I wrote a children’s book! 9 years ago! And now it’s published!

Here’s what happened. (The story of how the book came to be is longer than the actual book.)

In 2013, my business was called Dance Ugly Dance Awkward. I helped people learn about themselves and release perfectionism through movement, so I thought about dance a lot.

I’m not even entirely sure how it happened, but one day, a poem came through me that I thought would make a great children’s book. Soon thereafter, I set out to find an illustrator. 

After making a few inquiries here and there, and connecting with various artists, I found someone to do the illustrations. All was going well. The woman did all the drawings and I loved them.  And then one day, she just stopped communicating with me. All attempts to connect with her failed. There was simply no way to reach her. 

The project stalled and I let go of it for a while. A few years later, as I noticed my daughter Zoe’s...

Last week, I had the honour of teaching Body Awake Yoga at a national conference for a group of medical academics in Banff (dream come true!) 

Since the yoga was at 6:30am, I had plenty of time to get out into the mountain air. I took two very interesting walks that seemed like a metaphor for life so I wanted to share them with you. Plus I captured this gorgeous sunrise. These are the real colours! No filters! Right out my window!

The hotel was not really in Banff; it was outside of town halfway up a mountain. I set out to explore. The option was up… or up. I clomped through the snow for a while and then found a road. It seemed relatively quiet and so up I went, enjoying the pine trees swaying in the wind on both sides. 

The road alternated with a gradual climb and then steep switchbacks where there was no visibility to determine if cars were coming or not. On each sharp curve, a decision had to be made of where it would be best to place myself so that I would be...

Have you heard anything lately about hustling or having a side hustle?

I’ve noticed it popping up in books, emails and articles and I have to say that I’m not in agreement with hustle-culture.

Here’s why. (I learned this paradigm-shifting-mind-blowing idea from my mentor Dr. Sue Morter.)

If it takes a huge amount of energy to “make something happen”, it’s going to take an equal amount of energy to sustain it. 

In other words, if you’re working super hard to manifest something or bring it to fruition, you’re going to need to put out just as much energy on the other side to maintain it, and that’s just not feasible (in my experience). 

On the other hand, if something comes into your life with ease and grace, it will be much easier to sustain because you’re already at that vibration. 

Basically, if you’re over-trying, over-efforting, striving or forcing, you can expect to keep pushing that boulder...

Greetings!

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Brainz Magazine called: 

How To Find More Time In Your Day (Surprise ‒ It Has Nothing To Do With Time Management)

There were so many secrets about time I wanted to share that it turned into 2 articles and Part 2 is now ready for your reading pleasure. 

Click the link below to read: 

How To Find More Time In Your Day Part 2 (And It’s Not About Time Management)

Here's what you'll discover:

Your beliefs about time impact every second of every day. In this article, learn why what you think and say about time is far more important than your time management and organizational skills.

Enjoy!

With infinite love and boundless courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Executive Contributor for Brainz Magazine

>Avid reader (currently reading: Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki, The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne, Wildflower by Drew Barrymore and The Nobleman's Guide to...

Sometimes, lessons come from the most unexpected circumstances.

The other day, I had a hankering for my favourite scones (a modified version of the scones from my most beloved Calgary bakery; Sidewalk Citizen). They are these delicious morsels of goodness with coconut flour, dark chocolate, and if we have some handy, dried cherries. I’m telling you, they’re magnificent.

I used to make these scones a lot and they always turned out great. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped turning out, even though I didn’t change anything. I kept trying and they kept being not good at all (but always, mysteriously, in a different version of not good).

Not wanting to give up on the best scones of all time, I asked Zoe to make them, and they were back to being good. She’s become the scone baker of the house over the last few years and all has been good, as far as scone consumption goes. 

When I had my hankering last week, though, Zoe was at school and I wanted them tout de...

I had an experience last week that helped me (re)learn how important one’s outlook is. A small (or Titanic-sized) shift in perspective changes everything. Here’s what happened.

