Hi! I'm Mary Baker and I am a Compassioneer!!

What is a Compassioneer, you ask??  Think of us like Mouseketeers (am I dating myself??), but instead of mouse ears, we wear two sided Compassion it wrist bands.  Start your day on the black side and as soon as you've done something compassionate, then flip it to white!  The band serves as a reminder to look for opportunities throughout your day to spread the message of Compassion one kind act at a time - serving to make the world a better place.  Compassion is like a Super Power - it can instantly make you and the recipient of your compassion happier, healthier, and better equipped to solve your day to day problems as well as larger, global issues.  

The Compassioneers are Ambassadors for Compassion it - we are a group of like-minded individuals all over the planet who have pledged to share the Compassion it message with our communities and the world for the next three months.  I am so very grateful to have been selected as one of this amazing group of people!!  I will be recruiting my own little crew of Compassioneers to help me out on my mission - each will receive a wristband and will report back to me over the next few months with their personal stories of Compassion.  I'll blog about these stories, as well as my own, and together we will share a whole lotta Compassion with the world!

My first story I want to share is a very personal one. As a yoga teacher, I usually have pretty darn stress-free days.  I mean I do what I love every day!  And it's yoga which by nature is a stress reliever.  But every once in a while, life decides you've gotten a bit too comfy and decides to test what you are made of.  So,  I've had a couple of pretty crappy days this week - I won't go in to the big, juicy details, but let's just say I was deeply betrayed by someone I deemed to not only be my friend, but also my mentor, and employer.  Not only did this person betray me, but they chose to share their false accusations with everyone else on the staff.  Fortunately, I teach at multiple locations and have a wonderful following of students who love me and that's where today's Compassionate Act comes in...

Picture this...I'm preparing to teach a full class at a health club and doing my pre-class warm ups.  Just as I move from chaturanga to upward dog, I am met face-on with a rose, a card, and the smiling face of one of my dearest students and very sweet friends who had heard what took place (word spreads fast thanks to social media!!).  My heart practically burst through my chest with love and tears sprang to my eyes as she gave me the warmest hug ever.  Then, she set up her mat and propped up a cute little sign right in front of it that said "Mary Rocks!!".  All through class I was floating on cloud 9 and feeling the love from her awesome act of Compassion.  I am still feeling the warm fuzzies from how wonderful she made me feel.  

That is the power of Compassion, my friends!  What we think of as "nothing" or just a simple act, can turn someone's day, or perhaps week, or year, or LIFE around!  Having others treat you with compassion makes you want to pay it back, or forward and then the cycle continues.  How awesome is that??

So, if you have a story to share then contact me.  And if you don't have one yet, don't worry there's still plenty of time to get out there and Compassion it.  

TTFN!! (that's Tigger talk for ta-ta for now...yes I'm a Disney girl at heart <3)