{Day 18} I am grateful for...

Catching up with friends I haven't talked to in awhile. Today I went to dinner with one friend and had a conversation with a second, both of whom I adore and both of whom I rarely see. I'm grateful for good people who help us through the hard times and celebrate with us when life is good. Today was a celebration.

My job. I kinda love it. A lot. And it hasn't been very long that I have said that and actually meant it. I love the interactions I get to have with students on a daily basis and the opportunity to help mentor them through difficult challenges. I seriously thrive on connection with people, in whatever form it takes.

The roommates. They are pretty great.

{Day 17} I am grateful for...

Pistachio flavored frozen yogurt. It reminds me of my childhood eating pistachio ice cream at my grandmom's house.

Getting free massages at work. Actually, not only are they free, but I'm on the clock getting paid to get massages. I'm not complaining.

Pizzeria 712. I love this restaurant. Not only is it some of the best tasting food I've had, hands down, but its also almost entirely locally grown, which I love. And splendid food with great company has to be one of the best ways to spend an evening. Also introducing friends to how delicious beets are is a favorite past-time of me. I will slowly convert everyone I know... Actual beets, not canned beets, mind you.

{Day 16} I am grateful for...

Having meals already prepped for the day so that when I want to throw my alarm clock out the window in the morning because it goes off too early (read: on time) I still have delicious food to take with me to work.

Heated blankets. They are toasty and make sleeping so cozy.

The thought of going snowboarding tomorrow. Aah! So excited! (And the couple of inches of fresh snow that fell whilst at work this evening certainly helped the anticipation.)

{Day 15} I am grateful for...

Anatomy Cadaver Labs. Honestly, it is one of the most amazing learning experiences to see the human body and how it functions. I am in awe every single day at the awesomeness of our bodies and what they do every second without us even realizing.

Home teachers who care. And share really timely messages with poignant questions.

Sunday School lessons that remind me of the goodness of God.

{Day 14} I am grateful for...

O' Falafel. I might be obsessed with their portobello mushroom sandwich right now. If it wasn't all the way up in salt lake, I'd be eating many many more of them.

This American Life. Today there was a story about a man who has a rare disease called narcolepsy cataplexy that causes paralysis while still conscious. He is aware of his surroundings, but unable to speak or move his entire body. There unfortunately is no cure, and the strangest part is the trigger for the episodes is feeling happy. Any moments of nostalgia or pleasure or happiness will trigger paralysis is this poor man. This has to be one of the saddest things I've ever heard of. I am grateful to be able to be happy and feel happy and not have unfortunate side effects as a result.

King Cake. Its just a fun tradition. My lovely friend Anna is from Louisiana near New Orleans and she makes king cake every year for the occasion. It is a delightful treat.

{Day 13} I am grateful for...

Denny's. Let's just say that going to Denny's after working late on a Friday night with co-workers is a fantastic idea. And that's saying something since I don't even really care for Denny's. I seriously am loving the people I work with lately.

The blending of Shiatsu and Structural/Trigger point therapy. Did you know that energy (Ki), especially the stagnant kind, can cause structural and postural imbalances? Makes perfect sense, but I had never really thought about it before. I have been learning more and more lately about the blending of the physical and energetic sides of bodywork as well as taking into account the emotional or spiritual aspects of the body. I am gaining an understanding of all the facets and how they each work towards the same goals of wholeness and health. I use to believe physical vs. energetic theories stood at a stark contrast to each other. But I am becoming a firm believer that you can't just understand and address one aspect of the body and expect complete health to follow, each approach adds something to the equation and even helps to support the other.

An 11.a climb at the quarry that was... easy? Did I really just say easy? When did that happen? It was a crazy fun climb. Can't wait to go back and climb it again. I love how consistency really makes all the difference in improving and getting better at things.

{Day 12} I am grateful for...

Not passing out. The strangest things happened today. I was giving a massage, and halfway through got seriously gnarly stabbing pains in my stomach that were not only relentless but increasingly worse throughout the remainder of the session. I couldn't stand up straight or figure out any position that I could continue to work and have the pain not be there. I ignored it and breathed through it the best I could for 30 minutes, finally ending a few minutes early because I thought I might throw up. When I left the room after the session was over I got really light headed and a wave of nausea swept over me as I waited for my client to finish dressing. Normally I walk my client out to the door, schedule a session for the following week, and shoot the breeze for a few minutes but instead I quickly thanked him for coming and jetted back into the massage room where I started having tunnel vision and ringing in my ears, barely making it to the massage table where I quickly layed down and hoped to not pass out and/or throw up. (Run on sentence anyone?) Luckily no harm done and 40 minutes later, I got up and went on my merry way as if nothing happened. Dehydration? Gas? My body telling me to not go out tonight and take it easy instead? Whatever it was I cancelled my plans for the evening and headed home. Weird...

