Hump Day Happies: Walking on Sunshine

"Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow." ~Henry David Thoreau

After being shacked up in our homes while Jack Frost did his worse, it's so refreshing to finally feel the warm sun plunging down on our faces.  Not to mention being able to walk without worrying about slipping, slushy snow, and big boots.  Take a look out the window- what do you see?  Spring jackets, sunglasses and flat bellerina style shoes.  The first sign that Spring is in the air!  Let me tell you about the wonderful morning I had yesterday.

I woke up bright and early (ok 9:30am, not really early, but bright nonetheless!)  I walked out the door with music in my ears and made my way up to Mount-Royal Avenue.  I think that's the one thing I love most about where I live: I can get to the Avenue within 6 minutes.  Everything is so close-by.  It felt absolutely wonderful to not worry about mittens, earmuffs, and the sniffles!  For those of you who don't know me that well, I love walking.  I can walk for hours and hours, especially on beautiful days.  I will walk anywhere if I can.  My first stop yesterday was David's Tea.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it's my discovery of the century.  I have begun a torrid love affair with this place.  You walk in and have hundreds of teas ligned up, just begging to be sipped.  The people who work there are so friendly and extremely helpful.  You can literally walk in and say "I'm in the mood for something sweet, slightly spicy, with no caffeine" or "I have a headache, what should I drink?" and they will suggest loads of teas for you to try.  You can even start off by smelling them to see how your nose feels about them.  Yesterday I indulged in a caramel pear tea- delicious!  So I continued my journey on Mount-Royal Avenue, with a tea and a smile on my face.  Now, at this point, I no longer had my Ipod plugged into my ears.  I love listening to music when walking.  I have a playlist that I quite appropriately named AWESOME- a true hommage to the great music found in it.  It's mostly a mix of classic DooWop tunes.  However, when walking out of David's Tea, I realized something incredible.  Silence.  I didn't hear the sound of cars honking or people yelling.  The Avenue was so peaceful.  It was as though I was walking in my own little bubble, and no one could burst it.  This made my walk even more enjoyable.  It allowed me to really reflect inside- I have a tendancy to daydream, especially when walking alone.  It's like the creative juices flow stronger than ever.  After a few moments, I plugged my oldies back in and continued to walk along St-Denis street where people were enjoying coffees and conversations on terasses.  I continued right up until I got to my yoga studio downtown.  Now, Sainte-Catherine street was not as peaceful, but the serene feeling lingered with me nonetheless.  Oh, and my yoga practice was a wonderful way of tieing a bow on the top of my morning.  It was a recipe for wonder: sunshine, walking, David's Tea, music, silence, yoga.

So on this Hump Day, which is equally as beautiful as yesterday, I do hope that you take the time to stretch out your legs and take a stroll.  Let yourself bathe in the sunny feeling.  And if you're ever on Mount-Royal Avenue and happen to pass by a blonde girl with sunglasses, a kick in her step, a David's Tea in hand and a smile stretched from one ear to the next, please, say hello :)

Namaste,
Lady Lotus