INTEGRITY

This week I pray for integrity.

This week I made choices that were so totally freeing to my soul and yet  contradictory to my family’s tradition and culture.

This weekend was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.  According to Chabad.org, it is the "day on which we are closest to G-d and to the quintessence of our own souls.  It is the Day of Atonement.  For nearly twenty six hours, practicing Jews abstain from food and drink, washing their bodies and sex.   They pray indoors, in a synagogue, in a type of religious fervor until the end of the Fast when they share food together.

This tradition no longer felt right for me.   On so many different levels, I was seeking a more spiritual experience of connecting with my divinity.    Friday night, after sitting with my parents for their Friday night meal (cooked by LoverBoy – woohoo), I took myself to Raja Yoga at Anuttara Yoga Shala.

This Friday, our class was smaller and more intimate.  I had the opportunity to practice right next to my yoga teacher, Philip, and right in front of a mirror.  The music embraced me while the heat in the room allowed me to release the tension in my muscles and access a deeper layer of myself.

 

This form of practice tranquilizes the mind while energizing the body and soothing the soul.  For me, it is an opportunity to open my body and heart and empty my mind.  My teacher, Philip has a peaceful engaging voice which keeps me present and focused in my body – melting into my bones while my connective tissue expands and my hips open.

As I listened to his gentle voice guide my body, his truthful words were punctuated by powerful thunder that matched the electromagnetic energy we were creating in the room.  A bolt of lightning illuminated the top windows in the Tapas Hall and lit up the statues of Shiva Shakti and made my experience even more mystical. 

Philip reminded us of the sacredness of our practice as it was also the 9^th day of the Navaratri holiday – a Hindu holiday that honors Shakti (the Divine Feminine/Mother) and looks to her for spiritual cleansing, guidance, and enlightenment.    With sweat pouring out of my cells, my body felt limber and my mind was at peace.  I knew I was in the right place, at the right time.

I prayed during my practice for my forgiveness and asked for more compassion and patience with myself.  I prayed for more listening to the guidance from within.  I prayed to the inner child that I honor her and laugh with her and put her first.

Even though this is not how many Jews practice this High HolyDay, this is how this recovering Jew became in integrity with her spirit.    

For me, integrity is finding my way into the world truthfully – not because my parents said so, or religion dictates or this is how everybody does it but rather because it resonates within.  It creates an inner experience that radiates my light into the world.

And so, I laugh at loud and follow my own path, knowing that this is my way of bringing peace into this world and chahahanging history to herstory.

Nico & Vinz sing it like it is.  Enjoy!!!

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

 OUR TRUTH - ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

  "I am so blessed , I am so blessed, I am so grateful for all that I have."   

                                                                          - Karen Drucker

These words are the lyrics to Karen Drucker's song (see the whole song in the video above). The words of this song set the tone for my day, each and every morning.  I focus on what is truly important - how blessed I am and grateful for all that I have.

2014 is my year of Gratitude.  Checking in, halfway into our year - I've shed so many skins, loosened so many layers and let go of all things that I have no control over. The weather, the news, traffic, other people, death, aging....  

What I can control - what I have 100% autonomy is my ATTITUDE.  I choose how I will respond or react to any situation that crosses my path.  My research, over the years, shows me that the only attitude that really works and gives me what I want (health, happiness, abundance) is GRATITUDE.   Here are more things that my gratitude research reveals or 3 things that I know to be true about gratitude:

Truth:  GRATITUDE IS A MUSCLE

Gratitude - saying thank you on the INside and out - to each and every thing that comes my way, no matter what it looks like when I receive it.   

This was not allways my way.  

I would go from experience to experience without taking the time to digest and savor.  

Now, I stop and breathe and process all the juiciness that is in my life.  Expressing gratitude when I first wake up for the legs that let me stand, for my heart that beats, for the arms and hands that let me move and feel.  Singing gratitude for what my eyes see and my mouth tastes.

When I get lost in my thoughts or lose my focus, I stop and breathe and get down on my knees and get gr8full - counting my blessings and thanking the Universe for all the chaHAhallenges and opportunities in my life to LOVE.  

The Universe works in mysterious ways and what I see is not always what is.   

Being in gratitude allows me to chaHAhange my perspective - have aHAHA moments and appreciate this life I have.

Before I go to bed, I get quiet and do a Pussy Ritual.  

