2017 could seriously let the door smack it on the way out, but I suppose that’s not a very zen massage therapist-y thing to say. To combat the upside down feelings of this January gray weather, I offer a few things that sent some sunshine my way this year. What are yours?
These are a few of my favorite things of 2017:
Sunbasket meal delivery! I have several food allergies and really dread meal planning. Sunbasket has saved me time (meal planning and shopping) and cash (no random hangry purchases at store) AND no allergic reactions! PS, very tasty recipes.
Thailand in November – #Thainksgiving was great! Spent a few days with brother, sister in law, & nephew! I hugged elephants, massaged elephants, scrubbed elephants, fed elephants – and it is every bit as magical as you would think. I ate all the curry everywhere and overdosed on Thai iced tea. I took a cooking class and made 8 dishes in 5 hours – whew! I had traditional Thai bodywork almost every day and learned a lot from simply receiving the work from blind practitioners.
Anne of Green Gables – I re-read the whole series this year and it made me so happy! I try to re-read a favorite childhood series once a year. I think Wrinkle in Time is next…
Also, I’ve started through the biographies of our founding fathers and their wives! I’ve read Chernow’s Washington and Hamilton. Any author suggestions? So far it seems to me that we’ve pretty much always been messed up, power corrupts the best of intentions, and the women behind the men were forces to be reckoned with… don’t mess with Martha or Eliza, y’all.
WEIGHTED BLANKETS. For serious, this was one of my best purchases of 2017. Sensacalm is based here in Tennessee! Weighted blankets can be therapeutic for anyone with anxiety, insomnia, autism, ADHD, PTSD, and sensory processing disorders. Check them out. I’ve never slept better.
CBD oil from City and Sea Trading! Found out about this shop from a good friend – his cousin owns it! I had been looking for an alternative to dosing my dog with Benadryl during storms, and dosing myself when anxiety ramped up. About a month in, it’s a subtle miracle worker. A small dose takes the anxiety down several clicks. No THC. Legal in TN, as far as I can decipher from all the legal-beagle jargon. If your boat is sinking, this stuff helps plug the leak. We still have to do the work of bailing out the water, but the seas aren’t so rough.
The Enneagram! One of my friends put this rather succinctly… “Myers Briggs will let you be cute with your stuff. The Enneagram will tell you where you need to get your $h*t together.” I’ve been studying this tool for spiritual growth for almost 7 years. It’s like understanding your own pair of glasses thru which you see the world. And the empathy and compassion you cultivate when you can see the world thru someone else’s pair of glasses? GAME CHANGER. Take a stroll thru the Enneagram Institute online, or any of the books by Richard Rohr, Riso and Hudson, or take this free test to see if you agree with the assessment!
And to wrap up, this quote:
“Our worth and our belonging are not negotiated with other people.” – Brene Brown
So. 2018. You belong. Let’s do this.
Hit me up if you need some bodywork. I’m ready to work.
