Category: Everyday life

Anthropology, Arctic, Awareness, Culture, Everyday life, Family, Genealogy, Health, Heritage, Homeschooling, Kids, Mental health, Motherhood, Neurodiversity, Neurological, Outfit, People, Photography, Pregnancy, Quotes, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Spirituality, Tromsø, Uralic, Womanhood

Mothers Did Not Play With Their Children For 99% of Human History

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Why the absence of autonomous, multi-age playgroups makes parenting suck. (This is a reshare of Elena Bridgers’ article).

Sámi mommy breastfeeding toddler in Tromsdalen, Tromsø, Arctic Sápmi, while smoking some tobacco.

“Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and (two or three) gentlemen, because we are about to dive into the my absolute favorite topic of all time: the importance of multi-age playgroups in hunter-gatherer societies. Honestly, I get more excited about this stuff than a dog whose owner just said the word “walk.” Back when I first started reading about motherhood in hunter-gatherer societies there were two things that made me go, “ohhhhhhhh, now I get it.” One is the longer interbirth intervals that probably characterized most of human history (as I wrote about here) and the other is the critical important of multi-age playgroups as a source of substitute childcare for mothers. It was a total epiphany for me, and I suspect you may have the same reaction, because once you see how this used to work, how human childhood evolved to work, it just makes so much sense. Over millions of years, we basically evolved a perfect system involving care of children by children, in a way that was wholly compatible with their own need for play, and that we have entirely abandoned in the modern context, to the detriment of all.

But in order for you to understand why this still matters for mothers in the modern context, I need to tell you my own story about just how much I hate playing with my children (even though I love them deeply) and how misguided I was about the role of a “good mom” and what she owes her kids…

I’d rather stick a fork in my eyeball than play pirates.

Only after I had begun doing deep research on hunter-gatherer societies did I realize that this is exactly how things were supposed to work. Children are supposed to play with other children. It was never meant to be the mother’s job. But trapped as we are in single-family homes where playmates can be hard to come by, parents often end up filling this tedious and time-consuming role…[..]”

Read the full article here.

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A colourful death – Something greater

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If you knew that one day someone would be helped and inspired by exactly the trial you are going through now, would it then be easier to bear? I believe that the knowledge/thought that another person can benefit from your story; your experiences and how you solved problems and trials makes the burden lighter in a way; because then you are doing something for something greater than yourself. There is a self-sacrifice in the picture that gives momentum, and you no longer think only of “me and mine,” but also of the well-being of others. I don’t know if this makes sense – I think it’s the autumn and the colourful death and devotion of the plants to the cycle of the seasons that made me write this 🤭🍂💛

-M

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How to Pray | Poem + video

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In a world that teaches
me first, me only, me always,
prayer is a quiet rebellion.
It begins with a bow,
a loosening of the fist
that clutches at control.

It dares to whisper:
I am not the center.
I am not the crown of all things.
I am a thread in the tapestry,
a note in the chorus,
a servant of something vast.
Something holy.

Prayer is an act of defiance
against the tyranny of ego,
against the hunger that never fills.
It topples the empire of the small self
and builds, stone by stone,
a sanctuary for all beings.

In prayer, we betray the myth of isolation.
We kneel not in defeat,
but in devotion and love.

Prayer is rebellion,
the most radical kind,
for it wages war not on others,
but on the walls within,
until only openness remains.

Through the power of prayer,
we can align ourselves with life and light itself. What a miracle.

We can call for the aid
of both ancient and recent Masters,
Beyond space and time.
Their luminous wisdom and boundless
compassion can touch our hearts as intimately as the Sun’s warmth opens flowers in the morning mist.

Prayer is not just mere words.
It is the trembling of the soul reaching for our wholeness, a candle lit in the dark, a river bending toward the ocean.
Prayer is tantra and transformation.

-M

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Trauma healing specials – try it now 🙏🏼

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Wanted to share this free online playlist on Youtube in six parts, focused on the healing of traumas in the psyche. It can be done sitting in a comfortable posture, or laying down if you prefer. It has been extremely helpful for me, so I share it in hopes someone else will benefit 🫶🏻

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The Sacred Bear in Sámi mythology

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The Sacred Bear and “the Origin of the Sámi People”

In Sámi mythology, the bear is a divine ancestor, not just an animal.

One myth tells of a heavenly bear who descended to earth and married a human woman. Their children became the first Sámi people.

Because of this, bears were/are honored as ancestor spirits, and when a bear was killed (very rare and ritualised), its bones were carefully placed in a tree to allow its soul to return to the sky.

A ceremony called the Bear Feast included songs, dances, and apologizing to the bear spirit for the killing, inviting it to be reborn.

The Bear Who Fell From the Stars:

A Sámi Creation Song of the First Bear

In the hush before dawn, where no footprints fall,
Where the wind hums secrets to the pine,
A star broke loose from the roof of night
And tumbled down through time.

He fell with a roar through clouds of gold,
Bathed in *Beaivi’s light.
He landed not dead, but dreaming still
In the heart of the forest’s white.

The reindeer bowed their crowned heads low,
The lynx stood still in her track.
For this was the First of Bears,
The Sky-Child, fallen back.

He walked like thunder on ancient snow,
His breath, a wind of flame.
Yet gentle were his dreaming eyes,
And wise, and without shame.

A woman came from a northern vale,
A weaver of skins and song.
She found him sleeping in a ring of birch
And stayed with him all night long.

They spoke without words by fire and frost,
By the rhythm of blood and bone.
She taught him the names of the winds and streams;
He gave her dreams of home.

And so their children, wild and wise,
Were neither beast nor man.
They sang to trees, they hunted clean,
They walked where few else can.

But then the bear, when spring had sung,
Felt longing rise like steam:
His fur grew light, his eyes grew wide
He vanished into dream.

And so today, when the bear is seen,
The Sámi bow and sing
“Child of stars, our ancient kin,
Return again in spring.”

If ever a bear is taken in hunt,
The people weep and pray.
They dress his skull in flowers and moss
And lift his bones away.

