Benefits of Laughter

Laughter is Fun and Healthy

William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, reports the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. Yet, adults average just 17 laughs a day. Why the difference? Are we too uptight, too tense? Do we take life too seriously? Isn't it time we learned how to relax? We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing. So, if we want to fly like the angels and share in their happiness, we'll have to follow their example and take ourselves lightly.

Our five senses are not enough for ideal living. We need to use our sixth sense: our sense of humor. Humor isn't about merely telling jokes; it's the way we view the world. We can be sincere about life without taking it so seriously. We can laugh about our mistakes and pain. Louis Kronenberger explains: "Humor simultaneously wounds and heals, indicts and pardons, diminishes and enlarges; it constitutes inner growth at the expense of outer gain, and those who posses and honestly practice it make themselves more through a willingness to make themselves less."

It is more than six years now since the first "Laughter Club" was set up. There is a growing demand for such clubs in India and abroad. Almost everyday more and more people are joining Laughter Clubs and are reaping its benefits. One of the benefits is that laughter puts the members in a positive frame of mind and gradually makes them positive thinkers. People suffering from a variety of stress-related diseases have benefited in some way or another. But we don’t claim that long-standing ailments have been cured by laughter therapy. Laughter is more of a supplementary and preventive therapy.

Anti Stress: Laughter is one of the finest, most economical and easy ways to reduce stress. Laughter is one of the best muscle relaxants. Laughter expands blood vessels and sends more blood to the extremities and other muscles all over the body. A good bout of laughter also reduces the levels of stress hormones epinephrine and cortisol. It is used as a form of dynamic meditation or relaxation. For meditation one has to put in a concerted effort to completely detach oneself, on mental and emotional levels, from one’s own feelings and thought processes, as well as from the physical world to prevent distractions. While laughing we do not have any conscious thought process and all our senses naturally and effortlessly combine in a moment of harmony to give joy, peace and relaxation. In other types of meditation you need to concentrate a lot to take your mind away from distracting thoughts, which is easier said than done. Therefore, laughter is, if I may say so, the easiest form of meditation and one which brings you instant relaxation.

Strengthens the Immune System: The immune system plays an important role in maintaining good health by keeping away infections, allergies and cancers. It has been proven by psychoneuroimmunologists that negative emotions like anxiety, depression or anger weaken the immune system of the body, thereby reducing its fighting capacity against infections. According to Dr. Lee S. Berk from Loma Linda University, California, laughter helps to increase the count of natural killer cells (NK cells - a type of white cell) and also raises the antibody levels. Researchers have found that after laughter therapy there is an increase in antibodies (Immunoglobulin A) in the mucous of the nose and respiratory passages, which is believed to have a protective capacity against some viruses, bacteria and other micro organisms. Many members of Laughter Clubs have noticed that their frequency of common colds, sore throats and chest infections has decreased. The effect of laughter on the immune system is considered to be very significant with regard to deadly disease like AIDS and cancer by improving quality of life.

Aerobic Exercise: The one benefit almost everybody experiences is a sense of well-being. After 15 minutes of laughter in the morning, they feel fresh throughout the day. There is no medicine like laughter which gives you such an instant result. The reason for the sense of well-being is that you inhale more oxygen while laughing. Laughter can be compared to any aerobic exercises except you don't have to wear fancy shoes or clothes. You don't need to sweat hard on the jogging tracks. According to Dr. William Fry from Stanford University, one minute of laughter is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine. Laughter stimulates heart and blood circulation like aerobic exercise. Laughter exercise is suited for sedentary people and those who are confined to a bed or wheelchair.

Depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders: The stress and strain of modern life are taking a heavy toll of the human mind and body. Mind-related diseases like anxiety, depression, nervous breakdowns and sleeplessness are on the rise. Laughter has benefited many people who were on heavy anti-depressant pills and tranquillizers. Now they are getting better sleep and their depression has reduced. People with suicidal tendencies have started living with more hope.

High Blood Pressure and Heart disease: There are a number of causes for high blood pressure and heart disease like heredity, obesity, smoking and excessive intake of saturated fats. But stress is one of the major factors. Laughter definitely helps to control blood pressure by reducing the release of stress-related hormones and bringing relaxation.

http://www.laughteryoga.org
Mumbai, INDIA. 2003.
Phone : +91-22-26316426
E-Mail : laugh@laughteryoga.org

How Do you Put Your Garden to Sleep?

Appreciating Simplicity and Fresh Food

Any Foodie, Chef or my favorite Foodie Chef Anthony Bourdain will share that fresh ingredients are a must in any dish, therefore, gardens are a must.

