Health, Commitment and Laughter Clubs

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Hello and Warm Winter Greetings to you all!

Winter brings opportunities and temptations. Opportunities to extend ourselves, stay committed to our goals, becoming stronger as we are tempted to drop the ball, veg out and take life easy inside with shorter days. We like to honour our human by staying warm and indeed, it is a time to turn within, take time to rest, rejuvenate, ponder, reducing our physical activities as it works out individually for us.

Many may rely on the weather and one thing that changes in our lives, that is for mine and my husband John, is not walking every day due to the inclement weather. Sometimes we walk our beautiful little dog, Abby, in the rain with an umbrella. However, most of the time we tend to give it a miss and say we will catch up tomorrow. I feel she understands and adjusts to it very well although looking towards us less when we need, or choose to stay indoors.

How is it for you? One thing I can guarantee is that hail, rain or shine, the laughter club will be on. When it is raining, we brace ourselves up in hats, coats, gloves if needed and meet behind the Ferntree Gully Library on the decking, which is under cover.

I reckon that does show resilience and commitment. Not only for John and myself, also for regular club members who show up regardless of the weather. I can speak for other committed laughter club members, like me, who never miss it due to the weather conditions.

I must admit though to be completely honest, this year we started back in February for the first time, as people were not keen to go late January due to the high temperatures we were experiencing, and it felt like a good idea to let it go until February.

Community Laughter Clubs are there for you, the people and for those who get a kick out of running them. We learn a lot in this free service, one is to be non-attached and grateful. We learn to be without expectations, and that it is not all about me. It is about the people, the members, who are free to come and go as they like. Naturally, it is a lot more fun when more people attend, which means more energy. And there is non-attachment, even when it is only a small group, we still come together with as much love and enthusiasm as we can muster up, making the most of every day.

It is not easy to be without expectations, and I believe it is something we have to consciously work towards. In part this is because we are basically human animals and learn by doing and experiencing things. When things go well, we like to repeat that experience which simply does not seem to work.

I had a firsthand experience of that a little while ago. We went to see the our most favourite musical of, The Pirates of Penzance, put on by Victorian Opera company. I was absolutely and completely enthralled by it and we went along again. Guess what? It wasn’t the same. Not at all. The magic that comes with a new experience was absent and that taught me a lot, not to try to repeat fabulous things that happen in our lives. To live more in the moment and treat each experience as a stand-alone, new experience. Different.

Noting also that wasn’t the first time that I attempted to see a show for the second time and something inside me felt lacking, which left me feeling disappointed. Sometimes we need to learn the hard way for things to really sink into our deeper understanding, often with some advice from others about the disappointment we went through.

I hope this is a helpful sharing for you to think about and feel into. Where do you do that? Are you even aware of wanting to program your life to repeat ‘good things’? Please do not take this literally, feel into what I am sharing. Perhaps we are really less in control of our lives than we would like to be which means that we need to be open to the Universe bringing forth happenings, experiences, for us, which we also have attracted to happen. They may be either conscious or unconscious.

At the same time, there is the potential for learning in everything in life. Whether we do or don’t do something. Whatever we choose does become the best choice, when we cannot make up our minds what to decide, once we decide we will get the learning, the growth from that.

We can also learn a lot from things that go ‘wrong’, because there is always a gem in everything and when we do our best to greet our days, lives, everyone and everything in it with new eyes, what I call ‘greeting anew’ we will become richer, more open to discovering, feeling freer and more in touch with our soul and spirit.

Coming back to health and commitment, this takes enormous dedication and focus to be upbeat, holding a positive attitude, able to bounce back from adversities and the furballs of life happening. We need a sense of humour, to take life seriously, yet not ourselves. When we are coming from our negative ego, centred in that instead of being centred in our heart’s knowing, we tend to lose sight of our original inspiration and commitment.

Are we committed to growth, evolution and doing our best, in every area of our life? You will be guided every step of the way and you don’t need another person’s permission to have fun and make the most out of life enjoy life what it brings. We do not have to deny ourselves, rather see how we go when we give in to lower, base desires, where we know we can get away with something but not make it an ongoing habit.

I encourage you to join us sometime at the laughter club and make it a practice to choose joy when you rise out of bed in the morning. Listen to your intuition, be kind, compassionate to yourself and others and do not be afraid to ask for help inwardly, as we really and truly have support and guidance happening. Simply take one day at a time and see if you feel better having some quiet, reflective time this winter. Balance that with some kind of physical activity that suits your body type and time in life. Keep on keeping on. See where it all leads to. Make the choices about bringing more spirit, love, connection with others and nature. You will be in greater harmony with self and your outer world. More joy enabled too. How about that? Would you like to live more joyfully?

I invite you to connect with me and would love to hear from you. That about said it all at the moment, bye for now. Lots of love, wishing your life to be filled with laughter, harmony and joy. Lynette xo

When we meet and Contact information

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets behind the Ferntree Gully Library at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month and inside the Ferntree Gully Library on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2pm.

Please note that we often meet at 1pm on the 4th Sunday, due to unavoidable circumstances, which means it is wise if it is your first time to check with me before coming.

Let me know if you wish to receive either the email newsletter, or the Friday email reminder when the laughter club is next on. There is also a Ferntree Gully Laughter Club Facebook group. 

Anniversaries

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Birthdays, Ferntree Gully Laughter Club & the Cycle of Life.

Birthdays, Ferntree Gully Laughter Club & Cycles of Life

Hello. What positive involvement have you been doing for a long time. You began it not knowing where it would lead you and what the outcome would be. Something that felt like a good idea at the time? For me, two things stand out. One, is writing a regular article for the bi-monthly Studfield Wantirna Community newspaper. I have sent off some information about the laughter club and other self-help, informative content for 68 editions, which are usually turned into a blog post such as this.

I wrote this for the 100th edition of the newspaper, which has been an incredible informative resource for all of us who have been reading and contributing to. I commenced in January 2015, enthusiastically writing for the 33rd edition. This piece happens to be my 68th contribution, which has been a highly positive experience. Initially there was some slight trepidation, unsure where it would lead me and whether or not people would be interested to hear about the laughter club. And they did!

The second long term good habit has been that of leading the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club for 21 years. I realised when writing, that it was in fact, about to happen.

It began simply, I received an email from a friend to inform me that Dr Kataria, the Founder of Laughter Yoga International and laughter clubs worldwide, was coming to Melbourne. A year prior, there had been on tv people coming together to laugh as a form of exercise, as a community, having a ball. It blew me away and I wanted to become involved, which I did. It was a day in a large hall in Williamstown, hosted by Laughter Clubs Victoria Inc. We were all laughing uproariously and I left feeling uplifted, energised and with the excited decision to immediately do the laughter leader training and very soon, started the laughter club at the Arboretum in Boronia.

Phillipa Challis, the founder of Laughter Clubs Victoria Inc trained us on Sunday 6th March 2005 and I started the laughter club two weeks later, on the 20th March 2005. It has been a large part of my life and for a couple of years, not many people came along. Often nobody. But being stubborn and not wanting to give up something that I believed in with all my heart, I moved it to behind the Ferntree Gully Library. Numbers were quite small at first only one man came regularly for a long time. After about two or three years, hubby, John felt sorry for me and started to come and lend his support. Still people were not turning up much and we said to each other, if the regular man doesn’t show up today, that’s it, we are giving up. Lo and behold! He did turn up and said that we had to keep coming until he died and well, he is still alive but stopped coming after about ten years and we keep in touch from time to time.

I will repeat something that I have often shared, which is that the laughter club is a wonderful social club, where we come together in laughter and friendship. For some people it has been extremely transformative and life changing. One lady we often mention as a positive example of the good that laughter can do for you, and she will recognise herself if she reads this, also stays in touch. A gentle soul, who had been in a depression for ten years after her marriage break down. She wore black all the time and the third time she joined us, she was wearing periwinkle blue, which is a purplish blue colour. Over time she bought a new wardrobe of bright, colourful clothes and does not wish to wear dark colours any more. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with those of us who prefer to wear black and dark colours. In this example it became important to become outgoing and involved with life, rather than hide away in isolation. To step out, greet life anew and to stop grieving.

We all need certain things in our lives, stimulation, interests, hobbies, work, friendships and for some, annual holidays in which to recharge. For others, regular get aways, maybe something competitive like a hobby or interest, which provides a reason to take a short break.

Are you looking after yourself in this area? The start of a new year or a birthday or other significant date is a good time to review the year and an opportune time to reinvent yourself and let go what no longer serves you. after a review where you are. Looking back, has it been a fruitful year, or fraught with unnecessary intensity, grief, anxiety? We thrive, growing in wisdom with beneficial stress. I am referring to not handling the most difficult periods in our lives as well as we could have and to learn from those times, which is after all, ‘life happening’. This is a friendly little reminder to check in with yourself, take stock of your life across the board and make it more purposeful, bringing growth, peace and harmony. Remember always, Tolerance, Patience and Kindness, towards everyone, including yourself. xo

Coming back to the laughter club, it is one thing that people often love to come along to, either frequently or spasmodically. The benefits are huge, physically as it is an aerobic exercise, it releases emotions and uplifts, mentally stimulates and brings us closer to the essence of life.

Email or phone me to find out more and I can send you information about the benefits and of neuroplasticity, which it helps with brain neurons. I sincerely would love to hear from you and invite you to come along sometime and give it a go. You are in safe company and haven’t anything that I can think of, to lose.

So, go on, give it a go, or even write an email sharing how you are and what floats your boat, if you choose to, because it is beneficial to be introspective, to reach out and share with others something about your life, as we are all in this together, this wheel of life.

When we meet and Contact information

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets behind the Ferntree Gully Library at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month. Occasionally it is 1pm at the end of the month. We are also inside the Ferntree Gully Library on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2pm, please book with library either by phone or online if you are a member.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change. Let me know if you wish to receive either the email newsletter, or the Friday email reminder when the laughter club is next on. There is also a Ferntree Gully Laughter Club Facebook group.

Phone:              0425 799 258
Ferntree Gully Library:          9800 6455
Email:                lynette@laughterforliving.com.au
Website:          www.laughterforliving.com.au

Can Laughter Yoga Help on Your Evolutionary Pathway?

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Can Laughter Yoga Help on Your Evolutionary Pathway?

