That Certainly Hasn't Happened In A Long Time... And Neither Has That! (Tears and Goosebumps)

Two separate things I would like to share today. The first is not super-positive but still positive in a way, and the second is super-positive. 

Today, I went to yoga at lunch time for an hour-long practice. I was feeling pretty apprehensive since it was my favorite teacher teaching. (I know, that sounds backward, but it's true!) I told him so when I saw him outside the yoga studio and he asked me how I was. "Apprehensive." lol

Okay! Long story short, I made it through practice alive, although I did have to stand in mountain pose a few times while the others actually followed the teachers instructions. :p We did quite a few heart-opening poses and, although we didn't do the camel, which is usually my downfall, we did enough other stress-releasing poses that after the practice the dam broke and I started crying. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I used to do this all the time at the end of Greg's classes, but that was three years ago, when my troubles were tenfold what they are now. I am no longer agonizing about my kids, who at the time were kidnapped by their father. I am also feeling a lot safer than in 2009, when the police came looking for me to warn me that my husband was looking to have me killed. Understandably, I had a lot on my plate. Now, I still have a lot of stress factors, but nothing as bad as that. I mean, I have my three kids. The rest is just details, right? :o)

Actually, I feel really good now. The way I see it, I have let some of the stress out, so now I'm not so full of it any more. So I would like to recommend to everyone who is stressed to do some yoga, especially poses that open the abdominal area below the navel. People tend to keep stress in that area and it is good to stretch it and release the tension. The camel pose is a very good pose for that. Here's what it looks like:

If you can't lean on the soles of your feet, you can just put hour hands on your lower back. I find that actually helps the stretch because then I can push out on my abdomen from behind. Try it! :o)

The second thing that happened to me today was that I put some music on as I was working and I got goosebumps. lol It may not seem like a big thing to you guys, but when something moves me I get goosebumps. Be it a touching scene in a movie or the sound of an instrument or a certain lyric, I get goosebumps on my arms when I feel the... passion. (for want of a better word) So this afternoon I was open enough to let the good stuff in and I thoroughly enjoyed the music. (It was the Hawksley Workman song Ice Age. I am listening to the The Battle of 77 by the Sunparlour Players right now.)

It feels so good to let the music wash over me. I am happy. I wonder if I would have this reaction if I hadn't had my yoga practice earlier...

Recipe for Happiness

I played hooky yesterday. I admit it. I was so engrossed in the book I was reading I just didn't think I could put it down without first finishing it. In the end, I fell asleep before the end and I didn't get to blog.

I don't feel a bit guilty because I know how important it is to have a balanced life. I'm not saying mine is perfectly balanced, but that is what I strive for. I like to read. Make that LOVE to read. It is my passion, and part of the secret recipe for happiness is that you have to have something to be passionate about. It can be anything. Some people are passionate about art, insects or cake. For some it is a lifelong passion. Others jump from one thing to another. Some people concentrate all their energies on one specific thing. Others are busy with all sorts of interests. It doesn't matter. What counts is that you have something to be passionate about, something to get you off the couch and out the door, or at least out of bed. Something you want to pursue. Motivation to live.

I am the kind of person to jump from one thing to another. I have been into a lot of things from scuba diving to scrapbooking to yoga. I do also have interests that have been pretty constant since childhood. I am passionate about my children, and I always have loved children. I waited 23 years just to get pregnant. I couldn't wait! I am also passionate about animals. I believe we were put on this earth to take care of them, both the wild and the domestic. I have an affectionate cat who sleeps with me and a cute bunny to entertain me by wiggling his little white nose. :o)

Music is also a passion of mine, especially live music, and I have had the same favorite band, Blue Rodeo, since grade six. I remember when I was young, we were constantly singing in the car. Our parents, especially our dad, taught us so many Hungarian folk songs, and when we came to Canada we would sing along with Bryan Adams on the radio, even though we didn't understand a word of the lyrics. I wish I could make music but I can't even sing well. The only thing musical about me are my ears.

Another thing that I have always loved is writing, hence the blog. :o) It goes hand-in-hand with reading and I do a lot of that. I always have. I remember lying on my bed in grade one, before we came to Canada, reading Little House in the Big Woods in Hungarian. A chapter book in grade one! Later, when I FINALLY got my own room in grade six, I would pick a book and read 'till all hours of the night, and complain if someone woke me up before noon. Actually, I think I did that even before I got my own room, when I shared with my sister. I remember we had a bunk bed... but now I am getting sidetracked!

Last night I must have read until eleven or so, but at that point I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I called it a day. With three children, I can't afford to stay up all night reading because I do have to be functional in the morning to get everyone out the door in time. But I do read, in moderate amounts, and I enjoy it immensely. I am surprised (and disappointed, to tell the truth) that my daughter says she doesn't like reading. She does read, though. She takes so many books out of the library, but she says it is the subjects that interest her, not the reading. She is into very strange subjects too, like 9/11 and the Titanic. She also reads a lot about Islam, go figure.

I do try to read in front of my children, to be a good model. Unfortunately, that often backfires because it is perceived as being selfish and ignoring the children. That saddens me. I do so look forward to the day when we can all sit on a dock by a quiet lake and read together. We'll see... In the meantime, my boys do appreciate it when I read to them at bedtime, so that's something.

But this post isn't about parenting skills. It is about having something to be passionate about. Something to inspire you, something to pursue. I truly believe that for a person to be happy, they have to have things that interest them. So think about it. What are you passionate about?