Three simple steps to put your garden to bed in the best way possible for the winter:

1. Cut back any plants that sleep for the winter (which means anything that isn’t green, a shrub, or a tree).

2. Rake around the plants to clear away any the cut off plants, leaves, and other debris.

3. Lay a nice layer of mulch or organic compost around the plants.

Notice Beauty Everyday

See for the first time. Sometimes we get bogged down in schedules and obligations, and we lose our sense of wonder about the simple joys of life. Just quieting yourself internally and opening yourself up to an experience can allow you to view it again for the very first time. When you’re listening to music, imagine that you might have not been born with the ability to hear. When you reach out to touch someone, think about how many people don’t have use of their limbs. When you observe your surroundings, imagine you’re seeing color for the first time.

Live intimately with life. The next time you have a drink of coffee or tea, completely take in the smell and the flavor of the beverage. When you breathe, feel the air enter your lungs. When you walk, really feel the ground beneath your feet. The amount of beauty you experience in life is largely related to your level of intimacy with life. If you’re walking around disconnected, you overlook the wealth of artistry that is available to you right now.

Make your passion a priority. It’s easy to get wrapped up in doing all of the things that we think must get done. Wanting everything to be perfect gets in the way of having time for the things you really care about. While the errands and things on your to-do list might be necessary, it’s important to make the things you love a priority. If you have a hard time with distractions getting in your way, make a specific time during your day that is sacred, where you only do what you really want to do. Maybe it’s an hour of Kung Fu or Yoga in the morning before the rest of the world wakes up. Maybe it’s 30 minutes of Mahjong before you turn in for the night. Whatever it is, you have to make it a priority or it will get lost in the vacuum of the minutiae abyss.

Focus on the good. The reason still puzzles me, but we humans have a tendency to focus on the negative in events, circumstances, and people. We have a tendency to count our misfortunes and all the things that are lacking before we count our blessings. Make a habit of focusing on all the things you’re grateful for and you will open yourself up to experiencing the beauty of life.

Give something away. I’ve found that the best way to reconnect with how beautiful life can be is to give something away. It doesn’t have to be anything material. It can be a compliment, a smile, or a positive intention for someone else. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give is sincerely giving your presence.

Embrace your artistry. If you think you’re not a creative person, I’m here to respectably tell you – you’re wrong. You couldn’t not create, even if you wanted to. Every time you open your mouth, every story you tell yourself about the drama in your life, is an act of creation. You’re constantly shaping, reinventing, and writing the story of your life. Once you recognize this, it’s much more powerful for you to see yourself as an artist, rather than a non-creative person. So the question is: What story will you create today?

Live without limits. Some limits are positive and necessary (like speed limits), but a lot of the limits we place on our lives block us from experiencing our full potential. Arbitrary limits, like fearing to reach out to a homeless person or talk to strangers, restrict the flow of love in our lives.

About the author: Jonathan Mead is a life coach and prolific blogger. In his spare time he studies Jeet Kune Do and other ass-kicking strategies.

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

How Successful Couples Find Happiness- by Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Part of the answer is compatibility - making the initial choice of a partner with whom you share common values. Equally much, however, depends upon the choices each partner chooses to make during the relationship. Here are seven choices made by happy couples:

1. Honoring the other's point-of-view: People disagree, couples disagree. Understanding that the two partners in a couple remain individuals is crucial to a happy relationship. Why would you expect that you and your partner should agree on everything? Honor that one of you is a Republican and the other a Democrat. Honor that one of you is a vegetarian and the other loves a great steak.

2. Open Communication: Tell the truth, tell the whole truth. If you didn't want to share your whole life with your partner, why are you together? If you make a mistake, admit it. If you have doubts, talk about them. Secrets and lies kill a relationship. With truth and openness anything is possible. Even if something is unforgivable, it is better to deal with it quickly.

3.Trust: Suspicion and jealousy are the death knell of any relationship. If the other is going to cheat or otherwise dishonor the relationship, suspicion and jealousy will not prevent it, and such a relationship is fatally flawed in any case. Unwarranted suspicion and jealousy create misery in a surprising number of relationships. If you want to live happily, trust your partner completely. If they dishonor your trust, deal with the situation then. In the meanwhile, you will have been happy.

4. Self-Confidence: Co-dependence is another frequent cause of failed relationships. Happy couples know that they don't need each other. Each partner is a completely whole and valid individual who has entered into a voluntary partnership. Neither "owns" the other, nor "can't live without" the other. Each has their own interests and friends, as well as having mutual interests and friends.

5. Generosity: Greed and selfishness kill relationships. True love is generous in spirit. Mostly, generosity is not about material things, although that is also important. To have a happy relationship, be generous of your time, your love, and your attention.

6. Forgiveness: Resentments and thoughts of revenge and vengeance have no place in a happy relationship. Happy couples forgive each other completely for everything the other has ever done or failed to do - no exceptions.