I put my hands on my core - my sweet spot (the sacred space with 8000 sensory nerve endings designed for pure pleasure ) - I meet up and I feel theall the pleasure in my life and I give thanks - 12 times.  12 things that I acknowledge that brought me pleasure and I am truly greatFULL for.  12 things that I love about myself and how I be in my world.   12 people that touched my life today.

I flex and strengthen this attitude of gratitude.   I work it out by putting words on paper and writing thank you notes or doing a Act of Random Kindness (ARK).   I expand my muscle by knocking on a neighbor's door or calling a friend and just listening.  I cultivate gratitude by sitting in the grass and taking in the nature that surrounds me - hugging a tree and talking to the squirrels and being One with my surroundings.

Truth:  GRATITUDE IS A MULTI SENSORY EXPERIENCE

Gratitude is more than the words we say.  It's a feeling - deep inside - of reverence and irreverence for life.

It's feeling GREATfull for the smell of a fresh peeled orange in the morning or squirting lemon in my glass of water.  It's feeling pleasure for the cotton modal fabric I adorn my body with and the lotus flower that sits on my tush when I put my yoga pants on.  

It's tasting the dew on a leaf outside my door as I prepare for a walk with .  It's breathing in the sunrise as the clouds dance and change colors.  It's touching my cat's fur and feeling her purr in response as we dance, fingers to fur.

Using my senses to experience gratitude heightens the experience.  It keeps me in that delicious vibration of aBUNdance as more comes my way.  It brings me delightful and pleasurable experiences.

Truth:    WHAT I FOCUS ON, I GET MORE OF

As my understanding of myself shifts - my perspective chahahanges.  As my attention resides with what is good in my life, I find myself noticing more all the little things I take for granted.   

I focus on my breath and being healthy.  My world expands so I find the right teachers and arenas to make small adjustments for optimal alignment and balance.

I focus on my family - all the Wee Ones - I get to see them all in one weekend - six nieces and two nephews, three sisters and two brothers.

I focus on my ability to laugh, at myself, and with myself.  
I focus on the joy of being outside in nature every day.  
I focus on the freedom to be and do, in my pleasure.

It took the lens of GRATITUDE to see all the yummy and exhilarating life lessons that have created me, Goddess Diana, the human bean that I am becoming. Looking at THEN and seeing how it has shaped NOW. And finding the gifts of THEN in the NOW. 

I am so grateful for THEN. I am so blessed for where it has brought me NOW.  I am so grateful for this PRESENT.

ILLUMINATION

It feels like a light, burning at the very center of me, pulsing and expanding and pouring through every inch of my being

like some unstoppable force.

And when I smile, that's the 

light pushing through 

And when I cry, my tears act 

as tiny prisms, dripping with light, 

casting rainbows across my cheeks.

And when I laugh, that's the 

light spontaneously bursting within me,

erupting into the Universe to resonate

into the abyss.

That's what it feels like to be me, 

or at least, that's the best 

I can explain it.

I am a light, a fire, an explosion of joy.

I burn with love and life and 

the enchanting potential for more.

I wonder and wander through the world, 

smiling and laughing and loving.

I am a luminous being.  

And so are you, dear strangers and friends.

Trust me, I have sat quietly

back and observed.

I have watched you flash by in flames.

- written by Frankie Zelneck Simon Rogers

Illumination from THEXFR on Vimeo.

FERVOR OF HAHA

To me, FERVOR, is when you love something so much that all you do is think about it, experience it in different manners and find ways to implement it everywhere.  

 

That is how I feel about Laughter Yoga - it permeates my thoughts and feelings and sits deep in my bones

.  I am always trying to laugh at my life  and find the humor in every situation.

You see, what I discovered over the years is that the act of HAhaHA - laughing - has some deep physical and psychological effects.  It also helps me stay grounded and maintain my emotional balance.

I find that everything has an element of HAHA in it somewhere.  The Universe has a great sense of humor and creates opportunities for us to laugh all the time.  Although I may not see it immediately in the MOMent, I learn to breathe into it and sit with my feelings.   I tap my fingertips with a HAHA HOHO HEE HEE movement and calm my mind and warm up my body.  As my sense of wellbeing returns, I can usually see the present of the situation, the irony of the Moment, and the gift of this experience.

