Collecting selfies // Being me in front of my father

In the days after my dad’s passing I felt so much, all of my emotions at once that somehow it was incredibly easy to know my needs. What do I want to do now, what is that for sure I won’t do, who do I have time for, what is the topic I want to talk about and what is completely irrelevant. 

I truly appreciated this newfound strength of clarity. I sort of wished every day would be like this that I am completely sure on how to spend it and whom to spend it with. It brought me to forests and into cuddles on the couch, we went cycling in the cold winter weather and for walks around the block. I just knew what I needed and could decide for it with 100% certainty. 

Every time I went somewhere I checked in with my father. Me who never sent selfies, started collecting them, as if I would send them to say ‘hi’ from another lovely adventure. There was some remorse that I haven’t done before, that I haven’t sent many pictures about what’s going on in my life but it didn’t matter anymore. Also, I knew that the main message arrived to him through and through: that we loved each other dearly and nothing else mattered for us. 

And so the selfies remained my little check-ins, like saying ‘Hi, dad, see I’m listening, I’m actually listening to myself and doing all the good stuff’. Suddenly I felt no pressure taking these selfies, it was for him and not for the world. I didn’t need to be all sorts of things at the same time, I only needed to be me. For my dad. Because he saw me at the end of his life as this complete and complex woman that stands right before the selfie camera just like this. As a matter of fact.

Hanna Zorandy
Facing life and death at dawn // a new day after my father's death

It was early, just a bit after 7 am that I woke from a short 4 hour sleep. We stayed up doing the wake for a long time almost until 3 am. Just letting the emotions develop, slowly letting go attachments and allowing early grief to happen. It’s been such a unique experience and indeed with time, even with just hours passing I could feel that I'm able to move - if not yet on - but further, forward. With every minute it became more clear and by the time I slipped into my bed dizzy from not sleeping I knew that all was going to be well. 

Then at dawn when all was still dark, the sky slowly turning brighter from dark blue and the stars still shining in the sky, I knew that I had to leave the house for my morning daily yoga practice. I needed to be out in the open. The weather was kind, it was a balmy morning, surprisingly warm for a mid november dawn. I had only my thin leggings on and a big jacket but was not cold at all walking under the early morning sky in my yellow leather shoes. 

It felt right to come out here, into the park and I found my spot all so quick, intuitively looking around where I needed to be. I have chosen a small hilltop from which you can look all around, watching the big clouds move ahead and looking down onto the small lake. 

I arrived at my spot and waited a bit, a little hesitant to proceed. I knew it would be difficult. I suspected that it would be emotional too. But I did not anticipate how it would be to breathe with life itself around me and in me that dawn. I took my arms up and above my head, palms meeting softly, left and right, coming together. Receiving my breath, allowing life in. It felt so big, so vast, all this life storming in, filling my body as if I was too small to hold it. I felt the vastness, this ‘oneness’ not as separate but as being one with it. As I was breathing, with every breath I could participate in it and in that oneness there was my father now too. 

The tears have bursted again as I took another breath but there was beauty too, so much beauty indeed. Following how we can unite with just a simple breath linked movement. And how all that is around me, the morning sky with these huge fast-pacing white grayish clouds, or the flock of starlings flying around graciously with momentum and the warm morning wind on my wet face is all one and I can be one with it. 

Every morning for my yoga practice if I wish. Meanwhile my father is permanently one with them. And what a beautiful place that is to be.

This time I had no bad feelings trying to capture the moment with my camera, it was an important one so it had to be done. It felt so fresh and relieving not having any extra pressure of guilt why I’m disturbing a precious moment. I wasn’t. I was preserving it.

And then as I was walking down my little hill my hands dirty and wet from the ground I met a little robin, so calm and so gentle looking at me for quite a while from just a meter distance. I never had such an experience before, our gaze locked without movements. It was just for a few seconds but it felt like a lifetime and it followed me for a while its bright chest glowing in the morning light. I didn’t think anything of it, just felt how peculiar that was. 