7. Gratitude: Happy couples are continuously grateful for each other. Every day there are a myriad of reasons to be grateful for your partner. Find those reasons each day, and thank your partner every day.

Secrets of Happy Couples: How Successful Couples Find Happiness is adapted from "secret" #74 of Jonathan's book 100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love.

Learned Optimism

In Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman offers research to show that the main difference between happy, successful people and depressed, unsuccessful folks is how they deal with difficulty. Unhappy people tend to shut down in the face of a problem; happy individuals take action to solve their problems. Optimists also tend not to get mired in blaming themselves for what's wrong as pessimists do; they focus instead on solutions.

If you're not a natural optimist, you still can cultivate the mental attitudes of one-or at least tone down your negative thinking. When you find yourself getting mired in a problem, say to yourself, "I can fix this." Rather than complaining, make a list of ten things you can do to help solve the situation. For example, if you are concerned about money, here's a list of things you can do to generate more: rent a room in your house, baby-sit at night, sell your used books, sell your car, start day trading, have your child become a model, offer to barter instead of paying cash for things, pay your mortgage bimonthly, go to night school and learn a trade, grow plants and vegetables and sell them at the farmer's market. Then look at the list and see what makes the most sense. Try it.

Worry doesn't Help

Worry involves negative habitual thought patterns and negative imagination. We create worry, which often then creates fear. Are you stressed about the ACTUAL EVENT or are you stressed by the constant wishing, hoping, mulling and projecting into the future? Worry is NEGATIVE goal setting.

How high stress impedes thinking
While a certain amount of stress can focus our attention and help us think more efficiently, too much stress interferes with learning and memory. In one experiment, when a group of students thought they were doing a practice test, they performed ten percent better than when they were told that the test was the real one. In this so-called real test, the students believed that they were part of a team that relied on their score to win a cash prize. The added social pressure impeded their working memory.

Quite likely an emotional hijacking caused this to happen. I’m not sure whether Daniel Goleman coined this term, but he uses it often when he reviews, in Emotional Intelligence, the above study and others about the effects of worry and other forms of anxiety.

The hijacking occurs when the part of our brain that specializes in emotions and passion–the small, almond-shaped amygdala in the center–detects a high level of stress. To the amygdala, this is the equivalent of an electronic sign flashing “Life in danger.” It quickly shuts down the slower-acting thinking mind, takes over decision making, and sends emergency messages over a different neural route. These messages trigger a torrent of stress hormones that raise our heart rate and blood pressure and prime our major muscles for action.

This is exactly what we want to happen when we see a small child fall into a rushing river or we’re facing down a mountain lion. Depending on the situation, we want to be catapulted into instinctive action or frozen in protective non-action. This classic fight/flight/freeze reaction is not helpful, however, when we need to come up with smart solutions to the enormously complex and pressing problems we face today.

I don’t want our lawmakers and our captains of industry to fight, flee, or freeze as the global economy worsens, cheap oil runs out, and climate change threatens the natural and human systems on which we rely. Nor do I want my neighbors, co-workers, or loved ones to go into this kind of unthinking panic mode when they need to find a job after being laid off, or sell their house to avoid foreclosure, or figure out fast how to live with water rationing. And I certainly don’t want my brain clouded with stress hormones when I’m in a bind that requires clear thinking.

One thing you can do about it:
The next time you want to think clearly but your heart is racing or your gut is tied in a knot, try this simple, three-part practice:

•Take a deep breath in through your nose and hold it for a moment
•Feel your heartbeat or the sensation in your gut, whichever is stronger
•When you breathe out, send your breath down through the center of your body to your feet and into the earth.
Repeat this until you’ve calmed a bit, then ask yourself: What do I most want to do right now? Be sure to listen for the answer. (It might surprise you.)

By Carolyn Shaffer

enJOY

Self Empowered People

Characteristics of Self Empowered People
They display high levels of optimism and confidence.
They possess vision and passion in their dreams and convictions.
They ensure that they surround themselves with other like-minded people.
They're highly resourceful, creative and inventive.
They seize opportunities and create their own whenever possible.
They know what motivates them.
They have a strong sense of personal identity.
They have spent a substantial amount of time on introspection and self discovery.
They take responsibility for their happiness.
They spin challenges into their greatest motivators—and sometimes biggest
advantages!
They refuse to let other people dictate how they should live.
*This statement reminds me of a quote that is commonly used in the counselling field: “It's better to be hated for who you are, than loved for someone your not.” A few different ways to think about this are: a) Someone else's dream for you may not be your dream b) Not suppressing or trading who you are for what you think is a more "acceptable" version of yourself c) Not pretending to be someone you're not so that people will like you or approve of you.

