Blissful Gratitude

Wow! In this moment my heart is bursting with gratitude as I sit reflecting on all the wonderful things in my life. Mostly I am grateful for the work that I have chosen for myself. (Scroll down to see my detailed list!) Because of that, each day is a continuous opportunity to be “Living Bliss”, to practice “Getting My Bliss-ology On”, and to engage in “Bliss101″. I mean, if I’m going to advocate it, I have to be it, right? And what a gift it is!

Hey, don’t get me wrong. I have my days, and mood swings, and moments of not remembering. I’m not perfect. But as a Messenger of Bliss, I get to be constantly reminded of what choices are available to me, by my work. Some times, in those moments of darkness I hear the same words I shared with a client, and I burst out laughing. I’ve chosen many careers over my lifetime, and this one, by far, is the most fun, and the one that challenges me the most to live with integrity, purpose, passion, and authenticity. And that is an amazing gift to be uber thankful for, I think!

(Recently I interviewed a self-proclaimed “Joyologist”, Melodee Stumpf, on Bliss101Radio. We decided that when we become an honor student of Bliss-ology, we become Certified Joyologists! And, she shared about how she handles those dark days-take a listen, it’s a really fabulous interview.)

Along with the gift of my work comes many other things that I am immensely grateful for, which I’ve listed below. What are you grateful for? Are you paying attention to all the amazing things in your life? Are you sharing that gratitude?

• Top of the list no doubt: YOU!!! Thank you for being the amazing personthat you are, for being in my life, for encouraging me to be the best I can be, just by being here. Yes, you are awesome!
• The ability to live life on my own terms, to create and design the life of bliss I desire.
• My dear friends who stick by me thru think and thin.
• My Kitty-Luv, who currently is in my lap, with her head resting on my right wrist as I type this! Silly cat, doesn’t seem like a comfy way to rest, but I have to admit, that’s a look of bliss on her face. Ha! (see video on right)
• Warm sunshine, soft wind, delicious moon-glow, starry nights, howling coyotes, sunflowers, pomegranate’s, expansive views, mountains…oh heck, all of Mama Nature!
• Music that soothes my soul, moves my body, lifts my day, and inspires my heart. (My current fav’s: Prem Joshua and Herb Albert Tijuana Brass)
• My Ecstatic Dance community-you dance me into Bliss!
• Food on my plate, a warm house, a working car, things that make my life comfortable.
• Eyes that see, hands that touch, ears that hear, a heart that feels, lungs that breath, a body that is healthy, a spirit that loves.
• The opportunity to live yet another awesome day on this most amazing planet, with other incredible beings walking and laughing the bliss path.

How about making a gratitude list, and sharing it with your loved ones??

For me Thanksgiving is all about gratitude, and offering our thanks to the wonderful world around us. May you have an awesome Thanksgiving, surrounded by the very things that you are most thankful for.

Laughing Bliss

This summer I became Certified as a Laughter Yoga Leader. Ha Ha Ho Ho HO! Oh my gosh, this is some fun stuff!!

We all have heard the saying “Laughter is the Best Medicine”. Well, as it turns out, there is a lot of truth to this. Laughter supports our immune systems, is great for our physical bodies, improves our mental/emotional frame, and even benefits our social situations. The benefits are way to many to not consider using laughter as a primary health and wellness tool.

Besides, it feels good and it’s fun!! Isn’t that a good enough reason?

Here are some interesting factoids:

• The International Congress of humor found that laughter is down 66 – 82% worldwide of what it was in the 1950′s.

  In the 1950′s people laughed on the average 18 minutes a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 minutes a day.

• Children tend to laugh an average of 400 times a day. For adults however, it is a totally different story. A recent laughter study shows that: 64 % of people smile less than 20 times a day at home 72 % smile less than 20 times a day at work

• 13 muscles are used to smile, but 47 are required for frowning. You have to smile nearly a quarter of a million times to make 1 wrinkle.

• In terms of exercise, you can get the same benefits from laughing 100 times a day, as you can from 10 minutes of rowing.

