We've heard it many times

Secret Garden-You Raise 

Me Up (Live)

A favorite song made popular by many artists

Dona Anderson

Summer of Music 2022 

Week 1

Many popular artists have sung this song beautifully and this one caught my inner self as the one to share with you today.

I liked the range of the vocals and the orchestra.

It helped me to feel what I needed at this time in my life, and what's happening in our now world. 

I felt the softness of my breath and the knowing that things will get better ...

I felt hope for the World, its People, animals, nature and all its beauty thus letting a bit of Stress release.

I felt some needed Hope and Peace.

I hope you felt some of that too.

Thanks for your visit and for helping to send Wellness out in the world with your shares as we travel each week out into the world.

Did you know there are over 700 posts now in the Archives that you can checkout anytime to view, save and share at your leisure  

PS. Summer of Music posts for past years are also available in the archives starting in 2017, for the months of July & August. 

We had a special treat last year combining music and seeing other places in this beautiful world.

 

This link takes you to a post with links to all 9 videos. 

Have a great day!

3 things You can do to help Heal your Body, Mind & Soul.

 Play  Laughter  Joy

Dona Anderson

Thanks for your visit today. 

New posts every Tuesday.

I saved this quote to share with You & todays the day.

Your body cannot heal without play.

Your mind cannot heal without laughter.

Your soul cannot heal without joy.

~Catherine Rippenger Fenwick~

Healing with Humor, educator, therapist, author, speaker.  

           

How many times when you are unwell do you play some kind of game, do a puzzle, card game, craft or other things that you love to do that takes your mind off things and supports your soul.

How many times when you were unwell, sick, had a bad cold, flu, headache, new stitches or whatever it was did you try not to laugh but couldn't help it. You may even put on a comedy show to watch to help you feel better.

How may times did you find Joy in a song, a home cooked meal, a card, flowers, a visit from loved ones or cuddles from your pet.

I imagine it was many times.

A moment to play lets us move onto something that's fun, we can do, control. It fills our face, mind and heart with a smile.

 

A moment for laughter lets us relax, let our stress & worries soften a bit as it disappears out of our bodies and into the world.

A moment of joy lets us remember all the people and things in our lives that we love, hold dear and want to get back to.

Play ... Laughter ... Joy

PS. Often when I've been at a craft faire someone stops by just to have a chat.  

I've heard many good stories but mostly ones of sadness, grief, sickness and stress. 

Many times it was quite emotional but I could see how the releasing of the story helped them heal a bit that day - their face and shoulders softened a bit to help them breathe.

Sometimes they even came back the next day to chat again.💗

Our Lucy, loves to snuggle.

Take Care have a great day and week.

New post next Tuesday.  

Bye for now. 

Links for sharing below.

Breathe to Heal - Ted Talk x Cape May - Max Strom

We seem to be right in the 
middle of his message from 5 years ago.

Dona Anderson

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I saw this video last December and knew  I 
needed to share it here with You. 

What he says is something we need to hear. 

Back in 2015 the pandemic would have been thought of as unbelievable yet the World continues to go through it.

I hope you'll take the next 18 minutes and watch - it may change the rest of your life and is something you can pass on to help others.

Very important and Easy!

Breathe out to start

Inhale for a count of 4

Hold for a count of 7

Exhale for a count of 8

Repeat 4 or 5 times

PS I always love gently moving the breath and this exercise is one we can do easily.

Also I'd like to just add in a personal note that I find the breath work on the side ribs helps me if I get one of those winter colds and cough a lot.

Have a wonderful week. 
Stay safe &
have fun practicing calm.

Links for sharing below helps send 

Wellness around the WORLD!

New Posts every Tuesday.

Visit the archives for more.

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This video is for information purposes only in our quest for Health & Wellness.

Always consult your health care providers as needed.

How to Talk to Someone With Dementia

Dementia

We all dread the thought of us getting it.

How do we prepare to help others or ourselves.

Dona Anderson

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We also dread the thought of our spouse, a parent, friend or anyone getting it.