Step into Your Own Skin

Healthy Self Esteem
Self esteem isn't something that you have, it is something that you DO. Learn how to cultivate compassion for yourself. When you step into your own skin and take care of yourself you are giving yourself the all important message that you matter. Start taking action. The universe rewards action. Backing away and avoiding challenges means that your self esteem muscles become weak and flabby. When you start to take action,regardless of the outcome - you will start to feel better about yourself, develop your self confidence and raise your self esteem.

The way we feel about ourselves has a huge affect on the way we treat ourselves and others, and on the kinds of choices we make.Here are some things you can do to protect, raise, or reinforce your self-esteem.

• Spend time with supportive positive people who care about you.
• Ignore (and stay away from) people who put you down or treat you badly.
• Do things that you enjoy or that make you feel good.
• Do things you are good at.
• Reward yourself for your successes.
• Develop your talents.
• Be your own best friend-treat yourself well and do things that are good for you.
• Make good choices for yourself, and don't let others make your choices for you.
• Take responsibility for yourself, your choices, and your actions.
• Always do what you believe is right.
• Be true to yourself and your values.
• Respect other people and treat them right.
• Set goals and work to achieve them.

What is Healthy Self Esteem

What is healthy self esteem like?
Healthy self esteem does not imply over confidence. People who have an OK level of self esteem are:
• confident without being overbearing
• not devastated by criticism
• not overly defensive when questioned
• active and achievement orientated without being driven
• mostly happy with themselves as they are
• not easily defeated by setbacks and obstacles
• able to accept and learn from their own mistakes
• unlikely to feel a need to put others down
• open and assertive in communicating their needs
• self reliant and resourceful without refusing help
• not overly worried about failing or looking foolish
• not harshly or destructively critical of themselves
• not aggressively driven to prove themselves - people with normal self esteem are happy with themselves as they are
• able to laugh at themselves, not taking themselves too seriously
People with normal self esteem might doubt themselves from time to time but their sense of self worth consistently reverts to a balanced state. Having healthy self esteem does not mean feeling perfect. It is just not being continually plagued by self doubt. Having normal self esteem means not being excessively high one minute and feeling completely worthless the next.

Role Playing

Role Playing: The Many Faces of Ego by Eckhart Tolle

"You become most powerful in whatever you do if the action is performed for its own sake rather than as a means to protect, enhance, or conform your role identity." Eckhart Tolle

While there are circumstances in which we may wear different hats, Tolle looks at how we become identified with the roles we play, which very often has nothing to do with who we are and is not authentic. Are you your self around everyone in every circumstance or do you play different roles? Have you ever noticed the way in which you interact with different people in different ways? For example you may feel more at ease and comfortable around your family and certain friends so you may be comfortable just being your authentic, fun, talkative animated funky self - yet you may notice that when you are around other friends, people of authority, children you act in a different manner and perhaps remain very quiet and demure or shy. If so, you are playing a role, or to put it in another way, you are pretending to be someone you are not. Therefore, it is important to learn how to be an open, fluid critical thinker and a unique individual.

Did you buy that new sofa or new boat because you need it, to "keep up with the Jones'" or to enhance your sense of "self" and ego. Do you really enjoy spending time with your investment banker or are you role playing and pretending to enjoy her company so that you will eventually "gain" and "get something" out of it. There are many ways in which people play roles designed to protect, enhance and conform to what they believe will serve them selves (ego). The act of "giving" is a great example: If you "give" and "help" and engage in acts of kindness do it because you hold yourself to a certain standard and not for any other reason - otherwise it is not authentic and you are playing a role to serve your self(ego). Do you do "good" things because you think you will look "good" in the eyes of others, or because you think that if you do you will receive a hefty tax write-off, win an award or go to heaven? If you do, then ask yourself if you are doing it to serve your Self and enhance your ego or if you are true in your intention and heart. Become aware of the energy of your true intentions in any given situation and learn how to unravel yourself from playing roles.

Do something that scares you every day

"When you come to the edge of all the light
that you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is
knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on,
or you will be taught how to fly." Barbara J. Winter

Be Positive

Attracting Success

"People unknowingly sabotage their own work when they withhold help or information from others or try to undermine them lest they become more successful or get more credit than "me." Cooperation is alien to the ego, except when there is a secondary motive. The ego doesn't know that the more you include others, the more smoothly things flow and the more easily things come to you. When you give little or no help to others or put obstacles in their path, the universe -- in the form of people and circumstances -- gives little or no help to you because you have cut yourself off from the whole. The ego's unconscious core feeling of "not enough" causes it to react to someone else's success as if that success had taken something away from "me." It doesn't know that your resentment of another person's success curtails your own chances of success. In order to attract success, you need to welcome it wherever you see it." Eckhart Tolle -- A New Earth