I am passionate about my laughter and the techniques I have to help me stay in the HAHA zone.  I find life more stimulating and rewarding from this perspective.  I am enthusiastic and ecstatic about my time here on this planet.  I am a HAhaHAppy camper.

Here is my immune booster technique.  This light touching of the fingers and the rhythmic HAHA HOHO HEEHEE chaHAhant is effective in lowering my blood pressure, regulating my emotional state and warming up my core.  It also creates a yummy tingle in my fingertips and helps me feel my chi moving.

Enjoy!!!

PRAYERS ANSWERED

Last week I prayed for HILARITY and shaHAhared with you how it feels to have it in my life.   I immediately got an email from WSM Andrew who shaHAhared Dr. Orloff's blog and her topic Celebrate Laughter.    

As she puts it:

"True laughter is a surrender 

to hilarity; a sound, a smile, 

a heart opening."

This week I pray for lucidity and in my life appears WSM Bob and his dog/God Bogart.  Brother from another mother Bob and Bogart travel on a bus all around the perimeter of the United States.  9,000 miles biking and bussing and shaHAharing their powerful messages.  They stop in different cities to meet peeps and raise awareness to his goal of One Million Acts of Kindness. 

For two evenings, Bob parked his bus under my trees and vibrations of love and good chi were felt in my neighborhood.  It was so enlightening to wake up in the morning and see Bob and Bogart's bus and all these beautiful messages of hope and faith and LOVE and TRUTH and haHAhappiness in front of my house.

I love how we just have to ask and be greatFULL and the Universe showers us in aBUNdance with messages and peeps that remind us of our purpose and the WHY of what we do.

I was so inspired by Bob and his bus, I made a little movie:

Bob and Bogart plan on coming back in 2013 and laugh with us at TY Park.

Until then, check out their website or like them on FaceBook and order their cool stickers or their book or make a donation to keep Bob and Bogart riding on that wonderful bus.

HILARITY BRINGS CLARITY

For me, I find the harder I laugh, the better I feel.

I had one of these MOMents of hilarity - breath knocked out of me, holding my belly, sputtering from the mouth, laughing so hard the tears started to flow.   ExhaHAhaling my HAhas as my laughter came from deep in my belly.  

The OMazing thing is that as I laugh from the center of ME,  I feel it touching and affecting every cell in my body.  What started within expands out until my belly laugh becomes a body laugh and all of ME is shaHAhaking.

These last few weeks, I was dealing with the flu - high fever, body aches, congestion in my nose, chest and head.   Coughing and sneezing and wheezing.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't eat.  Laughing helped me pull the phlegm up and out of my body.  It got my muscles and lungs to open up after all the contracting from the fever and aches.   

I didn't think I could laugh and yet once I started I couldn't stop.  All that yummy oxygen coming in - all that shaHahaking and moving my body - releasing the stiffness and stuckness of the flu.  I got centered in the present MOMent and allowed myself to flow again.

As Madison Taylor of Daily Om puts it:  

It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives.

For me, hilarity brought clarity.  An A-hahaha MOMent.  An opportunity to chaHAhallenge myself to do different.  It also flooded my body with oxytocin, released my physical stress and released endorphins into my blood stream.

Hilarity is uninhibited laughter - food of the soul, nourishing us from within.   And when we feel full, we can focus and gain clear INsight into our lives.

After three weeks of the flu - I was able to see where in my life I needed some chaHAhange.  Laughing so haHAhard and shaHAhaking it all gives you a new perspective.   It's kind of like leaning over the side of your bed and looking at your room upside down.  You see your room in a whole new way.

If you are ready for some clarity in your life, some HAHA to A-Ha, I can help you.  Send me an email and let us find the WOOHOO in your life.

Power of the HA

  THE POWER OF THE HA

I find the more I LAUGH,  the more I increase my capacity  to LOVE.    It's easier to go with the flow  & ride the waves. With the weather shifting and winds a blowing exploding with ebulliency expending enerchi efficiently I find myself outside feet naked touching the Earth HahaHA It feels so very good, very good, Yay Cool and firm, fragrant and wild sitting with GingerMama talking to squirrels  enjoying trees Keeps me grounded Gives me courage to LAUGH out LOUD by myself until my peeps show up and play with me Life is full of surprises My chaHAhallenge is to stay in pleasure MOMent to MOMent laugh at myself OUT LOUD just BEcause I can Building my HAHA muscle HOHO HAHAHA  ChaHAhanging the way I look at things Attitude Adjustment Giving gratitude and gaining altitude Feeling my LOVE muscle grow. Woohoo

Laughter & Longevity

Research shows that laughter affects longevity and that a sense of humor can enhance the quality of life in later years.