Well, we have come close to the end of another journey around the sun, and I wish you are not only surviving the challenges that life throws at you, but also thriving, learning and growing all the while. That is what life is meant to be about, embracing life, creating new challenges, learning, growing, having a go, never, ever giving up.

I don’t know about you, if you are a bit like me, you will not bother with creating New Year’s resolutions, which are generally made from a fear base, a mental construct, rather than a feeling and growing viewpoint and broader perspective. People seldom stick to them, and my preference is to continually work with what I need to improve upon. I do this with regular introspective processes; meditation, journaling, nightly reviews and six-monthly reports to my mentor.

Some people will resonate with the following, which I feel is worthwhile information about the end of the spiritual year and the beginning of a new one, which happens at full moon in Taurus. I hear a lot about it in between November and April, as a reminder to work on my foundations. Everyday foundational practices are important to me. They help develop beneficial, regular habits in my everyday life, which assists me develop psychological clarity.

And so, the earth and all sentient beings upon her, are on a spiritual journey, whether they, us, are aware of it or not. Testing time has begun and is completed in the spiritual realms of higher vibration, which we are not really conscious of, by the full moon in Taurus. At the end of the spiritual year we will continue on with what has arisen in our life to deal with and not fully succeeded, before going on to learning new life lessons. It is also called Wesak testing. Also it isn’t actually a fail, rather not yet ready for new things to work on.

People may be familiar with the term, either Wesak or Vesak, and you may be unaware that it is also regarded by many to be that which I am referring to, about being the end of a spiritual year and beginning of a new one. Wesak is regarded as the most important celebration on the Buddhist calendar, to celebrate the birth, enlightenment and death of Guatama Buddha, and will be on 23rd May next year, 2026.

This all may be new information about being tested, which is not actually a test, rather whether we have worked through our challenges and will be ready to receive new ones, or keep on with the old which needs more attention and integration. It goes on behind the scenes, as we all go through the Wesak testing, whether we are aware of it or not. We are all here together on this planet and very much for reasons which are beyond our knowing and understanding.

We do not necessarily have to believe this. Take on board what feels right and resonates with you, please do that. It may be helpful and supportive to feel that there is a plan and purpose beyond what we are aware of and if we follow the breadcrumbs, our own intuition, inner promptings, feelings or a powerful inner knowing of what to do and when to stop, all the while wishing to fulfil our purpose in life, whatever that may be.

Of course, when I am talking about a spiritual journey, or spiritual new year, I am referring to whatever your individual journey is. Every person is unique, being on a different path or journey, carving out a path, being drawn to do this or that, feeling a sense of pull of one’s direction and what is most meaningful to each unique person. I firmly believe in the benevolence of the Universe and what we put out there in our thoughts and unconscious patterns, returns to us. Positive self-talk is very important.

Religiosity is having a strong religious feeling or belief, which often changes for us as we grow, moving through the different stages of life. Religions can be amazing for people, providing meaning, hope and strong beliefs, giving structure and helping to have purpose in our lives. At times we absolutely need to believe in a religion at certain stages in our growth.

They can also be dogmatic and limiting in so many ways. We may feel to move beyond a particular religion and replace it with another, or develop our own spiritual meaning, which supports and sustains us, helping with fulfilment in the way we live our lives. People can be like that, spiritual, in so far as being kind, treating others as they would like to be treated etcetera, without considering themselves to be either a religious or spiritual person.

I started out with an intense belief in Jesus and God and over time, moved away from that, seeing that all religions held an essence of a deity and that the term we know as God, the essence of Energy which it is difficult to actually put correct wording to, is in everything. It is the basis of all life, that lives within us, as Spirit.

In a nutshell, it is absolutely brilliant when we do have a strong belief structure which is supportive and can give us purpose, meaning, hope, understanding, compassion, many, many positive qualities. I could probably add here that all religions have all types of individuals as members, light and dark in essence. Not something we can box up neatly and tie with a bow. Being involved in religions can assist and it is not right or wrong. It is also not right or wrong to feel we need to move away and experience something else. It is imperative to do so. Or not, whatever the case may be.

People can live beautiful, spiritual lives, without ever going to a church or mosque, surviving as best they can, developing inner strength and evolving as timely as it happens for them. We do not need to compare ourselves with anyone else, because we are so very unique and even in every moment, we can be different. There is no need for judgment, right or wrong. It is as it is. An unfortunate aspect about all this conversation is that so often, when we do not have firm foundational beliefs, we blame God or whatever, other people and live life feeling a victim to life, instead of contributing to our karma.

It is best for us if we can move through the experiences that life brings us gracefully, growing, improving, learning and developing new strategies, ways of living, coming to heartfelt, genuine purpose and understanding of the essence of it all. What is life really, actually about?

We may never really know that answer. Without any doubt, the main goal is to do our best and live one day, an hour, minute or moment, to the best of our ability. It is impossible to separate ourselves from being involved as we are, and I speak in general. You probably get what I mean, we live and come from different countries, cultures, families, work situations; some are set when we are born. We have genetics and are conditioned right from the moment we are born. As the saying goes, ‘no man is an island’, as we are influenced by innumerable things in our lifetime.

Maybe that is more than enough blah, blah, blah. Getting down to tin tacks, and this is my firm belief, we are here to do our best, to embrace life and the living, to grow, evolve, have experiences, learn from them. We are meant to have challenges on a daily basis and if we are not moving forward, we are going backwards, devolving. We can’t stay the same, stagnate, if not moving forward, then we go backwards.

Nature is a wonderful support to us of course and honouring one’s physical body, not trying to get out of earthly life and all it means, escaping off into our minds, wishing things were better, floating off, not being grounded and present.

It is up to us what we put into it and if we need help. Then we can hand up for support and opportunities to grow, do better, feel joy and become involved. Artistic endeavours can give us this feeling of spiritual connection with our own spiritual essence and soul. Some people say they are not creative but I reckon we all are. It can be as simple as the way you might dish up dinner. I tend to chuck it onto a plate and my daughter is very artistic, serving it up a beautifully presented meal.

We need to take our time with things, be present in the moment and go slow. When I am painting or writing words on my rocks, it feels so different when I do as they say in Zentangle drawing ‘one stroke at a time’. It is a way of being mindful. It helps the concentration and outcome of what I am doing by not rushing.

Are you rushing? Perhaps there is a limit to how you can slow down, as life is challenging for people who still go out to work and juggle family, interests and responsibilities. Some are carers or looking after family members with disabilities. We can still practice meditation, overlay it with what we do, come from a calm, anxiety free inner state of being, as far as possible in the circumstances.

Whatever floats your boat I say. No judgment on ourselves or others. It is not kind to judge, whether it is aimed towards others or in self-talk or feelings. Change that inner critic into an inner coach and give yourself a break. Allow time to rest and recuperate, without lapsing into laziness. That is not recommended and being in a human body, our human likes the easy way out, to have pleasure and not do more than is necessary. Take my advice and guard against that. Find something of interest, a passion, as I spoke of last time, that is all engrossing.

And as always, I come back to how laughter yoga can help you. All the benefits, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually can be enhanced from the practice of laughing and not taking oneself so seriously. We are all in this together and are like herd animals, packs, who are meant to socialise and belong together in various groups. Belonging gives meaning and loads of support. When we have a cuppa after laughter club, it is a chance to share something of what we have been doing with others who sit at the table together. Some members from time to time catch up with each other, even ones who have left the group, still stay in touch.

Attending regularly in itself takes some discipline, to come along, as a priority for one’s health and wellbeing. There are regular members and others who only come occasionally. It is a joy to share with you and others and you are all welcome whenever you can make it, as there isn’t a requirement to be regular. Things do come up which prevent us from coming and like everything, it is easy to put off attending, so your choice about if and when you can get there.

At the same time, we can give in and not come, when it is the ego wanting things easy. For instance, when it is cold, wet and windy. We rug up, are fortunate to have protection behind the Ferntree Gully Library or on the new, fantastic rotunda and feel invigorated from the fresh air and the laughter activities which we do outside. I once would not venture out into the cold and avoided the rain. Nowadays, I do not mind at all and it is rather stimulating. It’s great to catch up with each other too and really, really, wonderful to have new people joining us and sharing that the results last for a few days. Laughter yoga is energising and highly therapeutic. Definitely!

Deep thanks too to Ajne, the Ferntree Gully Library Team Leader, for supports us with running monthly laughter yoga sessions. These are 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month, between February and November. (Not December or January). Just book with the library first as they keep track of it.

Laughter yoga is something which can help your overall wellbeing, when we laugh a lot, taking ourselves lightly, things happen, we feel more connected with our spirituality, which is relevant in this otherwise heavy discourse.

Regarding Wesak testing and self monitoring. My suggestion, dear reader, is to sit quietly and feel into your life, with the intention of receiving some insightful guidance from within yourself, or if you have a teacher, reflections from that person.

I like to meditate and journal, often as a nightly review, going over the day and seeing how I went, what I could do better next time, some quiet time to be and go deeper. We can most likely be more proactive and begin to take the reigns of the horse, or life, we are riding, replacing passivity. Or the oars of our boat, guiding the direction where we wish to be heading and come up with plans to get more out of life, to feel closer to the God (replace with your own word) who made us, with gratitude to Mother Earth, of whom we are a physical part of. Yes, we must honour our physical body, through which our soul and spirit express itself and is able to guide us along our pathway.

I now acknowledge my spiritual teachers, who support and mentor me, leading lovingly and by example, being a few steps ahead, as we all are, a few steps ahead or behind each other, supporting, loving, interacting and bringing more kindness into the world and with each other. One heart at a time, it helps bring more light into the world.

God bless and wishing you well. Let me know how this sits with you please, if you feel to. Sending you love and encouragement. Lynette xo

When we meet and contact information

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets behind the Ferntree Gully Library at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month and inside the Ferntree Gully Library on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2pm. We return in February and you can register with the library.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change, and if you would like to receive updates in my email newsletter, or the email reminder when the laughter club is on next. You may like to join the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club Facebook group.

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself. Lots of Love, Laughter and Blessings. Lynette Mitchell.

