Forgotten - One Yoga Mat

Below is an article that is listed under my Relaxation Tab that was printed in the Fall 2010, Comox Health and Recreation Guide. As fall is approaching and we start to prepare for the restart of many activities, I thought I’d post it for you to enjoy. 

Many of the great benefits and opportunities of yoga are found through letting the yoga mat take us to different places.  Whether it is to simply focus and breathe, create stillness, be strong like a mountain, or fold to release, we go places and do things that are just for us to feel and enjoy. 

I will always be a beginner, and be open and happy with whatever comes my way that day.  I hope you have lots of fun activities in your life and can relate to this one of mine.  

Forgotten – One Yoga Mat

When the warm days of summer take us outside to other activities or on vacation, we sometimes take a break from our yoga mat.  Instead of travelling to our yoga class or the gym, they stay rolled up leaning against the wall, in the closet, or buried somewhere in our vehicle.  They’re put out of our minds for a few months.

The pleasing colors of green, pink, blue, purple, yellow, and red that were our close companions during the rest of the year are left unused, forgotten.

When we do get a glimpse of the lonely mat, we think, maybe later, or another day.  It’s too hot, or I’m busy right now.  The mat doesn’t complain, it knows you are taking a break and you will return eager to begin again, and not knowing why it has been so long.

Where else can you immediately find a place to honor your body, a place to build and feel strength, awareness, and balance.  It is a place for your body to breathe and soften, a place for your mind to find stillness and peace, and a place for your heart to find courage and compassion.

This small mat gives us permission to open up to possibilities and choices. It gives us a place where we invest in ourselves and create an awareness that we can take out into the world.  It is a place where the gifts are endless and lifelong.

When you’re ready – Welcome Back!

                                                                 By Dona Anderson

Cd Cover

I have to keep learning how to do things so this is a trail run. 

This is the cover of my CD.

A Time to Laugh

A few days before Nautical Days I wanted to get my hair cut.  It is all one length and since I didn’t have an appointment with my regular hairdresser, I thought I’d go to the no appointment, cheaper place.  It was one of those days when I wanted it cut right now and didn’t want to wait, and I would get to save myself a few dollars as well.

Anyway, all was good until I got home and looked in the mirror.  The hair had been sprayed with water to cut it, and now of course it was going out in all directions.   Oh well, I’ll wash it tomorrow and all will be good.  Unfortunately, it was not.  After drying I could see something was wrong, one side was obviously longer than the other.  Oh NO! 

I didn’t feel like going to get it fixed right then as I was busy with other things, so this was how I looked all weekend talking to lots of people.  Do you think they noticed? And to add to the story, my hairdresser visited the next table to see the jewelry lady and noticed me and we talked.  I was trying to stay back so she wouldn’t notice and wonder about my hair.  Then after she left I told the jewelry lady about my hair, and we had a good giggle.

A few nights later, I was in the bedroom laughing at how funny I looked, and then I remembered a few years ago when we were traveling my husband got a haircut somewhere and it looked like they put a bowl on his head.  So then I started laughing even more and my husband came in the bedroom wondering what I was doing, who I was talking to, and what I was laughing at.

So the next day I went to get my hair fixed.  I was in the right place that day to go back and ask them to fix it.

I am reading a book on healing with my ladies group and the chapter we are on right now is loving yourself.  This is a pretty important chapter about honestly accepting everything about yourself in this moment, the good and the bad.  We put out what we believe and feel about ourselves and that is how we’re treated and is what we get back.  We can make our life as wonderful or not by what we choose. 

The journey is not about how I look, it is about what I believe, what I tell myself, feel, accept and let go of.  It is about always growing and improving.  I may not be where you want to be yet, but I’m not where I used to be either. 

Years ago I would have gone right back to get my hair fixed, but that week, I laughed about it and knew that I would go and get it fixed another day.  It didn’t affect what I was doing or who I was. I had more important things to do, and I was perfect that day just as I was.

He picked a Green Card

One of my special moments of the festival weekend was with a small boy, maybe 4.  He must have seen me handing out the wellness cards from a distance and when he got to me, I was talking to a friend, so he came right back behind the table and asked it he could have one of my cards.

I said of course and that he could pick out his own, and to also pick one for his Mom.  So he picked a yellow one for his Mom, and then said his Dad needed one so he picked a blue one for him, and then he said he wanted a green one, then off he went so happy.

As green is the color of the heart chakra, I was not surprised he picked that color.  He seemed full of warmth and generosity.

I just love it when the little ones create those special moments so easily that touch your heart!


(My show handout cards are on colored paper, where the actual cards are white with colored roses)

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.