*Beaivi is the Sun (as a deity)

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Something old

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Bought a new diary, in hopes of finding time to write again; haven’t written anything in over a year. Initiated first page with this poem 😊🙏🏼💎

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Way of Life | Art print

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This is the landscape nomadic peoples of the Arctic have travelled for decades and generations. Moving their herds and homes and children safely tucked onto sleds, across the tundra. This is still the case in some areas. If you’ve witnessed the ever-changing play of colours and atmosphere during the Arctic winter and Polar night, it looks something like this; pastel skies, crisp clear air, moon in daytime and the sun hiding behind the horizon, blessing us with a few rays here and there before leaving for a few months. I am in awe at how my ancestors have survived and even thrived here for so long; I feel moved to my core by their know-how of the elements, seasons and animals. “Way of Life” art print, 2400 NOK 🩵💜🤍🧡 89 x 46,5 cm including white edges. The prints have the title written on the white part in front, and signature on the back.

Can be shipped anywhere 🙏🏼

Shown on dark wall 🖤
Shown on light wall 🤍
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I will keep you safe and warm 2.0 / Art for sale

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Art card with envolope ✉️ 17 x 12 cm including white edges. 75 NOK (norwegian kroner) Can be shipped anywhere 🤍🌍

The prints are made from a painting I did back in 2021 when I first became a mother. Afterwards, I slightly edited it digitally, and thought it looked wonderful as printed art cards 😊 I have 3 cards available currently.

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Zen revitalisation?

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A zen tradition that doesn’t separate buddhanature from substrate consciousness (skt. alaya vijnana), doesn’t speak or teach kensho but then claims to be able to just sit (j. shikantaza), that doesn’t have one on one instruction (j. sanzen/dokusan), that has no emphasis of any type of dynamicity or physicality in training, where lineage blessings go unnoticed, where students and roshis spend sesshin after sesshin half asleep, has got to be the most decadent form of Zen to ever exist. These are the very problems that Bodhidharma corrected by teaching the weak, sleepy and ignorant meditation monks dynamic movement practices but also how to transform, stretch and strenghten tissues (c. yijinjing) and how to transform all three bodies from samsaric to nirvanic state (c. xisuijing, bone marrow washing). It’s been long since Bodhidharma’s time but the state of some systems that claim to be zen buddhism merely based on lineage transmission and mimicked external form, proves that the deluded mind is master in deluding itself, without much ability to learn from the mistakes done by others. It is indeed difficult to find practitioners who are able to analyze and extract the essential meaning of dharma thus demonstrating abundant merit (skt. punya).

Baba,
Revitalized Zen
16 March 2025

Yes, this seems to be true; that the state of Zen lineages today is simply not producing Masters, as was the whole point of Zen training. The state of Dharma is seemingly in a bad shape all around. Therefore, I find it very refreshing and interesting to read such quotes as the one above. Here is the YouTube channel of Revitalized Zen, the facebook group and here is the blog. Excellent reading for any spiritual seeker 🙏🏼🪷

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Careful as someone crossing an iced-over stream

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Our garden river frozen, but still trickling 🩵

“The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.”

-Chapter 15, Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu

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Hjemmeundervisning?

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Noen gode åpenbare grunner jeg kom på til å kanskje velge hjemmeskole.

Alle foreldre vil jo det beste for sine barn. I det siste har vi tenkt mer og mer på å hjemmeundervise våre. Enn så lenge er de jo begge under 5 år, så vi har ennå litt tid på å ta avgjørelsen, men det er per nå hva som føles mest rett. Personlig kjenner jeg ennå på ettereffektene av 13 års skolegang (10 år grunnskole og 3 år videregående) og den skolevegringen som fargela alle de årene. Jeg er altså 33 år, men tenker fortsatt på det. Men ingenting er jo svart/hvitt; man kan for eksempel velge å hjemmeundervise de første årene, og så begynne på skolen ved et senere tidspunkt, for eksempel rundt tiårsalderen.

Er det noen av dere som leser dette innlegget som har noen erfaringer å dele på dette området?😊

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Godt nyttår

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Har veldig ofte blitt fortalt at man ikke kan leve AV kunst, sånn inntektsmessig. Jeg tenker like ofte at man kan leve FOR kunst.
Men jeg skjønner hva de mener; det er veldig vanskelig,  nesten umulig, spesielt med tanke på alt av ressurser man putter inn i et slikt tidsfordriv, går det ofte i minus. I tillegg lever vi i en verden der man fort kan oppleve plagiering om man deler sin kunst på nettet, man kan støte på en kreativ eller eksistensiell tørketid der man er ute av stand til å lage noe som helst, man kan være i et stadie i livet der kunst fort blir siste prioritert (f.eks som småbarnsforeldre), kanskje har man ikke råd til å kjøpe mer materiale, eller man kan være så blyg og usikker at man ikke tør å dele kunsten i det hele tatt, og ihvertfall ikke modig nok til å spørre om noen er villig til å betale for det. En annen ting, er at ens kunst aldri vil være for alle, det må man alltid huske på slik at man kanskje tar avvisning bedre. Med andre ord; the struggle is real 😄 Men nå som 2025 er her, jeg nærmer meg 33 år nå i januar og jeg blir bittelitt mer sikker på meg selv og min kunst, så GRUGLEDER jeg meg til å tørre å hive litt av mine penger inn i å lage kunsttrykk og nye malerier, legge de for salg og bare se hva som skjer. Sårbart, men verdt det, tror jeg. ✨️ Godt nyttår!! 🎆

Dette innlegget var originalt lagt ut på min kunstside på Facebook.

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The Laws of The Sun

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Have to share this absolute gem of a film 🙏🏼 Found it very well made and entertaining to watch, and a good Dharma film to show kids. I don’t usually watch a lot of animé but I liked it!

Here is the sequel also; The Golden Laws

Happy new year. May all being be free!

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The shortest way

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“Maintain the state of undistractedness, and distractions will fly away. Dwell alone, and you shall find the Friend. Take the lowest place, and you shall reach the highest. Hasten slowly, and you shall soon arrive. Renounce all worldly goals, and you shall reach the highest Goal. If you follow this unfrequented path, you will find the shortest way.” -Milarepa

October photos. Colourful sky, sunny days and snowy days.. It’s always shifting very fast here, you could almost say there is four seasons within one season 🌅🌦❄️
Prayer flags in our garden ☃️ The weather was interesting that day; grey sky and sea, white landscape and a heavy kind of silence.
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To all the lonely Mothers out there

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Humans are herd animals, we’re mammals. We are literally made to raise children in the company and with the support of other women.