Phone:         0425 799 258
Ferntree Gully Library:    9800 6455
Email:          lynette@laughterforliving.com.au
Website:      www.laughterforliving.com.au

Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga

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Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga Blog

Feeling into what to write about and the word Passion came to me as being a quality that all we all focus on living in our everyday lives. I have heard a lot about it and what I want to share are suggestions to embody it in our feeling nature, working through the mental constructs of what we have heard, observed, been told – our conditioning throughout our lives.

Years ago, attending business meetings, some coaches and leaders used passion as a most important element to live out of, and I suggest that we may hear this message with our heads, rather than our hearts. We take on suggestions and they become words, should, to do and become, without an inner motivation which can best come from our own heart centre.

We beat ourselves up, judge and thrash about trying to make it happen, losing motivation, which ties in with the last issue’s topic where we reach a motivational dip in our lives. What we do has to have a true meaning for us and when it does, we light up. We look and feel lit up and our whole character embodies passion in what we do, whatever that may be.

Perhaps it is simple, such as the joy of knitting or crocheting, collecting and the fun in finding those objects. It can be sport, which anyone of us can be totally absorbed in. If it is exercise, a danger is that it may become an empty habit we keep on doing, without stopping and rejigging, questioning why we do it. A lot of us, myself included, adore gardening, losing ourselves in that activity, whilst a majority of us no doubt, will express an urge to go outside and connect with nature, whether it may be heading up into the hills, or down to the beach. Or simply as we do, going to a park, meeting other doggie people for a chat, being outside, especially at sunset.

As in the way of all habits, they become habitual, another new ritual, like a religion, which may serve us at the time and over time, becomes, shall we say, fulfilled? As in we keep doing it and habits can be outworn, when it is time to release them and go in another direction.

There is nothing wrong in giving up on something. It is when the mind keeps us hanging on to things, which can be anything in our lives (let’s not take personal, worldly commitments into this, we still have to honour those commitments). At times we need to take the time to be quiet, still, contemplative, breathe, meditate perhaps, and reflect upon whether it feels ‘right’ to move on, as our time can be better spent in turning to another activity.

A friend shared with me how in the Philippines, there are better results because their healing approach is treat the whole body. Cancer is the one she spoke of and overall, the human body is looked upon from a holistic bodily approach. I loved hearing that!

We have a four-body system, etheric, emotional, mental and spiritual. Our body is intelligent and I have often heard it said many times over the years, that it can heal itself of just about anything, given the chance to do so.  

Coming back to the topic of Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga. It is not naughty to have fun. Our body is a beautiful, unique one. No two bodies or people are exactly alike and neither will t hey be alike all the time, because of the consistent changes that are happening, evolution in a nutshell.

I believe in living each day with love and enthusiasm and if we lose that, what do we have? Grumpy, disillusioned people walking the earth, projecting negativity and where does that come from? Within. We feel what we are projecting our first within ourselves. The same goes when we express or feel love, we are spirit living in a human body, lent to us by Mother Earth who is a loving, benevolent being. In order to give love, it wells up, is expansive and it flows from there, right inside our very own heart. Don’t try to fix the world, work on feeling love and a lightness, infused with passion, overflowing your cup into the world. The world needs it more than ever before and every person makes a difference. You do. I do. We all do. Let’s see if we can get in touch with the passion that has been covered over and get it happening again.

Laughter Yoga definitely helps to do that. It is very freeing. I will not say that it is the be all and end all. It is a wonderful, marvellous tool which we use to assist our body to be healthier and it works on the four body system, as mentioned before. How we do it at laughter club is fantastic as we are involved in playful activities, allowing our inner children to be released and expressed. We sing, laugh, breathe deeply and include positive affirmations. This all helps our overall wellbeing.

It is life changing for people who come along. At the same time, you can do it at home, especially with AI, which I am not a fan of. But if you Google about laughter yoga, many videos and much information comes up immediately for you to be able to do by yourself, if you have sufficient self-determination.

One of the benefits though is the social side of coming together with us or others in a group. Humans need connection with other humans. That I firmly believe. You are always welcome to join us.

So passion and play are crucial to live as if you are fulfilling your purpose in life. It may be a simple purpose too, to live each day to the best of your ability and to ground more love upon the earth. Simple as that. How about that eh?

Hobbies are good, to have an interest or outlet that really lifts you up, inspires you, something creative in particular I feel, not that I am judging watching TV or sporting matches, as they have their place. Choose something which helps you get in touch with your soul expressing through your body, where time stops, seems to stand still, are totally and utterly absorbed in the project, having a still mind and emotions. I find gardening works for me and a new hobby which I am revealing to the world here.

Sometimes we don’t know why we are doing something, at least I don’t. We may simply feel led, that for whatever reason, it feels right to do something, until it doesn’t feel right to do so. We can really miss that. Let me share that 19 years ago, right from the start of offering a free community laughter club and for four or five years, hardly anyone was coming, none at all a lot of the time. This seems to be a good example of following one’s heart. Somehow, I hung on, believing it had the potential of bringing people together, as I always felt it important to maintain positivity and hope in our lives as time passes. I had observed as a youngster that was not the case in adults and somehow, I made the decision, not to let it happen to me. Life can beat us around the ears and it takes conscious application to remain in a positive frame of mind at times. Especially when we are in our darkest hour. You know what I mean?

I have been dabbling in art all my life and would have given it up, and did not feel that I had a particular talent, except that I am dogged about things, hang on maybe too long as well. It is not about being good at it, the main thing is to keep on going. Once I had a bad argument and reacted to John, my hubby and greatest supporter. We were driving towards the city and he said that his previous wife was a real artist and I felt deeply hurt by his remark. I made him stop, jumped out of the car and thumbed a lift back home. This shows my low self esteem at the time and it is not a healthy habit to compare ourselves with another human being.

To be successful, I encourage you to work on your worthiness and monitor your reasons for whatever it is you are doing. You do it for yourself, because you are greatly loved and matter. Does it really make a difference after all, our judgment of what we do and whether we feel something is good or not, because if you are expressing yourself, feeling better for it, it has a purpose.

In my art I have done a lot over the years and each for a long time. I got interested in Zentangle drawing years ago and discovered that the loose, doodling drawings I had been doing for yonks, were very much in that style. Well at present I am passionate about combining my calligraphy, painting, drawing, positive words and affirmations into rock paintings. It feels important to write positive words or sayings and share them with people, as a reminder to keep your chins up – stay positive at all costs. It is alright to drop in doing so, as in steps forwards and backwards. Keep getting up, marching on, going forward and never, ever give up!!!

With my rock paintings, I feel absorbed, completely and utterly. I often listen to something while doing so and for me, it takes me into another space and time, as I feel very still and absorbed. This is what I am suggesting you may like to do, pick up an old creative hobby or a new one and get it happening. I had been doing a daily jigsaw on my tablet for a long time, which was very stilling for the mind and emotions, but not giving me the creativity connection which was missing.

Here is a photo of my rock paintings, as they are presently being expressed, because everything seems to be a new opportunity to learn and grow within myself. Isn’t life simply wondrous? Well it can be so at least.

What will you do?

I would love to hear and encourage you to give yourself a break and become totally absorbed in something which you can feel by the results of doing so, is highly beneficial for your whole body, the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

God bless. Sending you love and passion in abundance. Wishing you well.

 

Laughter and Other Events

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month behind the library. We are also greatly appreciative of Ajne, Team Leader at the Ferntree Gully Library who loves and believes in what we do, hosting laughter and meditation sessions on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2pm. I also facilitate regular spiritual growth classes and workshops, which you may want to hear about at some stage in your life.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change, and if you would like to read my email newsletter, receive the email reminder when the laughter club is on next, or even you may like to join the Facebook group (Google it or ask me).

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself. 

Lots of Love, Laughter and Blessings. Lynette Mitchell. 

 

Psychological Winter Resistance, SAD and YES, I CAN help myself

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Psychological Winter Resistance, or Enthusiasm Plateau. 

Today I am sharing about Psychological Winter Resistance, also known as enthusiasm plateau, motivational dip or valley, self-sabotage, as well as Season Affective Disorder (SAD) and suggestions how you can help and support yourself. I feel these topics are linked, perhaps one is given insufficient attention over the other. That is regarding resistance which may be related to the seasonal change, as well as something I think we all go through at times, as we travel through life.

Let me talk first about how weather affects your mood; Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). You are most likely aware of this physical phenomenon, which is a commonly held and these days, accepted, actual condition that so many of us feel.

Weather conditions affect us, let’s face it, we are basically animal creatures, connected to the earth, dependant to an extent on the time of the year for our survival and feelings of genuine well-being. Recently I wrote about the Summertime Blues, which people experience at the end of summer holidays, when there seemed to be so much time to achieve things. Maybe we had a list of everything we wanted to do and yet, it all took much longer, perhaps our priorities changed due to unexpected circumstances.

Many of us are affected due to the shorter hours of winter and what it may mean. Less time to go and walk the dog at the end of the day, the wet weather, preventing us from being outside, especially gardening, where growth slows right down.

SAD is more serious than feeling down in the winter, is a type of depression. It can cause low energy, constant sadness, and a want for more carbs. If your family has a history of depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety, you might be more at risk. I know several people who are affected and it has been a relief to understand the effect that the weather has on their mood, and they have become self-accepting, understanding of the situation, and able to deal with it.

SAD usually begins in autumn, continuing on throughout winter. Winter has been far colder the last couple of years and you will notice, both within yourself and observing people you know, more feelings of disparity because of the wetter, darker winter conditions. People who live in Alaska experience SAD more, having little daylight and conversely, it is rarer in very sunny countries.

People have had enough and are yearning for warmer weather and springtime. I have noticed the birds seem to feel the same way and are starting to their build nests while still in mid winter, brought about by some slightly warmer days.

Ways we can help ourselves move through SAD.

Sleep and diet are very important along with more light, exercise and implementing self-supporting routines, which all of us will benefit by when we create new life giving daily habits!

A consistent routine helps; the basics are very important. For instance, to develop supportive routines upon rising and retiring at night. In the morning I like to go outside and greet the day, even better to walk barefoot on the earth for six minutes, which is a grounding practice. Open the curtains as soon as you wake up and go outside as soon as you can to take in the morning light. It assists with our circadian rhythm. Have breakfast or morning cuppa sitting by a window. If natural light is limited, a light therapy box would be very helpful. I know people who use this therapy. It’s a great idea.

