I saw Christmas lights today and thought, “Already? It’s not even Thanksgiving!” Then of course there’s the folks getting ready to do their Christmas shopping. I’m so not in tune with it, but noticing a blog post reminded me that it might be a good idea for me to mention my favorite healing items for those who wish to bring comfort and wellness to others in their lives:

• Ball Chair: I’m still using mine at home and work!
• Yoga DVDs by Peggy Cappy: Where modifications are the rule instead of the exception
• The Miracle Ball Method: Nice price! We have 3 or 4 sets!
• 7 Minutes of Magic: My newest favorite find!

Of course, going for a walk with your loved ones is totally free and I recommend that highly! We don’t have glistening snow here but checking out the neighbors’ Christmas lights is a great excuse. And apparently we can already get started!

So I’m continuing to lose weight, but I’ve noticed that I can’t see it. At first I did and I was really enjoying it. But now it’s like I’m starting to see myself with those same old critical eyes that were never satisfied no matter how bone thin I was. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid so I must dive back into The Woman’s Belly Book that I started to read over the summer. (I got distracted by other books for a while, as I often do.) I know that I’ll never be happy until I can love my body right now, as is. So it’s time to learn to love my belly and all my curvy parts. Not just those occasional days when the stars mystically align so I can see myself as attractive. But everyday, enjoying this body. Perfectly imperfect. If not at 40, then when?

So it’s Nov 15 and I’m half way through the month of blogging. Acckkk! I’m not sure I’m going to make it but maybe this weekend I’ll catch my breath. At the moment it feels like I’m just down to desperate fluff posts. I am so exhausted because my day was super long ending with picking up my husband at the airport after an evening meeting. I’ve done it a million times but I managed to take a wrong turn. I got stuck in traffic because of construction and then took a few more wrong turns until I finally got back to the point where it all started. Just what you want when you are just trying to keep going. Too top it off, I thought I had to take my music midterm today, because whenever you log-in to the website it said that the mid-term is Thursday and you only have 24 hours to take it. So I dashed home between work stuff, but when I got to the midterm page it said that I had until Sunday night. Of course, I would rather take it on Saturday when I actually had time! Oh well, enough complaining. I guess this is the opposite of a gratitude post

I have no major content to share today. I can see how some of the blogs I read include a regular “review day” recapping what they’ve already written. It’s been strangely hot so after lamenting the absence of sun and warmth, we suddenly had quite the opposite. I’m trying to take advantage of it before it leaves again. Part of me prefers that the weather make it its mind, but another part is quite grateful for the change!

I’m suffering from a little case of Blogger-apathy. I think it’s this grueling pace of daily blogging. I was having a hard time working up any topics of interest when my search led me to this article on Dr. Christiane Northrup’s website: Who Says You Can’t Have Too Much Fun? Laughing for the health of it and I noticed this statement:

“Have you ever watched any little kids? Aren’t they having fun? That’s because the average child laughs about 400 times a day,” Dr. Northrup says. “But here’s the startling second half of this equation: The average adult laughs only about 40 times a day.

As someone who was always known for her laughter (and sometimes even got in trouble for it), I have a new appreciation for the fact that I haven’t lost that youthful sense of humor! Here are some of the health benefits to humor:

Scientific American.com cited a study by the University of Maryland that tested the blood flow in both men and women after they watched various video clips from both humorous and stress-inducing movies. Results showed that laughter had a positive impact on cardiovascular health by actually increasing blood flow in the body. According to the American Institute of Stress, laughter can lessen our pain and improve our immune systems.

Get out and laugh today for your health