This is something we have lost as a modern society.

I would go as far as to say that we have a pandemic of lonely Mothers. Home alone most of the time with their babies, doing their best, often without much mental, emotional or physical support or stimuli from other mums. It’s not natural. And it’s not healthy for the baby; having their start in life defined by this kind of isolation.

It’s not long ago in our human history that women and mums were much closer, and could rely on each other more. I often wish I could turn back time, and experience that closeness, that kind of Motherhood.

In rare small (indigenous) communities around the world, this is still the case, and used to be like that here too (in Troms and Finnmark).

Loneliness sucks a lot of the joy out of Motherhood. It sits like a gray veil over us and makes us even more isolated. Not to mention the shame and guilt many mums feel for even feeling lonely, bacause we have our babies, so we should feel more than content.

But the truth is that women need women. Mums need mums. Only other mums can truly understand the ordeal of birthing and raising children.

So, if you feel lonely in Motherhood, like me, please do not blame yourself, the fault is not with you. It is that we as a modern society have separated ourself too much and we don’t see the importance and value of a supported mum. It’s kind of obvious though; a healthy happy mum = healthy happy start of life for baby, and thus for the all humans and society at large. It all starts with mum.

A painting I did some years ago. “I will keep you safe and warm”.
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Smartest guy alive

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Really enjoyed this 2 hour interview with “the smarteste man in the world”. Of course IQ isn’t everything, as he says himself, but I guess what I liked about this interview is how he early on in life decided to look for truth and meaning rather than using his brains to make money. They got into all sorts of topics, like beauty, reality, globalism, God, even aliens, cancel culture, etc. Very relevant atuff. Also, I found it funny how he said most buddhists nowadays don’t understand emptiness/sunyata, I think that is true.

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So simple

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Being a parent means receiving a unique invitation back to the present moment by these small individuals who only asks for you to be yourself around them, to be fully in the moment and to see them for who they are. It’s so simple that even a child can understand it.

Our oldest son, who is almost 4, made these funny little “dolls” representing our little family 😅 Apparently, I am the grumpy one 😂
A hedgehog he also made from blue dough and a stick from the forest.
An autumn bouquet I picked on that same trip into the forest 🍂 Next to it is a small Sámi shamanic drum that our son received for his 3rd birthday.
I drew this little boy recently 🩵
And gave birth to this little boy in August 😄🩵 Healthy and beautiful, 3250 g, ten fingers and ten toes. The birth went so well and quite fast, all due to how much I had prepared my mind and body for it. Days are a bit monotone at the moment, like postpartum days usually are; diapers and carrying baby around, but felt much more up for the task this time than when we had our first son back in 2021 when everything was new to us. I have to admit though it is a bit lonely sometimes due to not having any mum-friends nearby, and not much time for painting either, but found this flat rock one day me and him were out walking with the baby shawl, and so made this quick little autumn painting 🍁

Oh, and I just have to show this gift our oldest made for his dad/my husband for his 35th birthday in October. It was a white statue that I bought, and then he decorated it with paint and gold flakes ✨️🎁

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Surrendering to an unseen force

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“Pregnancy is a process that invites you to surrender to the unseen force behind all life.” 💚🧡🤍🩵 Photos taken by Gunhild Berg Johansen, I was ca 6 months pregnant here.

I highly recommend this very helpful and insightful podcast episode on breaking the fear-tension-pain cycle that most women go into when in labour, myself included. I am very close to giving birth to our second child, and feeling all the emotions that comes naturally leading up to that. This podcast episode really helped me, along with a hypnobirthing course I’ve been doing lately.

– Monica Amrita Mani

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It has to touch the heart

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When we are small children, it comes natural for us to think of others. We don’t see much separation between ourselves and others, and so wanting to be kind, to help and be generous comes as naturally as dusk and dawn.

As we age and experiences shape us, we get hardened. We are no longer soft and supple like babies, now we have frozen places in our bodies and mind that makes us feel and act in certain negative ways, or it even makes us ill. We get prickly edges, we might be ‘difficult’ for others to be around and as much as we wish to feel soft, authentic and playful again, it just don’t seem to happen by will alone.

This is where yogic practices (dharma) can help, because it targets and addresses both the physical body, and the subtle energy bodies. Focusing only on one aspect, will not be a holistic solution, in my experience. And focusing only on my own healing, without regard to others who are also suffering, is not sufficient; it has to be for the benefit of others – it has to touch the heart (bodhichitta).

Prayer flags in our garden

Here is the youtube channel and the website of the Amrita Mandala dharma lineage which I practice and which has helped me the most in my life and healing 🙏🏼

(Header image art of Isha Natha by MysticMantraGallery)

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Photo series: Everyday life

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In my summer sea sámi gákti. And small baby “shoes” made by mother-in-law 🙏🏼
Shades of blue shell
Rusty colours
Blue and purple hues
“Det er morgen igjen, vesle håp
og verden frotterer seg med nyvasket solskinn.
Livets ansikt er aldri det samme
selv om vi ser på det i all evighet.” – Kolbein Falkeid
#home #kitchen #midnightsun
Curious little guy on a short hike in the rain. ☔️
Summer details in some of my older paintings.
Just playing and experimenting with colours and techniques so that I will hopefully find the Joy of painting again 😄 I guess I have a little dry spell in my creative life at the moment..
Blue, orange and yellow are great together.
A bouquet I picked by the side of the road.
Details
Beef tallow.

Son and daddy 💙💛❤️💚
My partner of 14 years meditating. #yogisondisplay
Our shed with some new flowers.
Curious little rabbit in our garden.

Xx Monica Amrita Mani

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Is the Ketogenic Diet Safe in Pregnancy? (Very Important)

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This short video really highlights something that is close to my heart; right nutrition in pregnancy. Am currently pregnant with our second baby, and since going keto, the difference before and after is like night and day. Especially if I compare to my first pregnancy 4 years ago when I was not in ketosis. I was binging carbs all day and gaining a lot of weight, and barely had any energy. At the end of that pregnancy, I had to use crutches and/or wheelchair. The really shitty thing about using glucose as main energy source is that the more carbs you eat, the more you crave. I’ve noticed that when switching to (animal) fat as the main fuel, I don’t have cravings, mood and energy level is quite stable and I can function a lot better as a mum and basically as a human being 😅 I can write a longer more in detail post about what exactly I eat to maintain ketosis and how it makes sense for me to do that both from a health perspective but also from an ancestral point of view.

