«i tu de qui ets?»
that's what they asked me when once, as a child, i got lost in the streets of l'atmella de mar, tarragona. i must have been 7 or 8 years old and i was traveling with my parents who were visiting the family.
i'm just telling you this to situate you a bit, which is what that lady was trying to do with her question, «and you? whom do you belong to?» in catalan.
raining bombs
my maternal grandparents met just after the first bomb shower of the civil war, shot over roses by the cruiser 'canarias' belonging to the side of franco.
my grandfather, as a young artillery officer of the republican army came down from barcelona with a bunch of fighters who, like him, wanted to protect the young republic from a possible landing of the dictator fellows.
my grandmother already lived there with her family. her father (my great-grandfather), a fishing skipper, had taken them all from l'atmella de mar, "la cala" (as they call it), to live in roses a few years earlier.
during one of the last bombfall of the war, my mother and her twin sister were born.
end of the 50's my father appeared, camping, with his parents and siblings, directly from belgium. a party took place in the garden of a chalet near the city walls and that's where my own story began.
who i am?
in south india there was a well known yogi named sri ramana maharsi. constantly asking to himself who he is was his trick to enlightenment.
are you your name? are you your nationality? are you your age? are you your body? are you your mind? are you your profession?
in my case, born in 64, i am half catalan and half belgian but also a little french and, sometimes, from nowhere. my partner is german, i lived in belgium, france and spain. i am the father of three children, i have various professions, i like so many things such as traveling the wide world, the sea and sailboats, walking in the mountains, cooking, books, listening to music, running, yoga, meditation and many other things. what am i going to tell you more about me? there's so many years!
i'll tell you just enough. namely, enough to situate yourself and, eventually, for an encounter to take place.
imagination
invent, draw, design and create. as a child, i imagined becoming an inventor. though originally my profession is creative, graphic designer and visual communicator.
yoga
is all together a practice, a lifestyle and a job. my holistic approach to yoga stems from the 'integral yoga' developed by sri aurobindo and the mother.
i discovered it by chance during a trip to india, where i returned later to find out more and then to train there as a hatha teacher. since then i offer my lessons in a hall, at home and even at work.
walking
i really like walking. i also like to share with others the many roads, tracks and trails of the ampurdan. my partner and i do it for the sheer pleasure of walking and meeting people.
sharing well-being
let's imagine a place in roses, or close to roses, where you can get to know yourself better, get to know others, move your body-mind-soul, share your experience, continue growing, master stress, contribute to the world , doing things while just simply being, to enjoy...
that place is called el casal zen (www.elcasalzen.org). my partner and i, are creating it.
simplicity
getting rid of too much, keeping what is necessary. it is simply beautiful.
eric milet
well-being is to be shared
+34 605 856 740
ericmilet@gmail.com
roses, girona, spain