What is Real Love? By Martha Beck

Brilliant author Martha Beck offers some very handy succinct advice when it comes to love and how to know when it's Real love or just clingy attachment. Beck presents the question, '"Is it love, or a mutual strangulation society? Martha Beck shows you five ways to get a real grip on the real thing. In a folktale that has been retold for centuries in many variations (one of which is Shakespeare's King Lear), an elderly king asks his three daughters how much they love him. The two older sisters deliver flowery speeches of filial adoration, but the youngest says only "I love you as meat loves salt." The king, insulted by this homely simile, banishes the youngest daughter and divides his kingdom between the older two, who promptly kick him out on his royal heinie. He seeks refuge in the very house where his third daughter is working as a scullery maid. Recognizing her father, the daughter asks the cook to prepare his meal without salt. The king eats a few tasteless mouthfuls, then bursts into tears. "All along," he cries, "it was my youngest daughter who really loved me!" The daughter reveals herself and all ends happily (except in King Lear, where pretty much everybody dies).

This story survived throughout Europe for a very long time because it is highly instructive: It reminds listeners that in matters of love, choosing style over substance is disastrous. It also helps us know when we're making that mistake. Salt is unique in that its taste doesn't cover up the food it seasons but enhances whatever flavor was there to begin with. Real love, real commitment, does the same thing.

Each of the following five statements is the polar opposite of what most Americans see as loving commitment. But these are "meat loves salt" commitments, as necessary as they are unconventional. Only if you and your beloved can honestly say them to each other is your relationship likely to thrive."'

Continue reading the 5 ways to tell if it's Real Love. Copy and paste the link below.

http://www.oprah.com/relationships/How-to-Know-Its-Real-Love-Advice-from-Martha-Beck/1

Turn Over A New Leaf

Turn over a New Leaf by Learning to Let Go of Ego

A Few great quotes from A New Earth by Eckart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle is a staple reading and common tool used within the counselling field.

Identification with Things"No ego can last for long without the need for more. Therefore, wanting keeps the ego alive much more than having. The ego wants to want more than it wants to have. And so the shallow satisfaction of having is always replaced by more wanting."

"The ego identifies with having, but its satisfaction in having is a relatively shallow and short-lived one. Concealed within it remains a deep-seated sense of dissatisfaction, of incompleteness, of "not enough." "I don't have enough yet," by which the ego really means, " I am not enough yet."

"No matter what you have or get, you won't be happy. You will always be looking for something else that promises greater fulfillment, that promises to make your incomplete sense of self complete and fill that sense of lack you feel within."

Do You Want Peace or Drama
"Nonreaction to the ego in others is one of the most effective ways not only of going beyond ego in yourself but also of dissolving the collective human ego. But you can only be in a state of nonreaction if you can recognize someone's behavior as coming from the ego, as being an expression of the collective human dysfunction. When you realize it's not personal, there is no longer a compulsion to react as if it were. Nonreaction is not a weakness but a strength."

The Ego's Need to Feel Superior"Complaining is one of the ego's favorite strategies for strengthing itself. Every complaint is a little story the mind makes up that you completely believe in. When you are in the grip of such and ego, complaining, especially about other people, is habitual and, of course, uncounscious, which means you don't know what you are doing. Applying negative mental labels to people, either to their face or more commonly when you speak about them to others or even just think about them, is often part of this pattern."

"The ego also loves to complain and feel resentful not only about other people but also about situations. What you can do to a person, you can do to a situation: make it into an enemy. Resentment is the emotion the goes with complaining and the mental labeling of people and adds even more energy to the ego. Complaining as well as fault finding and reactivity strengthen the ego's sense of boundary and separateness on which it's survival depends. But they also strenghthen the ego in another way by giving it a feeling of superiority on which it thrives. Facts undoubtedly exist. There is no ego in telling the waiter that your soup is cold and needs to be heated up - if you stick to the facts, which are always neutral. "How dare you serve me cold soup..." That's complaining. There's a "me" here that loves to feel personally offended by the cold soup and is going to make the most it. The complaining we are talking about is in the service of ego, not of change. Sometimes it becomes obvious that the ego doesn't really want change so that it can go on complaining."

"Every ego confuses opinions and viewpoints with facts. Furthermore, it cannot tell the difference between an event and its reaction to that event. Every ego is a master of selective perception and distorted interpretation. Only through awareness - not through thinking - can you differentiate between fact and opinion."

Beyond Ego: Your True Identity
"Unconscious people – and many remain unconscious, trapped in their egos throughout their lives – will quickly tell you who they are: their name, their occupation, their personal history, the shape or state of their body, and whatever else they identify with. Others may appear to be more evolved because they think of themselves as an immortal soul or living spirit. But do they really know themselves, or have they just added some spiritual sounding concepts to the content of their mind? Knowing yourself goes far deeper than the adoption of a set of ideas or beliefs. Spiritual ideas and beliefs may at best be helpful pointers, but in themselves they rarely have the power to dislodge the more firmly established core concepts of who you think you are, which are part of the conditioning of the human mind. Knowing yourself deeply has nothing to do with whatever ideas are floating around in your mind. Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind."