(Pictured: beef tallow I eat every day.)

Xx Monica Amrita Mani

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Yogi on display

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Yogi on display in nature for the birds, foxes and rabbits to see 😄 also i found a long-ish animal bone that was perfect to use for hitting on a rock to keep the rhythm while chanting and singing prayers.  🐰🐦🦊🦴

What is #YogisOnDisplay?

“Unlike in cultures long established in the dharma, spiritual practice is not visible in the everyday life of Western society. While many Westerners practice some form of spiritual practice, the actual practice is often kept private. This is a great pity. Not only does it speak volumes about the level of spiritual maturity of the West, but it also means that many people never encounter dharma in the first place. If spirituality is not publically displayed, the fact that there is an alternative to existential confusion and suffering does not reach the masses.

In an attempt to counter this, Amrita Baba has initiated the Yogis on Display project. The idea behind Yogis on Display is to encourage spiritual practitioners of the West to become living examples for others. Instead of hiding away in our modern city caves, we need to bring meditation, mantra singing, yoga practice, and so on, directly to where it matters; straight to the middle of the hamster wheel. Displaying the solution to existential confusion and suffering is a hands-on, time-tested way of practicing care and compassion for all beings.

To spread the message of Yogis on Display the hashtag #yogisondisplay has been created. Practitioners who chose to take part are encouraged to take a picture of themselves and share it on social media using this hashtag. This way more people can learn about the initiative and become inspired to light the torch of dharma in our public spheres.” (AmritaMandala.com)

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“Ancestral” 80 x 80 cm

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Food and how to get that food is a huge part of any culture. In the Arctic, that food culture has been mainly catching, hunting, fishing and herding, making the foundation of our food for thousands of years an animal based one. We don’t have a lot of local edible plants here, with a few exceptions like berries for example. With the influx of trading and new borders, new foods were introduced, but if you are like me, I don’t tolerate them well at all, especially grains, and a lot of carbs . So I stick to an ancestral Arctic diet that my stomach and body loves, and I feel extremely passionately about food culture, so I guess that is what I made this painting about. I also added 3 samoyed sled/herding dogs, as a little head nod to another Uralic Arctic people neighbouring Sápmi; the Nenets. (An obsolete name for them used to be the Samoyed people, a name not used by themselves).
Acrylic on 80 x 80 cm canvas, details in silver and gold pen, oil pastel crayons.
🩷🩵💜🤍💚

Acrylic painting, Animals, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Buddhism, Culture, Dharma, DIY, Everyday life, Heritage, History, Indigenous, Landscape, Meditation, People, Photography, Saami, Sápmi, Shamanism, Siberian, Spirituality, Tantric, Uncategorized, Uralic, Yoga

Tantra with shamanistic roots

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It is from Eastern Siberia that the word shaman comes from, which means to ‘heat up’. Where it originated before that, I do not know. The ‘new shananism’ people in the west speak of today can hardly be compared.
Shamanism and animism has permeated most if not all of the nomadic and semi-nomadic cultures in this part of the world. The shamans have traditionally been both women and men, though the word ‘shaman’ is masculine form. The feminine word for a female shaman is ‘udugan’ in Tungusic language. In Northern Sámi a shaman is known as a Noaide.
(Acrylic on mixed media paper, A4)
Shaman’s drum to aid in the trance travel

Here is some pictures I used for inspiration for my painting.

I can also highly recommend these practices on youtube by a Uralic Tantric yoga teacher Amrita Baba; where he teaches tantric practices with ancient shamanic masters. Here is part 1 of 4, and the other parts linked below video.

Part 2: https://youtu.be/vS-7P3B7N2Q?si=14fzDmiSptsM0a_q

Part 3: https://youtu.be/2h04mO6bPt4?si=jfKcEQCKLXDRqCcJ

Part 4: https://youtu.be/Auq6GWt-u84?si=BMk0oaolL6tJYPgC

Acrylic painting, Animals, Anthropology, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Buddhism, Culture, Dharma, DIY, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Finnmark, Heritage, History, Indigenous, People, Spirituality, Uralic, Vajrayana, Yoga

Two wings of the same bird

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I often think about how the two genders are put up against each other in todays’ society, and we forget how to cooperate. We forget that men and women are dependant on each others’ strengths and that we complement each others’ weaknesses. We tend to focus on “who has it worse and who does what is most important”, instead of focusing on “what can we accomplish together, and how can we best raise the next generation, and be there for one another in life’s traumas, challenges and victories”. We hear absurd statements like “what is a woman”, and “do we need men”. The feminine and the masculine are two wings of the same bird, we need both to soar. The feminine power represents creation and wisdom, while the masculine represents stability and action. The whole Universe – and thus you and me – are made of these, and we should not forget that.

(Acrylic and oil pastel drawing/painting size A4, on mixed media paper)

– Monica

Acrylic painting, Adventure, Animals, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Chronic illness, Culture, DIY, Duodji, Everyday life, Finnmark, Heritage, Indigenous, Landscape, Sámi, Sápmi, Siberian, Spirituality, Uralic

Why be an artist?

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I am tempted to just answer my own question with “why not?”, but that is not satisfactory at all. Especially since there is a very good answer that comes to mind, although it is a cheesy one;

My soul needs it. It is who I am, and art helps bring out my authenticity. I feel ill when I have long periods of low motivation and inspiration, and thus don’t paint.

As probably many other children who loved art, growing up meant finding out how fragile art making can be. How vulnerable you make yourself. How other things in life seems to creep in and take over your time, to the point where there is not much time left for art making. All children are born with an innate sense of wanting to create and learn, and it can take a long time to find back to that once you have entered the hectic adult world of chores and time schedules. What a shame. But also, what a journey.

Like in all good stories, the main character loses herself at one point or many, and falls into some sort of despair and discontentment. She wants to find herself again and strives to get rid of the layers of inauthenticity she has adopted during adolescence and adulthood. Deep down, she knows herself, but too much junk has accumulated, and she feels frozen and trapped.

