Day 84, 100 Happy Days: Acupuncture

It's been a weird few days. Pet sitting, combined with the snow, and canceled classes had me out of sorts this weekend. Even though my pet sitting job ended today and I got to go home (which normally makes me pretty darn gleeful), I was cranky. I think the cold does that to me sometimes (snow I like - cold, not so much). Also, I was in a fair amount of pain. Luckily I had an acupuncture appointment already scheduled for this afternoon.

I can't say enough good things about acupuncture. I was in tears when I went in, and I floated out of there over an hour later with a big smile on my face.

Also, they were celebrating the Chinese New Year, and I got a free tincture! Chosen specifically for me by my practitioner. My blend is called "free and easy". Yup, could use some free and easy in my life about now!

By the way, I recommend Meeting Point Community Acupuncture. They charge on a sliding scale $20-$40 per session. Totally affordable, and totally awesome.

And... a painted blue tree stump in the snow...

Day 74, 100 Happy Days: A Day Off

What was there to NOT be happy about today?
Don't answer that. There is always something to not be happy about. But the good news is that there is always something to be happy about. (Hence 100 Happy Days.)

My point being that I found many things to be happy about today...
I actually cleared my schedule and took a day off. And I actually got myself to an acupuncture appointment, which always feels like really good self care (I hadn't been there in months). It was a gorgeous day - blue skies, and stupidly warm (high of 63, but I swear it felt like 73 degrees).

I spent about 8 minutes total talking to people today - and that was just my acupuncturist and a librarian.
I took two naps.
I had a mocha and a delicious banana/blueberry smoothie (not simultaneously).

Today was a good day.

Also, perspective: I was looking for an old photo just now and I came across a video I made in January 2013. Back then - when my mom was sick - I was doing these vlogs - like video journals - just for myself, because I was too tired to write. Usually I'd do them driving home at night, so it would be somewhat of a brain dump. (I'd turn the camera on and put it on the dash - I wasn't looking at the camera as it recorded.)
All I can say is: what a difference a couple of years make. Anytime I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed now, I should just watch one of those vlogs. I'm so thankful that phase of my life is over.

Yes, life is good.

Day 71, 100 Happy Days: Taking A Break (aka Couch Time)

"Wide Open" Acrylic on Canvas Board ©Tabetha Hastings

I completely fell down today. Not literally - I mean gravity didn't actually take me down, but... life did. Big, crushing, too much to do, burning the candle at both ends, modern day LIFE. I felt like hell, was coming down with some sinus thing, and was emotionally a wreck. I desperately needed a break - a day off at the least - but how could I afford to take one??

My body had different ideas. I knew that if I didn't take one when I felt like I was coming down with the sinus thing, I would be forced to take one when the sinus thing really grabbed hold. Which meant I couldn't afford not to take a break. So, I spend the day lying on my couch reveling in the silence. Sometimes I'd get up and go to bed for a bit. It would have been a really beautiful thing had I felt good enough to fully enjoy it. Ah well.

Around 10pm I started feeling better, physically and emotionally. Hallelujah! Let's hear it for breaks! I took most of a day off and sort of enjoyed it, and it may have saved me having to take a week or more off in misery.

Women's Health and Body Image

"Ignorance Is Bliss" ©Tabetha Hastings

I did not wake up in the best possible way this morning. Before I even opened my eyes I realized I had a headache. I thought I'd distract myself with some Facebook and perhaps the headache would leave, but... no.

The news on my Facebook feed was not good: one friend (yet another friend) was just diagnosed with cancer, and another needs an operation. Another was in chronic pain, and there were others in various states of physical and mental anguish.

Bad news everywhere. I laid there wondering what to say to these people. How could I find the words to soothe them? And, of course, it brings up my own fears about illness.

If you're like me and believe in the Law of Attraction, you know how I felt at that moment, focusing on the negative; it's bad enough to attract what you don't want by focusing on it, but it's doubly bad if you know you're doing it. It made me want to quit Facebook and put my head in the sand just so I could feel okay. If I don't know about it it doesn't exist, right? 