Spaghetti with lentils, zucchini, and feta cheese. One of my favorite pasta recipes.

Chill days at work with nothing specific that has to get done. A few hours of prepping, catching up with co-workers, and leaving early to flex out time for Saturday are all fine ways to spend a work day.

Adventure Anyone?

In other news, I was shown this video today:

It makes my palms sweat and gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it, but I really want to do it!

{Day 11} I am grateful for...

Bikram Hot Yoga. 105 degrees. 90 minutes. I honestly don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. Or touched my face to my shins for that matter. So I suppose there's method to the crazy heat fest madness. Want to feel more flexible? Try stretching in 105 degrees. Its seriously amazing.

Structural Integration. This morning I started a new client who is doing the full 10 sessions of structural integration. And I couldn't be more excited! I love this work so much!

A new desk space. Today was awesome because I had office hours all day. And so with all that time, I cleaned my entire office and finally switched desks over. My back no longer faces the door when I sit down to work and my new desk is way bigger than the old one. It was a no brainer, really.

{Day 10} I am grateful for...

Gratitude. It is amazing to me how quickly this gratitude experiment is honestly changing the way that I see the world. For months I have been trying to convince myself that I am happy with the way my life is going - work, living situations, dating, etc. But the problem with trying to convince yourself of something is that you don't actually feel that way and you end up feeling like a fraud. At least I did. But in the last few weeks, especially since the start of this gratitude experiment, I have sincerely been happier and seeing my surroundings and circumstances for the blessings that they are and truly enjoying work. I've noticed a difference in the way my teaching has gone and the ways I am able to interact with my students. And I must say that I have been loving it. A lot.

Students. I kinda love them right now. My shiatsu class is hilarious. I have a student, who bytheway is extremely paranoid, especially when it comes to health issues and diseases - pathology was a kick in the pants with her. Anyhow, she had a funny popping noise in her neck while being worked on and called me over to ask if that was normal. I quickly assured her that her head would probably fall off. She got the most terrified look on her face, until she realized I was joking. (Don't worry, I actually reassured her and clarified why that can happen and how its almost never a serious problem.) She then reminded me how paranoid she is and proceeded to tell me that she had a dream not too long ago that she had chicken cancer and woke up in a cold sweat, afraid she actually had chicken cancer. I started laughing, but she was quick to reassure me that chicken cancer isn't actually real. Haha. Thanks girl, I taught you pathology, remember? (Note: pathology is the study of diseases).

{Day 9} I am grateful for...

Running water. The pipes were either broken or frozen or something up at the cabin, but whatever it was resulted in no running water for us. (Unless you count melting snow and pouring it where you need it to be). I haven't been so grateful to stop at a gas station to wash my hands. And showers are pretty great too.

Eating healthy nourishing foods (and drinking clean water) after a long weekend of less than healthy stuff. Doug was kind enough to make tasty lentil soup with green/red peppers and onions over rice. Kinda looked like slop. Kinda tasted amazing.

Catch phrase and speed scrabble. Today had the beginnings of cabin fever setting in after 3 days of being mostly inside. But catch phrase and speed scrabble saved the day.

{Day 8} I am grateful for...

Crustless quiche. This recipe is a tradition of my Mom's to make on Christmas morning. I was on the Sunday morning breakfast team, and we decided to make a quiche. I had failed to bring the recipe up to the cabin, but fortunately I had read it enough times while figuring out who would bring which ingredients and it turned out just great! Okay fine, it turned out amazing.

Wet Wipes. (We had no running water at the cabin this year.)

Snowshoeing to the waterfall while it was snowing all around. Breathtakingly beautiful.

{Day 7} I am grateful for...

Seriously rad friends to spend an entire day with and never tire of.

Snow adventures: snowshoeing (twice), sledding, and snowball fights = fun!

Rachel Taow for cooking some seriously tasty lasagna and being willing to also clean up after. (Don't worry, we didn't let her do all the dishes.)

{Day 6} I am grateful for...

Freshly painted offices that no longer smell like freshly painted offices.

Office hours with students who choose to be there to do better in the class they are currently taking and want to learn the material. And helping them make connections and watching lightbulbs 'turn on'.

Snowmobiles. The trek into the Svenna's cabin is 5 miles and without snowmobiles we would have been making that trek on foot (snowshoe) at 10pm. Yuck. Luckily we were all able to shuttle in on the backs of snowmobiles, making the trek less than 20 minutes.

{Day 5} I am grateful for...

Yoga. I don't know how I ever lived without it on a regular basis. I seriously crave it if I happen to go more than a week without it.

Packing for fun weekend adventures! I'm going up to my friend Brenna's cabin for the extended weekend in Kamas. 3 days of snowshoeing, watching movies, eating tasty food, and spending tons of quality time with super fun people. Can't wait! I'm excited to share grateful things from the weekend when I get back on Monday.