It’s now regular that the little robin comes for a visit. In the garden it’s hopping and flying up and down, sometimes quite close and never staying away for long. It might be a simple change that occurred here at the end of this year, and I don’t need to know more, but the little robin feels like a precious visitor after all.


With love, Hanna

Apám halála után // After my father's death
abba drága

Egy hónap és egy nap telt el apám halála óta. Pontosan egy hónap nap a temetése, elföldelése óta. Amit Zoomon követtem. Zoomon! Micsoda furcsa dolog ez, még leírni is.

Készen álltam erre. Most, hogy egy hónap telt már el, még inkább tudom. Pedig nagyon hirtelen volt, a semmiből, váratlanul történt. És mégis felkészülten ért, évek alatt, csöndben és belül halkan felkészültem én is, és felkészített ő is. Tartalmasan, hogy teljes egésznek érezzem magam, erősnek, gyönyörűnek, eszesnek, és képesnek arra, hogy nagy dolgokat teremtsek, hozzak a világra. Megmutatta nekem, micsoda tartalékaim vannak a tanulás terén, a képességeimet, hogy kitartsak, de ami ennél is fontosabb, megérttette velem, hogy bármit teszek, magamért teszem, és senki másért. Látta bennem a tudóst, és bizonygatta, hogy egyszer majd minden bizonnyal tudós válik belőlem. Hangoztatta ezt angol szakkörre járó gyerekek előtt, vagy épp felnőtt ismerősök között. Én erre elpirultam büszkeségemben, miközben odabenn egy hang azt kérdezte bennem, tényleg ezt akarom? Olyan sokszor mondta, hogy egyszer csak az egyetemen találtam magam, biológiát tanulva. Saját magam felfedezése híján – amire a vidék kis faluja még nem adott alkalmat – kíváncsian indultam el ezen az általa talált úton, és közben nagyon büszkévé tettem őt.

Sokszor mondta, hogy majd Kínába megy, amikor én már egyetemre járok. Biciklivel, körülbelül egy év oda és egy év vissza. Már nem is emlékszem, miért pont Kínába, csak, mert érdekelte. De aztán úgy alakult, hogy többszörös nagyapa lett, és ő szorgosan, fürgén jelen volt minden unokája életében. Egészen az elsőtől a hetedikig. Örömmel, büszkeséggel, törődéssel, szeretettel, büszkén erre a felelősségvállalásra, miközben volt gondja arra is, hogy segítsen nekem mennyezetet festeni a Bosnyákon az első albérelemben, vagy hogy a lehető legjobb lakást válasszuk a Hollandiába költözésemkor.

It's been a month and a day, that my father died. It was exactly a month ago that he was buried and I watched his funeral on Zoom. On Zoom! Such a strange thing to write down still.

Now a month later I'm sure I was ready. Even if it's been all very sudden and unexpected, and still I have been prepared for this event. Some of it happened inside of me quietly, inwardly. And some of it was done from his side making me feel such a whole, such a strong, beautiful woman who got the smarts and the capability for many great things. He made me realise my capacity for learning, my ability to strive but what's more important that I do everything for my own sake and not for anyone else's. He saw the scientist in me, the knower as we say in Hungarian, and he kept saying that one day I'll be one. He shared this in front of many, making me blush with pride while I asked myself 'Do I really want that?'. I was not so sure. Without the possibility to truly discover my passions in that small village of the Hungarian countryside I followed the path he laid before me, and found myself at University studying Biology and making him very proud.

He said he would go to China once I'm already at university. He will go by bike, he said, about a year there and another year back cycling. Why China, I'm not sure, he was just interested. But then he became a grandfather and he was present in the life of every each grandchild of his - seven altogether. With ease and enthusiasm, taking responsibility with joy, care, love and being proud of all of them. Meanwhile having the time for painting ceilings with me in my first place in Budapest or making sure that we would choose the best apartment in Utrecht when moving.

