Sharing Thanks

Led by Ariel at the East Meadow Public Library Sometimes the best things in life are free! Take the time to see what your local library has to offer. Connecting with people in your community is in an easy way to enjoy your life. Being part of  a group can add energy to your life. I started my morning today in this amazing Meditation class. Here is what I am thankful for about meditating! I am thankful that Meditation allows me to sit in the quiet moment and focus on my breath! I focus on breathing in energy and breathing out a relaxing AHHHH! of stress. I am thankful that every week Ariel, the man who leads this Meditation class makes it new and interesting. The hour flies by and I applaud his efforts to provide new visualizations and affirmations everyweek.  You can visit Ariel's website at  Energy Shift Yoga . Find out about the free meditation class he offers on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am! I am thankful to have bathed in a rainbow of light during the medita...

Beautiful blue waters of Bermuda in June It's amazing how rejuvenating a vacation can be. I have taken a virtual vacation for the past few months and it feels great to be writing a blog post for sharing thanks today!  In March my 12 year old computer got a virus! Today I am happy to be blogging from my new Lenovo and am learning Windows 8! Being offline for a few months forced me to venture outside more and I was surprised how much more time I had. I am going to be starting a blogging calendar and try to work more efficiently. Sometimes something good can come out of adversity. Enough of my blogging blues and more about sharing what I am thankful for from my recent Bermuda Breakaway vacation with my friends from college. I am thankful to just look at this picture from my phone and get lost in all the amazing blues of Bermuda waters. Thanks to Liz and Ellen who encourage me to crash the sigma kappa reunion cruise to visit our friend Lynn in Bermuda! I am thankful t...

    I am very thankful for this very special Christmas gift given to me by my daughter Liz. She made me a Sharing Thanks Journal. I love her heart design and the picture of us she printed to adorn the inside of this very special journal. The best gift of all was that we used the journal together to practice gratitude. She wrote the first entry listing four things she was thankful for and passed the journal back to me. We use the journal to share what we are thankful for. It has helped me practice gratitude and has helped me and my daughter connect on a deeper level. It is wonderful to have a dialogue where we share our blessings. I love writing my thanks and sharing what brings me joy. It could be a beautiful sunset, or a kind smile a stranger gave me. I love learning about what my daughter is thankful for. I recommend sharing a journal with someone special to help your gratitude practice. It will allow you to focus on counting your joys and help you connect to someon...

Sharing thanks for this Superbowl Commercial that tells the inspiring story of Derrick Coleman, a hearing impaired football player for the Seattle Seahawks. I love that they used Derrick Coleman's voice in the spot to tell his story. Derrick chose for people to know him as an NFL football player, a goal he worked hard to achieve despite his obstacles. I'll be rooting for Seattle today! I have a soft spot in my heart for this team. My daughter Liz is also deaf and wants to be known as a film director or actress. She knows how Derrick feels about batteries that help her hear with her cochlear implant everyday!

Photo by Ellen Birch. Taken at the Museum of Modern Art Water Lilies room. Art evokes emotions with color and light! To establish a grateful attitude focus on the beauty that is available to you everyday. Notice the light, and color of a moment. Sit and breathe in the beauty of that moment. Carry the picture of the moment in your mind and use it to bring you to a relaxing state of mind. I had many wonderful moments this long weekend.  I was thankful to be able to spend Sunday with my good friends at MOMA! We were energized by art and learning about the artists. One of our favorite places to go is the Water Lilies room at MOMA. The colors are mesmerizing and reflective. We sat in the room and soaked in the beauty and light of Monet's genius. It is one of the most relaxing places in New York City. I was thankful to have a good belly laugh with my friends. We went to a modernist art display and were chuckling over a piece of art work that resembled a stainless steel...

The Emmons Lab from the University of California has done a lot of gratitude research in the last decade and has found that the simple act of saying ThankYou   has many health benefits. Want to keep those New Years Resolutions? Then learn to say thank you! In one study people who kept gratitude lists were more likely to make progress toward achieving important personal goals over a two-month period compared to participants who did not keep gratitude lists. To learn more about this ground breaking gratitude research listen to Robert Emmons himself! I'm devoting the Month of January to help you start a gratitude habit! Each post this month will focus on techniques that will lead you down the road to thankfulness! I invite you to try these exercises! The first exercise is to start your day by waking up to gratitude! When you open your eyes to wake up, continue laying down in bed and take a deep breath. Breath in a "Thank You" Breath out a "Thank You"...

Happy 2014! I look forward to sharing the new adventures I will be thankful for in the coming year. Let the good times roll. There is something liberating about putting on silly hats and tumbling into a photo booth! I love this crazy, silly photo of my family. This photo reminds me of many happy moments I was thankful for in 2013. In celebration of the New Year I am going to write some blog posts on how to add a dash of gratitude into your life. Being grateful is a choice and a mindset that can be developed by anyone, with practice. Here are the grateful moments in 2013 that this photo reminds me of. I was thankful to celebrate the wedding of my nephew Nick to the incredible Jess! The wedding in Philadelphia was a joyous event. They had a photo booth at the wedding with some silly accessories that led to many fun family photos. Our family gathered and danced the night away and toasted this beautiful couple. I was thankful my daughter Becky had a wonderful summer learning ex...