Of course I'm not going to isolate to escape the bad news of friends. This is life on planet Earth, and bad things do happen to good people. Besides, if you isolate from the bad news, you isolate from the good news as well. The key to riding out the storm and being able to support others is setting my own tone. Finding my balance and my connection to source before even attempting to anything to my friends who are hurting.

So instead of focusing on the negative, I laid there thought my way to a somewhat better feeling place. (Ask if you'd like to know how I do that.)

Then I got out of bed, and immediately had negative thoughts about my body. My knee hurt, my body was stiff and all I could think was how I wanted to lose my huge thighs.

I limped my way to my desk on my poor knee, and sat down to Facebook again.
Miraculously, a video about loving your body came across my feed. In the early part of the video, women were asked to describe their bodies with one word. They said things like wobbly, ugly, disgusting... horrible things. I was shocked at how extreme the words were, but not surprised that's what they thought. I know very few women who love the way their bodies look.
Myself, I've been working on clearing the negative self-talk for some time. It's there, but not nearly as severe as these women (huge thighs, anyone?). I would hope that if asked to describe my body in a word I would say strong, resilient, lush, voluptuous or healthy.
On a good day I would.

The question I have is: How can you hate your body?? Your body is where you live. It's how you move through this world. I may not love the way my body looks all the time, but I love my body, and I love what it can do, and those are important distinctions to make.

Watching the video, I couldn't help think that there is a correlation between hating one's body and disease. I'm certainly not saying that everyone who is sick started out by hating their body, but given how rampant body hatred and disease both are, there might be a connection.

What would happen if we truly loved and appreciated our bodies? Would our beautiful cells respond with perfect health? If not, what's the worse thing that would happen? We'd be happier. And the advertisers, cosmetic companies, plastic surgeons and anyone else who tries to make us feel like we're not good enough - would be a little bit less wealthy.

So, my challenge to all women, is to love your bodies. Even if you think that I'm crazy and there is no correlation between health and body image... love your body anyway. Love your body because it feels better to love your body. Love your body because you deserve to love your body.

The first step to that is accepting your body. It's hard, but you can do it. Realize that body hatred is probably a deeper issue than just hating the way you look. There are other issues that need to be addressed, and only you know what they are. When you're ready, you will address them, work through them and move forward.

Watch the video here - this woman lost weight, became a body builder, and still suffered from the same issues as before. We've got to deal with our issues ladies. We've got to own our shit.

There is a ton of information out there on this topic, and I'm no expert. I'm only going from my experience, and the following things have really helped me:

• First of all, listen to your self-talk. What are you saying about your body, about your abilities? What are you saying about yourself? Catch yourself when you say something bad and ask would my best friend say that to me? (If the answer is yes, then you need a new best friend!)
• Some other things to feel better: 
• Focus on what your body can do, not what it looks like.
• Focus on what you body can do, not it's limitations.

• Turn your negatives into positives. For example, you could say: 
• My thighs are big, but they make a great lap for a cat/dog/kid.
• My feet are wide, but I stand firm on the ground. And they get me to where I need to go.
• My arms may be not be toned, but they give great hugs. 

Why are you talking trash about a body that serves you so well? What would you do without your arms? What would I do if I actually lost my huge thighs? Because you know what? I don't really want to lose my thighs, I just want to lose some of the fat. My thighs are great. They are key part of my mobility and I'd like to keep them, thank you very much.

Bottom line: appreciate your body, it's the only one you've got. 
And just maybe if you learn to love and appreciate it, your body will be healthier for it.

A note to anyone who reads this and is thinks just get your fat ass to the gym: 
Okay, there's a thought. But it would be a HELL of a lot easier to get to the gym when you're feeling better about your body. You're not going to work out if you feel like the entire gym is judging you. And yes, people may judge, but we tend to judge ourselves more harshly. If we can accept ourselves as we are, we might not worry about people at the gym, which would make it easier to go.
Also, this body image issue does not only affect women who are out of shape. Women who are hitting the gym may just be going through it too.
Self love is the key.

Happiness Project Day 75: Acupuncture

Yep, that's me!

Who would have thought that having needles stuck into them could be such a blissful experience? Certainly not me. But that's exactly how I feel when I go to my acupuncture appointments.

