Last week I returned from a very special holiday with one of my best friends or a vacation as some of my new found friends would call it.

It was my first holiday for well over a year, so when my holiday finally arrived at the start of September I realised how much I was in need of the break. As soon as I boarded the plane at London Heathrow I forgot everything. I left it all behind.

When we arrived at our final destination, nothing had prepared us for the serenity and beauty of the place.  We were at Tsylos Lodge located on the Chilko Lake, surrounded by the BC Coastal Mountain Range. It was exactly what I needed. Peace, quiet, tranquillity in the heart of nature – all of my favourite things. Oh and horses, did I forget to mention it was a riding holiday? Another one of my favourite things.

Our days were spent mostly out in the saddle covering different terrain each day, some days riding in the forests, others alongside the beautiful Chilko Lake populated with sockeye salmon and bears waiting patiently to eat the dead salmon once they had spawned.

It is a beautiful and magical sight to see bears in their natural habitat with no fear of humans, being able to watch them swim and sit in the water eating their catch, cubs happily playing alongside their mothers, eagles soaring high above us. Absolute bliss. I was in my element, in the heart of nature, doing my favourite thing, horse riding.

An added bonus was there was no telephone signal or wi-fi which meant no sneaky moments of I’ll just check my e-mails or listening to other guests talking loudly on their phones.

As technology moves on it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find places that are completely free from telephone masts and wi-fi and I know some of my friends would find it difficult to be in such a remote place. However there is a saying at Tsylos Lodge that says “sometimes we have to disconnect to reconnect” and I am sure that the benefits of my week being disconnected from the hustle and bustle of city life will remain with me through to the depths of winter.

I regard myself as rather lucky because I have disconnecting myself down to a fine art.  To do this, I choose to get out in nature as much as possible, either walking my dog or riding my horses, this is where I’m happiest and if I don’t get my daily fresh air fix I can become quite cranky as any of my friends will testify.

On the flight home as I viewed the wonderful landscape of Canada from the aircraft window, I wondered how other people took time out and disconnected, if at all, and if they really even know how to.

I think it is really important for our health and well being to take time out, switch off and do things we enjoy and that make us happy. I know it’s not always possible to take a holiday on a whim and I am truly grateful that I am able to do so but there are still many ways we can relax and make time for ourselves.

Ways to relax and unwind come in a variety of ways and can include pursuing hobbies, walking, yoga, pilates, meeting up with friends, listening to music, getting out in nature (this one works every time for me), reading a book or just having “you time” or imagine this, just doing absolutely nothing.

It can be very therapeutic, if we allow ourselves to just “be” in the here and now, not looking forward or backward, just appreciating the now, the present time and all that we have. So this week, why not try to set aside some “you” time and really reap and feel the benefits, it might even be as good as taking a holiday.

As bears feature in this week’s Blog I thought I would include advice from Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne. “Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering”.

Doing nothing once in a while can be a very healthy thing to do and I would love to hear from any of my readers on ways they choose to relax and unwind and if they ever do just nothing.

Wishing everyone a happy week filled with love and happiness and maybe even doing nothing or if you are in the process of planning a holiday and you get a chance you couldn’t go far wrong with a visit to the magical place of Tyslos Lodge (www.tsylos.com).

I recently overhead two young women talking to each other about what had been going on in their respective lives.  One had lost weight and the other was complaining about her life and how boring it was and asked her friend how she had managed to lose so much weight.

The one that had lost weight said she realised that if she wanted to lose weight she had to make some changes to her lifestyle and said she first starting to cut out sweet sugary items and gave up alcohol only choosing to drink it on social and special occasions.  She also decided to start an exercise programme but didn’t want to be stuck inside a gym so she joined the local running club.  She went on to say that as a result she had met many new people and had a new circle of friends.  She tried to encourage her friend to join a club or take up a hobby in an attempt to get out more and change her life saying she would never know if she didn’t try.  She even invited her along to the running club to see if she might like to join.

As an outsider looking in I could tell this other friend who was bored with life was never going to make any move to change her life in any form whatsoever.  I was intrigued by how excited and animated one was and how lifeless the other appeared and would probably continue in this way for a long time.  Her attitude needed to change.

I have always been a great believer in the philosophy that we can do anything we really want to and can really change our lives but the only way this can happen is if we are willing to do so in the first place.    I’m not talking about major changes but simple things that can, in time, make big differences.  For example, taking up new hobbies, taking a different route to work or getting up earlier to make more time to exercise or do something when the house is quiet before everyone else gets up or even treating ourselves to a make-over or new hairstyle, generally being open to change.

We can’t expect things to change in our lives if we carry on doing the same old things, the same old way because that is always the way we’ve done things.  The universe is in constant motion, nothing stands still and neither should we.

A few weeks later whilst travelling to work I saw the friends again.  The one who had lost the weight and joined the running club was proudly showing off a sparkling diamond ring on her third ring finger.  She looked so radiant and happy.  It was at this point I think the other one realised if she wanted to change her life she needed to do something about it because I heard her say “maybe I should take up a hobby after all” and she actually smiled.

So if there’s something you want to do or something you would like to change, my advice would be just go out there and do it, it doesn’t have to be big but something small, after all, you never know where it might lead but at least you will have tried.

I would love to hear from any of my readers that have made a change that lead to something unexpected or an improvement in their life.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week full of love and happiness.