Diet

Hibernating in the winter can be helpful when we spend more introspection, preparing inwardly for springtime. Many put on weight, as most of us know, we can prefer heavier, warming meals, with more carbs and very little exercise. I suggest paying good attention to your diet, to have plenty of fruit and vegetables, whole grains and lean protein. Consult your health professional and ask about vitamins, as I heard taking Vitamin D and C is essential, as well as zinc and echinacea which will support our immune system, thus making us stronger, fitter and unlikely to catch colds and flu.

Sleep

Limit blue screens before bedtime and have a regular bedtime schedule, going to bed and rising at a regular time. Also to sleep in a dark bedroom.

Light therapy, talking to a therapist, taking certain medicines, and getting enough Vitamin D can make a big difference. These treatments can help people feel better despite the weather.

Stay connected

Resist withdrawing from social activities, staying connected with family and friends. Do find time to exercise, there are many free YouTube videos if you cannot attend an exercise class like we do. There are plenty around in the community. It is also ok to have fun, to be kind and loving to yourself and plan something to look forward to. The movies, library talks and activities, various groups. Make a decision to be involved in life with other people.

Laughter Yoga

Regular exercise releases feel-good endorphins and dopamine, which help improve one’s mood and energy levels. Laughter yoga, which we do at laughter club, does this also, and is an aerobic exercise.  You are welcome to join us any time and in the case of bad weather, we go behind the Ferntree Gully Library under the eaves, on the decking, where we are very protected. It is indeed extremely invigorating.

Psychological Resistance

That is, when we have goals, focuses and so on that are of prime importance and we feel flat, in a lull, unable to get involved and be moving effectively forward as would be required to achieve the level of success we wish to achieve. Many of us feel ourselves in a motivational dip in wintertime but it may be at any other time of our lives also, when roles, work, family, situations and the like come about. It may be that we are bored, not having sufficient stimulation, a multitude of reasons may be at play.

Resistance can also be for many other reasons, and we may self-sabotage our pursuits with negative actions and lack of enthusiasm. There may be excellent intentions and yet it can be too easy to break the good intentions in a moment. A familiar one is how we make resolutions to diet and lose weight, finding ourselves quickly giving in, letting ourselves down, coming down psychologically with negative self-talk.

There is always a reason for doing so and it may be outside of our conscious awareness. Subconsciously we may be in conflict and behave in a way that is diametrically opposed to what was planned. One example would be low self esteem or deep psychological trauma, which means we begin on a high note and have a fall, we feel a failure, then give up. The feelings of self-doubt can be subtle. Then we can have hidden away, the fear of success and what it may entail. It brings us to question whether we really do want success after all? We think too much and it can sound very rational, listening to the quiet whispering within.

Negative self-talk can cause us to fail, perhaps we are more comfortable where we are and for whatever reason, our envisaged achievements are drastically diminished or fail for the time being. Which just means we were not up for the change at the time, and we receive the learning from the new situation. Similarly, we begin something new, there is an initial rush of dopamine, providing excitement and motivation. Can you relate to wanting to do something important and not being able to get into the groove to do so? You have been waiting for the time when you could apply yourself and then, when it comes, you become distracted and can’t become absorbed as you would like to and had envisaged beforehand.

This may be in relation to anything in your life, perhaps work, where you can’t apply yourself wholeheartedly to what is required for whatever reason. Work can give us opportunities and experiences to work through, which are invaluable to our personal growth, our evolution.

How about resistance we are unconscious of? Often this can relate to past experiences and conditioning, trauma and fear make it that we feel frozen in time, unable to step forward. Some of us love new challenges and others may say they do but when push comes to shove, back away or put it off, perhaps losing the prime time in which to achieve whatever that was.

Much of our resistance, and many of us can relate more to the word procrastination, is due to low feelings of self-worth. This can be unconscious, due to our programming and habits of survival we have taken on throughout our lives. I am not even going there, suggesting we may pick up from other incarnations, which we bring forth into this embodiment.

From the negative ego point of view, it is doing its best to carry out our instructions to keep ourselves safe. From this viewpoint, when we let ourselves down, there may be deep seated programming which comes into action. I wrote about this in relation to enneagrams, programs that are installed to protect us, as a mother would protect her precious child.

However, resistance can be a ‘good’ thing to encounter and work through, which takes diligent application and determination. Ideally, it requires introspection, journaling, meditation, self enquiry, at times outside support such as a coach or counsellor.

New projects can raise our feelings of wellbeing and positivity and put us in an initial high when positive endorphins are released into the body. Rather like a honeymoon phase which inevitably passes away, when we move into the next stage of application.

Working through resistance, feelings of flatness, going nowhere, a dip or plateau, and mind you this can be applied to many situations in our life, we can come out the other side stronger. Many share feelings of agility in handling their challenges, feeling stronger, more self determination and psychologically fitter than before. Once we do so, we develop new, enduring habits which support us and are stepping stones towards our goals, future self and worldly endeavours. Life is meant to thrust us into new situations and of course, new things become familiar, comfortable, the old ways of doing things.

Personal and spiritual ways to support us.

This section is more geared for people who may have lost motivation, whether it is the winter blues, that of feeling flat, tired, without it being the serious medical condition of SAD.

The human body seeks comfort, the easy way to do things, to be in control, know what lays ahead and we love to organise our lives neatly into boxes or compartments, instead of being open to interruptions and life happening moments, periods, difficulties etc.

It may appeal to some readers who are drawn to meditation and self-support, to spend quality time in introspection, rechecking and reviewing your life. What effort and focus are you putting into it and are you doing your best to greet anew every day. Daily journaling, which I like to do last thing at night, and meditation are most helpful. Remember to be patient, kind and tolerant towards ourselves is imperative.

Self Determination Theory SDT

Acknowledge the dip or plateau without judgment, because judging one’s actions exacerbates the situation. If we manage to keep going, our self-determination becomes stronger, we build endurance. The alternative to doing so risks not evolving and as energy is moving, we actually devolve, we lose the gains we have made in this lifetime. That is not something I ever wish to bring about, not at all.

We can do all sorts of things to help ourselves or find a teacher or coach you resonate with. Imagine becoming the best, highest, brightest, version of yourself and work towards it. It may be you can develop strategies and organise your time better, or cut down on what you are doing, becoming more of a being type of person. I used to be busy being busy and prefer to focus on more coming from a centred state of being. When in that centred and aligned place, the doing comes out of the being and not the other way around.

Rekindle with your WHY

Don’t wait for motivation to come to you, because motion creates energy. When you put your energy and action into it, the path is slow to begin with and then you build up momentum, which will then help to carry you forward. Motivation is tied in with self-determination which is fuelled from within you.

To get out of the motivational slump, revisit your WHY. There needs to be a sold reason to begin with which set you up, your direction, which becomes lost as time goes on.

It is not happening now

We may be feeling things that are unresolved from the past and create self-doubt, which is dreadful. Stop listening to them and create a plan of action if you want to succeed. Above all be kind to yourself, lose the judgment and be happy to get out of your comfort zone.

That being said, it may well be that you hadn’t thought through before embarking on a project and did not know enough about it. It may be time to give it away, move on, or modify the goal or project.

My motto is to Never ever give up. We need to apply ourselves and learn to trust our feelings more than our thoughts. Not easy to know what is up or down at times. That is why the spiritual growth activities of meditation, journaling, introspective, positive affirmations – all of it, are advised and necessary.

Patience, Tolerance and Kindness

Okay, you have read it this far. Well done! There is a lot in all this, if it is of interest to you, as it is to me. Basically, live your life making progress and don’t beat yourself up!!!

When we meet

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month.

We are at the Ferntree Gully Library 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month and the Boronia Library 11am on the 3rd Saturday of the month. I also run periodic laughter yoga and spiritual growth classes and workshops. First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change.

Let me know if you wish to receive my email newsletter and an email reminder when the laughter club is on next. You may even like to join the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club Facebook group, or receive an email reminder when laughter club is on, let me know. Thanks.

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself. Lots of Love, Laughter and Blessings. Lynette Mitchell.

Phone:         0425 799 258
Email:          lynette@laughterforliving.com.au

Laughter Yoga and 3 other ways to help you get over Fear.

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Laughter Yoga and 3 other ways to help you get over Fear.

Fear is Debilitating!

Laughter Yoga and other ways to help you get over fear, may be useful to consider and ponder, as fear is far too prevalent in today’s age and we are surrounded by it all the time.

There is so much fear in the world, it is impossible not to be affected by it and yet, you can live a life feeling joy and closer to nature. Let me tell you a little of how you can do so. Any advice shared here is intended to be thought provoking, enabling you to consider, feel into, ponder upon, implement and/or reach out to professionals if needs be. It may be the beginning of an area or time in your life which is timely for you to look after yourself, because we are unable to help others if we are not strong, which means we first have to attend to our own basic and healthful needs.

Danger is real, not imaginary. Look at the news on television. Many people refuse to watch it and I wouldn’t either, excepting John, my husband feels it helps him to stay in touch with what is going on in the world. It would be fantastic if good news stories were prevalent, instead of the shock and horror ones that are aired every night on the free to air channels. Apparently bad news sells and is more popular than positive uplifting stories.

I do enjoy watching some shows on TV, the animal and nature ones which are uplifting, entertaining and informative. But you probably agree, TV like social media, can take a hold on us and not let go. They are such time wasters and bad habits are formed, we get lazy, become couch potatoes, sit too long and it’s very unhealthy to spend an inordinate amount of time watching too much television and spending too much precious time checking our social media apps on our phone, computer or tablet.

The world is somehow geared towards us being and living fearfully. Which can be disastrous, where it is like the metaphor of a frog in a pot, whereby the water slowly comes to the boil, it is boiled to death, because of not noticing the temperature slowly rising.

That must be the reason why people hang out for their holidays and do activities to make them forget the world as it is, and provide relief from stressfully lived lives. Our challenges feel so difficult, when history tells us that there have always been seemingly insurmountable difficulties, appropriate for the age we live in. Difficulties, challenges and the like evolve and change according to the times and places.

Have you heard of or considered that our thoughts are not even original, as we are connected energetically with other people and things, which you may not even be aware of? People can come up with the same ideas and be travelling along the same path as others, following their inner guidance, and thoughts are little energy forms that zoom out from us.

