NIKE Convention Stockholm Day 1

Mo:

Fredrik Sjöberg & Balász Füzessey

Elaine & Febbe rehearsing their phenomenal "Pole Dance"

Balász Füzessey, Tony Stone & I

MOJO backstage

My spinning class-last class of the day and the crowd was AMAZING!

Girl Power! Thanks to Åse, Linda & Marie from Gymnasium who kindly joined my on stage...

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In Town....

Colourful packing-chaos à la Mo


Dinner


MOJO having a not so posed laughing fit...

MOJO-posing...(after about 5 attempts...)

Andreas Wester, Kímmo Jukkuri & Fredrik Sjöberg looking good in blue...

Mo:

We´re finally in place in Stockholm!
(After a 5am start and you know what I think about my sleep....)

After a full day at the Nike head office, I´m now relaxing in my hotel room at the Birger Jarl Hotel before joining JO´s pre-convention yoga class at 4pm. Instead of sleeping, I´m watching an old episode of "House MD" that I must have (mysteriously) missed.

I feel more charged before this year´s event than in many years! Wow, it will be a fun weekend!

We have an informal presenters dinner tonight at 8.30pm, I´ll try to remember to bring my camera...so for pictures, make sure you come back later!

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No Stress.....

Phuuuuuuuu.......

No stress, I know, but still there is some! Haven't even had the time to meet MO this week :(

Good thing we have a 3hour train ride to Sthlm tomorrow! (Sadly it is at 6am, I gotta get up at 5!!) O well, at least all my bags are packed and I kinda start to feel ready to go :)

Just finished my music for the FUNKTIONEL FLEXIBILITET class that I am teaching on Saturday, cowabunga I am telling you it is gonna ROCK! Looking forward to:

• Yoga PreConvention with amazing Mom and her friend. I heard rumours that there will be delicious spiritual chocolate!!
• Seeing the TEAM !!
  
• Get inspiration from all the FAB classes
• Exchange all kinds of stuff; memories, experiences, ideas, body fluids (sweat that is ;)
• Teaching BB44 with beautiful Ragnhild
• Sleeping and gossiping on the train home

Will I see u there? If you read MOJO we would love to give u a HUGE SWEATY hug this weekend

LOVE LOVE Jo

Choices, choices....

Mo:

Help! Which one?

Nike Zoom Bold Sister MD+

or

Nike Zoom Sister one+


(For better photos click on the names above....)

By the way, sadness struck today when I had to say bye, bye to my little car...
This little Toyota has served me beautifully for 2 years, it has sped around Gothenburg like a Ferrari on fire and dodged more speed-traps than greased lightning, but today it was time to hand it back. The lease is over and we got a second car that need some road time (since P moved his clinic two streets away, it´s not like he has to drive to work...).
But I did fall in love with my black Aygo and it will be long missed.....

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WORD of the WEEK:

POWERPERSON

Yes it is! Sorry MO, but you know we are always one step ahead... Boobs are soo last week, I am telling you this is it!

Yesterday I had a GREAT start:

• 0600 Meditation in my BED (yes it counts even in bed, why shouldn't it?!)
• 0700 Yoga + Nada Brhama Meditation (And FINALLY He is part of the SHANTI group, MR E - WELCOME!!!)
• 0800 HOT YOGA (hot yogis, hot humid air and hot asanas ;)

A POWER injection from my Mango at Muffins mm! Meeting with him really LIFTS my spirit, the laughter, our same strange way of thinking and reasoning (no one usually understands what we talk about whilst it makes perfect sense to us :)!

Went to my JIRA office and worked, worked, worked!

And just like that: All the air just went out "punktering" !! After 3 hours of trying to buy a ticket to NYC I was F..cking pissed of!!!

All the plans I hade for my Perfect Tuesday went out the window. I forgot to eat lunch, so I had no energy to go out for a run and then there was the STUPID CRAWL course that I had signed up for... arrrg. I just wanted to lie down and do NOTHING!

But instead I called my POWERPERSON (if you have NIKE+ you know that you have a POWERSONG, most of you probably have it anyway. A song that lifts you up, that boosts you!).

Well, if you check out www.nikewomen.se you can read about many amazing instructors, and on the question: What do you do to boost yourself on a tough day? Most of us/them answer: I play a POWERSONG! Including me!!!

Well, I got news for you! Sometimes that is NOT enough! And we all hade shity days.



I called my mom, almost crying and saying that I didn't want to go CRAWLING, cause everything was a mess etc etc...
She boosted me and 2 hour later I could check of: 60min trying to learn how to use my legs in the water and 7km of running :)

WOW!!!

