Python2.7(flask) reference to import variable from

I need to import a variable that is initialized in the __init__.py of my package.

======__init__.py======
import os

from flask import Flask
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy
from flask_login import LoginManager


basedir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))

app = Flask(__name__)

app.config['SECRET_KEY'] = 'blah'
app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'sqlite:///' + os.path.join(basedir, 'thermos.db')
app.config['DEBUG'] = True
db = SQLAlchemy(app)

app.config['DEBUG'] = True

import models
import views

Then in my views.py and my models.py I am trying to import db and app like so:

===== views.py ====
from thermos import app, db

This is not working as I would expect. At the moment my directory structure looks like this:

/thermos
   /thermos
      __init__.py
      views.py
      models.py

The tutorial I am using uses the exact setup I have listed above, however it does not work for me. To get the code to work I have to make the following changes:

===== views.py ====
from . import app, db

===== models.py ====
from . import db

Why isn't it working for me? Is my change acceptable? I don't like to use relative links. Halp? Thanks!

The error in question:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "test.py", line 1, in <module>
    from thermos import app
  File "/home/python/projects/plural_flask/thermos/thermos/__init__.py", line 16, in <module>
    import models
  File "/home/python/projects/plural_flask/thermos/thermos/models.py", line 5, in <module>
    from thermos import db
ImportError: cannot import name db

I have already read these: Flask structure -- can't import application from __init__.py Python: How to import from an __init__.py file?

and many others, but still can't figure out why it works for the tutorial I'm following and not on my own machine with the same setup.

My answer comes from another stackoverflow answer: Python circular importing?

Essentially use import db rather than from thermos import db