Enneagrams are something that I have heard about, have a general idea of, enough to be helpful for me at present. Some people reading this may be experts in this area. What I feel to express here is that basically, human beings are animals, more evolved and with more on board of course.

We are creatures of habit, and I often write about patterning and conditioning which we take on throughout our lives and about releasing it, creating new positive, supportive patterns and habits, ditching ones that no longer serve us in our life where we are now.

Fear Related to Enneagrams

My understanding of enneagrams is how we behave automatically, in a protective way, which is more limited. When a traumatic set of circumstances has happened and something ‘bad’ happens in our life, the set of circumstances are recorded in our subconscious mind. If that set of circumstances happens again, we unconsciously expect the same result and react out of irrational fear. Even though intellectually we know there is no need to be fearful, think of the example of people who have massive fear around spiders, snakes, rats, or whatever. They may believe the person helping them to overcome the fear and it takes great courage to work through the subconscious, irrational fear they are facing and are able to transform it into a correct understanding of the situation, removing the ingrained fear.

Would you agree with this so far? What we need to do is create a future where we are living in more awareness, grounded in our body, connected to earth, nature and consciously able to hum away at living a productive life, irrespective of our life situation. If needs be, seek out a professional if the fear is debilitating, stopping you from living a fruitful life.

Realistically, fear and danger are real, we can benefit by having a respectful awareness of these two gremlins in our life, instead of avoiding or supressing these feelings. Fear can be a great motivator to learn to deal with and overcome it. A certain amount of stress and fear is normal, when we are being stretched, possibility having self doubt from our feelings of being unworthy. It is normal to have fears and challenges to work through and overcome; fear can make us give up, give in and not make any effort at all. Hold strong and don’t give up, never ever! There is always hope. It is not lost, maybe we’ve simply mislaid it along the way.

A healthy habit is to face our fears, which may be irrational and tied in with feelings of low self-worth, not wanting to fail etc. we can develop a good habit of facing fears, let us call them a common term, challenges and using that as a positive experience to develop self mastery in our lives. Yee hah!

Facing Fears

1st step – improve your self-talk and use affirmations.

It is important to face our fears, using positive self talk, such as ‘it’s unlikely to happen’, ‘I can do this’, ‘I am safe’. Basically, learn to switch things around, when you are able to understand and see that your outlook is irrational and apply yourself to lovingly, caringly, get out of your comfort zone (obviously without doing dangerous, unwise activities, using common sense) and try new things.

From my recent experience, I managed to overcome and clear an old fear, which was instilled in me following a bad car accident many years ago.

The fear was underneath my radar, I wasn’t questioning it, feeling nervous in a car on the road seemed normal and acceptable. This was both with my husband driving and when I was driving. Learning more about enneagrams, I started to positive talk myself ‘an accident is unlikely to happen’ being the main one and choosing to let go of being fearful of driving or being driven. I would also affirm to myself ‘I am safe’. It happened recently when my husband was in hospital for two nights after an operation and then unable to drive for 4 weeks. It seemed like a good time to get over my fearful self and switch things around, which was very quick in fact. I was surprised. I am now back to being a confident driver and not wimpish. They say be careful of what you wish for, and it was time to change the unconscious belief of being afraid of having an accident. It’s great! I am loving driving now again.

2nd step – be quick to act on inspirations

Especially if you know in your heart, have a feeling about, doing a new activity, whereby the feeling comes to you for a split second and then your rational mind steps in, persuading, thinking your way out of it in another direction. I imagine some of you lovely readers will get this. You have a feeling and if the inspiration is not acted upon straight away, the feeling becomes dulled and you have talked your way out of doing that thing which initially seemed like such a good idea. The negative ego is chit chatting with you and it’s purpose is to run the body, which it does amazingly well and keep you safe.

3rd step – come to laughter club

Give this a go, you will be stepping out of your comfort zone into an unfamiliar territory. This is a ‘good thing’. New people come from time to time and I encourage them to come at least two or three times, before deciding it is not for them. I am not alone in suggesting that you will not know if it will be a very positive and beneficial activity in your life, without coming more than once. Fair enough, people may know immediately it is not for them. Many people find it very uncomfortable, which is their body type/personality, set in their ways and very likely, inhibitions or deep-set fear such as unconscious trauma, may be at play here. Given time, people become confident, relaxed and embrace the light-hearted fun way that laughter clubs are renowned for.

For instance, we don’t always know what is good for us. I once was leading laughter at a nursing home and it was obvious that the people who were low care, joined in and appeared to be uplifted. It felt like a mistake that the activities organiser asked the residents if it was an activity they enjoyed, instead of seeing the bigger picture that in time, the magic works when people come together, laugh and sing. They did not give it a fair trial, which would have far benefited the residents in the long run. I am suggesting if you have resistance to coming along, look at the bigger picture. There are so many gains to be had from it.

Laughter yoga is an aerobic exercise with innumerable benefits. It isn’t for everyone and you will not have a clear understanding of it being ‘right’ for you, without attending a few times. And it’s free too! We go along to the Ferntree Gully and Boronia Libraries and the laughter club meets twice a month behind the Ferntree Gully Library.

4th Step – We are all in this together

Human Beings are creatures of habit and beneath our seemingly distant exteriors, hide ones who are genuinely kind and helpful towards each other. We have a need to belong, as we are mostly like animals who feel comfortable gathering together in packs, or tribes. A sense of belonging, which helps us feel happy and at peace, coming together and sharing with other like-minded people. It gives us more purpose in our life.

Essentially, and summing up, laughter yoga is a great physical exercise which makes us feel better. Our communication and listening skills improve. We become light-hearted. It is a rich experience. Everyone benefits. Yet again, I encourage and invite you to come to a laughter session in the park, or inside the Ferntree Gully or Boronia Libraries. It is never too late, and people have taken fifteen years or longer to do just that!

Please think about it. Come along and satisfy your human by interacting with other human beings.

Alternatively, if you do not have a social life, think about, feel into and enquire about, what would be a suitable group for you to be a part of. There are many in the community and the Knox Council is brilliant at supporting its residents. We love being in Knox. From what I see, all councils have the wellbeing of their residents at heart as well. Look after yourself. Get moving, grooving, do something you love and remember firstly, to love yourself. Warts and all!

When we meet

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month.

We are at the Ferntree Gully Library 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month.

Let me know if you wish to receive an email newsletter and a reminder email for the laughter club or wish to join the Facebook group.

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself. A strong mantra that I use and hold in my awareness on a daily basis is ‘Patience, Tolerance, Kindness’. Try it for yourself and let me know how it works for you, or whether you need more assistance and guidance in using it, such as combining with one’s own breath.

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell.

Phone:          0425 799 258
Email:            lynette@laughterforliving.com.au
Website:       www.laughterforliving.com.au

Can Laughter Yoga Improve Your Relationships?

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Yes, it can! Hello again and can you believe we are a quarter of the way into 2025? There is not time to waste in our lives, being lazy, selfish or self-centred. It is likely that we can all improve our relationships and learn to communicate better. Can we keep learning, forever and until we cease to live? We most certainly can! What is more, whenever we begin, or return to having the attitude of doing our best and making our life count, it will be perfect timing. My ‘Never ever, ever give up’ motto originated from the content of Winston Churchill’s speech in 1941, which was the year before I was born. I believe it applies to everything we are drawn to in our lives.

Life can be so complicated and yet from my experience, human beings generally complicate their own lives. We can have a useful attitude to co-create our life with God, the Universe, Energy (insert here what you believe in), instead of being a victim to life, rather it being a co-creation with the Universe. We view through our own filters, put there by experiences and life’s conditioning ways. Our needs, desires, ambitions, yearnings, patterns and beliefs create an overall experience.

Most of us go to work for a time and perhaps reach a stage of seeing our unnecessary busy-ness, when we may have felt like life was happening to us, rather than our contribution in it all. We may make a decision about turning our life around, developing a more peaceful, harmonious life, connected with nature, holding greater meaning and purpose.

This can be like entering a new stage, that of decluttering on every level, heading towards living our life as simply as we possibly can, depending on our circumstances and involvement. I often write about decluttering and that too, will take its own never-ending journey, bringing to our lives, enrichment and long-lost meaning.

Laughter yoga has a place in all of this, the journey, self-discovery, empowerment, connections with ourselves and others. The prime reason for this is within the power of laughter and as well, connecting deep within our own sense of self and others. Laughter yoga particularly assists us in overall feelings of wellness in all of our bodies, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual. Our social connections are enhanced when we laugh together with people, especially in a group setting, as we do during laughter sessions.

If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you will have heard me say how things may happen slowly, organically, minimally, as evolution is designed to be that way. We can also hold a keen focus, like tunnel vision, for change to take place quicker. Our body is complex and operates on many levels, subtle as well as what was mentioned in the previous paragraph. Subtle in so far as our feelings are a sum of everything, including our soul and higher spiritual bodies (some people will relate to that).

Therefore, our relationships do in fact improve if we are involved in laughter yoga group activities and even to a lesser degree, laughing together with people in our daily lives.

There are ways to laugh alone also and feel free to email, phone or message me, if you want to find out about doing that. For example, various YouTube channels where laughter leaders have innumerable videos available. One by the laughter yoga guru, Dr Madan Kataria, in particular has a simple one, focusing on the breath and very little movement. It need not be complicated at all, and you can easily incorporate it into your life, if you but choose. And I will add, feel better for implementing regular laughter into your life.

How laughter yoga improves our relationships is therefore first and foremost, to belong to a laughter club, otherwise to practice it alone and develop your physical body awareness.

From my awareness and understanding, how it helps is the impact it has on our feeling of overall wellness, because the body benefits from laughing in a plethora of ways. Our relationships with others in our lives may possibly improve from some of the following.

We benefit from having improved communication and part of this is in this social group situation, we generally share by chatting together over a cuppa afterwards at Rapture café, in Ferntree Gully. This offers opportunities to find out things we have in common, lending a natural and loving support to others. Many people who come along live either actively involved or sedentary, lonely lives. Talking is important to feel we belong and have shared realities with others. Humans have a need to belong, to find our ‘tribe’ as it is often called. It is such a small world. One gentleman member grew up in the town I was born into and knew my two brothers. We have many affinities and people always find this to be the case.