I think you know the feeling... words are not enough, you feel it right?!

So now - Who is your POWERPERSON?

(If you have a POWERSONG you can share that to :)

LOVE Jo

Boob aerobics - the words of the week...?

Mo:

This week MOJO has had more than 100 hits on the words "Boob aerobics"? Googlers from Canada, the US, Australia, the UK, etc have all gone breast-crazy and printed the search words "boob aerobics" into their search engine.

Ehhhh, why?
To have larger breasts? Smaller breasts? More happy and well-trained breasts?
If anyone has an idea, please let us know....

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MOJO salutes....

Mo:

Only 3 days to go to this year´s NIKE Stockholm event!

OHHH YEEEAHH!

While we´re counting the days, please, please check out our beautiful, stunning friend:

"E-LOIN" at Stadium.se - maybe you have seen her already on TV?...or gracing huge posters in a Stadium shop near you?



Let me tell you something - if my body looks half as good as Elaine´s after giving birth to ONE child, I´ll be counting myself sooooo lucky. (E has got 2 beautiful boys).

Go Elaine, beautiful woman! - MOJO salutes you!

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Jump Jump Jump upsidedowninsideout

Off to teach Yoga, Meditation and Hot Yoga now...
Love my Tuesday Mornings mmm - Perfect with a 30min flow and then stillness for another 30min.

Feel that I really need to hold on to my meditation practice this week as I can feel the nervous SHAKTI aka the Jump Jump Jump Bunny is starting to take overhand.

Hard to stay in the present when there is so much exciting stuff going on everywhere,

THE NIKE SWEDEN CONVENTION for example

but first: TONIGHT I am learning how to CRAWL (in the water that is!)

Lovely Morning yo YOU darlings Jo

NIKE Oslo

Had a great spinning class Sunday morning....

...and I invited my team friends Petter & Mango on stage with me....

...where they did an awesome job as riders & eye-candy.... :)

Colour is the answer...NIKE Spring collection 2009 - I like!

Åsa, Ida & Elen - beautiful NIKE women...

Marc Santa Maria - a new name (and what a cool name that is!) in Europe - from Crunch NY. A great presenter and a wonderful person.

Oscar, Petter, Åsa & Mango, getting ready to do NIKE Oslo 2009

Getting cosy: Åsa Fornander & Ida S. Fjoside

Mo:

I´m in Norway hanging out at the NIKE Oslo Convention.
Had a nice, quite relaxing day today, since I´m teaching all my 3 sessions tomorrow, Sunday.

I went to 2 yoga classes - 1 Kundalini and 1 Vinyasa Flow. The Kundalini was a lot of "Fire breath" (not to be recommended when you are pregnant) and a lot of sitting and the Flow class didn´t contain one single vinyasa. Strange. What was even stranger was the thumbs up my armpits during Savasana. Yoga teachers take note: Thumbs up your armpits during Savasana does not help you find a deeper sense of relaxation.

NIKE Sweden is well represented by Mango, Åsa Fornander, Petter Ehrnvall & I. It´s always nice to get the chance to hang out and to see the others in action.

Tomorrow Mango & Petter are joining my spinning class. I´ll promise I´ll make them work extra hard.

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KONTRAST is OPEN :)

Home is where the Heart is and right now that's in the South of Sweden :)

Would love for you to COME and VISIT US this SUNDAY the 25th!

Out on the country side surrounded by fields and fields and more fields: it is Garden of Eden. A studio filled with CREATIVITY ranging from cooking, architecture, fashion, interior design, art and bodymind.

Come and relax, get inspired, ask for advice and hang out with us!

It's open every SUNDAY from 11am-5pm (I will be there on the 25th!)

Hope to create with you HERE!

SHAKTI Jo

26 is HOT

Wohoooo


Check THIS out!

Have NO idea what it means.... but I interpret it as something +ve :?

(Have in mind, I AM A YOGI - NOT A RUNNER!!!)


My first run as the BIG GRANDE 26 that I now am !!

THANK YOU ALL OF YOU who gave me sooo much LOVE yesterday, and EVERYDAY for that matter!



I am eternally grateful. It means so much to me to have you all in my life! You make me who I am, I only mirror you!

I AM WHAT I AM
(Love it MO, Thanks!)


LOVE THE (still childlike :) JO

Happy birthday JO!

Mo:

She is STUNNING,
SEXY,
SMART,
TALENTED,
INTELLIGENT,
KIND,
FUNNY,
GENEROUS
AN AWESOME CAKE MAKER...

and today she is 26!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOJO!

