grateful

Gratitude

Plank You!

Gratitude is important to our wellbeing all year, but this time of year we stop to consider and share the parts of our lives that makes us truly grateful. Recently I listened to a Super Soul Sunday where Oprah interviewed Brene Brown, a researcher on shame and courage.

Joy Needs Gratitude

In the interview Brown mentioned that everyone has thoughts that are killjoys. She used the example of looking at your children sleeping and being so in love and then envisioning a catastrophe that takes them away from you. I don’t have children, but I’ve had that thought process in a multitude of scenarios. (I’ve always presumed it is some mild OCD.) According to Brown people who lean into that negative thought are less happy than those who notice the thought, stop it, and instead recognize how grateful they are for the moment and what they have now.

Gratitude is truly imperative to our happiness.

Appreciate Movement

Ease of movement also boosts our happy meter. In a New Yorker article, “Can We Live Longer But Stay Younger,” by Adam Gopnick, he writes about having the opportunity to wear a suit that mimics […]

GratitudeMaggie Downie2019-10-15T17:22:40-04:00

Giving Thanks

I’m also super grateful for the team at PE, but that’s a whole other blog.

We’ve reached that time of year for giving thanks. I love it. Stopping to appreciate all that is good in your life is a worthwhile practice.

As a company Personal Euphoria has a lot to be thankful for. Primarily everyone who attends our group classes, does our online classes, or takes our private lessons. And anyone reading this.

Group Classes

When I teach a group class, I love when people talk to each other before the classes start. I like the social aspect of people coming together to move. I like when you laugh at movement because it’s hard or silly (an exercise like the seal fills both categories). When, as a group, you move your neck so it’s in line with your spine or connect the ribs, I’m thrilled. Watching people “get it” really makes me happy. And, I do Pilates, too, so I know how hard it can be to “get it.” When you show up even though your back is cranky and then leave feeling better, I feel honored. It’s not that I […]

Giving ThanksMaggie Downie2018-02-14T16:03:15-05:00

Once Grateful for Boys, Now Grateful for So Much More

One of the moments when I just couldn’t stop smiling.

Tomorrow at my family dinner we will go around the table and express our gratitude for something. I always cycle through the same three answers. I’m grateful that I can travel. I’m grateful for my health. And I’m grateful for my family and friends.

All true, but I thought it might be worthwhile to think outside the box and come up with something different this year. For help I grabbed a gratitude journal I started keeping in 1998. While my intentions are good now, and I mean to keep a gratitude journal, I tend to only use it a handful of times a year. But twenty years ago, I was reasonably consistent.

Here’s a sampling of things I appreciated in high school:

Words

Long Walks on Beautiful Days

Being able to Clock Distances in your Car

A Man Running Back and Forth between a Stop Sign and a Stop Ahead Sign

My Brother’s Huge Bear Hugs

Listening to Other People’s Memories from Before I was Alive

Seeing Nick S Because He is so Good Looking but I Have Never Talked to […]

Once Grateful for Boys, Now Grateful for So Much MoreMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:24:29-04:00

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every Day

I may have dreamt it, but I’m pretty sure last year my Dad asked us all to say what we were grateful for before we dug into Thanksgiving dinner. And I’ll admit, while it feels a little cheesy, it is a nice concept, and I liked it. So here are just a couple of the things that I am so lucky to have in my life in 2011:

· Matt
· My family
· My clients (who make me laugh and ensure that my job so much fun)
· The people I work with
· Classes that I look forward to going to teach
· The Old Wethersfield Boot Campers who have become my running buddies
· Bees that are alive (so far)
· Neighbors who have been really friendly and helpful since we moved in, especially during Irene and Alfred
· Sunny days
· Kurt Vonnegut who is a genius and I’d never read him until this year
· Having the means and health to be able to travel and go on adventures

I’m […]

Grateful on Thanksgiving and Every DayMaggie Downie2017-10-25T14:26:04-04:00