It's a worry in the back of our mind for years as we age.

I've heard that it can start to begin many years earlier.

This video is about communicating with Dementia and that is very important because it's hard to do as the family, visitors and caretakers.

In the video Diane Waugh gives us lots of things to do to help be part of their life now.

Very Interesting. 

And as always there are many techniques and different ways to do things so this is just one for information on that path. 

 

Most of us may know someone with or who had some degree of Dementia.

For me when I was young it was my grandmother, and as a senior I know 3 that are in care centers.

We also have a neighbor that continues to live at home and sometimes needs help getting home from his walk. 

I also find it harder now with so much to remember.

How to work the remote, get on the computer, the pass words for everything, then how do the new appliances work, the camera and on and on.

We don't get the written/printed service we used to for many things so all the frustrations tend to add up.

Then there's the frequent changes that may be better for some but frustrating to others and not work for them.

There was never so much to remember. 

In this video I liked how she found out how to communicate. 

I hope to learn more and adopt a few of her ways as it makes things a lot easier.

Take Care.

PS.  there're lots of resources available to help us.  

I think it's important to know the right questions to ask and the answers let us know we may be in the right place.

This has been a rough year.  It used to be that we knew someone with/had cancer, then came Alzheimer's and now it's covid. 

Please take care.

The Best part - it's Free

what we focus on grows 

This is something we CAN do and it's free
                      .

 Another addition for your Wellness Toolbox

Dona Anderson

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Dona's photo - message from
Simply, One Breath At a Time.

A Calm Breath for Breathing...

We do it all day long but do we pay much attention to it.

Our breathing connects us to our inner self, our organs, heart, and lungs that are nourished, move and open up space for circulation to help us stay healthy and relaxed.

Have you thought about your posture and how sitting with head forward and rounded shoulders makes us shorter and not letting the breath move as it should.

And, if we're grumpy and frown instead of relaxed and smiling we've also shortened the breath. Shallow breathing also affects the body.

Let your next breaths softly fill your body ... 

as you do this a few times, also let your  

face, eyes and shoulders soften ...

Notice each breath opening 

and then leaving your body.

Feel the coolness of the in breath, 

and then the warmth of the out breath ...

Be part of this exchange, 
part of the simple gifts of life.

I picked a Rose Wellness Message
for us today that says ... 

I invite my next breaths to bring me
to a place to smile and be present,
a place to notice beauty, 
and a place to find joy ...

One Rose Wellness Cards

I invite my next breaths to bring me

to a place to smile and be present,

a place to notice beauty, and

a place to find joy ...

Is it time to rediscover your breath.

💚

Messages are from the pages of my book

Simply, One Breath At a Time.

Head over to the Resources Page

for more info.

And posts with similar messages

at the label below One Rose Cards. 

Thanks for your visit today.

PS. Lots of times in our lives we have to think about how our body breathes, our posture and see if we need to make some adjustments.

* This can be our reminder
*I needed it too.

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Weekly posts offer new thoughts,

experiences, stories and lots more.

Don't go yet!

Christmas combo
 4 links to check out. 

The Holidays are  coming up so please take care of you.

Rest often, ask for help and gift yourself lots of Self Care moments. 🎄

What do You do when Life gets complicated?

Have You ever felt like

Running away?

Dona Anderson

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With all the stress and worry in the World right now this is probably what a lot of us are thinking.

Story time.

The later 1950's kid version

One day a few of us on our block decided to "run away" well sort of.

We got as far as the baseball diamond several blocks away and after getting something to eat that took all the money we had, we went home - tired, piggy banks empty and waited for supper.

Our big exciting get away only lasted a couple hours or so.

Mom never knew - (?) unless my sister told.

The adult version

For me,

Lots of time when life got confusing, stressful, too busy, broke, too many problems, chores, moving and even the pets as puppies took what little energy we had left, the thoughts of running away seemed to cross my mind.

 Just to get away for a day or so to have  peace and quiet, sleep, relax, not have to  cook, clean, take the bus, or go to work.

But we survive, 

and get through it the best we can.