Love you,

Mo

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HOT HOT HOT!!!

FINALLY It is OFFICIAL!

I give you HOT yoga at HAGABADET: Mondays at 5pm Tuesdays at 8am 60min of strict, meditative asanas in a 37° humid beautiful space!

If you have tried BIKRAM Yoga you might feel at home in this class.
Even if it isn't BIKRAM YOGA!

My clothes after a BIKRAM Class :)

After a couple of intense weeks of training BIKRAM Yoga I was inspired by the teaching methodology and the heat. At first I couldn't stand the practice (not the heat, but the STYLE). But as most of us do, we judge the book by it's cover. And after some time of reading some of Bikram's own writing all the pieces fell into place and created a beautiful picture!

I hope that I will be able to pass that message on to you in this class! Excpect to work HARD physically and mentally, and if you feel like raising the HOTTNES of the class, come wearing only tiny pieces of clothing ;)

Expecting to see you in there soon!

SHAKTI Jo

Comfort Zone

Mo:

Very rarely do I eat completely vegetarian - as a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I am a very devoted carnivore and that my body feels good from eating organic meat (especially elk).

So, it´s lucky that I have friends like Sam & Erica who suggested that we would meet at Café Hängmattan for lunch today. Erica is an amazing Raw Food wiz, check out her book "Raw food på svenska".


You can try out her recipies at Dahl´s bakeshop in Östra Hamngatan.

Being a meat eater AND an inner city girl, going to Majorna is a bit of an excursion and an adventure for me. I know, I know, it´s only about 5min by car from Vasastan, but still...
P was laughing at me on the way there. (He is MUCH more open about where he could live in this city, whereas I have a limit of about 6-7 streets....).

My prejudices concerning Café Hängmattan where both true and completely off. The place is a haven for art-/music-/and creative (read alternative) people, so much were true. But the food and the buffét was even better than I would have expected!





I had a lovely nettle soup, followed by a huge plate of vegetarian goodies. YUMMY!
It was lovely to see Sam, Erica and their daughter Saga and the lunch flew past.

New part of the town.
New taste sensations.
New inputs.
Lots of laughter.
Ohhhh, a good day all in all so far!

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MO in the news

Mo:

Oh.my.God.

You know the TT-interview I told you about? The one where I´m wearing winter boots to my training outfit? Well, it´s out there now - on the net. Follow this link if you would like to see it with your own two eyes:

http://www2.unt.se/avd/1,1826,MC=47-AV_ID=854645,00.html

Why is it so cringely difficult to watch yourself on screen???

Also today:

JONATHAN MONKS at GYMNASIUM, SISJÖN

Monday 2 February 20.00 75min open class non member: 150 SEK

Wednesday 4 February 09.00 75min open class non member: 150 SEK

Wednesday 4 February 10.30 75min Workshop for intermediate-advanced students, 175 SEK

To book your space, go to:

http://www.gymnasium.com/

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TIGER on Acid day 2:

Efter VIPASSANA helgen känner jag mig som en duracell kanin (med rädsla över att jag kanske kommer krascha mot slutet, men jag kan inte dämpa det... är så påfylld efter 4 dagars tystnad/stillhet att det är helt otroligt!!!).

Underbar meditation i morse med FULL klass! WOW! Det måste betyda något, kanske är Gbg och "Fitness branschen" redo att ta nästa steg?!
Jag ville bara sitta kvar, 30min kändes som en flugskit i rymden!

And it just keeps on coming! T. ex:

• Idrottsgalan igår på SVT, wow jag satt och hoppade, ryste, grät i soffan!
  
• OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA hela USA skakar rumpa så det vibrerar under mina fötter här i HAGA!

Om du oxå har Bombastiskt mycket energi, eller vill få så kommer här ett erbjudande:

ÖPPET HUS 19-25 Januari på alla Sportlife Anläggningar i Göteborg!

I veckan kan DU träna gratis och testa alla grymma gym/grupptränings pass.

T ex. BODYJAM Ons kl 1700 och BODYBALANCE kl 1815 på EXCLUSIVE med mig JO!

BODYJAM är en grymt rolig dansklass där vi hinner smaka på många olika stilar och energinivåer!

BODYBALANCE ligger mig så varmt om hjärtat! En underbar mix av yoga, tai chi och pilates. (Det var faktiskt den först YOGAN som jag någonsin kom i kontakt med !)

