As I learn to roll with the punches, I am blessed for all the opportunities to laugh and shaHAhare my HAHA superpowers.
Last week, I had the opportunity to share my morning practice at a Womens' Luncheon for the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The topic was "Laugh It Up - benefits of Laughter" and I was a panelist. I followed the comedienne and helped the audience go from left brain to right brain belly laughter. Woohoo.
I am truly grateful for my morning practice. A few minutes of my HAHA signature techniques make such a difference in how I face the day.
Now, I call you to action. To flex and stretch and strengthen your HAHA muscle. Here a few ways to do it:
1. Laugh with me virtually - Buy my video and get 23 minutes of HAHA Chi practice - you, me, we - in the comfort of your living room, cellphone or TV. This is a great way to support our community and help us pay the bills and provide more laughter everywhere.
2. Laugh with me in person - Tuesdays and Wednesdays at TY Park under the trees; Thursday nights at Hollywood Beach (behind the community center under the tent). This is a free service for whoever is called to show up - love donations always welcome.
Flexing our HAHA muscle helps us duck and roll quickly and stand firm - peacefully grounded in the Now.
Looking forward to strong HAHA muscles and World Peace.
When WSM Noah and I married 13 years ago, he wanted a ceremony where he could introduce me to his friends and family. Being brought up of the Jewish persuasion, we decided to have a traditional wedding. Just prior to the actual wedding ceremony,we had to sign a document called a Ketubah - pronounced KeTWObah. A Ketubah, as defined by Wikipedia: "a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. Considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, it outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride." According to this document we signed in front of witnesses and our parents, Noah's obligations as a husband to me, his wife, were clearly delineated. In fact, there were three major things he needed to provide for me:
Clothing
Food
Conjugal Relations
Interestingly enough, there was no mention of any of my obligations or duties to him. Hahaha. What I know about Judaism, having had an extensive Jewish education (thanks Dad) is that while most of the important stuff is written, the truly important is unwritten. While the 5 Books of the Torah (hebrew for Bible or Old Testament) have the important laws of Jewish life, there were 613 unwritten rules about how to live these laws. Eventually, they were written into a book called the Mishnah. So, when I signed the Ketubah, I knew, deep in my heart, that there would be some unwritten rules about my rights and responsibilities as a bride to my groom. I call these the KetubahaHAha. Over the years, I have determined that the three major things a wife provides to her husband:
Sacred Space
Humor
Adoption of family
1. Sacred Space - a wife has to create a happy, peaceful home for him where the clothing and food and conjugal relations can be stored and eaten and performed.
2. Humor - a wife has to have the ability to laugh at all the new changes that occur in her life as she becomes a bride. She has be able to laugh at herself as she slowly changes from an individual to a wife. She has to be able to laugh with her husband about life and what comes up or goes down.
3. Adoption of family - Becoming a wife means that all of a sudden, you are not just marrying the man you love, the groom, but adding his whole family to the mix - whether you wanted it or not. His siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, long lost relatives, brothers from another mother, and all sorts of friends he has collected over the years now become part of your MishpachaHAHA (hebrew word for family with an emphaHAhasis).
This week, it was my blessing to honor one of my adoptees, my Great Auntie Sylvia. Over the last 13 years, this woman has let me into her life and her heart and into her kitchen (no easy feat - it took me 9 years to earn this privilege). We have hobnobbed to some of the best and worst restaurants in Broward County, seen delightful movies, gone to the zoo, and even snuck in a little walk at the beach and a trip to Orlando, New York and California.
On Sunday, we had a birthday bash to celebrate her 95th birthday. I had the privilege to make a movie about her life and the wisdom and joy she's shared with me over the years.
I love you Great Auntie Sylvia. Looking forward to celebrating 100 with you. Woohoo.
Over the past 14 years of my life, I have learned to let go of a lot of things. Some of it was really easy to do and some not so easy.
I used to be a one pack a day smoker. I was totally addicted to these nicotine killers. From morning till night. It took me a long time to break this hahahabit. And one day, I made a choice to live, without killing myself or paying Mr. Malboro to do it for me. Within 21 days, I had quit smoking.
I used to eat chicken and meat and very little vegetables. This is what I knew from growing up. This is how we ate. Over time, my body no longer wanted to eat flesh of any kind. And I gradually learned to try new vegetables and recipes. This lifestyle chaHAhange came over time. I had to experiment and explore.
I used to be a casual drinker - when I'd go dancing at a club or was out with friends. This HAhaHAbit was easy to release. The after effects of even one drink, the next day, made me weigh out the consequences and drop this behaHAhaviour.
I used to be fat. Weighing in at 180 pounds. Always thought I was big boned, having heard that from all my family members, because I was a pudgy adolescent. The weight took me years to shed. I would calorie count and supplement with diet pills and whatever new fad exercise equipment or video that came along. Nothing worked.
One day, I read a book about Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh. This little book showed me how I was holding on to layers of anger and resentment - holding on to my past and my beliefs of how things were supposed to be. I did the meditation exercises in the book and noticed what my feelings were around my thoughts. And just like that, things shifted. All of a sudden, when I was feeling emotional, I would breathe into it and see what my truth really was. I would choose a different behaviour - like going for a walk.
Of course, being resistant to chaHAhange, I took baby steps. A small walk. Around the block. I would notice my outdoor environment instead of living in my head. I shifted into an attitude of gratitude at what I had in my life in this moment. I appreciated who I was - within - underneath all the extra layers that were hiding me from the world. The weight melted right off.