We learn,
to ask for help, change the schedule, prepare ahead of time, relax and exercise more often and let go of some of the have to do's in favor of the want to do's.

Thankfully - Life, home and work changes as years go by. 

The pressures, expectations, roles all change as we grow, learn, prepare, age and manage our days and life.

No, I never did "Run Away" but I have to say it did feel good thinking about it for a few minutes.  

What I should have done was taken a Wellness Day when needed. 

And used more of the benefits that were available so I would have been much healthier and happier instead of having everything hurt for years. 

That would have made a huge difference.

Now I can relate to this message better 

Say to yourself ...

I give myself Permission to Rest

It's nice now that there are more wellness words, information, thoughts and services to use for your Self Care. 

These words are normal now -

Spa days, Retreats, Meditation, Yoga, Relaxation, Homeopathy, Stillness, Acupuncture, Chiropractors, Massage, going for a run, or walk or just to stop

& take a breath.

What's on your list to help You?

Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for your visit today
new posts every Tuesday,

and Thanks for helping me spread Wellness around 

the world by sharing at the links below.

💚

PS. Honestly ...

I don't know where all  this stuff comes from each week

but you get to come along with me to see what's next!

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Take Care

That's our Scottie girl Lucy above.

She's 6 now - all grown up. 

You be the judge - am I Crazy?

Have a look ...

What does the wind and stress

have in common?

Ok this IS a weird thing to say,

but just wait, think about it - take a moment

Dona Anderson

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Check the Resources page for how to 

get my guided relaxation CD Free - 
offer expires June 30, 2020

It's TIME again to do that important

self check for Stress.

Here goes ... starting with the wind.

You can feel the air moving from the wind but you can’t see it. 

You can only see and feel how it affects other things. 

You can see if there is a soft gentle breeze or not by looking at the leaves on the trees or by noticing how the clouds are moving.  

The wind can shape our landscape, be the force for windmills, and as it changes in strength it can become the warnings for destruction and danger. 

Yes, you love the soft breeze that brings freshness to the air or the scent of spring flowers, and you love the puff that brings a touch of coolness on a hot summer’s day.

But, it can quickly build up into a windstorm warning, a threatening twister and other intense storms. The destruction, personal danger, loss and property damage can be very extensive.

Can You see Stress. 

Take a Breath & rest a moment with this photo message

What does it look like, what color is it?

If you could buy it, you’d for sure be asking for a refund!

If you have too much, you can probably feel & sense it, and we can see how it affects others.

What worries me is that sometimes others don't recognize it as Stress and just call it their crazy busy life until something happens.

As freeing as the photo is, it also lets us know that our life, world can change at any time. 

The day I took this picture the wind felt good, opened me up and sent positive energy my way. 

It let me know things were always changing on top but below the surface it was quiet.  

Unfortunately Stress lives below and on the surface.

It sometimes sneaks in and other times it rudely barges in at the worst times and digs in to make other things that are not going well even worse. 

It seems to like to pile up on other things, I guess it's lonely.

There is a good side. It's our natural response for danger and it can challenge and encourage us to get busy to do or learn something we need to and other times it can feel like a guiding gentle breeze.

It can teach us more about ourselves and how we react to things, and sometimes it pushes us to use that last bit of courage or strength to win the race or make a change.

But, sometimes I envision Stress as a monster, a fire, and feel the effects of a knife in my back or the hammer in my head.  

Sometimes we get nervous and feel the slippery slope, and other times be exhausted or feel the pressure of everyone else's needs, anger or sadness on top of ours.

A few minute search can create a long list of things that Stress impacts from everyday physical symptoms to emotional and behavioral symptoms and everything in between.

In just a few minutes I had over 60 so I stopped looking for more (link to post here)

Stress creates various types of problems and if left unchecked it can affect our health and lives.  

It often takes root in our daily activities and interactions and then grows to impact something else to where it reaches that place where we get warning signals. (like the wind) 

It reminds me of that small nasty weed.