6dik nap

De másra is emlékszem. Vidámságokra, ropogós, édes görögdinnyékre, termálfürdőzésre és nagy nevetésekre, eszes poénokra, nagy hahotákra. Arra, ahogy jelen van, száz százalékig jelen. Bármit is csinál.

Azt mondta, nincs is annál szomorúbb, mint egy olcsó nyaralás, amikor az ember kényelmetlenül alszik egy poros ágyon, kényelmetlen szobában. A végén jobb lett volna, ha otthon marad. Ha már elmegy az ember, akkor érdemes rászánni annyit, hogy tényleg élvezetes legyen. Így történt, hogy legnagyobb megdöbbenésemre éveken át tartó spórolás és óvatos költekezések után egy Tel-Avivi tengerparti szállodában találtuk magunkat, nővérem esküvője apropóján. A szegényes tanya és apró falusi ház után megdöbbentett a luxus ezen foka. De ő egy cseppet sem bánta, beosztotta, rászánta. És teljes mértékig kiélvezte azt,amit az élet nyújtott. Élvezte a Földközi-tenger melegségét, a sós vizet, a forró napsütést, a kényelmet. Pontosan tisztában volt azzal, hogy ez most belefér, és azzal át is adta magát az élvezeteknek. Hogy aztán visszatérve újra felvegye a régi ritmust, az éjszakába nyúló fordítást és gondos tartalék gyűjtögetést.

Sosem esett pánikba. Ha, ritkán, megcsúszott egy fordítással, és hajnali 3-ig dolgozott, akkor sem hatalmasodott el rajta az aggodalom. Megtette, amit meg tudott, fáradtan, mégis nyugodtan, ami az erejéből tellett. Megkért, hogy reggel ne ébresszem fel, ha lehet, hangtalanul osonjak át a szobáján. Szerencsére csak néha botlottam bele az ágyába vagy engedtem hirtelen visszacsapódni a kilincset.

Eszembe jut, amint lelkesen gazdagon feltölti a hűtőt, amikor nővéreim látogatóba érkeznek. Mindig lapult ott egy jókora dinnye. És a lakás, ami addig cipőben, papucsban volt járható, gondos munkával ragyogóvá vált. Alaposan törölte a padlót, mellette jókora 50 literes vödör. Most is látom, ahogy a régi pólóból felmosóronggyá avandzsált törlőronggyal térdelve törli újra és újra amíg tényleg tiszta nem lesz a linóleum. Ilyenkor hirtelen lett ideje, ránk lett ideje. Együtt enni, beszélgetni, bárhova menni. Csak lenni, élvezni az együtt létünk.

Ránk szánta az időt. Ahogy alaposan megvetette a kinyithatós kanapét, szorosan begyűrve a lepedőt, jól kirázva a paplant. De épp így rám szánta az időt akkor is, ha épp végtelen sok munkája volt, és alig látszott ki alóla. Mi mégis kiléptünk ketten a házból, magunk mögött becsukva a zöldre festett, nyikorgó vaskaput, és tettünk egy nagy kört, hogy csak sétáljunk együtt, kéz a kézben, beszélgetve. A meleg keze már önmagában megnyugtatott, a sétánk alkalmával éreztem, hogy fontos vagyok, és a beszélgetésünk izgalmas mélységeket vett. A fejünk kiszellőzött, így nyílt újra előttünk a nyikorgó zöld kapu.

Olyan sokszor mondtam el az utóbbi hetekben, hogy lassan erejét veszti a mondat, hogy az apám mindig tudta, hogy melyik kérdést kell feltenni. Mit kell hallanom ahhoz, hogy elcsöndesedjek, és rájöjjek, ez az a kérdés, amit most meg kell válaszolnom ahhoz, hogy nyilvánvalóvá váljon, mi a lényeges, mi történik most az életemben. A válasz mindig egyértelmű volt, és mindig sokatmondó. Vágyom rá, hogy kérdezzen, hogy mindig válaszolhassak, hogy milyen érzés zubogott fel bennem, mi egy-egy személyes kapcsolatom lényege, miért vagyok nyugtalan, mire vágyom, és mit lehet és mit nem lehet elérni.

