Two years ago yesterday (April 29) I was officially diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a rough day.

It was a day I will probably never forget.  It was a day that started me on one of the most challenging and rewarding journeys of my life. 

You read that correctly.  Going through cancer has been deeply rewarding and I am incredibly grateful to have had the experience.  I certainly didn’t feel this way at first or during the times I had doctors and nurses (and other people) telling me to do things I didn’t want to do or when I was in pain or when my skin was peeling off… but now that I have some distance I can see how every experience was helping me to grow.

It has taken hours, days…months of deep, personal work to be able to come to a place of gratitude for having cancer.  This is not something that I am saying lightly.  I know that many people see cancer differently and have had a very different experience from mine.  I am just saying that I have come to a place of peace with it.  I am grateful, regardless of how things turn out in the end.

Today I want to express my gratitude for this experience, for all the people who have stood by me and for the fact that I am alive and well today.  I also want to announce that I am starting something new on my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/GetItDunnJoyfully.  Thursdays are now officially to be known as Thankful Thursdays at the Get It Dunn headquarters!  Each Thursday I am going to post something I am grateful for and invite you to share something that you are grateful for.  The more we can find something to be grateful for, the more we will be in our hearts.  The more we can be in our hearts the more love we can have for ourselves and others.  So please help me share the love!  Let’s make social media a place of gratitude, love and joy!  What are you grateful for today?

Love,

P.S.  One of the reasons I have been able to be grateful for my cancer is because of my daily spiritual practices.  These practices have helped me to stay calm, release tension, stress and fear and to listen deeply to my own inner wisdom.  Being able to rely on my inner wisdom and strength has made many a rough day easier.  I teach some of these practices in my Way of the Happy Woman® mini retreats so if you would like to learn how to be at peace with the challenges in your life please join me for my next retreat – Saturday May 23^rd.  The early deadline is on May 1^st (tomorrow) and we only have 4 spots left so if you feel called to find more peace in your life, click here to get more information and to reserve your spot.  I would be grateful to have the joy of spending the afternoon with you!

Winnipeg, Manitoba (only 4 spots left)
Saturday May 23, 2015
Early Registration Date: May 1, 2015

And when you register by the Early Registration Date, there’s a sweet discount.
Click here for details & registration. I hope to see you there!

Follow Deb:

Yoga is another one of my regular practices that keep me healthy and balanced.
Why don’t you join me for a class?

Yoga
Rest and Review – Mondays 7:30 – 9:00
Beginner Basic Alignment – Wednesdays 9:00  – 10:00 am
Yin – Wednesdays 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Source Yoga Studios, 2567 Pembina Highway

Social Media
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/GetItDunnJoyfully
Twitter: @debdawsondunn

A few weeks ago I attended a silent meditation retreat.  I spent 5
days with 14 strangers, meditating, eating and learning in silence.
We were able to talk during teaching sessions if we had questions
and for an hour after lunch but the rest of the time there was no
talking.  We relinquished our technology – no computers, phones,
pads, tablets, notebooks, ghetto blasters….and no contact with
the outside world.

It was blissful….

…for about half a day.

Then it got hard and tedious and I found myself craving a distraction
from the silence and the seemingly endless sitting (it was a mediation
retreat, Deb.  What did you think you would be doing…zumba?).  

What I want you to know about retreats like this is that you will come
out the other side feeling way better than when you started.  It might
get a bit rough and uncomfortable in the middle but you will develop
a deeper connection with yourself and a deeper sense of calm and
peace.  

Because I was feeling so calm and centered by the end of the retreat
I wanted to recreate a piece of this feeling at home.  I suggested to
my sweetie that we try having Silent Sundays – meaning that we stay
away from all of our technology for the day.  He was game to try and
we have had 3 Sundays so far with pretty good success…except that
I have been getting more and more uncomfortable with this digital
detox.  When I took a closer look at why I was feeling this way I
realized that it is not because I am disconnected from my friends,
family or what is going on in the world, it’s because I can no longer
rely on the technology to make me look like and feel like I am being
productive.  

Yep – there’s the ugly truth!  I have equated being productive with
being on my computer or checking my phone.  I don’t get that many
emails in a day or a week for that matter yet I can spend hours with
my lap top checking for new emails, reading unimportant emails (the
kind that usually tell me how I am not enough and I need to try their
3 step system for success) or wandering around Facebook.  I came to
the realization that this mindless use of technology was giving me
the false feeling that I was doing something productive.  I was doing
something, there’s no question, but it was rarely productive.  What is
even more disconcerting is that I work by myself the majority of the
time so I don’t know who I was trying to impress with my “productivity”
– just more evidence of my being unconscious about my actions and
daily activities.  

Are you blocking yourself with unconscious habits?  Do you search out
distractions or fill your time with mindless or mundane activities in order
to feel like you are doing something?  Or maybe you do these activities
to avoid what really needs attention.  Are you ready to stop or at least
take a look at what might be in your way?  

When you step away from your usual routines and your unconscious
habits you can often get insight into the behaviors and blocks that are
keeping you from having the kind of life you really crave.  Try
unplugging for a few hours on a weekend or turn the TV off one night a
week or give up any one of your usual distractions and see what you
notice.  What in your life really needs your attention?  What is ready
and wanting to come alive in you?  I would love to hear about what
you discover when you take some time away from the distractions!
Leave your comments on the blog or share your thoughts on my
Facebook page (that will be time well spent with technology!!).

Love,

Want to step away from your daily distractions but not sure how to do it?  Consider
joining me for one of my mini retreats.  They are short, powerful, deeply nourishing
and will help you redefine what it means to be productive!

Please join me for …

The Way of the Happy Woman Spring Self-Care Mini-Retreat!

When we women slow down and attune to our bodies (and the cycles of nature),
we become more vital, creative, and powerful.

If you’re longing to give more, do more, be more, please join me for a very
special half-day self-care mini-retreat for women! 

Together, we’ll create a sacred container for quiet contemplation and creative
group practices. Nourish yourself with women’s yoga, insight meditation,
seasonal self-care secrets, intuitive journaling, and more. It’s all based on The
Way of the Happy Woman (www.wayofthehappywoman.com ): Sara Avant Stover’s
acclaimed book, practice collection, and global community.

It’s happening in two locations:

Steinbach, Manitoba (only 3 spots left)
Saturday April 18, 2015
Register By: April 17, 2015

AND/OR

Winnipeg, Manitoba (only 7 spots left)
Saturday May 23, 2015
Early Registration Date: May 1, 2015

And when you register by the Early Registration Date, there’s a sweet discount.
Click here for details & registration. I hope to see you there!

Follow Deb:

Another way to step away from the distractions is to join me for some yoga!

Yoga
Mondays 7:30 – 9:00 Rest and Renew
Wednesdays 11:00 am – 12:00 Yin
Source Yoga Studios, 2567 Pembina Highway

Social Media
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/GetItDunnJoyfully
Twitter: @debdawsondunn