Seeing the gifts in other people is a pastime I like to be involved in, as everyone has something special about them. No doubt many people love to do that as well, meeting with and finding mutual strengths and interests. But if we are too busy transmitting, needing to talk, blah blah blah, we will not be in a receptive, listening space and we will miss this people person richness. It is something I have been working on, being receptive and less needing to transmit. Although I’m very outgoing by nature, it feels important to balance that with being quiet, which develops an attitude which is more in harmony and balance with life, people, interests and relationships.

Conversations take on a life of their own as we discover how to truly listen to others. During laughter club, we practice being present, breathing, watching, listening, laughing and this simple formula assists in improving our ability to relate with other people. This all takes place very naturally and we may not even be aware of it.

Essentially, and summing up, laughter yoga is a great physical exercise which makes us feel better. Our communication and listening skills improve. It is a rich experience. Everyone benefits.

Yet again, I encourage and invite you to come to a laughter session in the park, or inside the Ferntree Gully and Boronia Libraries. It is never too late, and people have taken fifteen years or longer to do just that!

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month for half an hour and afterwards, we head to Rapture Cafe, for a hot cuppa and chat. Belonging to the laughter club is quite a social activity and we behave like lifelong friends, sharing together when given the chance to do so. Do you feel like coming along and being part of our small group (usually 6-8 of us each time). 

Knox Library Laughter Yoga Sessions

We are at the Ferntree Gully Library 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month and the Boronia Library 11am the 3rd Saturday of the month and I expect not to be able to run it in June.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change.

You may like to receive an email newsletter or a free discovery call/chat. Please contact me to arrange a time for either. Additionally, I send out a reminder email on the Friday before the laughter club meets and there is a Facebook group which you can join, so as to stay  in touch.

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself.

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell.

Phone:          0425 799 258
Email:            lynette@laughterforliving.com.au

Equanimity From Laughter Yoga is Fabulous

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Laughter Yoga Provides Equanimity in Our Lives

Do you ever think about, ponder, focus on or are aware of the topic of equanimity? I do all the time, as part of my spiritual journey.

Equanimity is living in a state of balance, achieved by focusing on living in the present, self-aware mindful and with compassion. It may look like someone is centred in one’s being, remaining calm, grounded and centred, whilst experiencing challenges.

Equanimity is generally on board as we practice living in this form of self-mastery. It is not something we can choose in case of emergency; it is ingrained in our being through regular practice in our daily lives.

This is a wonderful topic and the cool thing about it is we can all improve in this area if it interests us and we can see the importance of living this way. Let’s face it, we are not alone and are nearly always in various relationships, whether they be family, business, work, social etc.

I feel that equanimity is a whole body experience, a feeling, spiritual thing and need not be a controlled mental state. This implies suppression and the heart is not involved, although there are good intentions present.

To effectively be in equanimity we need to centre ourselves first and act with clarity of intention and compassion. As I practice being in equanimity, in order to centre myself I pause, take a breath or two, allow myself to slow down and become aware of how I am feeling. To be in this calm, centred, mindful state of mind and emotions, I am better able to apply myself to every situation. It is not necessarily so simple, nor easy to do, which is why it is important to have the quality of equanimity on board in one’s personality and self expression. If you attempt to be that way in an emergency, failure is more likely to be the case.

There are many Buddhist references to living in equanimity, which is a state of balance where one doesn’t react to difficult situations. It is part of living in a grounded, mindful manner, without supressing emotions and feelings. Equanimity is a beautiful state to become endowed with, which has a positive, uplifting effect upon those around us in our everyday lives.

It is a non-judgmental, accepting way of being and it may be developed through the practice of laughter yoga. 

How laughter yoga helps you achieve equanimity

Did you know that laughter yoga is a practice that greatly assists us to live in equanimity? A lot of research mentions the benefit of being in greater equanimity when we come together doing laughter exercises. Isn’t that grand? Perhaps is another terrific reason to come along and join us for regular laughter exercises.

This happens organically, that is very naturally, when we come together in playful fun with each other. The way we perceive life upgrades to that of becoming self-accepting and it follows, we become more tolerant and accepting of others and of life situations.

Notwithstanding the times when we may need to walk away from things or people, this is not an airy-fairy way of being, where we become doormats and allow ourselves to be in abusive situations.

What laughter yoga helps with is slowly developing a more cheerful, fun filled, optimistic personal value, leading to living in far greater equanimity because of the way regular laughter can help us.

Some Aussies Involvement in Laughter Yoga

It feels like a good idea to impress upon you more about this, the fact that many people around the world work professionally with laughter yoga and also a great many who are making grounded differences here in Australia. They come from different backgrounds and fields of work.

I will mention three people, firstly to give a shout out to Merv Neal, a local, who filled in for me when I was on a retreat recently. He is responsible for initiating laughter yoga in numerable places which call for more equanimity in people’s lives. For example, it is being accepted as a fabulous activity in the wellbeing and healing area; he is involved in research conducting laughter for kidney dialysis patients and working with the Cancer Council. He co-authored a scientific study book last year which I love.

A prominent Melbourne laughter leader, teacher and academic is Ros Ben-Moshie, who has written two laughter books. Ros also teaches short course courses in Laughter, Resilience and Wellbeing at Latrobe University.

There are many more prominent Australians doing amazing work in the laughter yoga field, which is taking off, i.e. becoming widely known and accepted as a highly beneficial practice for us all to be doing.

The third one I will share with you is Annie Harvie who lives in Adelaide and has written The Giggle Game. Annie has taken this fun, simple, interactive card game all around the world. It is designed for early learners, and I highly recommend it to school teachers and parents. It is a simple way of bringing the exercise of laughing together to us all and in particular, children.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and wishing you an excellent 2025. You are always welcome to join John, myself and the small group who come regularly to laughter club.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette to in case of a meeting change. You may even like to add yourself to the email reminder for the laughter club or sign up for my newsletter. My website has information regarding workshops, classes, laughter yoga and blog.

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month.

We are at the Ferntree Gully Library 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month March onwards and at the Boronia Library, 11am the 3rd Saturday of the month recommencing in May.

Cheerio for now. 

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell. xo

Summertime Blues

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Read my summertime blues blog, how to do new things, lift yourself up

Hello. Are you prone to procrastination? I am at times, and it can be debilitating, taking my mind away from living one day, right down even, to one moment at a time. Instead, my mind may go around in circles, with a continuous background narrative of ‘having to do something which feels timely’ and yet I can’t get my act together. It can be difficult to be in the right mindset for the best focus to apply myself wholeheartedly to what is most important to be done or achieved.

Why do we do it, have this resistance? There can be many reasons why. I will bet you that some can be from feelings of low self-worth and a general lack of inspiration. A common theme is not wanting to start because we think that the result has to be perfect. This may equate to needing to be in the right frame of mind or being totally prepared, in order to give it our best shot.

I was like that in writing this article. I had written down something which felt like it would be a worthwhile topic to share with you and blow me down, could not find it. I have been tuning in waiting to receive an inspiration, like a bolt of lightning. Nothing came until today when two words, ‘summertime blues’, popped into my head. I Googled them, feeling curious and was moderately surprised to find out it is a thing! All this time, I had not stopped to ponder, and I will share the essence of it with you.

Summertime blues can be similar to the SADs, that winter condition which many people fall victim to, where days are shorter, with little sunlight, which our body thrives upon. People become depressed, flat and find it difficult to feel joy in their lives.

“The summer blues, also known as the summertime blues, are feelings of sadness and depression that usually occur during the last week of summer, especially when you realise you have failed to meet some goals you set for yourself during the summer.” – The Center for Connection, Healing, and Change, in Virginia, U.S.A.

In my view as we live in Australia, where it does get very hot for often long periods of time, summertime blues relates to existing feeling depressed, due to excessive hot days and nights. Over time we become exhausted when we are unable to sleep, which puts our bodies under extra stress, which never feels fully rested. We tend to put things off and our motivation is low, achieving less towards the end of summer, holding out for more comfortable weather. I feel most of us can relate to that, the summertime heat, humidity, discomfort, lack of sleep, increased anxiety, which seems endless. And to top it off, we may live in fear because of it being bushfire season.

The general way summertime blues is referred to regarding experiencing depression, which can be overwhelming, is when you come to the end of summer and realise how much you have lost or frittered away your time, without achieving what you had planned. Although you may actually have achieved quite a lot in hindsight; your list was unrealistic and in fact you did very well. This can happen when we are too hard on ourselves, judgmental to a fault, rather than being our best friend, supporter and coach.

Who amongst us can even remember back to those water restriction days, when people gave up on their gardens, developed ‘bucket back’ from saving buckets of water from inside, such as when running the shower, waiting for the hot water to come through and then carrying them outside to put on plants. Many of us would carry 10 litres buckets to various places in the garden and develop crook backs. It was very common.

In Australia, we also deal with the Christmas madness being in summer, which serves to compound the various stresses in our lives. For many of us we may have lost a loved one this year, or fairly recently. This can be a very sad and grief filled time, which may be difficult to heal from. We all need help and to be supported by family and friends, not forgetting professional help.

This seems like I am sharing bad and gloomy themes with you, for which I wholeheartedly apologise. Life is as it is and no matter what, we serve ourselves best if we can get on with it and believe in ourselves. We can be our best friend and there is always time to learn, evolve, continue on the battle, be courageous and speculate how we can live a better life, for example more interaction and pleasurable activities.

There are many free or minimal cost community support groups; neighbourhood houses providing low cost activities and friendship groups. This can bring a sense of belonging and purpose to people who participate.

Also, we are classified as animals. And as such, we also need to belong in a group, tribe, community, whatever, seeking and relating with other likeminded animals. This could be one reason why we feel so comfortable with our pets, most commonly cats, dogs and birds, and other smatterings like rabbits, guinea pigs, frogs, reptiles etc.

It is unwise to carry on with negative self-talk wherein you judge yourself if you feel dependant on something, someone, a pet, activity or anything. I often mention neuroplasticity to you, how our brains are wired to benefit and truly need the stimulations that everyday life can offer us, which has an overall, positive affect upon our whole body system. Humans are meant to have experiences, to feel joy and purpose and it is very positive to do so.