Szerencsém van. Ezentúl is mindig felteszi a kérdést, ha megkérem. Arra pedig, hogy mi készített fel ennyire erre a pillanatra, egyetlen válaszom van: A feltétel nélküli szeretet, az ami csak szeretni vágyik. Az, ami vágyak és elvárások nélkül akarja a legjobbat neked. Az, amelyik csak rád kiváncsi, és arra, aki te vagy. Arra, aki csak azért kérdez, hogy téged lásson. Az, aki csak örül, ha veled lehet.

Az, aki csak szeretni, szeretetben lenni vágyik. Így voltunk mi, különösen az elmúlt években. Minden kitisztult, kivilágosodott, és nem maradt más dolgunk már, mint egymást szeretni.

But I also remember other things. Joyful moments, crunchy sweet watermelons, or going together to the local thermal bath. Big laughters and smart jokes. Him being present one-hundred percent with whatever we spent time with. With dedication and presence.

He would say there is nothing sadder than a cheap holiday, that if you're planning to have a vacation, do it right. It was to my most utter surprise that after years of living at a cottage and in very poor circumstances in a village, with only going to Budapest once in a while to visit my sisters, we ended up in a beach side Tel-Aviv Hotel as part of our visit for my dear sister's wedding. And he wasn't worried or trying to keep it low budget, instead he fully appreciated what life could offer. He enjoyed the sun, the warm Mediterranean sea, the salty water and the comfort. And with our return we went back to keeping shopping lists short at our local grocery.

He never panicked. Even when in the midst of a late project, working through the night until 3 am to make a deadline, he never lost his nerves. He did what he could, tired, yet calm, to finish the translation on time. Those nights he asked me not to wake him in the morning, and leave quietly through his room. Luckily, I only occasionally stumbled and kicked his bed or let go of the door-handle suddenly to wake him.

I remember him filling the fringe full every time one of my sisters would visit - there was always a sizeable melon lurking in there. And the house became completely clean with his careful work. He wiped the floor thoroughly, next to him a large 50-liter bucket. I can still see him kneeling, wiping the floor again and again with this cloth made from an old t-shirt, until the linoleum became really clean. And then suddenly he had time, he had time for us. To eat together, to talk, or to go anywhere. Just to be and enjoy us being together.

And that’s exactly how he devoted his time, even when he had an infinite amount of work. Still, the two of us slipped out of the house, closing the green-painted, squeaking iron gate behind us for a long walk. Walking down the streets, hand in hand, talking. His warm hands were already reassuring in their own right, during our walk I felt I was important and our conversation took on exciting depths. Our heads were cleared when the squeaky green gate opened before us again.

I’ve said it so many times in recent weeks that the sentence is slowly losing its strength that my dad always knew which question to ask. What I need to hear in order to become speechless, calm down, and realise this is the question I need to answer now to make it clear for myself what is essential, what is happening in my life right now. The answer I gave was always clear at this point and always startling, telling a lot. I want him to ask me. Ask me always. And I wish to be able to answer what feeling rumbles in me, what is the essence of a personal relationship of mine, why I am anxious, what I desire and what can and cannot be achieved.

Luckily, I can always ask him to raise a question and he is still quite good in them. And to my own question of what made me so prepared for this moment I have only one answer. Unconditional love. That which wants the best for you without any desires and expectations. Which is just curious about you and who you are. The one that asks only in order to see the real you. The one who is only happy to be with you.

That’s how we have been, especially in recent years. Everything became clear, enlightened, and we had nothing else to do but to love each other.