• 15 minutes of laughter equals the benefit of 2 hours sleep.

• One good belly laugh burns off 3 1/2 calories.

• Laughing for 15 seconds adds 2 days to your life span.

• Research shows that only 30% of longevity is genetic. Therefor 70% you control with your mind on how you think, with your body on how you keep yourself in shape, and the lifestyle you choose to live.

So, why not choose to laugh? With all these benefits, it’s a giant step that we can take to bring more bliss into our lives. Laughing teaches us to look at the brighter side, to entertain a different perspective, and to not take ourselves so seriously. When we bring laughter more consciously into our lives, we attract other happy people into it, and our relationships are meaningful, joyful, and much more fun, and we make the choice to live a life of gaiety.  How fun is that?

Here is a list of many benefits of laughter:

Physical Health Benefits:

• Boosts immunity
• Lowers stress hormones
• Decreases pain
• Relaxes your muscles
• Prevents heart disease

Mental Health Benefits:

• Adds joy and zest to life
• Eases anxiety and fear
• Relieves stress
• Improves mood
• Enhances resilience

Social Benefits:

• Strengthens relationships
• Attracts others to us
• Enhances teamwork
• Helps defuse conflict
• Promotes group bonding

I recently created a 4 minute laughing video to inspire others to begin laughing today. Feel free to use it as much as needed to get you in the practice of laughing fully and heartily. Then watch how things begin to change in your life as you invite laughter in, on the path towards living your bliss. Share it with your friends too!

Big, Bold, and Brilliant

Have you ever been told that you are too much of something? You’re too sensitive, or you’re too “big”, or too affectionate, or too open, or too trusting, or… too, too, too…

Who defines what too much is? If my “bigness” (by this I mean one’s energetic field, or level of confidence and self assurance, not physical size) makes someone uncomfortable, is that my issue or theirs? If the other person is uncomfortable with it all, am I required, or expected, to tone down to accommodate their comfort? Then, what becomes of mine?

What do you think?

I am reminded of the Marianne Williamson quote (that is so often wrongly credited to Nelson Mandela) that says:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I believe there is nothing enlightened about shrinking into smallness to allow others to feel more comfortable. But, what do you do when your greatness (and I don’t mean ego-I’m-so-awesome- and-am-up-here-above-everyone-else kind of great, but rather our innate, divine, life affirming greatness..) leaves you in a league by yourself, because others can’t handle it? How then do you continue shining?

I don’t want to be forced to make a choice between being real, authentic, heart-wide-open, and superficial, surface, and playing small. The truth is I won’t make the choice, because there is only one way to go for me. But, it might cause me to get a little dull if placed in that dynamic.

It’s hard to stand in the brilliance of our own light let alone someone else’s. Of course it is uncomfortable. Yet real and authentic, big and juicy, honest and transparent are far more interesting to me, despite the inherent challenges and level of new skills that one must learn to get comfortable in it all.

Sometimes it’s easier to stand in someone else’s light-to admire, oogle over, be envious of-than it is to consider how we could shine the same way. “We ask ourselves,Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”

When we tell someone they are too this or that, in my opinion we are perpetuating an emotional act of violence on them, for we are asking them to turn their light down, so we won’t have to confront how we are not shining our own lights. We want them to come down to our comfort zone, rather than demanding of ourselves to rise to higher standards. We are asking that person to become small, to shrink, to kill themselves on some level, to not be who they really are. All because it makes us uncomfortable.

Instead, we might consider, what is here for me? Why is this person’s brilliance making me uncomfortable? What might I say to this person to share my experience, in a way that takes self responsibility, and allows us both to learn and become closer?

Because when we consciously, or subconsciously, ask, or suggest, for someone to get small, we are building up a barrier to intimacy, separating from others, and shrinking away from the light within ourselves. And that building of barriers to intimacy and connection with others is a sure block on the road to Living Bliss.

So, let yourself shine. And please, let others do the same. Liberate yourself from the fear. If it gets too bright, put on your sunglasses, or leave the room. Just don’t ask anyone else to turn down their light, or tell them they are too bright. Cause honey, that’s about you, not them!