Many years ago (in 2019), we purchased tickets to see a Norwegian music group called Wardruna. Paul and the kids love them and I thought it would be fun, so we got tickets. Then came 2020 so obviously we didn’t get to see them that year. The show got postponed to Oct 24.

On Oct 24, 2021, we were heading out to see the long-awaited performance. I thought it was a little strange not to have received any info about the venue change, but that didn’t phase me (or send up any red flags). 

I searched my email for more info and noticed that something was amiss because Oct 25 was a Monday, but the show was supposed to be on Monday, Oct 24. For a moment, my heart dropped because I’d done something like that before. We had opera tickets one year and went to see the show, only to...

A few weeks ago, a huge dream came true. It was a dream I’d had for at least 18 years. And then it happened. I took Zoe to Paris (all by myself) and we found her graduation dress. Plus, if you tuned in last week, you’ll also know that we made it home. On our scheduled flight. Hooray!

Sometimes when you achieve a goal or a dream comes true, it can be a little disconcerting because it’s been a part of you for so long. Maybe it’s something you had to work really hard for or maybe it happened with grace and ease. Perhaps a little of both. 

Regardless of how your vision manifests into reality, it’s really important to do the following.

Step 1

First of all, before you do anything else (like say, Okay, what’s next?) celebrate yourself. You did something significant. You followed through. You took action. You probably needed some courage. And you did it, so celebrate. 

It’s easy to get this part wrong. I’m not talking about going...

Well, we're back from Paris and did we ever have an adventure getting home. I considered writing out the story and realized that it would have pretty much been a novel so I recorded a video for you instead. 

Click on the image below to see how fear often turns into hilarity and some other profound lessons I learned while panicking at the Charles De Gaulle airport. I told the story to my parents last night and they were in hysterics, so hopefully you're entertained too. 

With delightful love and amplified courage, 

Christina

> Creator of Courageous Self-Care

> Practising persistence and patience (I had to record the video twice as the sound didn't work on take 1. It sounded like digestion rather than my hilarious story. Grrr.)

> Coming up with a new dream now that my shopping-in-Paris-for-Zoe's-graduation-dress dream is complete

PS - Body Awake Yoga is back on! Join us live this Friday at 9:15am Mountain or catch the recording. 

Dreams are a curious thing. Sometimes you have a dream and it unfolds with so much ease. Other times, it takes a surprising amount of persistence. And other times, you need a healthy dose of divine timing.

Let me give you some contrasting examples. 

The other day, I had a dream of making butter paneer for dinner. I had purchased a jar of plant-based butter chicken sauce (obviously with no chicken in sight) at a lovely little farmers’ market that we can walk to from our new house. (I’m telling you, the perks in our new location are endless.)

We’ve had butter tofu in the past, and this time, I really wanted to add paneer. I walked over to the local organic grocery store, but alas, no paneer, so I made my way over to the Safeway a few blocks further. There were dozens of kinds of cheese from all over the world, but still no paneer. I started to walk home, feeling a little defeated, and then noticed a specialty cheese shop just across the street. Jackpot! Of...

A few weeks ago, we had a garage sale. After we moved, we realized that although our new place is more spacious, it has less storage than our previous home, and so it was time to let go of another round of stuff. 

We were just going to give it to the Goodwill, but my parents were also doing a big clearout, so we agreed to do a garage sale together. 

Whenever I do anything in life, I set an intention. It’s important to let the Universe know what you would like to happen. Of course, you can’t be attached to the outcome, but it’s good to get clear on what you would like, and most importantly, on how you’d like to feel. 

The last time we had a garage sale, we made over $1000, so I set my sights high. My dream goal for this year’s event was $1500 (never mind that we didn’t have that much stuff to sell; we had a couple of big-ticket items and it’s good to dream big). When setting intentions, I’ve learned to not worry about...