I'm not sure if everyone has this experience, or if it's just me. (I've never heard anyone talk about this but it's hard to believe that it's uncommon.) I go into a deep state of relaxation when I'm in that chair. Not necessarily sleep... it's more like a meditation state. And when I'm done I feel incredibly revived and refreshed and blissed out. It's like taking a nice long nap. I leave there happy and ready to face the world. (And the big question: Is it helping the issues that brought me there? Yes, yes it is. I'm seeing results.)

In addition to all this, it's really wonderful doing something for me. Something that is good for me. Caring for my self. 

Me again. Arm, this time.

If you're in the Denver metro area, I highly recommend Meeting Point Acupuncture: http://meetingpointacupuncture.com 

They're on Broadway just south of Virginia, and they charge on a sliding scale: $20-$40. Amazing. 

Yep, getting poked with needles made me very happy today. :)

My Happiness Project Day 29: My Neti Pot

For those of you who are not familiar, a Neti pot is basically an old fashioned sinus rinser thingamajig. Here I am pictured with my Neti pot; however I am not actually using it. Had I actually been using it, water would have been running out of a nostril, and frankly, my ego would not allow me to take THAT particular picture.

When I was growing up, my mother had a Neti pot. But she never told me what it was for, and I never asked. Some things you just don't want to know the answer to. Who KNOWS what she did with that mysterious contraption with the weird name? I figured it was one of those "You're too young to know what that is" situations. (Like my best friend when I was 8. I saw a hot water bottle in her linen closet once and asked what it was. She said her mom had told her that she'll find out when she's older.)

Anyway, years went by and I finally found out what a Neti pot was thanks to Oprah and Dr. Oz. A woman from the audience was brave enough to get onstage and pour water into one nostril and out the other into a basin.  In front of a live audience and eight gazillion people. More power to you, sister.

Even though it looked pretty gross, I decided that it would be a good thing for me and my long suffering sinuses. And lo and behold it was! I'm telling you it's a wonderful thing. I actually feel rejuvenated after I do it.

So today, I was happy to locate my Neti pot and the salts that go with it. And happy to feel better!

My Happiness Project Day 25: Happy to Be Feeling Happy

What makes me happy today is the fact that I've been able to stick with my happiness project! I'm now more than three weeks in, and definitely feeling the results. My outlook on life is substantially better than it was a month ago, I'm feeling better physically, and my brain is buzzing with ideas.

100happydays was the impetus (finding something to be happy about every day), and has been a major part of this transition, but there are some other things I've been doing that have helped immensely. Here are the other things that have helped me:

1) Self care.
This includes tons of sleep (something I can't seem to do easily every night lately because of all the great ideas spinning in my head), tons of water, and lots of vitamins and herbal supplements. Historically I've been very bad at taking supplements, but I've been adamant about it this week.

2) Morning pages.
This one is huge. The Morning Pages is a method used in The Artist's Way program and is really wonderful. Three pages of long-hand writing first thing in the morning. An unedited brain dump. It's a good thing.

3) Meditation.
Of these three this is the one that I've done the least, but when I do, I notice a difference in my mood and my clarity of thought. I definitely need to meditate more often.

Next on the list will be to incorporate some exercise (besides the very minimal yoga I've been doing at home). Honestly, my physical energy hasn't popped back up yet. I've been feeling better emotionally, but not quite as much physically. Soon, though.

My Happiness Day Project Day 7: Frozen Banana Ice Cream

Actually, no. It's not really ice cream. Which is one reason that I'm so happy about it! This "ice cream" has just one ingredient: bananas. Yup.

I realize that the photo looks suspiciously like mashed potatoes and gravy, but trust me: that is a banana and a half.

I love bananas, but their shelf life is ridiculously small. And the window of time that they REALLY taste good is like a day. So I've end up throwing away a lot of bananas in my day (I cannot deal with an overripe banana - yuck). Then I heard that one could freeze bananas. So I took a spotted one and threw it the freezer instead of the trash. I figured I'd use it in a smoothie at some point. And there it sat for a couple of months. In my freezer looking ugly. Then a week ago another one joined it.