“Energy that is in motion, stays in motion”. In other words; just start something, and the momentuum will keep going by itself. The more we create, the more we want to create. Do 2 mintues of art making, and before you know it, time ceases and you enter the timeless realm of creativity, where it doesn’t matter how long you do it, all that matters is that you enjoy it and you feel yourself being in a flow state.

You may ask; why paint? Does the world really need another painting of a mediocre rose or the aurora borealis? The answer is No, it doesn’t. But the world needs your interpretation of a rose or the aurora borealis. Your superpower is and will always be that there is only one of you. When someone buys your artwork, takes it home and put it on their wall, they are bringing a piece of your soul home. They want that unique thing you made out of nothing to remind them of what they perhaps have forgotten themselves. Or, they wish to have a feeling or memory your artwork inhabits in their home through their eyes. This is a huge compliment for any artist.

You may also ask; but how do I find my own style? You don’t! It finds you. And you can’t get rid of it, even if you wanted to. Unique personal style is something that happens on its own. Don’t worry about it, it will reveal itself, if you just keep making stuff.

It’s hard being an artist. It can be lonely, it can be difficult to get into the desired state for creating, it can be challenging to make a studio/workspace, it can be close to impossible to find motivation some days and it can be a job in itself to make something out of thin air. But then again, it can also be the most rewarding soul nourishing work.

Xx, Monica

Adventure, Animals, Arctic, Beauty, Culture, Everyday life, Health, Heritage, Ice bathing, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Photography, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Tromsø, Uralic

Autumn and winter in Arctic Sápmi

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Winter is on our doorsteps, snow is here, polarnight is 2 weeks away, and it’s time for cosying up, hibernating, perserving our energy – and perhaps do some more icebaths. A small photo series from September, October and a few from November so far 🤍 Much love from Arctic Sápmi 🙌🏼

Crips air
Half autumn, half winter
Woman walking…
Kitchen view 22.oct. The adults were watching over the white baby reindeer.
Colours of autumn
We are 6-7 women doing ice bathing every week together
Helps to have a fire when icebathing
Sálasvaggi
Frost on seaweed
Frosty boat
When winter crept down the hill side
12:30 light
Ida swimming
Kali on a reindeer pelt
Ladies ice bathing
Me ice bathing
Afternoon light in autumn
Reindeer heart…Cooked it with onion and full fat cream
Norwegian, Sámi and Kveni flag next to each other
Blue tones by the river
Pastel hues
Acrylic painting, Animals, Arctic, Art, Beauty, Culture, DIY, Everyday life, Finnmark, Indigenous, Landscape, Sámi, Sápmi, Uralic

Baby seal painting

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I haven’t painted in many months, due to moving, and a bit loss of inspiration and drive. Well, now that we have a new place to live, and a lot more space, I am happy to say that I feel the inspiration coming back, and excited to make a small ateliér in one of our rooms 😊 I have been struggling a lot with neurological problems due to living in a place with (undetected) mold for a very long time. The brainfog is sometimes overbearing making it hard to do most things but hopefully it will heal in time with treatment, and painting will both be part of the healing and a motivation in itself 💙🧡 Here is a baby seal I made today 😄🦭

Adventure, Arctic, Beauty, Chronic illness, Everyday life, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Sámi, Sápmi, Siberian, Spirituality, Yoga

Nature heals

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Been spending most days outside this past few months, especially since we discovered that we have mold in our house, that has been contributing to my health issues, and resulted in me being diagnosed with CIRS/mold illness. It’s a hell of a thing to live with, and we are currently looking for treatment and a new place to live. I hope and pray these things sorts out, so that we can focus on our daily lives as a family and not live in a state of emergency.

In other news, I am (still) working on my film on remaining and recently extinct Arctic Indigenous languages in Europe and Asia. It will hopefully be done sometime soon, and I am so looking forward to share it with the world. I hope that it will be interesting and valuable information for people to watch.

Wishing you all a great and bountiful autumn (or spring if you are on the other side of the planet😅) 🙏🏼🍂🍁

Adventure, Animals, Arctic, Awareness, Beauty, Buddhism, Dharma, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Film, Health, Heritage, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Photography, Saami, Uralic, Vajrayana, Yoga

November in photos

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The sky is always so colourful right before polarnight sets in
Early in November
An important topic and film (“The silence in Sápmi”) Saw it in the cinema, I think it will be put online later.
Made some Christmas decor with our son ❤️
From high up! Propeller plane ride from Arctic to Southern Finland ❄️🤍🌌
His third plane ride, and he isn’t even two!
Amrita Mandala yoga retreat
20+ people in person and online, practising yoga-dharma together for 4 days.
In Porvoo
Me doing Dzogchen Metta practice with Jenna ✨️
Photo of calender I printed with my own photos. These are for June, because they were taken in June at midnight.
I chose this photo for March because that is when these little birdies return.
11 am 💜💛🤍

Soon we enter December and thus the last month of 2022. Hope you are all staying warm and safe, and that Christmas is not a source of stress, but a time for relaxing and magic ✨️❄️

Adventure, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Chronic illness, Culture, DIY, Duodji, Everyday life, Hair, Health, Indigenous, Jewellery, Knitting, Landscape, Make-Up, Neurological, Outfit, People, Photography, Photoshoot, Quotes, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Self portrait, Sewing, Spirituality, Uralic

My creative energy

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Can I just say, this is the best photo anyone has ever taken of me? Susann, thank you for capturing my essence. Here I am wearing a headdress and silk liidni I sewed myself, and the gákti summer dress is made by Nadezda Johnsen.
Autumn wind…🧡🍂🙌🏼
Life is a lot of chopping wood and carrying water… I think that is how the saying goes 😉