Exclusive är en supermysig anläggning med underbar personal. Känner mig alltid så välkommen när jag kommer till jobbet :) Sen finns det sköna massage stolar och vattensängar att chilla i .... mmm! (Tänk om man kunde få sitta i en sådan på VIPASSANA :)

Hoppas vi ses i veckan!

OM SHANTI Jo

I dare you

Mo:

I did it. I taught my spinning/kettlebell class in the leopard outfit today. Brave or just plain silly? Judge by yourself:

You went out in THAT?! Ehhh...yes..in front of at least 60 people....

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TIGER on ACID

That's ME!
After 4 days in ÖDESHÖG - VIPASSANA I am SPEEEDY!

Or it might be the one cup of coffe
or the NEW MULLBERRYS?!


Soo much energy that it makes a volt and flips into a double salto - not necesarilly (spelling?!) in a god way cause i am having trouble controlling it!

Off to teach FUNCTIONAL CORE INTERVAL and YOGA now!

It's all about the CORE really, inside-out :)

The focus for my pep's tonight is:

• TRAIN TO BE STRONG
• FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT
• THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL

Hope they are up for it ;)

Jihaaa

Jo

Go MOJO!

Mo:

Thanks to Helena who sent MOJO the following:

MOJO LOVES prizes!!!

Rules for the winner of "Nice Blog Award":

Den som mottagit awarden ska lägga upp en bild på den och dessutom...
♥ Länka till den fina person som utdelat priset
♥ Själv överlämna priset vidare till så många andra fina bloggar man vill och länka till dem
♥ Meddela dem i deras bloggar att staven är överlämnad och priset är deras

Hmmmm...this is the tricky one.... I have so little time reading other peoples´ blogs that I have very limited knowledge about what´s out there... Embarrasing but true.

JO - you have to help me with this one...

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Meet me at MEET

Mo:

After having worked all day yesterday, I came home - had a 1hr nap and then I was fit for fight again....Went out for dinner with our friends. What started out as a dinner for 6 turned out to be an even bigger affair with 11 people in the end. LOVELY!

What can be better than to spend a cold Saturday night together with amazing friends in a new, funky restaurant - that turns out to be fantastic?

Jez, if you love meat, live in Gothenburg (or just passing through) you HAVE TO visit MEET, in Geijersgatan 12!!! NOT to be missed!

And don´t be a fool - the thing that turns out to be a MUST on the menu: Oxfilét prepared in the KOBE way. At 550 SEK it can seem pricey, but I tell you - it´s worth every SINGLE penny.

I have NEVER had meat like that in a restaurant anywhere in the world...

Faces have been dimmed to protect the innoncent...

Livin´it up at restaurant MEET (and yes, they also do fish...)

There was actually a picture of my main course....but by the time I remembered to take a photograph, I had devoured my dinner (because it was sooooo delicious!!!) in such a way that it resembled roadkill more than the beautiful dish that it came served as.... Sorry...

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Back on the Bike

Mo:

Tomorrow it´s back to work, back on the bike.
I´m teaching an InCycle Basic Certification course for 2 days, here in Gothenburg. I´m looking forward to start working again and it will be an interesting test to see how I manage to keep my energy levels high for two consecutive days. As I enter week 17 on Saturday, one would hope that the tired weeks should be over by now and I feel recovered enough from last weekend´s bout of vinterkräksjuka...
Next weekend is NIKE Oslo, followed by NIKE Stockholm the weekend after, so starting "softly, softly" on home turf feels reassuring enough.

300 riders on their bikes in Italy

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The Bump is here!

Mo:

I had two different appointments today.
First one was with the news bureau TT. They were going to ask me a few questions about Kettlebell-training and I´m not sure why, but I was sure it was going to be for the printed media. Just by luck, I put on some NIKE training gear on top (in case a picture was going to be taken) and then wore black leggings and my winter NIKE-boots.

....turns out that the interview was filmed. Plus the fact that they wanted me to show 3 great and typical Kettlebell exercises...

So please, please, if you catch a glimpse of me on the internet somewhere, doing a swing, a snatch & a half Turkish get-up wearing thick winter boots - please don´t try this at home!

My second appointment of the day was with a grafic-/web designer/flash-animator. I´m planning to finally scratch my 2 existing websites, monikabjorn.com & in-cycle.com and make a completely new one (which I will point the 2 old ones to). If all goes well it should be ready by April - almost just in time for my maternity leave I know, but hey, I´m planning to work at least a few more years after Bebbelina is born, so now is as good time as ever... God, it´s expensive having a professional site done! But hopefully money well spent...