Proud to present
yoursiteislive

What a day it had been, such expectations. The preceding wishes, dreams, planning. It took a while. It took a great while to get here. Years of small steps I would say, so that this baby is born. It’s a few months now that I went live with my website for Yoga Method, which slowly forms the platform to share what I do and how we can work together creating space for You and your uniqueness.

hello

For your own yoga,

personalised to you, your own breath, your life, your age, health and body-type. So that you get intimate with yourself while doing your yoga. So that you can be soft and strong at the same time, and you can enjoy this beautiful peace of life rising that you are.

Daily loving action even if it for five breaths long, a reminder of that union of body, breath and mind that you continuously are is a blessing. And a chance to have intimate relationship with the given reality that you are life itself.


And there is another passion that is very much connected to this message that I have started to share with you an innovative somatic bodywork approach, called Pantarei that has the meaning ‘everything flows’.

pantarei

Doing Pantarei,

where we explore your unique strength and qualities as well as talking and having touch, exploring your body. I won’t say massage to avoid the idea of passive participation and introduce instead the idea of working together as a collaboration. Breathing, moving, touching softly and strongly, we keep the communication going verbally, in spoken words as well: we explore together who you are and how you wish to lead your life.

Most experiences we had in session show that Pantarei as a somatic bodywork approach is a simple but very effective way to bring you back to your center. To be present with what is. We work together with your body, we are tapping into its resources, strength and drive all which can help us with any struggle or challenge we may have.

Biology is life // Life is biology
highschooldilemma

Decide

what you want to do for the rest of your life

My choice for doing biology might have been pressured - having to decide WHAT I shall do the REST OF MY LIFE - it was my way to discover life in a setting that was acceptable for society in general.

There is no-one who agues with a scientist. Well, of course, there are some who might argue with the science but no-one would argue that as a scientist you have a place in society overall. You might not be fully understood (‘Who knows what she might be actually doing…’) but you DO HAVE A PLACE. 

And a place I meant to have. So, I went for the facts, the scientifically proven facts. It was a safe place. No contemplation there about how one is meant to exist, no ‘Why are we here?’, no existential crises. When learning about the little glands of fishes or the use of their air bladder you have no urge to dwell on how one begins or ceases to exist.

I still remember one of my scariest professors Prof. Eagle saying with his big moustache in front of us 300 students “And here is this little fringe…” while pointing on the screen showing a sliced open fish for our anatomy class.

There is a sense of safety in science and its facts. We maintain the safe ground of the mere rationale. No instant understanding of why I am here was needed. I could feel smart, on top of things, on top of all living beings that just live and do not know anything about how other beings function. 

I would not be able to handle VAGUE concepts.

Funny coincident that this year I’m involved with a conceptual and experimental art academy, studying and creating full-time. Well, let me tell you,

I CAN DEAL with vague concepts.

Life is funny, for sure. And there is much more to see and learn than what we first anticipate. 

Let me leave you with this, it does not matter where you start off, you might end up in the same place as someone who went the opposite direction.  And that is completely fine. 

Love, Hanna

Creating change // Changing with the waves
highschooldilemma.png

From the years ‘00

Instead of choosing for what I love, what excites me, what I do with joy; I chose what I do not dislike. Not bad. Not good either. Bland. Flat. Colorless. Responsible.

I had no idea what to do. Literally no idea what I’d love, what I’d truly enjoy. During high school, I’ve chosen biology as a special direction only out of pure pressure. Needing to choose I started by crossing out the things that I really didn’t like and really didn’t want to study. That’s how I got stuck with biology - something that did not necessarily excite me endlessly in the beginning however I also did not hate the subject.

Instead of choosing for what I love, what excites me, what I do with joy; I chose what I do not dislike. Not bad. Not good either. Bland. Flat. Colorless. Responsible. Without much excitement. It was only later that I discovered what I have chosen, what I have come to discover here studying biology.

Life is biology. Biology is life. Let me explain something about the relationship between the two. I now truly believe that although I felt forced to choose a responsible subject for my studies, something serious and scientific, in that framework I have still chosen what I am most curious about. I have chosen life. A special homage to my curiosity of life, if you please.