One day, I saw a video about Laughter Yoga by Dr. Madan and Maduri Kataria. Their message was that if you laughed, you could bring peace to this World. Since an early age, I would wish upon any star I saw and ask for Peace in my world in my lifetime. For me, this seemed to be a no-brainer. Laugh and bring peace - hahaha. Sign me up.
What I did not know, is how OMazing these tools were to help myself laugh for no reason. Over time and with lots of practice, I realized that laughter is a muscle - one that we are born with that atrophies over the years when we stop using it. When we get all serious and forget how much fun it can be to live on this Heaven on Earth right now.
I practiced and practiced and built a really strong muscle. I created new tools to rev up my HAHA chi and help me get into that attitude of gratitude. Laughing for 10 minutes with a group of peeps would keep me in the present moment - no more past, no more future. Right here, right now - where my body was enjoying its gentle internal massage and sending out all sorts of feel good chemicals so my body could heal - inside and out.
Letting go of habits and stress and fears belief and detoxifying my body, mind and soul - releasing stuck muscle memory so that new enerchi could enter and inHAhabit my sacred space. The process continues as I learn more and let go of all that no longer serves me, layers and layers of ingrained practices and haHAhabits that hurt. I haHAha until I A-ha and with a quick breath, i do something different.
If you need help getting from HAHA to A-ha, I am a certified laughter coach who can help you get there with whatever haHAhabits or chaHAhallenges you may have. I help you exchaHAhange enerchi so we can laugh our way to healthy and happy and bring peace to this Planet.
I just returned from Ecuador - more specifically Vilcabamba, Valley of Longevity, and even more precisely, MonteSuenos, Mountain of Dreams. My heart called me to this sacred space from the MOMent I heard its name. WSM Noah asked me "Why Ecuador?" I knew not why, I just knew I had to go and explore, experiment and express. SisterGoddess Lourdes' daughter and her partner brought a group of women and a few brave and bold men together for a Sacred Nature Journey of the Sierras of Ecuador. I spent one glorious fabulous week in a sacred space of creativity - a space created by one woman and her hubby - her vision of what our world can be - through the eyes of the Divine Feminine. This space nurtured my soul, my body and my heart.
I met new peeps and reconnected with some I already knew. I felt like I was living out of a novel - EAT, PAINT, PRAY - hahaha. Our days were OMazing - woke up to a SisterGoddess police officer who kicked my ass doing cardio at 5:15 a.m. with the dogs and burros and roosters singing their melodies. Sunrise yoga stretching our bodies as the sun lifted over the mountaintops. Yummy fruit breakfasts and walk down the mountain for some green juice. A walk back up the mountain for my morning workout and then sacred painting circles. Followed by Laughter Circles and lunch. Woohoo. I had the pleasure and joy of being with three of my laughter yogini peeps, SisterGoddess Lourdes, SisterGoddess Nilsa and WSM Victor. WSM Victor and I would laugh all the time - just looking at each other - for no reason at all except it felt great. Our house, at the top of the mountain, had a fabulous place to laugh. Right around the firepit, overlooking the valley of Vilcabamba and the mystical magical Mandango Mountain, SisterGoddess Lourdes led a Laughter Circle almost every day. Just before lunch, we would walk up to the firepit, overlooking the valley of Vilcabamba and shaHAhakti shaHAhake and laugh like lawnmowers and HO HO HAHAHA - playing and hugging and laughing and moving our bodies. We laughed so hard residents of both houses could hear us. The kitchen staff would crack up as they were preparing our delicious meals, mixing into our food the wonderful enerchi of love and laughter. We infused the air with HAHA chi and let it roll down the mountain into the valley and rise back up again with the delicious smelling air up the sides of all the mountains. We yelled out affirmations in Spanish and gibberished on our mountaintop - spreading our juicy yummy enerchi for all to feel. It was OMazing - we were OMazing - life is OMazing. A great big thaHAhank you for SisterGoddess Lourdes and bringing Laughter Yoga to Ecuador, from the beaches to the mountains and next year into the rainforests. Woohoo
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.
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
Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!
WARNING: Staying the course is NOT the same as clinging to a HOW.
The Dalai Lama once asked me (and a few hundred other peeps) a question: How can we have peace in the world when we do not have peace within ourselves? within our families? Peace within myself - back then, with my full time work as a paralegal and extra eighty pounds on my body and my plan to be rich and retired - I had no idea what the Dalai Lama was saying. I had a vague concept of Peace but no healthy hahabits to get me there. I heard about Laughter Yoga and that resonated with me. A way to get out of my head and into my body. An opportunity to grow a muscle that would help shift my attitude. A space of silence and meditation where joy can grow. Sign me up!!! Over the last seven years - as my muscles get toned and strengthened, I can find the HAHA in everything. I feel the levity in my situations and a smile easily finds my lips. The eighty pounds have left along with meat, milk, cheese and grain - side effects of finding HAHAhappy and not having to stuff my face with food. The process of Peace involves looking within and around. Finding the feelings and laughing and crying about them and through them. Accessing the Excess and releasing and purging what no longer serves me. And shaHAhaking it out - releasing what no longer belongs and keeping everything within fluid and flexible. Slowly, I see progress with the process. I feel the Peace in my heart expand and express itself in the Universe in a chaHAharming way.
ShaHAhakti shaHAhake and get that Feminine Cosmic Energy dancing and laughing - doing a little AbunDANCE and bringing blessings your way. Here's a musical message about ShaHAhaking and finding haHAhappy from the ultimate Dancing Goddess, Doris Day.
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