Be big, play big, shine bright. Your playing small (and asking others to do the same) does not serve the world.

How big are you willing to be? Go ahead, roar like a lion!

Catch this weeks Bliss101Radio show with Merv Neal, laughter advocate, and some one who doesn’t ask permission to live his bliss.

I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts on this posts topic.

Owning Bliss

I recently got an email from a womyn, who happens to be named Bliss. She was upset that I was using her name within the context of “trite self help seminars”.  This got me thinking about the ownership of things like our names, and ideas, and concepts. Actually, my first reaction was …”geez, you’re complaining because I am using your name in a good way?”

I have to admit, I wasn’t very P.C. with my response. I suggested that perhaps she would want to honor her namesake, vs complaining about others who are perusing their own bliss and helping others to do the same. Well, as they say, you can’t please everyone. The important thing is not allowing ourselves to get pulled down by the naysayers, or to doubt the good of what we do. However, I felt sad that rather than seeing the good of my work, she saw it as a personal insult of some kind.

But, back to the ownership idea. Just because we are given a name, do we own it, or what it means? Do we have a right to say how others interpret it, or use it? When we share an idea with the world, is it still ours, or does it become part of the collective mind soup?

Bliss is identified in most dictionaries as a noun. That means it can be either a person, place, or a thing. I’m thinking the Bliss I refer to is a “thing”, as it is a way of being, a lifestyle, something we choose to do or not to do. It can become a part of us, as a person, but it is not our personhood, so to speak.

Bliss is also described as :

1. Supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.

2. Theology . the joy of heaven.

3. Heaven; paradise: the road to eternal bliss.

4. Archaic . a cause of great joy or happiness

These don’t seem to be anything that anyone can lay claim too, with regards to suggesting that no-one else can pursue it, help others to find it, or have it themselves. Quite the opposite is true, actually. You can claim it for yourself and your life,  and in fact, I would highly encourage you to do so!

So, here’s the bottom line. Bliss is for everyone. It belongs to all of us. It’s available to all beings, whether we are given Bliss as a namesake or not. All you have to do is choose Bliss, and you can have it too. And, if you happen to have the good fortune of being able to support others in bringing on their bliss, well, that’s an added bonus! So, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Bliss cannot be privatized, corporatized, gentrified, homogenized, or pirated. If you want it, claim it. For yourself. For your life. However you want to express it.  Just remember, everyone gets to claim some for themselves as well.  So, go ahead, buzz around in your own Bliss!

Have you listened to Bliss101Radio on BlogtalkRadio yet? Today I interviewed Gretchen Baer, a womyn whose primary goal in life is sharing creativity and joy with others, being a Bliss Prankster, and celebrating the great festival of life. Check out the show here.

What Is Bliss?

Bliss is a choice

Bliss is a way of being

Bliss comes from the inside out

It cannot be gotten anywhere

No one gives you bliss

You choose to let it enter your life

Bliss comes from following your inner truth

From knowing who you are

What you want

How to ask for it

Bliss doesn’t sit in the victim chair

It reminds you that everything happens for a reason

and helps you to learn the lessons

Bliss says no to drama

Yes to problem solving

Yes to listening

Yes to compassion

Bliss allows you to see the beauty

in the midst of chaos

Bliss opens your mind and heart

Bliss says Yes I can!

Bliss puts a smile on your face

& a rightness in your step

Bliss seeks peacefulness and resolution

It is loving and kind

Bliss makes your life garden grow

Providing a bountiful harvest for your enjoyment

Bliss brings you closer to God

Whatever God is to you

Bliss opens doors

Carries your burdens

Holds the space

and provides a strong foundation to your life.

Bliss is not selfish.

But it is self serving.

It has you unapologetically giving the world your wonderful, amazing and unique gifts

Bliss isn’t about what you do, it’s about who you are.

Join the upcoming FREE tele-class “Get Your Bliss-ology On! “, on August 2nd ! Go here for more details.

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