My apartment has approximately 450 square feet of space. It houses two humans and NINE pillows!! That’s not because were hosting slumber parties on a weekly basis. Its because, I can never find a pillow that allows me to get a good nights sleep. I swear I’m the princess from The Princess and the Pea.

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I have pillows at every price point imaginable. Price seems to mean very little when finding a pillow that works. You can imagine my anxiousness when yesterday, we decided that our current pillows were the source of neck pain and a pinched nerve. According to WebMD, these are signs that it’s was time for a new pillow.

Signs that you need a new pillow:

• headaches
• neck pains
• shoulder and arm numbness or discomfort
• sometimes even sneezing and wheezing

WebMD also provides guidelines on buying that perfect pillow. I’m not sure that my new pillow is perfect as I didn’t fall asleep until after 2 a.m., but I didn’t experience any of the above symptoms. I’m hoping that the pillow isn’t to blame for my restless night.

The best part of my pillow shopping was that the holiday lights are up at Columbus Circle!

I’m one of the lucky ones. Running found me early in life.

I have to admit that I’ve somewhat lost that loving feeling towards running. Maybe I should explain.

Running has always been my friend. Just like a good friend it lets me rant, rave and gather my thoughts. It teaches me things I couldn’t learn from anyone else. Ever since moving to NYC some nine years ago, these types of runs have experienced quite a few interruptions. I’ve allowed these interruptions to change my relationship with running.

Sometimes I’m the rude one interrupting my run with negative thoughts and lack of focus (or the wrong focus).

Other times its this city that’s the rude one. I’ve been yelled at numerous times while going about my running business (and I don’t mean cat calls). I’ve been clipped by a bicyclist. I’ve been stepped on, kicked, and even had someone else’s spit on me. I’ve had to stop dead in my tracks numerous times to avoid collision with tourists (okay, so I’ve had a few collisions). Lets just say that running in a park with so much activity often takes away from what I need my run to do for me. BUT…

now the cold weather is on its way!

I use to scoff at the idea of running in the winter. I could barely survive the winter without subjecting myself to running in the cold. These days the cold weather and rainy damp days are my new found friend. They allow me to renew my relationship with running with out interruption. Four miles (and no foot pain) later, my run was complete and my mind was a little more clear.

As I return to work after vacation and a renewed sense of self, I wonder how long can I hold onto this “reset?”

“That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better to.” ~ Paulo Coelho

P.S. There’s one more day to answer last weeks Power Trivia Question (were you could win my favorite headband).

I love this route.  Its peaceful and scenic.  I complain about living in this city quite often, but yesterday was  a reminder of how lucky I am to live here.   It was the first time in a while I was able to tune out and tune in during a run.  I came home dehydrated and high (a runners high that is).

Last night I was fortunate enough to get a much needed massage.  This kind of thing isn’t normally in my budget, but a sweet colleague gave me a special deal when she learned of my constant headaches.  Boy, did I feel like Miss Fancy Pants having a massage therapist come to my house.  She was amazing!  My headache disappeared and I woke up this morning without a sore muscle in my body.

My day was full of zen like activities that created the perfect formula for slowing down the constant rat race in my mind.

What allows you to zone out and tune in?