I get a lot of people commenting on how calm I seem through all of this crazy “adventure”.

My answer is, in no particular order of importance!

• Dave to keep me sane and grounded
• My family
• All my wonderful Warrior Angels who support me in many different ways
• Yoga

I began my yoga journey in 2013, in the mountains with my adventure buddy Anne. We skinned up Hyak face and skied to the bottom of the chair on the backside of Hidden Valley. Anne had me hold warrior 3 pose while she set the selfie timer for our first SnoYoga pose. I had no idea what warrior 3 was! Playing in the snow with Anne and my other adventure yoga buddies got me serious about learning how to do the poses or as I now know, the Asanas.

In May 2013, I bought a 12 class pass to Ignite in North Bend https://ignitedanceandyoga.com/ The pass lasted 3 weeks. I was hooked!!!! I then bought a membership and went to as many classes as I could! I have learned from some amazing yogis at that studio. I then began to follow the yoga community on instagram and began some of the ‘challenges’ I started many but did not always finish them however, I learned lots and slowly progressed in my asana practice.

On thanksgiving of 2013, I went to Josephine’s morning class where she told me that yoga is not just about the asanas but that there are actually what is referred to as 8 limbs of yoga (forgive me if you know all this but this was all new to me!!) She \explained that together the 8 limbs of yoga are a way of being in the world. “A way to cultivate inner happiness and free ourselves from negativity.” The Path of the Yoga Sutras” Nicolai Bachman.

Josephine talked about Santosa, one of the niyama-s. She described it as being content with one’s actions, with what one has and, with what one is doing or has done. Being content with who we are leads to inner happiness according to Bachman ” Santosa means being satisfied with whatever you are doing…as long we are doing something to move ourselves in a positive direction” This goes along nicely with a gratitude practice.

What am I rambling on about? You ask yourself. Well, when I look at my life in this adventure, I am happy with what I have, where I am and who I am. I may have an interloper in my brain, but I am not going to let that ruin the enjoyment of my one wild and precious life!! As Dave keeps saying ” it is what it is!”

My Update

I just came off 4 weeks of a break from no treatment and it felt amazing! No trips to Swedish for radiotherapy, no chemo, no more seizure drugs. As the weeks went by, I began to feel stronger and stronger! I even went paddleboarding!

I still have trouble with a lot of noise, and I get tired with a lot of stimulation plus I have a constant feeling of being out of balance as my brain works to figure out what is happening. If you walk with me, I will likely bump into you a lot! I still talk to my left hand, so my brain understands what it is supposed to do. This is all connected to the left side neglect due to the tumors pushing on the right side of my brain. I am gentle with my hand and brain though and talk nicely to it!

What is next?…As I said in the last post. I need to keep doing what I am doing with diet and positive thinking, add in daily low dose chemo plus one other drug that is known to be a stem cell suppressant: (hydroxyurea if you want to look it up) taken 5 days every 28. I will have an MRI every 2 months and monthly blood draws with follow up online meetings with the oncologist. I have also added daily meditation to my daily routine. I am a busy girl!!!

Have a wonderful winter break. Be sure to find time to relax and unwind. You are worth it!

If you are into podcasts, treat yourself to an episode or 2 of this one https://bethkempton.com/podcast/