“Your healing journey will, of course, include a consideration and use of all the best tools modern medicine can offer you, as well as the best tools holistic healing can offer you. From a deeper perspective, illness is caused by unfulfilled longing. The deeper the illness, the deeper the longing. It is a message that somehow, somewhere, you have forgotten who you are and what your purpose is. You have forgotten and disconnected from the purpose of your creative energy from your core. Your illness is the symptom: The disease represents your unfulfilled longing. So above all else, use your illness to set yourself free to do what you have always wanted to do, to be who you have always wanted to be, to manifest and express who you already are from your deepest, broadest, and highest reality. If indeed you have discovered yourself to be ill, prepare yourself for change, expect your deepest longing to surface and to be brought to fruition. Prepare yourself to finally stop running and turn and face the tiger within you, whatever that means to you in a very personal way. I suggest the best place to start to find the meaning of your illness is to ask yourself: “What is it that I have longed for and not yet succeeded in creating in my life?”’ (From Barbara Brennan’s book Emerging Light)

Adventure, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Everyday life, Landscape, Photography, Photoshoot, Sápmi

Photo series: Arctic autumn, pt. 1

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Yellow birch leaves bathing in the sunlight. Ramfjorden/Gáranasvuotna.
Calm sea….
🍂
The yellow trees against the blue sky is a sight to behold. 💛💙
Very happy with this shot, was thinking for many weeks that I wanted to take this photo and feel like I nailed it just how I wished 😄👍🏻
This one is with phone camera, because I could not find my Panasonic camera (found it 2 days later, exactly where I put it!) Tinden / Sálašoaivi.
Another phone shot, but feel like I really captured the mood of the weather, even though it is bad quality! ☔️
Adventure, Arctic, Art, Awareness, Beauty, Dharma, Everyday life, Finnmark, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Photography, Poems, Relationship, Saami, Sámi, Self portrait, Spirituality, Uralic, Yoga

A thimbleful of light

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“Darkness, no matter how ominous and intimidating, is not a thing or force: it is merely the absence of light. So light need not combat and overpower darkness in order to displace it – where light is, darkness is not. A thimbleful of light will therefore banish a roomful of darkness. The same is true of good and evil: evil is not a thing or force, but merely the absence or concealment of good. One need not ‘defeat’ the evil in the world; one need only bring to light its inherent goodness.”

– Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson

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What that means to me

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Vajra brocade jacket in green and gold I was lucky to find in local second hand store. It is handmade, too, wonder who made it and gave it away.

I wanted to make a post on the physical body. I have noticed in social media a trend called ‘body positivity’, and I wanted to share my own version of what that means to me:

  • Knowing that my body is made from the natural elements and is a result of thousands of generations
  • Reminding myself that all my cells are working hard to keep me alive every day
  • Eating traditional sustainable foods that my body easily turn into energy
  • Deep sleep and meditation to give body healing and vitality
  • Practice prayer and mantras to help body get rid of karmic traces stored inside the cells
  • Strength training to keep joints stable and posture straight
  • Keeping in mind how ancestors lived, and how they treated their bodies
  • Reminding myself to breathe with my belly, through nose and keeping my tongue in the roof of mouth, while jaw relaxed, as this feels most natural and it makes body relax
  • Tapping into body’s innate healing powers if I feel sick
  • Feeling how the body is an anchor that keeps us in the present moment

Maybe I could add more later. What would you add? Thanks for reading, have a lovely day. -M

Adventure, Arctic, Awareness, Beauty, Everyday life, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Photography, Photoshoot, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Sewing, Tromsø, Uralic

Photo series: Arctic summer, pt 1

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My mum staring into the ocean 💙
Little flowers in the sand at our hidden secret beach.
Beach view.
Our son got to see and play with the ocean waves. He was kind of scared, but also curious!
Prestvannet / Báhpajávri
Some lotus like flowers at the Arctic Alpine botanic garden.
In the forest 💚
Some gorgeous tulips outside the Polar Museum in Tromsø.
My beautiful coffee bag sewn by duojár Inga Nilsen Eira. It’s made from reindeer skin, wool and cotton bands, and braided reindeer skin string. Perfect to bring my coffee on walks and trips ❤️
Arctic, Art, Beauty, Dharma, Everyday life, Hair, Indigenous, People, Photography, Sámi, Sápmi, Self portrait, Spirituality, Uralic, Vajrayana, Yoga

The real you remains..

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Emotions make us act and feel in strange ways

But the real you remains unchanged

Experiences and challenges shape us, like pots of clay on a spinning table

Still, the real you remains untouched

Illness, pain and grief chip away our vital energy

Even so, the real you remains ever so vibrant

Death arrives, entering without knocking

Yet, the real you remains.

A poem I wrote today, while contemplating impermanence. ❤️

Beauty, Culture, Duodji, Everyday life, Finnmark, Indigenous, Outfit, People, Photography, Photoshoot, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Tromsø, Uralic

Lihkku beivviin – Happy National Day

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Me, our son and my friend and relative ❤ Láhppigákti. Coastal Sámi.
💙💛❤
Hat and traditional shawl made by me ❤💛
Traditional knit by his father’s mother. Belt is supposed to be on hips, but not easy when he is moving like a little maggot 🪱😄

Today, we celebrated the Sámi National Day, Feb 6th.

I have Kven/Finnish, Norwegian and Sámi heritage, and love to celebrate what I can while I can. I am deeply thankful for my connection to my heritage and my own heart, and wish you all the best 2022 possible.

May all beings be free ✨

Arctic, Culture, Everyday life, Finnmark, Heritage, Indigenous, People, Sápmi, Tromsø, Uralic

Missing something I never had

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Feeling the Sunday blues today, and felt like sharing some thoughts I have had for some time now. I hope I manage to articulate myself in a good manner, and hoping to hear others’ view on this as well 🙂

I feel it is so important to have a sense of community and identity. A tribe of sorts. In fact, we all did up until very, very recently. You could even tell what area or region people were from by their clothing. The way they proudly wore their identity and sense of community. It is so rare nowadays that tourists will literally pay thousands to witness authentic indigenous way of life.

A wedding photo from my family tree, many generations ago in Finnmark. Kven/Finnish and Sámi marriage.

It sounds silly, but I miss that. I have never had it, but I miss it. I miss traditional everyday dresses and stronger traditions. I miss women being more supported with raising children by their community. Not feeling alone in our experience. We are not supposed to raise kids alone. We are not supposed to not work together and to not rely on each other. When we don’t have that community around us, we get consumed by loneliness and loss of purpose. Just think about how wonderful it feels to have a good friend or a family member who truly cares. We are utterly dependent on our safety net.

