Great Festival Weekend!

Thanks for the great weekend, Nautical Days!  Nice weather, so much free entertainment, and those plates of fries sure looked good as they passed by!

Thanks to everyone who stopped to chat.  I handed out about 800 wellness cards and received a lot of thanks and smiles back as the message was fitting for the day.  

Now I need to go off and listen to my CD and relax myself!

Again, a big thanks to everyone I met and talked with , and thanks to those that made purchases. 

Hopefully I will get to attend Nautical Days again next year! 

Online Sales

Simply, One Breath At a Time is now available through Amazon.ca

Glad to share this link with you.

http://www.amazon.ca/Simply-One-Breath-At-Time/dp/1897518870


My Book, CD, and Cards are still all listed on the Shop Tab of this Blog.

Nautical Days!

I will be at Nautical Days for the long weekend, July 30 - Aug 1. 

It runs at the same time as the Filberg Festival so there is lots to see and do in Comox then.

I am excited to be able to get out again and meet people, talk about the book, cards, and new this year is the CD. 

Hoping to get some nice summer weather for all of us that will be outside in our tents. 

The other evening when the sun finally appeared in the blue sky, I was reminded of that old song about the boy who sent a letter home from camp asking to come home, then the sun finally came out and all was good.  So I've been humming that song, Camp Granada, quite a bit since then.

Will the sun please come out and stay for a few days so I can get a different song playing in my head!

Hoping your summer and travels are good, safe, and relaxing!

A Rainy Morning

I felt like I was reading a page in my book as I sat out on the covered back deck early this morning with my tea.  It was raining a nice steady rhythm and I was listening to spa music.

Covered with a blanket, I felt so comforted and aware of my surroundings.  The sound of the rain mixed with the water sounds from the pond seemed part of the music I was listening to.  I focused on my breath for awhile and just let it be a time to breathe, relax, and enjoy where I was.

I looked around my yard and neighboring yards at the trees I could see and enjoyed all the different colors and shades.  Their leaves all seemed different sizes, shapes, and textures.  The flowers that are blooming right now are so rich in their colors.  The sky was a soft grey and seemed to be the perfect background, not dark like a storm was coming, this was soft, and gave off a fuzzy kind of feeling.

It is so wonderful when you don't have to go far to relax, breathe, and be aware.  This time it was right outside my back door.

A Few Weekend Treasures

Summer brings us so many opportunities to enjoy ourselves. 

A weekend away brought beautiful drives and 2 detours to explore.

A parade and evening fireworks let us join the celebrations of a small town and its neighboring communities and watch how they come together to enjoy each other.  The most fun was seeing the smiles when someone saw someone they knew, or watching them just have unexpected unrehearsed fun!

A farmers market brought the sights and smells of fresh food, a chance to hear young musicians who will be famous one day, and a chance to join a wonderful drum circle full of life and energy.

Being late for the ferry gave me the opportunity to hear another musician singing and playing his music in the park  … I clapped, and he acknowledged me with a big smile.

A few days away gave the yellow rose time to have its first bloom as a surprise gift for my return home.

I think this weekend was all about doing, being, and certainly having more just because I got out.

Quote from Rumi

Rumi poem 

One of my favorites!

You suppose you are the trouble
            But you are the cure
            You suppose that you are the lock on the door
            But you are the key that opens it
            It's too bad that you want to be someone else
            You don't see your own face, your own beauty
            Yet, no face is more beautiful than yours.

     ~Rumi~


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Much thanks!

Helping Hand

Years ago I read this quote of Audrey Hepburn, it said, "Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at each end of your arms."

A few days ago I had surgery on my little finger, and my hand is bandaged up for 8 days.  It rests on an angle with a support to keep two fingers still and straight. It is very interesting how the bandaged hand is still always trying to help out, how our body automatically reacts to do things. 

My left hand has its job and it is very difficult to keep it still.  It shows up and is ready to do whatever it should be doing. Of course the result is the bandage is not so clean anymore, but the hand is happy to try and see what it can do with one or two fingers to help out sometimes rather than to totally rest and let the other hand do all the work.   Sometimes we’re not aware that our hands automatically go to work to help the other without being asked or thanked.

Whether I think it is helping or not, it is a helping hand.

Another quote from Audrey Hepburn says… "As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others."

Licks of Love

About ten years ago my husband met a most wonderful elderly lady. She was moving from her house and was happy to give away some of the flowers and bushes in her yard.  We had a bare new yard so it was an instant friendship between two gardeners.

After that, my husband visited her every Tuesday morning that we were home.  He’d take flowers to plant for her in the spring, an occasional donut that she loved, flowers and fresh vegetables from our yard, and each week she would be sitting at her window waiting for him to arrive for tea and a visit.

A couple of years ago she moved again to a care facility.  She very happily informed my husband that dogs were allowed to visit so he could bring the two dogs with him, and he did. Both at once didn’t work well, so on alternating weeks one of the dogs would get a quick brush that seemed to signal something important was ahead, and off they’d go for their special outing and visit. 

The lady friend was always so happy for each visit.  She loved to see the dogs and have them sit beside her, to pat them, and most of all she happily received all the kisses they could give out. 

We are so happy that at her last visit she got to receive tons of the licks of love that made her so happy. 

Thanks for a Weekend in the Forest

It was another wonderful weekend at the Yoga Outreach Retreat.  A wonderful time for yoga, sharing experiences, spending time with friends and meeting new friends.

I had also saved 10 of the travelling books to take to this event, I wish I had more but they all went to good homes.

Sometimes it takes me a while to be able to relate what happens in such a place and I've been there 6 times now, but there is something always wonderful and kind of magical.  The place is full of great energy from the surrounding forest, mountains, the river, and the people who are all there for their own reasons.  I was asked in one class what the common thread was that brought me back, and I said each year I had needed something different, and each year I was able to get it. 

Year one, I was a new learner wanting anything I could get, writing all kinds of notes, the next year, I wanted to just absorb what was, another year I was carrying around unresolved grief, the next year, I wanted to be energized, the next time, I wanted connection, and this year, I wanted mainly restorative/healing that was found from a variety of classes and teachers.  I also wanted to meet up with friends that went there, and I met some great new ladies, enjoyed the nightly concerts, the food, and the wonderful time you get to spend in a forest.

Thanks so much to the organizers of this retreat and for the work done by Yoga Outreach.  I am glad to support your work by attending this fundraiser.  You make the event feel like a family reunion and I am so glad to be part of the family.  Namaste.

I'll be checking my mail next spring for 2012 retreat information.
http://yogaoutreach.com/