My Santa definitely had their hands full with me on this one. I went a little out of the normal description on this exchange with my information to my Santa. Although I appreciate Yoga, I've really gotten into the meditation side a lot recently. I asked that the exchange be more geared towards that.

I also wrote that I train in a Japanese martial art. A few days after signing up, our instructor, mentor, and best friend passed away very unexpectedly. I wasn't looking for any added sympathy, but I wrote about what happened to my Santa.

Seriously, Krissay16, I can never thank you enough. Someone could have easily gotten my profile and thought, "Oh, great. It's barely even yoga themed and now they have extra baggage too." Instead, I seriously got the perfect gifts.

First, I opened the most beautiful box. I don't even know if the pictures do it justice. Inside were meditation beads. Not only were they absolutely beautiful, but the gold is actually a dragon. I've been doing a ton of research lately on ancient stories of the Tiger and the Dragon. Having the dragon symbol on these makes them even more special.

Next, I opened the book. Seriously, read the title and realize how much thought my Santa put into it. "Taming the Tiger Within", again, see the Tiger/Dragon connection? Meditation on Transforming Difficult Emotions, could that be any more perfect? A book about meditating and dealing with difficult emotions, which I am definitely having right now. At the bottom of the book, it says in small print, "From No Death, No Fear; Anger; and Going Home." What a powerful gift when I'm dealing with my instructor's passing.

I just want it to be realized that Krissay16 could have just gotten generic gifts or sent something that technically was okay, but you can feel the amount of thought that went into this. I'm genuinely so grateful.