If we feel that our best times are behind us, that may stop us from feeling purposeful on a daily basis. Time for some tough love from me and you may wish to give it to yourself. If you are flatlined in your life, ask for some inspiration and look for your own answers. You will be led to enquire here or there, to join with other people in an activity, hobby or group and learn something new.

We welcome you to the laughter club, which has been transformative in many people’s lives. People come and go and what we do helps ones to remember about the importance of having fun, deep breathing and laughing regularly.

I invite you to ponder on what type of things you may enjoy being involved in. You may like to contact your local council for advice about community groups and local libraries have incredible opportunities with free activities and talks. I have tried a lot of things in my life, one being various art expressions. Alternatively, you may be perfectly happy to keep doing what you do, freshening up your attitude a bit, improving your involvement, growing, still learning. We do need stimulation in our lives.

Words may be inadequate to bring forth to you a positive impact, which may encourage you to find or do something which will make your heart sing. This is in reference to becoming involved in an activity which will help you to relax, to focus, spending whatever time you have available’ in it, whilst interacting with others.

Returning to the subject of procrastination, is there something that jumps out for you to attend to? Or even the prompt to actively apply yourself to your ‘to do’ list in a way that produces satisfaction?

A new list could be understanding there are ways to deal with those feelings of sadness or the blues. Getting back to basics, you can ground some new beliefs which will benefit both yourself and those around you. Your to do list could include bringing yourself from feeling isolated and reach out to others in however you need it to be. You may benefit from receiving the professional support of a psychologist, social worker, counsellor or develop other social connections which may be like going to yoga or an exercise class. Ask and you will receive ideas and come to realise your own answers.

Exercise more, incorporate it to fit with your lifestyle and it will most likely help you to sleep better, which is so important. Exercise can be simple too, chair exercises, walking, yoga. You can learn something new and can do that in the comfort of your own home online, if you are comfortable with that.

It is in your hands to make a difference to your life and find joy again. You have the power to bring back the joy if it has been absent in your life. Wake up and affirm out loudly “I choose JOY”.

Give yourself a lift and a break from what was normal and everyday things, unless it feels like the best thing for you right now. Prepare yourself for summer and Christmas and keep on growing, keep on keeping on and never ever, give up. Never ever!

Laughter Club is on 8th & 22nd December, with a picnic after at Wicks Reserve. We will be at two libraries in January and take the month off meeting behind the Ferntree Gully for the first time, returning on the 2nd Sunday in February.

Thank you to Barbara Oehring for being such a brilliant photographer and sharing this beautiful photo of John and myself. We appreciate you!

We laugh together as follows and YOU are most welcome to come along.

Ferntree Gully Laughter Club 11am 2nd & 4th Sunday

Boronia Library  11am on the 1st Saturday of each month

Knox Library   2pm on the 3rd Thursday of the month – note this discontinues in 2025.

Ferntree Gully Library  2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month

First timers, please contact me in case of a meeting change. You may even like to add yourself to the email reminder for the laughter club or sign up for my occasional newsletter. A reminder as well, I can also support people, as I’m qualified as a counsellor and life coach.

Wishing you joy this summer and for a harmonious and love-filled Christmas season. Speak with you again soon.

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell.

Phone:          0425 799 258
Email:            lynette@laughterforliving.com.au

Laughter Yoga Helps With Your Worthiness

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Laughter Yoga can help you to feel worthiness, to feel unique, to feel loved.

Hello Friends

Laughter Yoga helps with your worthiness in a natural way, when you do it regularly, get out of your comfort zone when laughing together and embrace the authenticity that only laughter yoga can bring forth for you.

I felt drawn to delve deeply into the worthiness topic and have a deeper appreciation of how affirmations and laughing together helps us.

Do you consciously focus on a desire to be a worthy person? Perhaps the answer is yes. It can also be an unconscious activity, driven by an internal desire where we yearn to feel better about ourselves.

We probably grew up being told to be nice to people and respect our elders etcetera, which came from the influences of our parents and their predecessors, as it was passed down through the genetic timeline.

Did you even stop to think about it, that behaviours we are told to live by have actually caused us to become passive and supress our true feelings? Being a ‘good’ person may have been at our own expense, when we uplift and look after others, we may neglect or forget about our own self-care.

Of course it is ideal to be good to others, let’s replace the world ‘good’ with being ‘kind’. It is worth considering our motives for what we do and the rewards we get for the behaviour. In trying to be a ‘good’ person and nice to others, we may be driven by an inner desire for worthiness within ourselves.

Much comes about through behavioural patterns and conditioning as we are growing up, influences from the beliefs and backgrounds of our parents and people who are in authority in our lives. However we can outgrow these belief systems, which may encompass being nice to people, where we behave automatically and unconsciously. Our feelings of self-worth can become reduced, and we develop into being a people pleaser, or even a doormat.

This is commonly more related to the females amongst us, or men with a strong feminine nature. From my experience when we live with dominant people, it can crush our souls and take away what was originally a strong and pure essence, turning it into a trembling, fearful individual. That was so for me and as well for others whom I have encountered in my life. Rather sad isn’t it, and yet we can reach a point where we decide to do something about rectifying the situation, such as going on a self-help and healing journey.

I believe that working on one’s feelings of worthiness is a lifelong occupation, with distinct layers of unworthiness being released throughout our life. I reckon it isn’t anything to be judged about ourselves or others either; it is as it is, a mere fact of life and good to be aware of, as a driving force within us. Ideally, we will reach a stage where our worthiness is not dependant upon the opinions of others.

How does laughter yoga and in particular, attending a laughter club contribute to increased feelings of worthiness?

As laughter works on all aspects of our bodies, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, these bodies combine, expressing as an individual person, within social settings. At laughter yoga sessions, we are openly expressing ourselves with other people. With determination and vigour, we unleash our inner child with the silly antics that we get up to. Generally, over a short time, we become comfortable in our own skins. That is, we can embrace the activity of laughing together, releasing our own inhibitions, judgment of others and self-judgment.

Laughter yoga is a stress releaser which energises us, taking us out of our critical, left-brain analytical thought patterns as we embrace our creative, right brain hemisphere expression. Naturally this will be limited by our personalities, as some people are doing it tough mentally, finding it harder than others to let go and relax into the laughter exercises.

Usually over time, or perhaps straight away, we feel better about ourselves and our life, without necessarily stopping to analyse what is going on. We just feel better and more together than before.

After the regular Ferntree Gully Laughter Club sessions, we continue the social interaction, heading over to Rapture Café for a cuppa, where we share with our laughter friends what we’ve been up to within the close-knit community.

Do you need to come on a regular basis?

Many people have very busy lives and attend a laughter session spasmodically. This is a terrific way to belong, since it is optional when you come, instead of being a requirement. I mention this because it is worth coming along for a visit and to try it out once, twice or three times to see if it is a good fit for you or not. You may not know if you come only once and decide, so please give laughter a fair try out before finally deciding. And then you may come for a while and stop, or turn up intermittently.

Laughter yoga is also a great aerobic exercise and recently a few members share how they are managing to include it in their lives in different ways. Such as to watch Dr Kataria on YouTube every day, he is the founder of laughter clubs worldwide, following the exercises in his books, or other watching other laughter videos. People even go through a regular daily routine as an exercise option, incorporating the deep breathing and affirmations that we do.

Gently and over time, involvement in laughter sessions can help us enormously in our lives to cope and feel good about ourselves and clearer about our lives. This includes people who come to the laughter and meditation sessions that my husband, John and I facilitate at the Knox Libraries. These libraries are at Boronia, Knox, Ferntree Gully and Rowville. At present we go to Rowville once a quarter.

If you wish to phone me to make a time, I would love to share some Worthiness affirmations for you to read through daily and when you feel the need. These affirmations are filled with positive energy, as perhaps many are which you may otherwise find online through your own searching.

I will also share some simple positive affirmations, that we sometimes use at laughter sessions. You can see the change on people’s faces and in their body language after saying and repeating them. To make them powerful, we say them out loud and with conviction.

  1. I Have Lots of Ideas, Life Inspires Me! 
  2. I Am, You Are, We Are Amazing! 
  3. I Am So Enthusiastic! 
  4. I Am in Love With Life! 
  5. I, You, We Can Do This! 

Benefits of Affirmations

You can Google about this yourself, how researchers from the University of Pennsylvania show us that self-love affirmations reprograms one’s brain, which helps during difficult times.

It can help in other ways, helping to rewire the brain, known as neuroplasticity and importantly, when we focus on positive words, it lessens our inclination to see things in a negative way. Positive self-talk can change our thought patterns of negative self-talk, shifting our perspective from the inner critic to that of the inner coach. It is good to remember to watch how we talk to ourselves and be kind, as we would treat our pets and little children.

Recapping that repeating worthiness affirmations helps us be positive, creating positive behaviour changes and at the same time, we will feel more in tune with life. Our motivation and self-determination is stronger, we can also feel ourselves being adaptable and resilient and experience an overall feeling of emotional well-being. That of being more connected with others in our lives and life itself. Isn’t it an awesome topic?  

How to use Affirmations

I like to begin my day by saying with feeling ‘I choose Joy’, Being filled with joy really is our choice; when we choose Joy it becomes a tangible experience. Our freewill governs what attitude we take on and express and it means the difference of experiencing something in a destructive, negative manner, or with joy. This then attracts positive growth and experiences.

Affirmations are best when you say them out loud and if you wish, in front of a mirror, with a good tone in your voice. Some people like to set reminders on their phone, computer, or Google Home.

Why not write them on sticky notes and put up where you can see them? We can also repeat them when we are exercising, working out or walking. You can incorporate them into your daily self-help or meditation processing routine or cut them up and put them into a jar, taking one or more out as an inspiration. My last suggestion is to share them with like-minded friends or family, as people like to share positive, uplifting ideas with one another.

Parting Feelings

The world needs more love, peace, gratitude, joy and positivity and it can begin with you. Us. Begin with growing your own self-love, worthiness and self-esteem and focus on your cup being half full, as it fills up brimming with potential. A popular exercise we do at laughter club is ‘I have this much limitation, showing our thumb and forefinger almost closed, and this much potential, opening our arms as wide as possible, as we finish with a loud Yay!

