Dreams and Gratitude

I recently had a post on the website MindoverDepression.com about gratitude. Gratitude seems too simple to have any major effects on a person’s mood. At any given moment, even when filled with a negative outlook, it’s actually kind of easy to find something to be grateful for with a little effort. It could be as simple as being thankful for free water at a water fountain, owning a pair of socks, or for owning a old laptop with a taped on space bar and a missing key because it still gets the job done (thank you to my laptop for allowing me to type this!). It’s probably the simplest thing I have ever done to improve my mood/ life. After a few weeks of putting some effort into finding things I’m grateful for, it’s now an effortless mindset and my mood has remained stable and positive for the longest stretch of time since I can ever remember. While I believe everything on MindoverDepression.com has helped me, gratitude has been a major piece of the puzzle.

With that said, lately I have been filled with a sometimes almost overwhelmingly grateful feeling towards everyone who has supported me, big or small, this year. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but the past few months I’ve had dreams come true in large part to you. It has been my dream to support my modest lifestyle through being creative in a variety of ways (writing, trying to help those who with me share the journey of healing depression, videos, artwork, t-shirt designs, and a book), and it has been a huge honor to have my creative passions displayed in people’s homes or have my thoughts enter the minds of others as they read my words. While I’m not sure how long this dream will continue, words cannot express how thankful I am for the time I have had living my dream and helping the dreams of others by always giving some proceeds to charity (again, all because of you!).

Sincerest thanks to all reading this.

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukah

Joyous Kwanza

Happy Holidays,

Sandi

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.
Ralph Marston 

1 Day Left and a Super Sweet Poem

1 DAY LEFT TO GET YOUR SHIRTS!!!

http://teespring.com/findyourfree

My sister, Rachel, wrote an amazing inspirational poem based off a painting I made. Please check it out if you haven't already: http://rachelnypaver.blogspot.com/2013/12/she-wanted-toflyso-she-flew-by-rachel.html

Run Wild, Live Happy,

Sandi

Find Your Free- T-Shirts are Launched!

Launched my first shirt design!

Everyone wants to feel free. We want both our minds and our bodies to feel free. We want the freedom to fly where no vehicles can go. That’s why we run. Running has the magical power to free our minds so we can dream big and believe in our capabilities in every aspect of our lives. Running gives us the freedom to go to places that are only reachable by foot, and places so beautiful they take our breaths away (sometimes also caused by the lack of air in the mountains). This design represents that freedom we get from running, so where your shirt proudly and inspire others to find their free.

If you like it you can buy it here: http://teespring.com/findyourfree  Get it as a present to yourself or for the runners in your life! 

You can only get it until December 15!

I'm trying this out using Teespring which is mostly a good thing but has one downside. The shirts will only be printed if 30 are sold. The reason I'm using Teespring this time is because it's no risk money wise for me. I was nervous about ordering and buying a ton of shirts that may or may not sell. So this way I don't have to invest money I really want to use for Christmas presents. Also, Teespring ships the shirts straight to you which is great for me and Sage since our apartment is already filled with camera equipment, painting supplies, and running/ exercise stuff. :)

A note on some of the shirt choices:

Mens: Dark gray option coming (hopefully) sometime tomorrow. (Thanks Sage for picking out the men's shirt.) 

Ladies: There are two women's specific shirts. 

-The Bella Women's Favorite Tee. It's a junior fit so it's a bit smaller than a regular women's tee. I actually have this shirt in a small and it fits me perfectly, but it wouldn't if I was a tad ummmm....bustier. It looks exactly like the shirt in the above picture. The small fits me just like the picture below but its slightly longer.

-The Gildan Women's Tee: http://www.amazon.com/T-Shirts-Womens-Gildan-Cotton-T-Shirt/dp/B000FAKO6K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

7% of the proceeds will go to the Boys & Girls Club.

I am also going to apologize in advance if I go overboard promoting it. I only did a 10 day campaign so people could hopefully get it for Christmas presents.

Thanks for all the support!!!

Much love,

Sandi

Find your free

How Stress Can Hurt Your Body

Remember this?

If you don’t, here’s the summary. My stomach was constantly bugging me and I was having trouble absorbing vitamins and minerals, especially iron. The inside of my stomach was irritated and red, but that’s all the doctors could tell me. I was extremely frustrated. I just wanted more energy again.

According to Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book Mind over Medicine, my story mirrors thousands of others. Dr. Rankin worked in Marin County California, a place where people strive to eat healthy and stay fit. She was seeing patients that, like me, eat a very clean and natural diet, and exercise regularly. Interestingly, these patients were just as sick as the patients she saw when she lived in an area filled with poverty and fast food. She then spent her time researching the subject and came to the conclusion that stress or any negative areas in your life can make you sick. (If you don’t believe this, read her book and keep reading this. She was raised to be skeptical so she really did her research.)

Though I’m not sure if this was the complete root of my problem, it really made sense to me after reading the Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner. In his book he states:

The stress response can cause a massive cascade of events in your body, including:

·    On average four times less blood flow to your digestive system.

·    Lower absorption of nutrients.

·    Less enzyme production in your gut. (As much as 20,000 times less! This is one of the reasons why, when you eat a meal while you’re stressed, you’ll often feel bloated and uncomfortable.)

·    Decrease in gut flora population.

·    Increase in cholesterol.

·    Increase in cortisol and insulin levels.

Notice, the main two things I was experiencing, stomach problems and trouble absorbing nutrients, can be caused by stress.

As you may have noticed by my blog and website postings, I have been really working on healing my depression and reducing stress. And guess what? There is a very noticeable difference in my energy. While I’m still having trouble getting my iron up, something is obviously going right because I don’t feel like sleeping all the time and I’m once again motivated to do the things I love!

For ideas on how to decrease stress in your life and gettingto the roots of your problems check out MindoverDepression.com. While the website is for depression, it offers some good knowledge for everyone.

Run Wild, Live Happy,

Sandi

Find Your Free

Last few hours to pre-order Beautiful Girl! Click below for more details.
http://sandinypaver.blogspot.com/2013/11/beautiful-girl-hopefully-beautiful-gift.html
Part of the proceeds will be going to partners of the Half the Sky Movement.

HUGE THANKS to everyone who has purchased the book!

I've also been working on designing some fashionable (for men and women) t-shirts! Below is one of the designs. Hoping to have some shirts available for purchase in the next few days. Something to keep in mind for holiday presents. :)

Run Wild, Live Happy,

Sandi