Instincts and how to hone them

This is a great photo that captures what happens when you don't listen to your instincts! How many times have you said to yourself, " I wish I had listened to my gut feeling.." or " I had a feeling this would happen..."

4 WAYS TO TAP INTO YOUR INTUITION

Meditate: By quieting your mind, meditation will train you to get in touch with your intuition. First, find a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Focus only on your breath. If thoughts arise - and they will - try not to dwell on them. ...

Use active visualization: This technique can help you learn to "read" people and situations. Close your eyes, quiet your mind and ask yourself a question about a problem you're facing.

Listen to your body: When faced with a choice, watch for your body's signals: Do you have a knot in your stomach? A lump in your throat? Does your heart ache? Or do you feel energized? At peace? Warm and glowing? Pay attention to the messages your body sends and take action based on what they tell you.

Remember your dreams: The trick to recalling your dreams is to make it fun. Buy a special journal to keep by your bed. Before you go to sleep, pose a specific question regarding a problem you're facing. By Judith Orloff MD

Trust your instincts and intuition

Instinct is IT

You have to become very still and listen while your inner voice -- the very essence of you -- tells you who you are. You'll know you've found it when every cell in your body practically vibrates; when you're filled up by what you're doing instead of being drained by it. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

To make up a dance, I still need, as I needed then, a pot of tea, walking space, privacy and an idea...
It takes hours daily of blind instinctive moving and fumbling to find the revealing gesture, and the process goes on for weeks before I am ready to start composing. Nor can I think any of this out sitting down. My body does it for me. It happens.
Dancer & choreographer Agnes De Mille - from her book Dance to the Piper

I definitely agree with a quote of Jean Houston when she says, "I think a lot of giftedness, though by no means all, has to do with having a broader palette of perceptual capacity, being highly sensitive to all the senses."
But I think it goes beyond the senses, as we know it. It's our ability to intuit the mystery. And it's through our capacity to intuit the mystery that we know cosmic truths about ourselves. And it's exactly the same thing as creativity. The psychic forces or the creative forces come through in exactly the same way, in that you have to be open and receptive to them if they come through, rather than effort or force anything. So it's a whole different way of perceiving than is simply through the analytic mind.
Judith Orloff, MD

Being bound to one's intuition promotes a confident reliance on it, no matter what. It changes a woman's guiding attitude from 'What will be, will be' to 'Let me see all there is to see.'
Clarissa Pinkola Estés

It's never too late to be what you might have been

For it is to be considered that this passion of which we speak, though it begin with the young, yet forsakes not the old, or rather suffers no one who is truly its servant to grow old, but makes the aged participators of it not less than the tender maiden, though in a different and nobler sort. For it is a fire that, kindling its first embers in the narrow nook of a private bosom, caught from a wandering spark out of another private heart, glows and enlarges until it warms and beams upon multitudes of men and women, upon the universal heart of all, and so lights up the whole world and all nature with its generous flames. It matters not, therefore, whether we attempt to describe the passion at twenty, at thirty, or at eighty years. He who paints it at the first period will lose some of its later, he who paints it at the last, some of its earlier traits. Only it is to be hoped that, by patience and the Muses' aid, we may attain to that inward view of the law, which shall describe a truth ever young and beautiful, so central that it shall commend itself to the eye, at whatever angle beholden. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fuel, and not the goopy black toxic kind

Fuel for the day
Many of us excel in one or a few particular areas in life. As such, we know exactly what we need to do to perform the best each time. If you are in to nutrition, you know that the types of foods, vitamins, and supplements you put into your body, largely determine how you are going to feel that day. If you are a surfer, you understand that the shape of your rocker, foam volume, blank, and foil are all going to determine how well you hang ten.

Just like these examples - life is what you put into it. Our happiness is not just some genetic poker hand we were dealt at birth. Yes, some can argue that each of us are equipped with a happiness set point, and some scientists theorize that one can only deviate within a statistical range of their genetic set point. However, there are many things we can “tweak” to raise our own set point throughout the day. Whether it's music, play, art, building, sports, hobby, fun - be sure to engage in at least one activity that you love each day.

Perceiving without Naming

Eckhart Tolle Teaches us about Learning how to be Present and Ego.
"This is most people's reality: As soon as something is perceived, it is named, interpreted, compared with something else, liked, disliked, or called good or bad by the phantom self, the ego. They are imprisoned in their thoughts. It is through this constant naming that the ego remains in place as the unobserved mind."

