Lazy late morning Aztec Coffee….

 How do you spend your morning after Thanksgiving? Rushing around in the Black Friday madness? Games with the kids or lazily watching holiday movies?

For me, it’s a traditional breakfast of leftover pumpkin pie (thank you Michelle) and a spicy coffee. Penning a brain dump of all the things that are on my mind in the hope that releasing them on paper will clear me for more creativity. Writing what I’m grateful for.

So often at the Thanksgiving table, it is a requirement to go seat by seat stating something we are appreciative for. But did you know there is brain science to go with that and that gratitude and happiness go hand in hand? 

When we express gratitude, it releases both serotonin and dopamine, the happiness hormones. But a very special thing happens only when we press pen to paper.

The act of writing by hand allows us an emotional processing much deeper than typing or voice to text. This is particularly beneficial for self-reflection and managing emotions. As your hand forms words on paper, your brain more deeply feels the emotional aspects of that being written.

For me, Thanksgiving is every day. Journal in hand I express at least three things I am grateful for. It is a meditation… A contemplative start to each day that guides me in staying grounded and appreciating all that is around me.