For me, laughter has been the secret tool in the longevity of my marriage. WSM Noah and I celebrate 14 years of marriage on May 30th. We've been laughing ever since we met. In fact, that is what keep us together strong and haHAhappy - the ability to laugh at everything and thrive from whatever circumstances are presented.

Over the years, we have laughed through broken bones and excess weight and family drama and changing jobs and moving and learning to love ourselves and each other. In fact, we shaHAhare what we know so others can grow younger with us too.

Scientific proof comes from the medical school at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Dr. Sven Svenbak tracked 54,000 Norwegians for seven years and discovered that those individuals who found life the funniest lived longer than their less mirthful countrymen.

Israeli researchers who have been trying to decode the "longevity gene" announced new findings this week that personality traits such as being outgoing, optimistic and easygoing, enjoying laughter and staying engaged in activities may be a crucial part of the mix. The findings, published online in the journal Aging, come from Einstein's Longevity Genes Project,

"When I started working with centenarians, I thought we'd find that they survived so long in part because they were mean and ornery," said Nir Barzilai, M.D., the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, director of Einstein's Institute for Aging Research and co-corresponding author of the study. But, "we found qualities that clearly reflect a positive attitude towards life," he adds. "Most were outgoing, optimistic and easygoing. They considered laughter an important part of life and had a large social network. They expressed emotions openly rather than bottling them up."

As I look forward to another 14 years with this wonderful man, I pray for the longevity of my laughter muscles. May we laugh together, may we have aBUNdance and may we find friends who enjoy laughing as much as we do.

HA HA Action

This week I started to walk again.

After a 3 1/2 month hiatus so my fractured bones could heal, I bore weight on my right leg for the first time. In my mind, I thought it would be so easy. I mean, I have been walking for almost 43 years. For some reason, I imagined that I would get up and go and resume all my activities. Ha ha ha.

In fact, I pushed myself too haHAhard. I was so eager to "get back to normal". Back in my kitchen, on my feet, putting recipes together. Trying to walk GingerMama and establish a routine. And staying away from my bed (where I spent the last 3 1/2 months resting and recuperating).

I took it for granted that I could sit criss cross apple sauce. Now, I know it is something I am going to need to relearn. Learning to stretch my muscles and ligaments and laugh at myself through this process. Which really helps. Flooding my body full of endorphins makes the discomfort of stretching outside my comfort zone slightly easier and more pleasurable. Ha ha ha.

Learning to find a "new normal". Allowing my body to dictate the flow of movement and rest. Laughing at myself and my expectations of how things are supposed to be. Accepting that this is just right for me in this moment. Ha ha ha.

I have spent time this week being compassionate with my body and what it is telling me. Remembering that the process is what it's all about. Taking HA HA action to create small baby steps and build big change.

PERMISSION to SHAhaHAre

"FIND THE HUMOR IN THINGS TODAY.  IT WILL DO YOU GOOD.

SEE THINGS WITH THE FUNNY SIDE UP!  PEOPLE WILL CATCH 

ON AND EVERYONE WILL BE LAUGHING."

This is one of my favorite pages from a new book called PERMISSION SLIPS.   This book features the wise wisdom and delicious ART of my lovely WILD CHILD tribe Sister Goddess Pattie.   SG Pattie gave herself permission.  She decided to play big and shine her light wide.  She submitted her ART to StoryPeople who loved it so much they made it a book.  Woohoo.

SG Pattie's colorful pages and whimsical designs and bright words exude HAhaHAppiness. I open this book and the pages make me giggle and the words remind me to give myself permission to just be.

SG Pattie and I met at a WildChild Art Retreat years ago - when the walls of my house were still white with other people's stuff on them.  After seeing this Wise Omazing Woman create and acquiring some of her ART to bless my sacred space, I gave myself permission to paint - every possible surface I could find.  That is why my house has orange walls and yellow gold hallways and blue, fuschia and green kitchen cabinets.

