The Pink Book

Empty little journals, I have a few. And I filled one with tips I'd like to pass along to anyone who wants them (that means you, my children). It has a pink cover, so I call it The Pink Book. That's a working title and these are working pages. It's a WIP, as am I.

As a kid I learned to swim by watching my mother when we went for picnics to the Coquitlam River. I learned to do a graceful front crawl. I admired her and so I imitated what I saw her doing: powerful freestyle strokes.

When I was eighteen, a friend taught me the co-ordinated breathing for the crawl. That was at English Bay, my favourite place in Vancouver. I love the ocean. I love salt water: the taste, the scent, the feel, its restorative powers.

Since my early glory days of floating on gentle waves, mostly at English Bay, I’ve heard about -

Undertow and rogue waves and rip tides! Oh my!

Those things mean you have to know a few things about the ocean: swim in safe areas, take lessons if you don't feel secure with your water skills, don't stand out on rocks where waves are crashing.

Now, you don't have to go to the ocean to experience the wonders of water. Soothing and energizing, it comes in many forms, some which you can access via your tap or freezer -

From rain and ice to sky and clouds -

In other words -

All the stickers you see here come out of book I was gifted called The Antiquarian Sticker Book.

Yes, dance. Or walk -

If you have to allow a thought to play out, let it be a cat curled up in the sun. This thought or image can take you out of your funk, and blast you straight into some pleasant territory of mind and heart.

Bask, Breathe, Revel: in the sun or in a storm -

Do you know about 4-4-4-4? This kind of breathing, called box breathing, gets the sympathetic system to switch to the parasympathetic -

"The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are two divisions of the autonomic nervous system that work together to regulate bodily functions. They have opposite effects, with the sympathetic system preparing the body for 'fight or flight' while the parasympathetic system promotes 'rest and digest'."

Let me bring this back to the ocean, the ocean as metaphor. Remember that bit where I learned the breathing technique that goes with the crawl? Well, the following breathing technique doesn't take place in the water; nevertheless, I call it "Ocean Belly Breathing". It's from a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn called Full Catastrophe Living:

"In the case of the ocean, if you go down 10 or 20 feet, there is only a gentle swelling; there is calm even when the surface is agitated. Similarly when we focus on our breathing down in the belly, we are tuning into a region of the body that is below the agitations of our thinking mind and is intrinsically calmer. This is a valuable way of reestablishing inner calmness and balance in the face of emotional upset or when you have a lot on your mind."

Now, from below the agitations of your thinking mind (if possible) make a salad of pears and pansies! Or, use some other fruits and edible flowers. As the Urban Peasant would say: "Use what you've got."

Admire it, shoot it, draw it, eat it, share it -

Remember the orange cat? Maybe she wants some salad, especially if you put tuna or sardines in it.

I can recommend a good funny show if you need one (see last entry here*).

So, The Pink Book has a lot of pages in it. Part Two of this journey will feature more exciting pages full of hacks, tips, advice, pictures, stickers.

*The funny show(s) rec:

Thanks for reading!