today i'm grateful for...

It’s a question I began asking myself every day, as a way to reflect. I wasn’t surprised after a few days of this practice to find myself noticing things in a whole new way and appreciating them like never before. What I didn’t realize was that by doing this every day, I was becoming, well, happier.

I began this daily habit when a friend of mine introduced me to an app she and her business partner were developing: 1THINGapp.com. It acts as a gratitude journal where you can either keep the things you are grateful for private or share them anonymously with the world. Every day, one of the ‘gratitudes’ that have been shared are illustrated by an artist.

"Sun Saluations" illustrated by Mike Ellis

I was so moved by this project with 1THINGapp.com that I wanted to pose the question with the Wanderlust community in Whistler. After all, yoga is the ultimate celebration of gratitude. I had created a “Before I Die” wall in Vancouver earlier this year and was astounded by the way people engaged with the wall.

Photo Credit: Dana Ramler

Inspired, I created a spinoff for Wanderlust. A giant blackboard with the words “Today I’m grateful for…” was set up in Whistler village. Buckets of chalk were left out and people were invited to share what they were grateful for that day. Each morning of the four-day festival, the wall was cleaned and put out and every day by lunch it was full. The responses were incredible. Grateful for everything from loved ones, sunshine, fresh clean air and new adventures to health, dreams coming true, mountains and freedom. People shared and the wall was bursting with gratitude.

Photo Credit: Dana Ramler

What I find most incredible about these projects is the impact of seeing the gratitude of others and its effect on me. I am continually touched, moved and inspired by what people are appreciative of and further inspired in my own life of things to be grateful for. It’s like gratitude is contagious!

Thanksgiving (a day dedicated to sharing gratitude) is coming up but we can’t help but wonder about the other 364 days of the year. Take a moment, pause and reflect. What are you grateful for today? And maybe try sharing it with the rest of the world, you never know who you’ll inspire!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we’ve got the four “F’s” to be thankful for: friends, family, food and a four-day work week. This year, fight the food coma and be thankful for

poses for digestion:

child’s pose (also known as downward facing turkey)

Okay, that was a joke, though the pose does kind of resemble a roasted turkey. Child’s pose is not only great for taking a breather between yoga poses (or between courses) but forward bending creates heat in the abdomen and helps to get those digestive juices flowing.

marichyasana III (seated twist)

Here’s one good reason to break out a game of Twister after Thanksgiving dinner. Twisting wrings out the internal organs and helps to move things along. Marichyasana III pose is known to massage abdominal organs like your liver and kidneys. Start in a seated position with both legs extended out. Bend one knee and twist the torso towards the bent leg. Hold for as long as you like and repeat on the other side.

apanasana (upward pose)

Look to your left then right and make sure no one else is around (this pose is a relieving one, if you know what we mean.) Lying on your back, bring both knees into the chest and give yourself a big hug. Rock your knees from side to side to help massage abdominal organs and get digestion going. Hold the pose for as long as you like.

After dinner, fight the urge to hit Savasana, that’s the turkey’s natural sedative trying to take advantage and it won’t help your digestion. Be happy, be merry, and eat, then be glad your yoga pants have enough stretch to accommodate the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

want more?

• don’t forget to breathe: Pranayama away the pecan pie
• bring a healthy and blissful treat to the table
• do yoga with Ingrid

Above are Tiffany's housemates, Fay, Emma, Kelsey, and Sarah, who are giving thanks to each other in little ways.

To most university students, Thanksgiving brings the excitement of going home, spending time with old friends, and eating plenty of real, home-cooked meals.

I have four housemates – Emma, Fay, Kelsey and Sarah – and we live in a little house right near the Queen’s University campus. Similar to most university students, we’re all very excited to go home to see our families and, of course, eat home-cooked meals.

This past Saturday, we received a Facebook message from Emma, which I wanted to share with all of you:

so i’ve decided that we are going to celebrate thanksgiving.

for thanksgiving we all go home and appreciate food and that is definitely great. but i think our celebration (although it will involve food) should also involve thanking each other. so what i will do this week is go around and give everyone little cuecards, and on those cuecards we will have to thank each other for something (coolness, being a person who listens, sharing food, etc.) then i will compile them and we will have a dinner celebration (date and time to be decided) and hand them out.

Although the message was simple, it got right down to the point of Thanksgiving – giving thanks to those who you are grateful for. These four girls are my best friends in the world – but sometimes its easy to forget how much I truly appreciate them – even if its just for their coolness!

I challenge each and every one of you reading this blog to do something similar – take a moment and really give thanks to the people around you. Let them know how much you appreciate their love, time and special characteristics.

We had our Thanksgiving feast on Monday night – and despite the fact it certainly wasn’t a homecooked meal – it might have been the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever had!