The one you can’t see growing under a bush until it pops out on top saying Hi, Remember Me, and is ready to burst open and happily spread its seeds everywhere.

We can't change the direction of the Wind but if needed we can help turn that Stress Monster back into a gentle breeze!

Stress is getting worse & Worse and the
more we understand about how it affects us
the more we can control, limit & reduce it.

Have you noticed how the word Stress seems to 

be just part of everyday conversations now. (?)

 2020 has added even more stress -

how are You handling it (?)

Thanks for your visit and for
sharing at the links below. 

Together we're spreading

Wellness around the World

Check out ways to Reduce Stress and more HERE

Another of my photo messages.

 So - am I Crazy?

Wow -  you did good if you made it this far,
sorry for the long post.

Bye for now,
we're back here next week.

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Quote from Rumi ~ 

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go"

Are you struggling with letting go of some things or holding on tightly to others - let us know below in the comments. It's a stressful time of wondering, what to do now & what's next.

                                      

I Hope You hear what I hear...

Music is never very far Away!

Your Favorites from last year.

Dona Anderson

You know I love to share great Music,
Right!

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Hello Hello!

I have a Music combo for you today.

It's not long before my 2020 Summer of Music selections will be coming to you so I thought I'd let you know what the 3 most viewed from 2019 were.

All are wonderful and share thoughts of LOVE & Healing. 

Congrats you got my top 3 too!

And it was really hard - loved them all.

If you missed it last year or not we can love these all over again.

wow - Love the colors of these leaves!

#1
Perfect Symphony - Ed Sheeran and Andrea Bocelli

#2

Healing Time on Earth - John Denver

#3
Angel - Sarah McLachlan & Pink

Thank You for enjoying the selections
I've shared these last 3 years. 

This years 2020 Summer of Music starts July 7.

Get the weekly link sent to your inbox.

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All the previous years selections are in the archives.
July & August 2017, 2018, 2019.
As a visitor you get to search the archives over & over again!

Thanks for your visit & have a wonderful day!

Susan David - The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage TED

Emotional Courage

Dona Anderson

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We all have stories, some shared, some not and others may remain hidden forever yet affect our days and years.

It does take courage to work through all the stages of recovery, acceptance, grief or whatever it may be in our life.

Photo & Message by Dona.

I remember 20+ years ago a friend at work needed time to go to a counselor and she felt ashamed that she needed help.  I told her she was very brave, and I was proud of her. It took a lot of courage back then to make that appointment.

Our self care/wellness is very important not only for each of us but also for who we interact with - our family, friends, co workers, who we talk to and our actions in all parts of our day and life.

Each of us has our own triggers & emotions that show up at different times for us to learn from and respect.

I found this Ted Talk a while ago and thought it might help now ... 

Have a listen.

I loved the change in words near the end 
from I am to I'm noticing.

Please Take care.

New posts every Tuesday.

Links for sharing below.

You may know someone who needs help or just a listener.

Sawubona, I want to remember
 & learn from this great word.

I'll find out more about it.

WELLNESS made EASY

Keep going towards Your Dream

Dona Anderson

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Direct to You from Me, the Author.

Gifts for a Lifetime!

It's that time of year to start the wish lists.

Breathe Easy 

    
No ending to these resources. 

Lots of Help to Relax & be your best self.

Opportunities for new thinking and adventures

Feel Joy, Freedom, Presence

Easy ways to make You part of your day

Want more info - 
Visit the Resources Page
Visit the Wellwishers Page
Visit the Answers Page

I'm here to HELP.

Direct from Author Sales

Also eBook is available anytime for Simply, One Breath At a Time - check the Resources page & get the eBook no Shipping - or Waiting!

New posts coming each week.

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I wish I had these resources earlier in my Life.

Connect to more posts using the labels below
Simply, Moving Forward, One Rose Cards

Stay connected with more

on Facebook

A One Rose message for you.

The breath gives us choice and

 strength, courage and confidence,

 calmness and  healing ...

Info on Resources page 

Read a bit of what others had to say.