The globalisation we see today has come at a great cost. Every month, the world loses indigenous languages. Every week, less natural surroundings and every day people feel more cut off from each other, and Mother Earth. Where will we end up? Even our diets are globalised, getting adviced to eat the same here in the European Arctic as they do in warm climates. That is not sustainable. That is not what have been practiced for thousands of generations, and what our bodies are used to.

I do not wish to naively say that all things were better before, because I do not believe that they were. I do, however, think we have lost something very precious along the way, at least in my part of the world. People who wish to reclaim their sense of community and identity sometimes even feel like a fraud or a fool for ‘taking back’ something they never personally had.

I believe that the trauma experienced by virtually all humans today by having our way of life so dramatically changed in such a short timespan, needs great healing. And only we can do that job ourselves; in our own hearts and minds.

Thank you for reading, may all beings be free and happy ❤ May communities heal and may we take better care of the planet 🌎

Arctic, Awareness, Beauty, Culture, Dharma, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Self portrait, Uralic, Vajrayana, Yoga

A shift in attention

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“Regardless of the emotion being experienced — be it desire, anger, pride, jealousy, envy, greed, or whatever — what is really going on is a shift in attention.  The mind is expressing itself in a different way. Nothing implicitly requires one to presume that this emotion has any reality in and of itself… It is just that the mind is expressing itself in a different way than it was a moment ago.” – Kalu Rinpoche

Photos from late autumn when it was still a bit warm. Woke up today to the first snowfall of the year!

Arctic, Beauty, Buddhism, Dharma, Everyday life, Landscape, People, Photography, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Self portrait, Tromsø, Uncategorized, Uralic, Vajrayana, Yoga

Namo Isha Ja – Guided meditation

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A heart opening guided meditation session led by Kim Rinpoche.

October night sky a few weeks ago 💙🍂

If we know our hearts and our own natural state, we will also simultaneously know how to love and care. Not only for others but for ourselves and our difficult emotions. Life is so full of difficult emotions, as we know. Compassion and forgiveness is always with you, like a silent friend.

Thank you for reading and still following my blog. It is most appreciated. My posts are very sporadic, as time flies by with the new baby. Long days but short weeks. Not enough hours to get it all done, and not enough hours to just enjoy him – this new little person that runs our lives now. Motherhood is equally hard as it is wonderful. I hope to get more painting and other artsy projects into my days again.

Adventure, Arctic, Beauty, Buddhism, Dharma, Everyday life, Indigenous, Landscape, People, Photography, Saami, Sápmi, Self portrait, Tromsø, Yoga

21 photos from my summer

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Håja and Hillesøy
Håja mountain. We drove up and got the best view ever. Very happy with this photo!
Arctic July.
More furry neighbours.
Rainy summer day.
Ilo, a cute little dog we met at Reinøya.

Early morning at Reinøya.
Seal at Reinøya.
Summer swim.. Me and my boyfriend’s mother. 8-9°c!
Tromsø centrum, the pavillion.
At the Arctic-Alpine Botanical garden in Tromsø.
Blue Himalayan poppies. 💙 In the World’s Northernmost botanical garden.
So many beautiful colours and shapes.
Midsummer, 23rd of June.
Tiny Arctic dolphins.
Sunlight over Lyngsalpan.
Rainy evening at Spåkenes.
Kali 💚🖤
Picked a small bouquet.

“I love the Arctic summer, it’s the best day of the year!” Short but sweet. How was your summer?

Awareness, Buddhism, Culture, Dharma, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Quotes, Spirituality, Vajrayana, Yoga

What is Samsara?

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Photo from Sommarøy earlier this summer

“What is Samsara?

According to buddhism, this world is a samsaric world and the minds of sentient beings are samsaric minds. What does this mean? Samsara means being stuck in a repeated loop of confusion. In this repeated loop we keep making misassessments and misjudgements because we see all things in a distorted way. Being deluded and confused means that our perception of the world, ourselves and others is corrupted. Because our mind interferes with direct experience of anything faster than a blink of an eye, is the reason why there is vast confusion and conflict in this world. No matter how hard we try, samsaric beings cannot avoid thinking and feeling in distorted ways, and this makes this world a world of pain and suffering, when potentially it could be a paradise.

From morning until night we keep thinking about “I” or “me”. We perceive the things of the world and other people in terms of me and other, or me and something else. Every single day we have strong opinions even about small petty things. Every day we have high hopes and expectations about things and then we get disappointed, frustrated and angry when things don’t go like we hoped. We are simply unable to not think in this way.

Just like the arteries of the physical body get calcified over time due to bad diet and lack of exercise, so does our mind get fixated and habituated around the compulsory notion of me. This makes us small and miserable. It makes us bitter, angry, deluded and dirty. The thought of me-ness literally steals our life from us.

You can go ahead and say to yourself, “I, I, I” or “me, me, me”, a number of times. Say it in a way as if you were a bit angry about something, like you were earlier today or yesterday. Say, “me, me, me, me” with a frustrated tone, then stop and see how it makes you feel. This is not difficult.

Through this simple thought affirmation, you will feel different sensations in the body and mind. You’ll feel that your energy contracts as if you suddenly became smaller or tighter. It feels as if a loose knot was made tighter. You might feel that your belly gets tense, heart area becomes anxious or you might feel a tight band around your head. Pardon my language but this affirmation makes you feel like shit.

But wait a second… What did we do again? We only said “me” or “I” to ourselves… This is the same I-thought that we keep thinking and saying aloud every day, and it makes us feel awful. That it makes us feel awful is exactly what we need to discover.

We go around in circles and see the world in a distorted way because we are habitually centered around this thought – me. It affects everything at all times. It makes us feel small and constricted during the day and it creates weird dreams and nightmares during the night. Just like it is important to discover that the I-thought makes us feel like shit it is as important to realise that all thoughts, including the I-thought are transitory, impermanent. This means that all thoughts come and go, and do not stay, and yet we give so much meaning to them.

In samsaric mind, thoughts and thought associations define us and this creates havoc and destruction in our lives. This is psychological habituation that can be entirely removed.

Read more about the Two-Part Formula here.

