It's time to Wake Up and Enjoy the Day

& the under the Stars Story

Dona Anderson

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This post is kind of a check in before the Summer of Music starts next week.

Do you have plans for the summer?

Here are a few lines from the Meditation - 

Wake Up and Enjoy the Day.

It starts with ...

The grass can wait

The dishes can wait

The laundry can wait

Listen to the sounds around you,

the birds, the passing breeze,

your breath.

The short excerpt above is from Meditation #45, page 112 in Moving Forward from the Heart. 

It mentions summer activities but this can be anytime, or another season that we do activities for that season in.

It just wants to make you the priority for some of your to do lists with an I get to do list. 

Ask yourself - What makes you happy and makes you smile.

What refreshes and nourishes your body & soul.

Later it ends with this last thought - If today is just for you, what will you do?

The summer goes by so fast that I always find it to be a more important time of year to notice and be present.

We need to rest and enjoy those warm days and nights - and remember to make a few lazy days and do nothing days to just breathe life in.

Even simple things like I love to watch the birds visit the yard, notice what changes from day to day in the garden, or just sit by myself for an hour or so and do nothing but nourish my soul.

Over the summer I hope you will exchange the Busy word for something like I'm having Fun or doing lots of reading on the porch, planning a BBQ, exploring the parks, going to the lake or on vacation, camping the the backyard, I'm growing lots of  fresh vegetables or ...

Story time - I have to tell you about one night years ago we got up around 2 am to watch the stars.  We had the blankets and pillows all ready to lay outside and hope for something special to happen.

The dogs came out with us and after cuddling awhile and wondering why we weren't in bed, they started to walk around and ended up they both had a big smelly poop close by.  

Well that wasn't the special thing we had 
hoped to happen that night. 

After getting up and a few laughs we went back to bed.  

Please Take Care of you, 

and enjoy this years 

Summer of Music starting next week.

Regular posts will return in September.

You can find me also on Facebook

Use the labels below and the archives to find more posts.

Thanks for sharing at the links below - together we're spreading Wellness around the world!

SUMMER breezes

Warm Summer Breezes ...

Have a seat for a few minutes.

Dona Anderson

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I was looking for a Meditation the other day and came across this one that mentioned the warm breezes of summer. 

So I decided to share it with you and let it Welcome all of us to this years summer starting in a few days.

This is from CLOSE your eyes. It's #20 in my book, Moving Forward from the Heart - page 60

Before we start imagine sitting on this bench and enjoying a few breaths to get yourself relaxed ... when you're ready, let this meditation relax you even more...

"When the soft warm summer breezes begin to blow, soften your eyes so you can see more clearly, and let yourself relax, renew and reflect.

Enjoy a big yawn or a stretch to open your body and mind ...

Now gently ...
                                        Breathe in Strength

to send out gentleness

                               Breathe in Balance

to help you move forward

                               Breathe in Patience

to achieve greatness

                               Breathe in Joy

to take on your journey

                               Breathe in Silence

to hear your heart sing,

                                      Let your breath

                  Carry your heart songs out into the breeze

  to be shared with the world .."

© Dona Anderson 2015

Before you go - rest and enjoy a few more minutes to let your breath take you to a place of gentleness to help you to move forward, achieve greatness, take on your journey and make your heart sing.

 and then Let your breath

                  Carry your heart songs out into the breeze

  to be shared with the world ..

i HOPE your day is full of warm summer breezes or if it's another season where you live, please enjoy what it offers you today as well. 

And, you can add it to your Wellness toolbox to save for when it is summer or to enjoy any time!

Take Care.

Want to know more - Follow the links to the Resources Page

Wellwishers Page

Don't miss the Summer of Music
 starting July 2. You can get past years
in the archives for July & August 2017 & 2018.

Thank You for sharing with others at the Links below.
Together we can share Wellness around the World
It's already working and just a moment to share keeps it going.

See this post from a few weeks ago about where our sharing takes us.

Click on the label Moving Forward below for more from this book.

Ted Talk - Adam Grant

Are you a Giver or a Taker

Dona Anderson
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Very interesting talk and results.

Loved when he talked about the 5 minute favor -

 find small ways to add large value to other peoples life.

Yes - givers WIN!

and it's Ok to be a receiver too.

Yoga for the Soul

What does that mean?

I don't know...

Dona Anderson

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photo & message by Dona Anderson

I have been using these four words many times over the years I've been practicing and teaching Yoga. 

Yoga for the Soul

I said I didn't know what it means above because I think it could be something different for each of us.

And, now there are so many different kinds of Yoga.

There's the old traditional types and new ones pop up all the time.  Whatever style it is there's always things to learn and try out, which helps to keep us coming back.

For me, I'm happy I grew up in times where nothing much changed for years so we were more relaxed and knew what tomorrow was about.  That well used response to what have you been doing, "same old" was kind of like a nice deep breath.

Yoga and I finally came together 20 years ago and I decided to put teacher training on my to do list to learn more after we moved here.

I love sharing what I can with others in my age group that like me need a gentle class because we usually hurt in various places.

Lucky for me, I have a small room in our home and lots of props and things to entertain us.

Through the years I have had the privilege to share and be part of some pretty special changes on the mat that also flowed off the mat into ones life as well.

In Yoga we talk about the purpose of our poses, and how they help us build connection, awareness, presence, gratitude, acceptance, focus and so much more.

What I got to witness over the years was "My Ladies" learning about their bodies, their breath, that they had toes, how the body feels with a smile rather than a frown, that we just do what we can that day and letting go, resting and  looking after ourselves is not doing nothing. 

In the classes we grew in strength of

body, mind & soul. 

We all grew in knowing our body and being grateful for the gains and understanding the days we needed to nourish and nurture. 

We grew to recognize and pause for past hurts in our lives that maybe went unnoticed and needed to be resolved.

We grew in compassion for ourselves that enables us to pass it on to others.

We learned to appreciate our differences and not try to do something someone else could do better that we didn't want to do or couldn't. There were no prizes for perfect poses, or that long list of what I did that day before I got to class.

We learned to relax and look forward to resting on the floor and take that feeling out into our days that we can relax and just breathe almost anywhere.

We learned to listen to different kinds of music and hear unfamiliar words and not be uncomfortable with them.

We used drums, singing bowls, rang bells and used kids toys to make music, have fun, laugh and relax. 

We learned that our differences do not hold us back, they help us learn.

We learned about paying attention to our whole body, being present, and pausing in between things.

We laughed and supported each other through changes in health, life and any other topic that needed 2 or 3 minutes or more that day. 

OK, I guess I answered my Question.

Whatever draws You to the mat -
Whatever kind of Yoga you choose,

Thank You for making a difference in your life & World.

Have a wonderful day.  

I'll be back here again next week.

Until then you can Visit my 
Facebook Wellness Page 
for lots more ...