FAITH and the way I see it

This week I pray for FAITH.

I just returned from Northern California.

It was not part of my planned trips for these last few months of 2014.  However, an email about studying with the elders, a retreat with the Sequoia Trees, showed up in my inbox.  I sent a Thank you email for the inspiration and please keep me posted for upcoming trips in 2015.  

I get a phone call Wednesday night telling me that there is space and what would it take to make this trip hahahappen and be in California on Friday.  I was going to say No.  I already had plans for the weekend (visions of pink and SisterGoddesses and South Beach).  And a flight less than 48 hours away?  Hahaha.

To tell you the truth, thinking of the trees brought me great pleasure - a warmth in my heart and a tingling of excitement in my body.  I  took a deep breath and had a good laugh.  I said YES let me see what I can find.  I got on the internet to check itineraries and prices.

For those of us who have booked last minute travel - especially from Florida to California - price of airfare can be pretty hefty.  Direct flights from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco were $1,200 pre tax.   I was about to give up a when a little pop-up for USAir showed up on my screen.  A non-direct flight through Charlotte with minimal layover time would have me arriving on time to San Francisco to meet the designated shuttle.   The flight price was a more reasonable $460.00 tax included.  Trying to book the flight online proved futile.  I picked up the phone and had a pleasant conversation with a young man named Josh.  He pushed some buttons and typed in code and all of a sudden for $400.00 and points, I was traveling first class to California and back.  My NO turned into an emphatic YES YES YES.

Once I had my tickets, I called to find out where exactly in California this retreat would occur.  Ben Lomond, the voice at the other end of the phone said.  Ben Lomond?  Of all the cities in California,  this is one I know quite well.   My cousins - Auntie Sylvia's niece and great niece and great great nephew hahahappen to live in Ben Lomond.  I've been blessed to be in Ben Lomond twice for weddings.

I could see Auntie Sylvia's hand, RIP, all over this trip.

Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., less than 24 hours after purchasing my ticket, I boarded my flight. I was beyond exhahahahausted.  Besides getting up at 3:00 a.m. to catch my flight, we had Auntie Sylvia's funeral the day before.  My emotions were a mess as was I.

I surrendered my fears and concerns and not knowing to the Universe and started my adventure.

The privilege of first class, it is quite nice.  You are the first to board the airplane, one of the first to deplane.  There is always space overhead for a carry on and there is no fee to check in a baggage. The seats are big enough to sit crisscross applesauce (once you take off your shoes).  Blankets are provided to ward off the chill and you are only a few rows from the bathroom up front.  You also get as much water, as often, as you want.   

Leaving Florida's warm and balmy 77 degrees - I encountered Charlotte's freezing and blistering winds and 34 degrees and then transitioned to the sunny and frigid skies of San Francisco registering at 54 degrees.   However, the landscape totally shifted as did my state of mind.  The 1 1/2 hour drive in the shuttle helped me loosen my layers.  I was finally able to release all the pressure and stress and tension that had been accumulating in my body.  As we climbed into the mountains and were surrounded by trees, I took a deep breath of the crisp air.

I had the pleasure of meeting a tribe of bee Goddesses - women who identify with bees as a busyness model - women who had heard the calling of the Trees and gathered in Ben Lomond at the Sequoia Retreat Center to be nestled in the Redwoods.   These Elders, Sequoias or California Redwoods are the tallest trees on earth.   They grow in a very narrow strip along the coast of California.

I came here to learn about being grounded and rooted into the Earth.  I found my way here to find my balance.  I was led here to remember my purpose.  I am here to release my stress and hahahand it to the Trees.    I am here now to be One with the Elders and uncover my bliss.

I am here hugging trees.  There is something so magical about connecting with a tree trunk and putting your arms around it. When I am still with the tree, I can feel energy coursing out of me and right through to the tree.  In return, I am filled with a sense of peace and comfort.

It has now been confirmed by science that hugging trees can beneficially affect human health by altering vibrational frequency.    Read More: HERE

I was under a lot of stress this past month.  Trying to cope with family illness and helping parents adjust to a new way of living and being an aunt and a domestic Goddess that maintains and runs my household - it's been a little overwhelming.  I kept on thinking I had to do it all.  I was taking life way too seriously and not having as much fun on this Heaven on Earth as I am entitled to enjoy.