I finally decided to make a smoothie today. I took out those nasty looking bananas and didn't really believe they'd be good. I broke open the week old banana and it peeled fairly easily. The older one not so much - I had to peel the skin off with a knife. But they both tasted good. Then I recalled some sort of ice cream recipe using frozen bananas. I did a search for "banana ice cream", and this page popped up. I was thrilled that I had all the ingredients I needed! (The only ingredient.)

How does this deliciousness work? I just plopped the frozen bananas into my blender and put it on the lowest setting for... I don't know... maybe thirty seconds. And voila! A yummy frozen treat that is actually... dare I say it? Healthy.

Happiness! Double happiness, even!

My Happiness Day Project Day 6: Dance

Hip swaying, bootie shaking, salsa, cha-cha. Pop and lock, jump up jump down jump around, shake your money maker. Shake what your mama gave you, for that matter. (Do you want fries with that shake?) Ballroom, jazz, tap, ballet. Jitterbug, waltz, vogue.

I love dance. I love to do it and I love to watch it. (No... I can't do most of those dances, but I do pretend REALLY well.) I even love watching "bad" dancers - as long as they're having fun, it's all good. Dance, to me is like singing - natural. In fact both things are natural to everyone. Don't tell me you can't sing or dance. You may be not be able to do either as well as you'd like, but who cares? I say just do it. And by the way I am terribly uncoordinated, but I have a hard time resisting a line dance. Go figure.

And so I give you the ultimate "all's well that ends well" fun dance scene of my generation, as well as an updated version that I'd never seen...



Day Six Dance Bonus: one of my favorite poems:

by Jewel Mathieson

We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced
not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced
not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

We have come to be danced
not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced
not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced
where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced

WE HAVE COME

My Happiness Project Day 2: Old Friends

Poor Theresa is partially obscured by my giant hood and giant finger.

Day 2: Old Friends

What can I say? 

These two ladies are my oldest friends. I've known Jane since Jr High, and Theresa since High School, and they've known each other since Elementary School. There are only two people on the planet that I've known for longer than these two. 

That's not to say that it's been steady eddy for the past thirty some-odd years. We were all good friends into our 20's and then we sort of drifted, the way people do.

Thanks to Facebook we found each other again a few years ago. When we met again for the first time in years, it was like no time had passed. That's the way it is with old friends.

Recently we decided to have a standing date - once a month we get together to catch up. Last night we went to the Elephant Bar.

I'm so happy to have found my girls again!

Day Two Bonus Happy: Eggs With My Father

Okay, no... I didn't actually have eggs with my father this morning. He died when I was pretty young. I don't have a whole lot of memories of him, but today when I took a bite of my scrambled eggs I was transported right back to a breakfast we had when I was six or so. I remember discussing our scrambled eggs, and noting that he liked his with ketchup, so of course, I did too.
I rarely eat my eggs scrambled these days, and if I do, I have a bunch of other stuff in them. But today it was just eggs, cheese and ketchup, and it took me back.
Not much to the memory, but it is definitely a happy one.

Follow along!
Happiness Project Day 3: Sunshine

My Happiness Project Day 1: My Small Bathroom

My postage stamp sized bathroom.

I want to start out by saying that I have been pretty freaking miserable for the past few months. My mom passed away in the beginning of August; I made it through the end of summer and fall pretty well, all things considered. But since the cold weather has set in... it's just been hard. All I really want to do is hibernate.
Yes, I am mourning. And I'm recovering from a very hard year.  But bigger than that, I realize that I've been putting my focus on the wrong things. I've been focusing on everything that's wrong with my life.

I am a believer in the Law Of Attraction, which basically says you get back what you put out. Put out crap, get crap; put out love, get love; put out lack, get lack. It's time to look at what's good in my life.

So without further ado, I give you my own personal Happiness Project. Borrowed from my friend Josie and http://100happydays.com/ (although I'm not officially participating through them because... well I just don't want to sign up for yet another thing), I'm going for 100 days of happiness. Starting today I will list one thing every day that makes me happy. If I skip a day, I start fresh at day one again.

Day One: My Small Bathroom

Recently I house-sat in a beautiful house that had a nice big bathroom. It had plenty of elbow room and enough space to get dressed or move around without bumping into things and knocking them into the toilet (yes, I've done that in my apartment).
Why am I singing the praises of a small bathroom, then? Because a small bathroom allows me not only the opportunity to steam my clothes while showering, but it also means that I won't FREEZE MY ASS OFF when I step out of the shower. Which is important when the temp is zero degrees, as it is today.
I love my small bathroom!!