Thank you for reading,

-Kim, 8/2021″ by Kim Rinpoche, Finnish dharma teacher

Adventure, Animals, Arctic, Dharma, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Finnmark, People, Photography, Quotes, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Self portrait, Uralic

An open heart is the best medicine

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“Practice being here until ‘now’ disappears. Dwell nowhere. Be beneficial to others, and you will lack nothing. Flash open your heart. Be a child of wonder, playing with generosity. Floating in a sea of billions of universes, whatever that is, “That” is all we are. It is as much out there, as it is in here. How amazing. Trade in all your wrongs, injustices, hurts, and fears for mercy, hope, compassion, and kindness. An open heart is the best medicine, open it a little more with every breath. Be like a little kid, running with Wonder, “What is this?” – words by Tilopa, the mahasiddha.

Photo from way back when. I used to love horses but now I must admit being a bit scared of them 😄🙈

How is your spring going?🌻 Myself, I am very busy with the new mama life. Barely time to write this post 😄🙏🏻 It’s hard, wonderful and all worth it.

Will be back with more photographies and updates soon. xx Monica

Arctic, Awareness, Beauty, Everyday life, Landscape, Photography, Sápmi

The same stillness that exists in nature, exists in you

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Allow yourself to be yourself. Close your eyes and feel the stable mountain-like presence of your own being. Indestructable, isn’t it? Your own light, your own intuition. Keep returning to yourself. To home, to where you are safe and where you belong. The same stillness that exists in nature, exists in you. There is no seperation, and it cannot be taken away or destroyed. Allow yourself to come home, over and over, until there is no doubt. xx Monica

A few snowy peaks shots from beginning of May. Spring is here! Camera used: Panasonic Lumix.

Arctic, Art, Beauty, Duodji, Everyday life, Finnmark, Heritage, Indigenous, People, Saami, Sámi, Sápmi, Uralic

Our true nature

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Our sweet little boy 🖤 My wool sweater knitted by grandma.

Being a mama has really opened my heart, not just for our child, but for all children. I have always loved the little new humans obviously, but being a parent takes it to another level somehow. Truly an automatic bodhicitta practice; infinite love and boundless compassion – our true nature.

Here are some beautiful motherhood art pieces I really like. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 🥰

Art by Germaine Arnaktauyok, “Quiet Time”, 2005
Art by Mayoreak Ashoona, “Matching braids”, 1991
Not a painting or art print, but traditional Sámi komse (baby carrier). Truly an art piece in itself, with every woven band having a meaning.
Art by Emily Kewageshig
Art by Alanah Jewell

How has motherhood changed you? Has it opened your heart (more)?

Acrylic painting, Arctic, Art, Awareness, DIY, Everyday life, Health, Landscape, Meditation, Yoga

How to relax

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For the past 11 years or so, I have been teaching myself how to relax and be calm.

I have always been quite a worried person, so I feel I had to learn this in order to simply have a better life with more control. I still sometimes forget how to, but each time I remember, I do the following:

An easy quick way to instantly relax the mind and muscles, causing bloodflow to spread more evenly in the body, is to do three things simultanously: relax the jaw and eyes completely, breathe deeply into belly for at least 8 breaths and move the inner gaze/attention to the feet or ground below. Get a sense of the Earth. Notice the effect.

Another way, if you have the oppotunity, is to lay down flat, do the same with jaw and eyes, and to focus on the in and out breaths in the belly. Take deep slow breaths. Imagine them as waves ebbing on the shore.

And lastly, going into nature of course has a calming effect too, even just for 10 minutes. If you cannot go outside, perhaps painting or drawing nature is an idea.

Hope this helps! I truly believe knowing how to relax and calm our selves is an important skill. Getting carried away by the storm can be both painful and result in regrets.

Acrylic on canvas, gift for a friend 💙
Art, DIY, Duodji, Everyday life, Heritage, Indigenous, Pregnancy, Sámi, Self portrait

Traditional Sámi bracelet

Ask the Mountains

Was so lucky to receive this traditional Sámi bracelet from my partner’s mum as a gift “for giving her the greatest gift” (our son, her grandson) 🖤

It is made from black leather, reindeer antler button and decoration, and the braids are traditional tinwire used in duodji/daidda. It is made by @tinntraadfruen on instagram if you want to see her work 💫

What was a gift you received that had a nice meaning behind it?

Dharma, Dzogchen, Everyday life, Indigenous, Sámi, Spirituality, Vajrayana, Yoga

«Dark Night: What All Meditators Need to Know»

Ask the Mountains

Excellent talk/discussion on the topic of “dark nights”. Very nice to know how to handle, especially if you are a yoga/meditation practitioner or just prone to experience them, and how to get out of it.

I think it’s great when spiritual teachers talk openly about these matters. Many meditators get into spiritual practice because they want answers to their discontentment with life, to get happy. And often with practice we will hit spots in our minds that makes waves into daily life, for example if you have anxiety, it can momentarily get amplified when it is uncovered with practice. So it’s good to know that the goal is not to bypass all our problems, but to face them and to “cut through” them so that our natural state gets revealed. Over and over until all karmas are erased.

The yogic path was never about feeling good and calm all the time, but to unravel and reveal our true selves, our buddha nature, to understand ourself and how the mind works. 📿

Adventure, Arctic, Beauty, Everyday life, Health, Landscape, People, Photography, Pregnancy, Sámi, Sápmi

An eventful, colourful January

Ask the Mountains

It’s the last day of a very eventful January, and I am spending it curled up on our big sleeping couch with our newborn baby boy who is about 2 weeks old now, in his little baby nest and my partner who is sitting on the other end writing away on the computer. Outside, it’s already dark again. Polar night is officially over here but I have not seen the Sun yet. I am not outside so much, hardly at all as all time and energy is spent adjusting and taking care of this new amazing creation. I did however manage our first little walk with the pram!

Life is new and different and surreal as parents. Giving birth was intense and hard work, and unfortunately not how I envisioned, but nontheless a very powerful experience. A rite of passage of sorts.. At one point during delivery I felt like I connected with all other Mothers giving birth naturally, experiencing the same pain at the exact same time. When he was born, there was an incredible silence and love that I have not experienced before 🤱🏻

January is also my birthday month, and this year I celebrated at home with my little family and my friend Katharina. 29; last year in my twenties, first year as a mama! 🎉✨

How was your January?