I needed to return to the trees to gain perspective and patience. I had to sit under the trees' shade and do some deep breathing and being.

Trees give me a reality check - they dwarf me until I remember that I am but a speck in this Universe. They reMIND me that all is well and this too shall pass.

I am humbled by my experience with these trees. Their size - their beauty - the energy of peace I feel when amongst these giants - it helps me laugh at my life.  It helps me laugh at the things I take so seriously and focus on what I take for granted in my life.  My faith is restored when walking amongst the Elders and kissing their sacred skin.

Mike Dooley, at www.tut.com, shahahares this story about Faith:

Yesterday I watched a small bird, flying very fast, disappear into the canopy of an oak tree. So dense were its leaves that it was impossible to see what happened next, though I can tell you it remained inside.

I wondered how the little bird found its opening through the leaves at such a speed, and then managed to gently align its fragile body on the branch it chose to land upon, all within a fraction of a second. Not to mention the impossible to imagine flying maneuvers required: the banking, the curling, the vertical and horizontal stabilizations, the deceleration and landing.

Memory? Calculation? Not in that tiny brain. Instinct? Maybe, but how does instinct know which way the branches of a tree have grown when no two are the same?

That little bird just knew. It had faith, in spite of not being able to see how things would work out, that if (and only if) it stayed the course the details would be taken care of; that an opening would appear and a twig would be found. In fact, had she slowed down enough to carefully and logically inspect the tree first, the prudent thing to do, she would have lost her lift and fallen to the ground.

Kind of like reaching for your dreams. Neither memory, nor calculating, nor instincts are the deciding factors, but faith coupled with action.
Tallyho,

The Universe

Here's a little bit more about Sequoia Trees and climbing them.   This is Richard Preston's Ted Talk on Climbing the World's Biggest Trees

P.S.  I did get to hahahang with my cousins in Ben Lomond and meet a whole new generation of cousins.  Auntie Sylvia and her sisters are laughing up there in heaven seeing that our family keeps on growing so beautifully, like these trees.

HAHA and PERSISTENCE

When Noah and I first studied Laughter Yoga with Dr. Kataria in Boston, we had no idea where this would lead.  We just knew it felt good INside.   We started offering a Laughter Yoga Circle at TY Park in Hollywood - showing up week after week every Tuesday morning and Thursday evening, rain or shine, just because we could.    When it became dark early (in the fall) we found a new location to laugh.  Our space by Hollywood Beach - outdoors, with lights, and ocean breezes. Laughing and  building our HAHA muscle  slowly  - one baby step at a time.   Keeping the doctor away with our 15 hugs a day.  ShaHAhaking our bodies from start to end and doing the HokeyPokey because that's what it's all about. It takes PERSISTENCE - repetition and practice - over and over again.  Showing up at the park to laugh in community, practicing in front of a mirror or just LAUGHING out LOUD.  This creates  new neural pathways.  We form a new habit.  The movements are  engrained in our muscle memory.  The practice becomes a discipline.   The discipline of HA HA.   Now, all these years later, persistence has paid off.   Broward County and City of Hollywood co-sponsor our events and give us yummy spaces in in nature to laugh and practice our HAHA enerchi. Persistence with our HAHA has led to these insights: It feels yummy to LAUGH for NO reason. It's like a present wrapped up in surprise. It feels great to have endorphins flowing because of a minimal HA HA effort. It feels OMazing to have the residues of LAUGHter in our body - it cha-ha-hanges our attitude and our outlook.

The Art of Asking

I'm asking for help - knowing I cannot do this PEACE process alone - reaching out to my community and asking for things beyond my wisdom and know-how.

This HAHA practice makes me so happy - getting together and laughing and making our muscles strong and changing our vibration and sharing our enerchi.  I want to expand my practice.  I'd like to reach more people.

I am asking for assistance in creating a movement - a laughter movement - looking for expertise in creating a non-profit organization that will teach stress relief techniques through laughter, conflict resolution through laughter, haHAhappiness moments through laughter.   Building a school of thought and movement that brings levity to life situations.