Day one bonus, the appropriately titled "Happy"; I love this song!



Follow along!
Happiness Project Day 2: Old Friends
Happiness Project Day 3: Sunshine

Inspiration vs Motivation

There is a subtle but important distinction between inspiration and motivation for me. I prefer to work from an inspired place, rather than a motivated place. Inspiration beckons, while motivation pushes. Inspiration says "Do this and you'll feel great!" while motivation says "You better do this...or you'll feel awful!"Inspiration pulls, motivation pushes.

You may remember the video of Aurthur Boorman; the disabled veteran who was overweight and walking with crutches and leg braces. He had accepted the fact that he'd never walk unassisted again, and that he'd probably be dead in a few years.
At some point he must have had a glimmer of hope, because he started doing yoga (which he documents in the video).  He ended up losing a whole lot of weight, and transformed himself so much that he is actually running at the end of the video.
Now that's what I call inspiration!

Below is the extended version of the video that has been circulating online for some time now. This guy is definitely my hero, and - in fact - my inspiration.

Laughter and the Human Experience

When we hear the phrase "the human experience" or "it's just a part of being human" it's usually in reference to suffering, hate, jealousy, pain or some other terrible part of being human. But there is a whole other side - a much better side - that for some reason gets less attention. Beauty, joy, love and laughter are just as much a part of being human.

Of these, I think laughter is the most important. What good are the rest if you're not laughing? Just my opinion, but then I'm a big fan of laughing. Besides being a whole lot of fun, it reduces stress, breaks the ice, builds bonds and even protects the heart.

Oh, and yes, it's a part of the human experience.

The following video is completely in French, but something tells me that you'll be able to understand it even if you don't speak French.

Isn't it wonderful how contagious laughter is?  I dare you NOT to laugh!


My mother and I went to a laughing yoga thing a few years back. It was very strange. We went to the pavilion in Cheeseman Park and just laughed with complete strangers. That's it. That's all we did. It was really quite odd at first, and we had to force the laughter. But after a very short time, we started really laughing. You can't fake laugh for very long without it turning to genuine laughter. It's a beautiful thing. However, even if - for some reason - your laughter doesn't naturally turn into actual giggles, chuckles or guffaws, you will still get the health benefits just the same.
What to do you have to lose?

The Power of Suggestion

Last December I wrote a Facebook post about the power of suggestion and illness. I had noticed that the last time I got sick, I hadn't been around sick people, but I had read a lot of status updates about people being sick. It get's in your head, you know?
So I stopped posting about not feeling well (to benefit other susceptible people, and so that I wouldn't focus on it), and I started doing my best to skip over other people's status updates about being sick.

Now let me just say that historically I've been someone who gets whatever bug is going around. Head colds would settle not so nicely into my chest and stick around for weeks. I used to think it was because I worked with the public, but then I stopped working with the public and would still get sick. WTF? Not cool. Was it my workaholic tendencies? Maybe, but now that I was working on my own I could - and did - get more rest. Curious.

That's when I started noticing the Facebook posts. People would post left and right about coughing up a lung and how miserable they were. I would think oh I'd better be careful, there's really something going around right now. But you know what? There is always something going around.

I'm happy to report that I went over a year without getting sick. No, I didn't feel 100% all of the time, and I think I did get a cold sometime in the last year. But it didn't develop into a full-blown event. In addition to my NOT reading FB posts about illness, I started taking osha root and mullein leaf in tincture form whenever I was feeling run down. Was it the natural remedies keeping me healthy, or avoiding the negative posts? Probably some combination of the two. But whatever the case, I'll take it!

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm writing this because I did succumb to dreaded "crud" finally (after an unprecedented year plus of health!). Ah well, you can't win them all. Was I paying attention to status updates? Well... I did notice a few. They can be hard to ignore. Hopefully my natural remedies will knock this stuff out of my system quickly.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the power of suggestion and health. I mean... there is the placebo effect, right? If the suggestion (or pill) can make you well, than surely it can make you sick, right?