Nobody thinks I´ve got a belly yet and when I tell people that it comes out at night, they laugh..."yeah, right!" kinda thing. So here goes....first evidence of "the Bump" - freshly taken moments ago:





I cannot wear any of my old denims anymore. So tonight I kidnapped a pair of Levi´s from P´s wardrobe. He won´t see them again for quite a few months....

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Diving down and picking up the diamond!

I am on my way to my 3rd VIPASSANA! Perhaps that's why+how I've been able to teach 7 classes today :) I found Vipassana in India about a year ago and it's the BEST thing I've ever done.
So now I am off again into silence (you can read more about vipassana in my previous blogs!)

No talking
No eye contact
No ipod, phone, books, food after 1 pm
Just sitting, not expecting (that's thE hard one!)


The way to maintain a meditation practice is by not having an image of how it's supposed to be. If the image is to sit still for 20 minutes twice a day, you may be setting yourself up for failure. But if you can hold space for a meditation to sit on the cushion for five minutes once a week, and see where it takes you, to keep a mind open enough to see if those five minutes naturally, without effort, grow into 10 minutes, you may be drawn to sitting twice a week. It's less about creating a rigid practice and more about deeply listening inside to what emerges naturally from your own heart. If you are even interested in taking a workshop or a class, you are somehow drawn to meditation, you have a desire and it is that aspiration that keeps us returning to the cushion, to the mat.


I'll be back again on Monday with who know what ...

If you feel like trying, join me Tuesday at 730 am @ Hagabadet!

BE HAPPY
BE HAPPY
U ARE BOUND TO BE SUCCESSFUL
BOUND TO BE SUCCESSFUL

SADUH SADUH SADUH

CRAVINGS

Mo:

I have 2 cravings so far:

1) Orange juice + clementines




2) Extremely salty candy

Actually that´s kinda 3, but you know what I mean, right?

Not too bad, eh? Also, I am able to eat fish again! Hallelujah! Broccoli and carrots are still a big NONO, though...how weird is that?
My energy level is back up and I almost feel normal. Well, except from the fact that each morning, when I leave bed, I stare in awe at my stomach wondering where the bump came from?! It´s still an unbelievable fact that there is a little person in there!

Life is truly weird.

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Best Right Now

Mo:

a) being back on my feet.

b) Beyoncé feat. R Kelly in "If I were a Boy". (Thank you Magnus G for the detective work!).

c) PINK & black leopard (yes, pink & black) tights from the NIKE Spring collection -09. I will wear them tomorrow in my spinning & kettlebell-class. My clients will faint. In a good way.

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Jo and the City

Or well, almost! It was actually LINA and the City!

Our FAB NIKE boss turned 30 last week and invited us to a smashing, sexig party in THE city (Sthlm).

After teaching AFRO POWER DANCE to the Gymnasium instructers I went to Swedens' 20th centrury Artist! He is the one responsible for Charlotte Perellis great succes in tiny silver dresses and fierce dark eyes :)

Over the breakfast table he tunrned me, the natural yogini, into a smashing BABE!
Midnight blue catlike eyes with laches from Sue Uemura and long blond fangs to hide behind, like a puma in the jungel. I didn't recognize myself :)

And neither did my collegues and friends. One of my close boyfriends greeted me with a handshake as he introduced himself... WTF? I said, whats up with the hand, give me a hugg and a kiss :)

The party lasted for alomost 24 hours with sweet ASTI to start with, a PINK carpet with paparazzis, Comsopolitans, wining and dining until 1230 and dance dance dance to the sound of live singing and DJing!

Thank you Lina for an amazing evening! Thank you Åsa for great company, 6am McDonalds and 3pm breakfast! Thank you M for the total makeover!

I promise to put some pics up as soon as they have been "childproof" :)

LOVE Jo

Vinterkräksjukan.... NOT

I haven't got VINTERKRÄKSJUKAN, I just have a BRAND NEW class to teach tonight :)

Promise to tell you all about it in a few hours (that and THE 24hour PARTY;) !!



First I got to rock the boat ...

Love Jo

Into perspective

Mo:

LOW point of the w-end: crying like a mad person in fetal position on the floor below the toilet seat (worried sick about Bebbelina) after having puked my guts out... for the first time of many, many that night and morning...


HIGH point of the w-end: being able to eat a cheese toast at 4pm Sunday afternoon. And keep it.

Thanks to Pour Bon, Korsgatan in Gothenburg for serving us vinterkräksjuka with our buffet lunch on Thursday.
We promise not to come back.

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