John Denver - Healing Time On Earth

Healing Time on Earth

Our 3rd Summer of Music continues with John Denver ...

Dona Anderson

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This has it all - a story, words for a song, music & John Denver.

Beautiful song - Thank You.

Lyrics can be found online.

Scroll down or check the archives for the previous weeks.

Also more in the archives for July & August 2017 & 2018.

Hope you're back to visit again next week.

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Links for commenting &sharing below.

Hi - where in the World are you from?
Check out this post about where some
others are from and thanks for sharing
to help spread Wellness around the world.

Summer of Music continues - previous posts in
the archives for 2019, and 2017 & 2018.

Transcending Sexual Violence Through Yoga: 8 Tools for Teaching Trauma-S...

Trauma Sensitive Yoga

Dona Anderson
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I want to share this information with you.

It's a video for Yoga teachers but I think everyone will learn a bit more about how in this case small things like lighting, a smell, someones breathing and others can cause a person to re-experience past trauma and elevate their stress.

Yoga changes lives and there are many types to help with different needs and health issues. 

Even if you're not involved in Yoga I hope you will view this short video.

In it we learn more about how things we may not be aware of can cause trauma and stress to build and ways to help it reduce for these survivors whether it's in Yoga or in other healing and group environments.

You may even have a friend or neighbor who is sensitive to things and this could help explain it a bit.

There's so much we can learn and this is one small piece.

I took a Trauma Sensitive Yoga course a few years ago and found this video a very useful addition to my resources. 

Thank You.

This post & video is for information purposes

only on a sensitive matter. 

Always consult professionals when needed. 

What is Relaxation? This photo helps, so... Peaceful.

Don't be like ME - I wasted years 

Get started before it's too late! 

Dona Anderson
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Finding Relaxation ...            

                                         What is relaxation?

Yoga introduced me to Guided Relaxation and Meditation.

At the end of each class we were asked lay down and be still, to breathe and relax our body.  

At first I fell asleep, when I was able to stay awake I was usually restless, replayed conversations, or was reminded of all the things I had to do.  

     Is this relaxation? 
I think I need more practice.

I guess that's why they call this the hardest Yoga pose to do. 

Real relaxation does require practice, patience and it has an intention.

But you don't have to do Yoga or lay down.

It can just be a walk, sitting in the garden, a few minutes in the morning or before bed, a lunch time break, sitting on the bus or waiting for the tea to steep. 

Any time that suits YOU.

There are many styles of Guided Relaxation and it might be like a story that asks you to follow along and notice what's happening as you slowly relax different areas of the body and deepen your breath. 

You may hear words like release, soften let go calm slow feel open allow and breathe.

They may seem like a foreign language.

Or, it may be about focusing on an object, a scent or a visualization. 

Whatever it is, it takes you on an adventure and invites you to follow along, to focus on the breath, an area of your body, a place, a thought, nature or perhaps it's as simple as a smile. 

While you follow along and breathe, you slowly start to let go of all those other thoughts and begin to clear and open the mind. You start to move into the present moment.

What you discover can be a very precious gift. 

I found a time to soften and breathe,

a time to feel comfortable with who you are,  

a time to remove obstacles, release tension 

 and I found a place to notice the difference, to feel it, to be with it.   

The practice opened me up to a place where I had tried to reach before but had never quite made it.

The awareness and benefits you gain can also help you use the breath in your everyday life as a tool to support your wellness.

Whether it is for a quick busy day refresher, when you feel out of balance or in times of stress, you can focus on your breath and watch as it gently relaxes and guides you back to the present moment.

Relaxes and guides

you back to the 

present moment

Even a minute can help separate you from a stress, a worry or a busy time and place. 

You’ll be able to experience the feeling of your breath bringing you back to balance and to peaceful thoughts.  

You may even find an open space in your schedule and in your mind.

Let the breath take you where you need to go!

Do a Search for benefits of Relaxation

You may even want to start a Wellness group at work or with your friends.

Here's some resources to help to get you started.

Check out other posts using the labels below.

Links to share or comment below.

More posts below or in the archives.

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