Thank you for your interest in reading this. Feel free to phone us and check on the website in case of a change in time. We have a surprise eminent laughter yoga personality leading the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club on the 13th of October. Come along and bring your friends. I will be absent, John will be there and ??? You will have to come along and find out for yourself now, won’t you?

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell.

We laugh together as follows and YOU are most welcome to come along.

Meeting outside at the rear of the library –

Ferntree Gully Laughter Club 11am 2nd & 4th Sunday

Meeting inside the library’s meeting rooms –

Boronia Library 11am 1st Saturday
Knox Library 2pm 3rd Thursday
Ferntree Gully Library 2pm 4th Tuesday

First timers, please contact Lynette to confirm, in case of a meeting change.

Laughter Yoga can help you to feel worthiness, to feel unique, to feel loved.

Do you go crazy or withdraw like a recluse? Then stop it!

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Blog on becoming reclusive or triggered acting like a crazy person

Hello Folks

Recently a new laughter club member joined, who had been wanting to try Laughter Yoga for a couple of years. She enjoyed it a lot and I bring this up as a small prod to encourage you to attend too. Have you also been feeling that you need to laugh more and are considering coming along? Then, why put it off? It is free, you have nothing to lose, except your inhibitions, along with any discomfort you may experience because of trying something unfamiliar.

I have been leading the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club for over nineteen years and in that time, many people have come along, tried it, felt it was not for them and not returned. Others have come for a period and left, whilst some have stayed and become a happy bunch of friendly people. Pick up the phone and call me if you like, I am always delighted to meet you and talk about the laughter club and the benefits of laughing.

Life’s Challenges and Stress

Life seems to be very challenging and challenges can be a ‘good thing’. Challenges can be beneficial for our whole body and get out of passivity. We need to be stretched and challenged; there is such a thing as positive stress. There are also other more subtle challenges we may face, due to unhealed bits within us. Do you get the feeling of that what I am alluding to? It will ring true for a lot of people reading this and alternatively, there will be a great percentage of individuals to whom, it means absolutely nothing. Which is perfectly alright, as we are all so different, a multitude of combinations in our physical body, health, genetics, culture, work, hobbies, interests and on it goes.

Triggers

This is one word which refers to us or others who overreact in an irrational way. It is not obvious because there is some deep unresolved issue which takes us back to a time or moment and unhealed, unresolved subconscious memories are triggered. There is no obvious reasons and we can feel within our rights to act in the way we do.  Such stuff can cause us to fly off the handle, become over emotional or mentally crazy, acting like a small child, losing temper or sulking, withdrawing and going off to be by ourself, having the feeling of wanting to be or play all alone.

When unhealed bits surface, we can act and feel very immature, like the age we were when an incident happened, or a period in our young life that was very difficult. I feel a lot of us have had the experience of being misunderstood and simply wanting to express love and be showered with love, not understanding grown ups or other kids.

There is nothing wrong either with you or me and in some difficult times in our lives, we may seek and need help, a counsellor, health professional, or perhaps to join a particular group or even a church. This is quite normal. I recommend becoming aware enough to catch feelings where there is self judgment and negative self-talk. And then to find ways to work with it in order to heal and release what would otherwise remain unresolved and unhealed. Our lives will be richer for doing that.

Another possible scenario is to work through and heal unhealed traumas with the help of another person, learning to be kinder to ourself, even taking on the role of becoming our own inner coach. Or we can choose to withdraw, to be a recluse which can be beneficial. A healthy way of withdrawing is to have quiet introspective time with ourself when we ponder, meditate, journal, sit with nature, take time out or ways you may come up with that fit the bill.

Seek Professional Help or be Your Own Help Versus Becoming a Shopaholic

Some people feel drawn to seeking out and clearing the trauma in one’s past, when we feel to become consciously aware, present and grounded, being responsible for our life. We may become introspective and wish to seek out an expert in the form of professional help. Another option is to become withdrawn and reclusive in an unhealthy way, when we struggle to cope with our feelings which bring us to act like a crazy, unhinged, human being. Examples of going into a reclusive shell might be not answering the phone, or walking off or leaving without letting people know.

On the other hand, the higher vibrational positive recluse would be to express needing to have time out from others, so as to regroup within one’s self. It can be such a positive thing to do, to have some quiet time with yourself, perhaps in nature, in order to become centred within, attuning to our soul and higher spiritual self.

Quiet time entails not to go out on a shopping spree to help fill an empty gap, or settle ourselves so as to cope with our stress, mind and emotions. Take it from one who knows, having been a shopaholic for much of my life. Spending money is not the answer, it is a temporary fix. This is not an absolute judgment on shopping, it of course depends upon the motive and essential need.

So we have two things here, one being when we act out like a crazy, frantic person, without knowing what brought on such behaviour, which is destructive to ourselves, the environment and others. The other thing is to look for support whether it is external, or if we are lucky enough to be able to do this, find ways to regroup within ourself, back into feeling a balanced, centred, kind human being.

And might I suggest, what can be highly helpful in these times of mental and emotional stress, that you come and visit with us and others to share laughter yoga? It is an excellent de-stressor which can make a huge difference in your life, whether you only need to come for a little while, or ongoing. I firmly believe that when you face yourself when things do not seem right in your life, you will intuitively find a way to make the necessary shifts and changes. Things genuinely get drawn towards us and of course, do please be careful about what you wish for, because it may not be the best thing to occur after all.

I believe you can do it, live a meaningful life, with clarity and purpose, no matter what time it is in your life, or position that you are in. You can grow, evolve, becoming in touch with your purpose, which may also change as well. It is never too late and never, ever, give up! You can choose joy no matter what is going on.

I wish you well and do reach out to me or another if you need support through a difficult time in your live. Remember to create some fun things to do in your life, perhaps something unexplored, or to give yourself more time for your passion. It could be simple things to spend longer in the garden, or with your favourite creative pursuits. Knitting and crocheting can be steady and healing for some, regular walks, the list is unlimited. Volunteering is also a fabulous opportunity which people love to do. Feel into it, make a list, what will help you right here, right now? Be the change you wish to see in the world. There is still time. And remember, never, ever give up.

Shall I see you sometime in the near future? Check out the Laughter Club page HERE.

Lots of Love and Laughter. 

Lynette Mitchell

A Mother’s Love

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A Mother's Love blog, written for Mother's Day 2024

Written for Mother’s Day, 12th May 2024.

Wishing you a meaningful Mother’s Day, reminiscing, grieving, celebrating, whatever that may be or bring up for you. I felt inspired to share and go within, feeling, as I, probably like most of us, have unresolved past stuff about my mum. It can feel raw, mixed up, filled with gratitude and regret. As we grow, our memories and perceptions usually change. Here it is for your reading and feeling experience. You are welcome to reply to me, especially if it stirs up feelings which you may need help with. Enjoy.

When we are young, for most of us, our mother is our survival as we are totally helpless, dependent babies and small children. Mum is warm, nurturing, always present, her love and attention protects and sustains us.

As young ones, she sustains us with her love and support, filling our lives as only she can, to the best of her ability, with the tools she has or had. No one is perfect, yet as little ones, we see our mum as all knowing, a Goddess, or an Angel. I know that I did at any rate and remember clearly seeing her like a queen in my life, with rose coloured glasses.

As we grow, we may draw apart, seeing her from more critical eyes. This can make us feel sad, regretful, in later life, missing her, the opportunities to be together.

What was or is your experience? Is your mum still living or has she passed away recently, or perhaps a long time ago?

It seems to be a common thing that I often read about when people share on social media, they miss their mum! No matter what age the writer is, or how long it is since their mother has died, they still miss her, even on a daily basis.

Yet our mum’s love, presence, wisdom, uniqueness, is everlasting. Somehow her energy continues to be felt and mum still lives on in your hearts.

Your experience may have been filled with judgment, which is natural as kiddies grow, piecing things together, forming their own personalities. We may grow up wanting to and trying to be different, to do it better, than she did. We unconsciously form limiting beliefs about our mother, which influences us for the rest of our lives.

I feel it is important to make peace with all of this, no matter your own experience. We need to heal within ourselves. Mum did her best, with what she had.

Stop blaming her or yourself for the pain and suffering you gave to each other, if that was the case. Forgive yourself and your Mum. Life is a journey, filled with richness. Experiences that make, break, test and strengthen us in wisdom. Learn from your experiences, share yourself with others, grow in wisdom and self-love.

Your life is a gift from God, whatever you conceive Him or Her to be. Be kind to yourself and allow the past to be let go of, to recede to where it belongs. Live in the present. Greet each day anew and yourself, others.

Our time is not a given. We can do better. Yes. We really can do better!

Our influence may be made positive from our footsteps upon the earth.

Ponder what have been the biggest influences in your life? Mum and parents figure right up there as being some of the biggest, for a time anyhow. Particularly mum’s, which unconsciously moulds us, with patterns, beliefs and programs.

We may leave our mother, become caught up in work, family, hobbies, fun, addictions. At times we miss the nurturing love, the special unique love that only our own mother can provide and the friendship that was possible between us.

Can you bring and embrace yourself with your own unconditional, nurturing love to be able you to feel thoroughly nourished on every level, within and to without?

There is still time, as long as you live and breathe, there is much growth that you can do. Then do it. Make each day count as an expression of your love and hope for the future, for humanity, for this our mother earth.

So much darkness is upon the earth. Do not give up the fight. Soldier on and remember the warmth of your mother’s love, allow it to feel your heart expanding in the night.

Rest up my dear and awake with love, hope and choose joy. Make it a habit each morning and throughout the day to remember to choose joy; it will become palpable, strong in your entire being. No matter what happens. Choose joy.

Love is the only thing that really matters and choosing joy can help us to express and be the vessel for sharing pure unconditional love. It will happen over time, each lifetime, it will increase.

Wake up remembering, be love, choose joy. Be love, feel love, unconditional love, not sentimentality, lose the sentimentality, believe in love. Love nourishes, each night ask yourself, was I kind, loving and choosing joy today?

My parting words to you are – forgive each other, light a candle, or incense, say a prayer, journal, be grateful for everything it was, whether you took the opportunity to embrace your evolution or otherwise. Resolve to do better every day and never, ever, ever, ever give up, for life is a journey and for ourselves and everything else upon Mother Earth. We are all in this together, as one.

Blessings and Love to You,

Lynette Mitchell xo