"Can you take the thinking out of the perceiving? Can you look at something without the voice in your head commenting, drawing conclusions, comparing, or trying to figure something out?"

Balance

Signs of burnout
Often, when burnout, people drive themselves harder to makeup for deficits emotionally, physical or otherwise. Denial that a problem exists is common; therefore, identifying signs of burnout is important to our emotional and physical health.

Five signs of burnout:
Irritability When a person feels out of control or unable to mange their life, work or family commitments as desired, they can become troubled. Often this is manifested in the form or irritation or aggravation. When burnout occurs, this state is more constant. You may lash out at co-workers or loved ones.
Trouble sleeping Being stressed out and have multiple deadlines or unfinished business, can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. Sleep deprivation will cause you to perform poorly.
Lack of energy As burnout creeps in, your energy level drops. A lack of caring or concern sets in, and productivity goes down the drain.
Concentration issues Problems concentrating are common with burnout. When faced with overwhelming schedules and tasks, concentrating can be difficult.
Emotional distress When someone is burnout, being overly emotional is common. For example, you may burst into tears over a seemingly minor incident. On the other hand, you can begin to isolate yourself, and show no emotion to varying circumstances. Either can lead to depression.

Overcoming Burnout

Overcoming burnout
Identifying burnout is only part of the solution. Overcoming burnout takes commitment and work on your part. Below are some practical solutions you can implement in your life to eliminate burnout, and enrich your life.

Five steps to balance:
Learn to say NO Over commitment is common, and a part of the reason people burnout. While it is important to please the boss, assess your current workload before saying yes to the next deadline. Perhaps you should allow someone else to drive the soccer team to and from games, or provide the snacks.
Get moving Putting exercise in your schedule can make a world of difference. Exercise helps eliminate stress, clears the mind and keeps the body fit.
Prioritize Assess what you are responsible for presently, and make a list. Evaluate and eliminate. Complete outstanding items that are most important or pressing, and delegate less important tasks to others as appropriate.
Get support A healthy, happy life includes people we enjoy being around; those that bring joy and positive support to our lives. Identify the people that make up your support system. Others are in our lives to help us, co-workers, family, friends, clergy and counselors.
Let go Learn to let go of things you cannot control. You cannot save the world. Let go of any guilt you may feel about not being able to do it all

Move Out of Your Own Way

Characteristics of a Healthy Relationship

Our intimate relationships are the most important aspects of many people’s lives. Good, solid, fruitful and fulfilling loving relationships not only provide us with great joy and happiness, they also support our dreams and careers, inspire us towards the achievement of our deepest and most cherished goals, and provide a deeper sense of both physical and spiritual well-being.

If you haven't had much chance to see how healthy, loving relationships work on a daily basis, taking some time to really study the characteristics of healthy relationships can give you a much better chance of having one yourself. There are lots of different styles of relationships, but all those successful relationship styles tend to have a few things in common: They allow the friendship to be governed by love - respect,communication, intimacy, equality and freedom. Each individual is able to be themselves within the relationship. Both people grow independently of each other and as a couple. Building strong fulfilling and fruitful relationships requires constant diligence, work and effort. However, this doesn’t mean that it can’t be enjoyable and fun.

Beauty full

As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can. John Muir

Music is everything

Choices made every day with enormous impact: Fair Trade Shade Grown Carbon Neutral Salt Spring Coffee

Fair Trade Coffee on Salt Spring Island,British Columbia

Fair Trade may be applied to most items for purchase such as cloths, jewelry, food, coffee beans. Purchase power means casting a vote for the farmer and workers who labour. The purpose of fair trade is to promote healthier working conditions and greater economic incentive for producers.

Shade Grown Coffee is cultivated under the canopy of the forest, preserving the natural habitat needed for migratory songbirds and other creatures.

Organic Coffee beans are grown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. However, only about one sixth of the 2.4 billion pounds of coffee sold each year in the United States alone are grown organically.Coffee is the third most heavily sprayed crop in the world, after cotton and tobacco.

For more information about Fair Trade:

http://maketradefair.com/en/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade_coffee

Dr. Vandana Shiva: Farmer's and Seeds

Besides being a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor and author of numerous books, Dr. Vandana Shiva is a tireless defender of the environment. She is the founder of Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers' rights. She is the founder/director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Her most recent books are entitled, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge and Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply.


Nuclear physics was Dr. Shiva's chosen specialty until she realized that the science had "dark side to it." She changed course to become a theoretical physicist and worked in foundations of quantum theory. She was working on her PhD at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, fully expecting to stay on and become a professor when she was confronted with the nagging thought that she wasn't informed enough about how society works. "We (India) have the third biggest scientific community in the world. We are among the poorest of countries. Science and technology is supposed to create growth, remove poverty. Where is the gap?" She wanted to answer that question for herself, so she took three years off to "look at science policy issues...be a little more educated, socially, and then go back to physics." It was off to the Indian Institute of Scie
nce and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore where she studied interdisciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy.