Thursdays. It means the week of teaching is over and only Friday is left before the weekend. And Friday's are usually pretty chill at work. And this Thursday was an especially nice day because I had office hours all afternoon and the evening off!

{Day 4} I am grateful for...

Being slightly forgetful. (Hear me out): In the business of the day I had forgotten that I recently purchased snowshoes online. So coming home to a big box on the kitchen table this evening after work was a really fun surprise. I can't wait to try said snowshoes out this weekend in Kamas.

Sleep. Especially sleeping in. Who needs yoga when you can sleep in late.

Rock climbing.

{Day 3} I am grateful for...

Super rad (and slightly random) valentine's day greetings from not often heard from friends.

Elevate Fitness and Rehab. I just love all the people there. And having them ask me to get a massage (on their bill) from a therapist they are considering hiring so that I can give them feedback on whether she's a good fit, is pretty alright if you ask me.

Baking. Especially the cookie making sort. I haven't baked in at least 4 months. And I forgot how much I enjoy it. Waking up early to make cookies may sound like a less than fun activity, but today, for me, it was a great way to start the day.

And just in case you were wondering, cherry dark chocolate chip cookies = a great idea.

{Day 2} I am grateful for...

Students who love anatomy, are engaged in the learning process (i.e. answer and/or ask questions, think my stories are interesting rather than give blank stares, smile if its too much to ask to laugh when I make a joke), and express appreciation. Today I had my last session with one of my anatomy classes. The class is only half over and another instructor will teach the remaining sessions due to scheduling conflicts. I could have sworn this class could care less if I was up there teaching or not. But today, after explaining to them how the rest of their coursework would go with their other instructor taking over, many of them expressed distress at the thought of me not teaching them, and appreciation for what I had taught them. Who knew? Maybe they like me after all...

Dark chocolate and cherries - and the cookies I will make with them for V-Day tomorrow. But until then, I will continue to snack on said ingredients while I finish my gratitude list for the day.

Clean bathrooms. And clean, folded, put away laundry. And a tidy room. It was long overdue, but it sure is nice to have a clean living space.

Gchat, specifically the video chat variety that allows me to see my cute niece and how big and grown up she is becoming. (This is a rollover from yesterday, but I am still grateful today. Isn't technology amazing?)

{Day 1} I am grateful for...

Snow! I love waking up to the snow falling silently on the fields outside my window.

Today I was reminded that often times rather than having challenges and difficulties removed, we are made equal to the tasks placed before us. With that reminder, it was made apparent to me that I have been made equal to the task of teaching. This is something that I will continually grow into I think, but it is certainly nice to feel capable and able at work, rather than not quite enough, or as though I am barely keeping my head above water. It was a rough bout there for awhile, but I am grateful for the (growing) experience that it has been.

Purple cabbage. I cooked one for the first time today and it is tasty stuff. I'm grateful for vibrantly colorful healthy foods and the know-how to make them delicious.

Putting Positive Psychology to the Test

I have this strange obsession with happiness lately. It seems to be all I can think about - how do I become happy? Truly happy. Not just, oh that was a good time and I am happy as a result happy. I'm talking about the kind of happy that resonates from within and drives our daily actions determining who we are and what we will be. I recently came across this TED talk and have listened to it at least 4 times this week. I (obviously) really enjoy this man's perspective and thoughts on the matter. (And let's not kid ourselves, anyone who begins a talk with a story about a unicorn is okay by me):

It is not necessarily reality which shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. If we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness but we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.

Here is the dangerous question: What does a __(fill in the blank)__ have to be unhappy about? Embedded within that question is the key to understanding the science of happiness. Because what that question assumes is that our external world is predictive of our happiness levels, when in reality 90 percent of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way your brain processes the world. And if we change it, if we change our formula for happiness and success, what we can do is change the way that we can then affect reality.

75 perfect of job successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat. As a society we are wired to be successful so that we can be happy, but our brains don't work that way.

If we can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than it does at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise.

There are ways that we can train our brains to become more positive:

• write down 3 new things that you are grateful for, for 21 days in a row. At the end of the 21 days, the brain starts to retain a pattern of scanning the world, not for the negative, but for the positive first.
• journaling about one positive experience you've had over the past 24 hours allows your brain to relive it
• exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters
• meditation allows your brain to get over the cultural ADHD that we've created from trying to do multiple tasks at once and allows the brain to focus on the task at hand
• random acts of kindness - write one positive email praising or thanking somebody in your social support network

I LOVE this. For the next 21 days I will be sharing 3 things that I am grateful for on this blog. If you are so inclined, join me on the path to greater happiness and by extension increased success. And keep me in the loop as to how your journey goes!