, how the air gives a warm energy to your whole body, how the air moves the stream of your blood, and how the air feed the cells that make you feel, until it goes away through your mouth.

Your body is now ready thanks to the power of the air. Now, your mind must be also powered by it. Continue with the deep breaths. And just now think on a white spot. Make the spot turns liquid. Take your time, it is just a white spot. Make it flexible, liquid, a weak mass… Now the spot grows up, it expands itself. It crumbles? Is it a bigger circle? It makes a spiderweb? It fulls your mind? Give it the shape that your mind says to you and let it cover all in white. Slowly, take your time… Once there’s only white on your mind, try to make the colour more and more white. The most you can. Slowly, take your time… When you reach your perfect white, this full white mind will reduce now. Make it smaller little by little until it returns to the same white spot. Now your mind connected to the air and to your body.

The story line

Our next exercise would help you to define yourself. How? You will be born again and you will grow up. Start making the Exercise of the Air as we did before. Once you are relaxed and you reach the white spot, small again, you will have forgotten everythink. Then make yourself this question: what is my name? Say your full name. The most powerful minds can create this situation as the animal that represents yourself the most or the animal you like the most. If you are not, it is you, and no other. Start counting your years… and for every year, you have to say what did you feel, or what did you learn, or what did you wish. You don’t remember your first? You were born! You don’t remember your second? You started to crawl and walk! You don’t remember your third? You started to speak!

Do every year what you remember of it like it was a film. Pronounce the year and what is in. In your mind there is your animal doing what you said or yourself doing it. It can be a negative thing… but stay calm, these are memories; It can be a positive thing… but stay calm, these are memories. Continue until you reach the present. With the eyes still closed, try to say what your protagonist wished, what he/she felt, what he/she did… This is your past and what you learnt is your future. Then you have the events that made yourself and your goals that also made yourself. The combination of this past and this future is your present… is you.

Cromatherapy

This is specialised for people in stressing situation. It will help you to balance your thoughts and recover the control or your sense. The people who has mental awarness must have a guide that helps them.

Make the Exercise of the Air until your mind is connected to the air and there’s only a simple white spot in your mind. The next deep breath will turn this spot in one colour. I don’t recommend black, yellow or red (normally, these colours have a negative impact on people without powerful mind, but you have your colours). Don’t try to think on one specific colour. Let the colour shows itself. Once your fist colour shows, give it a shape. Is it an item you remember? Is it a landscape? Is it a person? Feel it and pronounce what it makes you feel and what you do with it. Take your time, this shapes are guides… Continue with more colours if you want to visit more sensations or visit a more pleasant colour. Once you find the colour it makes you feel better, let that sensation cover yourself. You are in a free space where you and what you see is the most important thing. You are free to talk to what you see, you are free to do whatever you want to what you see, or you can even do nothing with what you see… It is your time free with the sensation that the colour shaped.

Once you feel to finish, say goodbye to what you see the way you like the most: a huge, a kiss, or just a silent wave. You maybe feel happy, joyfull, sad, relaxed or you just felt a revelation, but everything was on your mind and you felt free in that moment. No one will judge you because you are living in this present and whatever happened before, it is only the past of what we learn.

The MBTI test

The Myers-Briggs is a personallity test where you can answer simple questions about what you like the most in an agree or disagree situation. Once you finish the test, the result will be an archetype of your personal being.

This archetypes are divided into Analysts (iNtuitive and Thinking people), Diplomats (iNtuitive and Feeling people), Sentinels (obServant and Judging people) and Explorers (obServant and Prospective people). In addition, you have Introvert or Extrovert. Once you do, you will be defined by a code that expand this definition. For example, my archetype is a Protagonist and my code is ENFJ, plus he type of Protagonist that I am: Turbulent. So my final code is ENFJ-T.

This may sound complicated but the link I share to you is a really easy web page where you can have everything in a expand and clear version of what I showed to you.

https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

The Test of the Water

Do you know that the water has memory? And do you know that the water can influence on ourselves as the Air? The last exercise I give is a simple test. Why simple? Because you just need to drink a glass of water. You can make it on group or alone. You just need a glass with water in front of you.