Biology is the science of all that is living on Earth. Mostly it is busy understanding a living organism, or a network of a bunch of them. And my enthusiasm arrived. My pure joy studying biology originated from the fact that I was now learning about Life itself and it’s intricate systems, and details. How it works. How life makes changes within & without an organism. Studying complete ecosystems and the magic of the life of the inside of a busy cell - this latter makes me jump with excitement as I write this now.

My first step towards discovering life as it. The given reality. My given reality. And there was much more to come. And so there is for you, I promise.

Love, Hanna

Arriving once more // Second time on board
2019-02-10+13.25.24.jpg
 

Arriving simply. The warm weather is bearable, the wind is soft, the trees evergreen with their thick leaves. The sounds heavy with waves and chirping. My body slowly adjusting. It’s the 3rd day in Bali. My heart is still at home in the Netherlands, cautious of all the new things. Am I really to stay here until end of March comes? #backtobalioncemore #yogateachertrainingscholarshiphereIcome #barefoot


Note December, 2020

In the current moment of lockdowns it’s hard to imagine that one could feel unease when staying on a landscape like this one. Regardless of the beauty, the warmth and the exceptional joy of the sea, it was not easy to relax, arrive and fully let go to enjoy this gorgeous environment.

It’s been only 3 days that I have been in Bali again, and although I understood how precious that had been and how privileged I had been to be able to travel once more to Bali to take part in my Yoga Teacher Training, I still could not let go.

The joy of the scholarship that allowed me to join was there, the appreciation of the warm wind and the sea was there. But so was the disturbance of changing environments so quickly, moving from winter to summer, the adjusting to heat, light and this whole new world that functions in a completely different way.

And so I took the time with patience. And even though I felt uncomfortable in Bali, I didn’t take it too much to heart and did not try to change my experience. Indeed, it’s a bit strange to not completely enjoy being in Bali but it’s completely fine to take the liberty to adjust to change slowly.

Since then, I know that even the most magical changes might feel uncomfortable, heavy and overwhelming and that’s okay. It will pass. However, sometimes it is unavoidable to make space for the new and to be able to fully and completely appreciate and enjoy the beauty of life.

Love, Hanna

Hanna Zorandy
Moments in time // Lost in snow

Some days we just need to be out. Out in the fresh snow that just appeared, silently falling the night before.
.
As the snow continues falling throughout the day I go up the mountains for a short smooth day to hike by myself.
.
Here, taking this shot, looking at these gracious creatures in the soft cold weather I’m still on the road. I don’t know that soon I’ll be lost, lost of where my trail goes next, lost while looking at my printed maps and trying to figure google maps out.
.
It will get dark and the trail signs will be difficult to read in the forest. But I will get back on that trail and I will gain my breath back and the sounds around - and in my head - will get calm and quiet again.
.
And then I will see the moon shining above, and it won’t get any darker as the snow shines beaming white, and there will be quiet and only the sound of my steps in the snow.

Love, Hanna

Hanna Zorandy
Beginnings call for not knowing // A girl in the big unknown
2018-05-31 12.31.07.jpg

This girl here is new to this land, new to the sea, the rocks, the mountains. Probably still jet-lagged and a bit unsure. Nonetheless, she is full of fierce power and wild curiosity. Ready to go step by step, discovering land, sea and self in a way that is still completely unknown to her. Feeling uncomfortable and being mesmerised by what life has to offer.

Hanna Zorandy
Beginnings on another land // Birthing in Bali
 
 
2018-05-30+11.57.23.jpg

First selfie made in Nusa Lembogan, Bali as part of my goingoutintotheworld journey back in 2018.

The beginning of this love, passion for Yoga, Ayurveda and Pantarei bodywork and building my profession dates back here.

Open eyes, open heart and opening of my new world is all happening here.

Hanna Zorandy