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!

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.

Blissful Chaos

Life is

tumbling,

rolling,

changing,

swirling,

upheaving,

a dancing microcosm

of expanding universal

reality

So much to worry about.

So much to stress about.

So much to feel anxious about.

And,

So much beauty, so much possibility, so much love.

Can you sustain your bliss in the midst of it all?

Can you find beauty among the chaos?

Can you dance in the rain and manifest the rainbow?

Bliss is a state of mind. It does not come to us through situations, people, or things. We harvest bliss within ourselves. This is our work. To realize heaven is right here on Earth, right now.

Despite.

How to Find Bliss While Tackling the To-Do List, Part 2

Once you begin to integrate the flow of getting things done by connecting to the mood you are in, using the appropriate skill set that is alignment with that, and allowing yourself to weave among the various tasks on your list, you will find that projects become less daunting, and more things will be getting done.

The fun piece is that you only have to stay with your projects if they feel good! If you begin to feel distracted, tired, annoyed, angry, or overwhelmed this is a clear sign that it’s time to move onto something else that needs your attention. Do whatever you are in the mood for, rather than forcing yourself to complete, or continue to do, something that no longer feels good.

As soon as you feel stuck, stop! You will notice all your justifications and excuses about why you “need” to stay where you are-this has to get done, I’m already behind, etc, etc-start to come up. However, what I have learned is that the longer you try to keep doing something when you no longer have the energy for it, the less you actually get accomplished. By jumping to another skill set, you free your energy, allow the skill set you have been working with to rest, and, this is the most important part, you stop trying to swim upstream!!

Here are some benefits of making the switch:

• less overwhelm
• avoid burnout
• more energy
• accomplish more
• experience more joy
• creativity excels
• everything eventually gets attended to
• less stress

The more I play around with this method in tackling my To-Do list, the more fun I am having! I’ve started to experiment with the various skill sets, to see how I can apply them in different ways. For instance, in the past if I was working on developing a project vision, I might sit down with a pen and pad and write it out. Recently I tried painting and collaging instead to think it out, and got wonderful results. Combining dancing with housework is a real blast, making a ho-hum chore a hysterical occasion-especially if someone finds you dancing with your broom!

Give it a try. Step outside the boxes. The whole idea is to make the things we need, or want to do, fun and enjoyable. There is absolutely no reason all that exists on the never ending To-Do list has to be a drag!! (Read that line again if you have to.)

Let’s have fun. Let’s play. Let us honor the flow and rhythms of our bodies, minds and spirits while building up our muscles in all the skill sets.  Scatter yourself all around, planting seeds into everything you do, or like the hummingbird drinking nectar from all the various flowers. Watch how the joy returns to your process, tasks become more fun, and you become less stressed.

Now that sounds like a project worth engaging in, yes?

(Read Part 1 here)

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