First, sit down and make the exercise of the Air. Don’t forget to take the best position to you! Once you focus on yourself with the eyes closed and not in the enviroment, take slowly the glass of water and drink. Leave it in front of you again and take again your time to return to your most confortable position. Recover the focus and get back to the place where there’s only you and a glass or water. Drink as before, leave the glass in front of you and breath slowly. You can open your eyes now. Simple, huh? The next part is an introspective question that you must think of what you thought during this exercise according with the time:

• Past: Was I thinking on the process? Was I thinking on what I did before? Was I even thinking of what I did today before to start this? If this resumes what you were doing during the process, you were living on the past. It is important to learn from the past, but is already over and that won’t return. People must change and don’t live in the future.

• Future: Did I think on what was the next step? Did I think what is the purpose of the exam? Did I think what to say at the end? Did I think what you will have to do after this session? If these questions look similar to what you were thinking, you are living on the future. The future must be bright and we have always to reach a shiny future. However, we cannot wait until it comes to us or get obsessed to reach the future, because we would be living in a future. When you live in a future, your present is the nothing.

• Present: Did I feel the cold of the glass when I touched it? Did I tested how hard was the glass with my lips? Did I taste the water? Did I feel the water enter into my body? If you did this by that moment, you are living in a present.

The present is the most important to you to live. You can learn from the past and you can see at the future, but always remember that you must live on your present. A balanced mind is a mind that lives on a present. Imagine yourself. Your feet and head aim to your in front, to the future… Your head has memories and your feet feel the tiredness of walking, the memories from the past… But the fact is that YOU are walking. You are conscious of the direction of your walk, and you are conscious of the path you walked. This consciousness of what you do and what you will do in a balanced way is the moment that you are living on. Enjoy this present, feel the emotion you need right now, and open yourself to the world and the people that walk with you.

José M. Gómez

What kind of person are you at the moment? The one that is calm and happy about having time for personal projects or family life? Or are you the one freaking out? Or maybe a double personality that is changing every two days? But in any case, is there not also that question in your mind how this all is affecting us? And when can we act as normal humans again? 

I guess I’m the “double personality” kind. I must say that last week I started to have a kind of stable “quarantine routine” and I felt a new way of being free, of doing my own projects, of caring about myself. I must say that it felt like a break to my previous working routine and I was liking doing “whatever I wanted”. But when you stop for a moment you realise that the difference between your normal routine and your quarantine routine is that in the second one there is nothing unpredictable (in a positive sense) that will break it. There is no friend calling you to go for a coffee. There is no difference between a week day or a weekend. There is no event or trip to be planned. There is no night you go out until late and sleep half of the next day. It’s a steady rhythm of sleeping and waking up at the same times, of doing the same things everyday or every two days. Where is the break? What was actually the usual break? The answer: the people you can’t see at the moment…

I was never really the spontaneous kind of person, I always liked to plan things. But the moment you realise that you are just on your own, that you can decide whatever you want to do (within the restrictions) whenever you want to do it, that you don’t have to rely on anyone and that there is no one that can cross your plans with other proposals, you suddenly feel that you are missing the inconstant of human beings in your “perfect” routine. And you notice that actually it’s the imperfection that gives a natural balance to your life. But now, not much seems very natural anymore, not much seems very human anymore.

Some days ago I’ve heard an older woman talking to a younger one exactly about this. That we are loosing our humanity. In addition to all the “keep distance” restrictions people are slowly freak out. I mean I have been listening to the radio a lot these days and apart from the fact that I’m freaking out because of listening the same “corona-comments” and the same “quarantine-advertisements” every day, I’m also freaking out because of the news I hear lately about peoples behaviour. Why does a young men threaten an old lady by telling her he has the virus and will pass it on to her? Why does a doctor make a legal complaint against a patient for passing him on the virus, but after a test proves that the patient doesn’t even have the virus? Why are tourists now making a common legal complaint against Tirol because they think they got infected during their skiing holidays (or should I rather say “après-skiing” holidays)? What is wrong with people? Is there really nothing better to do and nothing better to think of than making this whole situation worst? Nothing better than to blame others for (maybe) their own mistakes? To blame a region or a country that in my opinion (compared to others) reacted fast to this whole situation? Even with so much time for ourselves at the moment, people seem not even taking a second to think about the consequences of their irrational behaviour…

So please! Whatever kind person you are at the moment and even though you want to blame the whole world for this inhuman situation, take a breath to think. We are somehow all in the same boat, we all have to find ways to lead with this situation, to lead with our angriness, our sadness, our fears, and all our energy. So let’s keep our humanity and let’s be there for each other as much as we can instead of complicating each others life.

“If you have the power to make someone happy, do it. The world needs more of that.”

Lena C.