I am asking for assistance in getting more people certified as laughter leaders in our community so we can have more laughter circles in more places more often  -creating a wave of HAHA enerchi.  I am asking for financial support so I can offer scholarships to peeps who want to share laughter as their JOB - Joy of Being - and at this moment cannot.

I am asking for assistance in exchanging my energy for your expertise to reach out to busynesses who can benefit from stress relief techniques that are easy peasy and hands on eyes wide open.

I am asking for help in forming and filling a Board of Directors who can help me lead this Movement of Laughter and Love.

I am asking for the next steps that do not come easy to me - the left brain steps that evade me as I delve deeper into my right brain techniques.

I am diving deep into the arms of my community - being vulnerable and asking for help - so we can grow this HAHA movement and help ourselves and others and send aloHAhaHA energy everywhere.

Check out this TED video of Amanda Palmer - the Art of Asking

What is Laughter

This poem was written by Hafiz, a 14th-century Persian mystic and poet.  His works left a mark on Western writers such as Thoreau, Goethe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (who called him a poet's poet).

What is laughter? What is laughter?

It is God waking up! O it is God waking up!  

It is the sun poking its sweet head out

From behind a cloud

You have been carrying too long,

Veiling your eyes and heart.

It is Light breaking ground for a great Structure

That is your Real body - called Truth.

It is happiness applauding itself and then taking flight

To embrace everyone and everything in this world.

Laughter is the polestar

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

"Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way towards Me and Love!

Come with your tender mouths moving

And your beautiful tongues conducting songs

And with your movements - your magic movements

Of hands and feet and glands and cells - Dancing!

Know that to God's Eye,

All movement is a Wondrous Language,

And Music - such exquisite, wild Music!"

O what is laughter, Hafiz?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!

~ Hafiz ~

(I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

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

ExhaHAhaustion

As I write this, I have been up for 34 hours with no end in sight. Sitting in the airport in Guayaquil, waiting for this flight to arrive so it can empty and bring me back to Miami.

I am past the point of tired - my body and brain functioning on overdrive, emotions all stirred up. I sit here on the brink of tears and start to giggle. I mean, it's just so silly really. Being in an airport surrounded by people and yet feeling so alone and vulnerable. Trying to keep myself from nodding off and losing control of my body.

I laugh, a shy humming HaHa - feeling the vibration of air on my tongue. I tap my thumbs to my different fingers - ho ho ha ha hee hee ho ho - ho ho ha ha hee hee ho ho - developing a rhythm that feels good - as I feel my fingers pulsating with energy. Heat in my hands from the repetitive motion, I am slowly awakening from within.

A smile creeps onto my face as I look around at the other passengers also waiting for their flights. A woman across from me smiles back. A conversation starts. As I speak, my tongue slips into gibberish. My new friend and I start laughing and laughing and laughing. Laughing so hard that I need to pee.

The wave of exhaHAhaustion passes. Calmer, I surrender to this experience and know that soon I will be boarding my flight and closing my eyes.

HAhaHAllelujah

Yesterday, I went to Hopewell Baptist Church for a Fifth Sunday service.  

Any time there are Five Sundays in a month, the women of the Hopewell Community take over the stage, the pulpit and the choir.  

An all female choir dressed in white, prayers and messages from the pastor's wife and the Sisters - the energy is electric and eclectic. The women light up the sanctuary with joy and music.  When that sound permeates your soul, you can see and feel the fervor of their devotion to
their song and God. 

I sit amongst the Elder Sisters, Queens, as they are respectfully called.  We sit in the first three pews and we belt out our Hallelujahs and Amens as we sing along.

SisterGoddess Alice (gorgeous Goddess in purple, below) and I hold hands and share our HAhaHAllelujahs and then look at each other and crack up laughing.

We have so much fun and get totally energized by joining our voices as one with the Women of Victory on the stage.

There is something about singing and laughing together, in community, that is so very powerful and replenishing to the soul.

A great big thaHAhank you to SisterGoddess Susan for inviting me to join her Hopewell family and for being up on the stage shining her light bright.

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.