For more about Dr. Vandana Shiva http://www.navdanya.org/ Earth Democracy

Why is it called organic?

Why is it illegal for farmers to save their seeds?

To affect the quality of the day that is the highest of arts.

Engagement and absorption in the creative process is a journey of self development that demands openness. All individual's are unique in their experience so it’s important to approach each person as such and this means getting creative.By considering the value of expressive activities and experimenting with expressive activities you will greatly affect the quality of your days. These are just simple little activities that brighten the day and lighten the load. What can you do each day to add new flavors, texture, color, verve, and zest?! Adding a bit of zest affects the “Quality of the day.” By experimenting with and engaging in new activities you get inspired to do more and engage in different activities and really figure out what it is you love to do. Take a risk. Try something new and do something that scares you everyday, you are changed just by the energy of the attempt! This helps you gain a new perspective of old fears. Eventually, you conquer the fear.

Be diligent about yanking the beauty out of plain sight and hold it up for clear viewing.

Practice paying attention and notice the little things. Practice using all of your senses. Using our eyes is a great start, however, we must practice using the rest of our senses. Touch the flower petals of the flower you are admiring – really feel it. Cook up a batch of garlic and onions just for the smell of it! Check out different restaurants and taste some ethnic cuisine. Take your socks off and walk on the grass and in the sand. Climb a tree. Do a cartwheel. How many times do you look up into the sky? See the clouds? Take the subway everywhere, bike everywhere, notice those little cafes, the quaint sidewalks, a chunk of grass, the museums, the spas, the 100 year old trees. Become attuned to the beauty that is always available to you should you choose to see it.

Do it especially if you don't want to do it or find yourself coming up with excuses - that just means that you think too much and don't enjoy having fun.

Pay Attention

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself. Henry Miller

How many times have to attempted to read a page of your book and 3 pages later you don't know what you read - you were caught up in your thoughts and not present. Children are always present and in the moment. They are not caught up in their thoughts - that is because they are in the moment...so they are not caught up in their thoughts...

Practice. The next time you are at a stop light waiting for it to change, gaze upon a building that is unkempt and old. See the angles and shadows worn by nature. Observe the swirl of the peeling paint, like abstract art, moving and flowing without effort. See the chipped cement with its smooth contours and sharp edges. The ridges are a virtual mosaic of sensation and texture. The building becomes alive; the building has a pulse, a history, a frequency of vibration.

Create your own Blueprint with One Decision

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant flame than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. Jack London

Lack of individual identity can't be good.

David Schnarch, Ph.D, suggests that in order to grow within an emotionally committed relationship, we must experience the process of “differentiation.” This means holding onto yourself within a relationship, staying true to what you want out of life while sharing your life with a partner.

An experience of being alive.

People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. Joseph Campbell

Every day you are either moving toward or moving away from your goal.

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. Andre Gide

Determine with clarity what it is you want to change

Adventures don’t begin until you step into the forest. That first step is an
act of faith. – Mickey Hart

Friends listen to what you dont sayº

You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine. You’re some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in the furnace so you won’t have to become coins.

Sufi Poet Rumi

Grounded is groundless - if you are in the moment.

When your strengths rather than your deficits are emphasized, you are uplifted. This provides incentive to further your successful efforts, facilitate your own sense of authorship in your life and is therefore the epitome of self-empowerment.

Reality doesn't have to bite.

With Solution Oriented Creative Counselling you gain a deeper, broader awareness of yourself, sensing for the first time in a long while, feelings and experiences you may have forgotten or avoided. As you gain awareness, you reclaim lost parts of yourself. You bring more of yourself forward to be seen and heard maybe for the first time.

Creativity is movement.

Creativity can be defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. When you perceive change going on in your life, some part of the creative process is on the move! Creativity is born in movement, be it physical, intellectual, emotional or spiritual or any combination thereof. When different challenges arise you may ask yourself "Why can't I do this?" or "Why is this always happening to me?" Instead, get creative and ask yourself,  "What's my solution?"

Gratitude is not intellectual exercise.

Gratitude as an expressive activity 'excites life' - it's more than just acknowledging thanks, it's a state of being that appreciates all that is good and welcomed in our life. With a focus and attention on gratitude each day, it heightens a sense of energy that could be thought of as aliveness. Gratitude is more than intellectual exercise. It is much more than an obligation. Expressing appreciation involves both an expressive action and an inner attitude. Gratitude appreciates from the mind through intentional thought that recognizes the richness of our emotional connections with others, and all good things in our lives.