Hi Reader,

Yesterday I was reminded of a truth that I know but have been forgetting lately -

The importance of gratitude.

Bear with me -

The past few weeks have been a bit rough. Not awful, but incredibly stressful.

The kind of constant stress that becomes your new normal and can only end in burnout.

It was a mix of preparation for my flight attendant re-certification (happens every year and it's a ton of work), health issues with my daughter, unexpected expenses, juggling childcare, recovering from Covid (yup it's still out there - but I'm fine now!), and not nearly enough sleep -

Ugh.

Not exactly a recipe for wellbeing.

But then I needed an item from the dollar store yesterday.

There was only one person working there, behind the cash register. It was a woman who looked to be in her 50's.

I smiled and said automatically, "Hi, how are you?"

Her tired eyes looked up and me and she attempted a smile.

"I'm...ok.", she said.

That pierced my heart in that moment.

Here I was complaining to myself, but this woman has an exhausting and probably thankless job.

There's no shame in working in a dollar store but I'm sure this was not her dream in life. Nor to work alone in the store on a sunny Sunday morning.

I thought about how lucky I am to do work that I enjoy and to get to return home to my family and enjoy our Sunday together.

This is all not to minimize life's difficulties.

Life can be really challenging for all of us sometimes and that's valid.

But there's a saying that if we were to all throw our problems into a circle to exchange them -

We would all end up reaching to take back our own problems after seeing those of others.

Scientifically speaking, gratitude has been proven to increase the neurotransmitters seratonin and dopamine, as well as regulate stress hormones.

So therefore, gratitude is actually an incredible stress reliever.

Try this:

Every day, write down three things that you are grateful for.

They can be big ("my wonderful spouse") or small ("that awesome sandwich I had for lunch today").

This is a really fun practice and you'd be amazed at how increases the positive energy in your life!

And in other news -

My first YouTube live was so much fun!

We had a great group show up live to ask awesome questions and we had a great discussion about how to make a healthy lifestyle fun and easy. We also discussed Clean Eating Club (you can learn more about that here)

If you missed it, no problem at all!

​Here’s the replay (oh and please excuse the first few minutes of technical difficulties, just skip ahead to 4:50 🤣)

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead! 🌸

Amalia

P.S. - When you're ready, here's three ways that I can help you feel your best: 1) Reply to this email or click here to set up a free discovery call with me. We'll chat about your wellness goals and I'll tell you how I can help! 2) Grab my Gluten-Free Goodness guide! This is the guide that I wish I had had when I first started eating gluten-free 9 years ago. It’s full of my favorite gluten-free recipes, products, tips & hacks! You can grab it here ​ 3) Subscribe here to my YouTube channel and learn more about my favorite wellness tips and travel adventures. Don't see a video on the topic you're interested in? Reply to this email to request a specific topic for a future video! ​www.yogabyamalia.com​

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