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SG Pattie was kind enough to share some of her wisdom with me - here is our interview below:

1. What inspires you to create?

My heart and spirit inspires me! It is not something that I readily think about but rather it is a feeling that over comes me to pick up my paints and pens. It is a feeling of being whole, of being complete, of being ME when I create.

2. Do the words come first or the images/pictures/colors?

There really is no one way for me...Some days the images come first, which then bring whispers from my heart...Other days the words come and they direct me what to paint...color is my way of bringing the two together.

3. What is your favorite permission slip?

This is a hard question to answer because I use them all...and on any given day I will have a different answer. So, I would have to say today, that my favorite permission slip is "LUCKY DAY". I have this new book out, I am blessed with good friends and a loving family. I have found that I am much stronger than I thought I was, and that happiness is truly a state of mind. There are my 4 lucky things that I honor today!

4. Where do you get your ideas?

I get my ideas perhaps from a color I might see, from a book I am reading, or the sweet song of a bird outside my window. Ideas come from my heart and then blossom outward.

5. What is your secret superpower?

AH...my secret superpower is that I do not require a great amount of sleep! So I have many hours available to create, garden, read, love my kitties, and enjoy life.

6.  What encouragement can you offer to other artists?

Be courageous to submit anything you feel really shows who you are and what your heart has to say.  Be okay with rejection, not everyone likes everything we do. Fear traps us and does not allow us to move forward closer to our dreams. That old saying ..."if at first you don't succeed...try...try..again" is a great mantra!

7. What other projects are you willing to shaHahare with the world?

I am currently working on a board book for children of all ages. This again is a book inspired by the transformation of my good husband, Michael. I found that talking about death was not a subject most people were comfortable with, and trying to find a book that dealt with death that was suitable for a 6 year old was impossible. That is what this new book is about. How people never leave us really...because, they are always in our hearts.

Spring is in the Air ???

I was so wishing it would start warming up today.

Walking with GingerMama in 55 degree weather in South Florida kind of boggles the mind. Mixes up the body pretty good too.

My OMazing Sister Goddess Christina was here with Wee Grace at 7:30 a.m., bright eyed and ready to walk through the park and sing to the trees with me.

We have a Walk and Talk before Laughter Yoga - it gets my motor humming and my ears tuned.

Today, I wore my 4th of July Pants and my Bicycle Therapy shirt. It's almost as if I am prodding the Universe to hurry up and warm us up.

I am still feeling a little queasy as my core muscles and organs shrink back into place. I took off my shoes - the ground is warm and healing - I feel grounded and at peace although my rollercoaster has not stopped. Tee hee ~@~

As we created our Circle and held hands and OM'd together, the Universe left us a gift. As we opened our eyes and saw each other smiling - we noticed a white feather in the center of our circle - an opportunity to set intentions of peace and love and healing.

All is well in the world today.

What a blessing to BE and LAUGH.

What groovy vibes we choose to create.

Woo hoo~!~

And the yummy ripples they create.

(Check out Ripples Project)

Tee hee ~@~

Thank you Mama Earth for the healing & love you provide.

Adventure 1/23/10

A great big THANK YOU and NAMASTE to Sister Goddess Marissa of Parks & Recreation for the City of Doral. This amazing Goddess runs all sorts of cool programs for kids. She invited us to participate in a Teacher Planning Day camp. On the days that teachers plan and kids are sent home, the City provides a day camp alternative for working parents. SG Marissa had all sorts of fun activities for the 54 kids enrolled. She hires yoga teachers and martial arts instructors and jazzercise pros to immerse the kids in new activities.

WSM Noah and I were blessed to LAUGH as penguins and monkeys might. Surrounded by 54 little Peeps we roared like lions and shook it all out. Ranging in age from ages 5 to 11, these little souls were OMazing. We were immersed in the moment as we HO HA HA HA'd. We spoke gibberish and sent ALOHA love to the world. We created so much yummy energy that day.

My hair got touched, twirled, stroked and braided. I got high fives and low fives and heads on my belly LAUGHter. So much LOVE. WSM Noah and I left there with warm hearts and happy spirits - oxytocin pumping and bodies purring with feel good hormones.

Children and LAUGHter - what a potent combination. What a great way to unleash PEACE on this Planet.

Thank you SG Marissa for BEing a peacemaking, trendsetting, creatrix of adventure.

Interview #1 - Laughter Yogini Goddess Adele

Laughter Yogini Goddess Adele