Retirement Villages – When Your Time Comes To Decide, Will This Phase Be A Challenge?

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Recently I had the opportunity to present laughter yoga to a very large group of over 170 retirees at the General Meeting for the Willow Lodge Retirement Village at Bangholme. Most of the residents were present because there were burning financial issues which are affecting retirement villages nationally.
I love how being a laughter yoga leader takes me into many differing segments of the community, presenting me with an insider’s perspective, as often I am included in part of the meeting. This helps round off my understanding of current trends and issues amongst the different groups that I present to.
This particular one raises the question about how we feel and cope with the different phases and periods we go through as we live our life. I will share my view, raising questions for you, the reader about your own life, as often we can shut out or be oblivious to our own mortality. We can ignore certain things because we wish to avoid pain or confrontation until the time we are literally forced to face it.
Referring here directly to issues around getting older and wanting to perhaps hang on to things as they are, resist change, remember the past, not wanting to move forward.
This relates to outgrowing our home, downsizing, the difficult decisions to be made about our future as we get older, needing to move on and embrace change.
There is light at the end of the tunnel! There is hope! The first stage may be moving to a smaller house, town house or unit, when we start to slow down, feeling that it is all too much, we can feel a drain on our finances and our physical or psychological energy. Or we may have had our children move out and leave us, as it becomes time for their next phase in life also. Some of us have then as well lost our beloved partner.
The next option or one after the initial downsize can be a retirement village, prior to aged care accommodation, low care and then high care. This is where hope comes in for many happy and active years, living independently in a retirement village of your choice.
This phase of your life can be extremely rewarding, surrounded by people on your own wave length. It can be as you choose it to be, busy with a life filled with many activities and external excursions or it can alternatively be lived restfully. Living simply in a community, quietly and peacefully in the comfort of your own home or space, as you choose.
These years are extremely rich, an opportunity for growth and personal involvement with friends and family visits with less of the tiresome things such as overheads, loneliness and worry. There is a security to be felt in belonging and becoming involved in the retirement village era. It opens you up to new things, a new way of being and lifestyle.
My visit to Willow Lodge at Bangholme was personally gratifying. I was made welcome and Ray, a committee member was great getting totally involved with the demonstrating laughter yoga, mixing in the audience which was lots of fun for everybody. I was asked to help draw the lucky number prizes and then stayed for a cuppa.
My experience was positive and I found the residents to be vibrant, contributing and leading full lives, showing me when it is my time, nothing is to be but rather it will become a period in my life to be welcomed, lived fully and embraced.
After all, we take ourselves with us wherever we go. Whatever internal beliefs and structures that have become our foundations, will renew as we pass through these various life phases and changes.
Therefore I say to you. live each day now fully and positively. Laugh more. Breathe consciously, allow others to help you and do good where you can. Who you are today will go with you tomorrow.
Here is an excellent testimonial from Kay Smart, Secretary of the Willow Lodge Village Residents’ Association Inc.
Dear Lynette,
On behalf of the Willow Lodge Village Residents’ Association we would like to thank you for entertaining our residents at the recent General Residents’ meeting on 21st November 2013.
It was noted that your presentation followed a particularly serious meeting, with residents showing a lot of concern over a current situation affecting all their finances. However, your exercises and approach, certainly made them forget their problems for a while. The pictures that were taken are a testament to their acceptance of your actions. They couldn’t help but laugh which was the point of the exercise.
Thank you once again for coming to our meeting and “lightening” it up.
Regards
Kay Smart
Secretary Willow Lodge Residents’ Association

Doom and Gloom – Breathing Exercise Helps Rid Negative Feelings.

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Let’s talk about doom and gloom, then move to talk about positivity and hope and what you can do on an individual level!

There is so much doom and gloom in the world, locally, nationally and internationally and I think you will agree that there is a lack of good news stories. How uplifting it is to watch, read or hear about news of a positive nature. Someone’s great achievement, overcoming odds, people banding together, donating time and money for a cause they believe in.

It is so true, that bad news travels fast and the media thrives on bad news. I wonder what that is all about? Could there be something there within us also, that thrives on drama, this thing  somehow relates better to negative things which actually increases our stress levels. Maybe on a deeper level of consciousness, it makes our lives more bearable, our crosses lighter to bear.

Let’s turn this around to focusing on and holding the intention of improvement and hope. Begin by bringing things back to ourselves and when we read, see, or hear bad news, choose to release our feelings of judgment. We can choose to imagine and understand that the universe does work in mysterious ways. Let us hold the vision of an ideal of ‘it’ being for a reason and that there is growth in it for the ones involved. To take away suffering can deny ones the ability and opportunity to be self determining and learn through trauma.

On a personal note, are we focusing outside ourselves to distract from self-effort? Or are we putting responsibility and blame outside ourselves onto others? Usually we are in situations of our own making (I believe this to be 100% true). This leads to a realisation that if we are unhappy about what we have created, we can also seek help outside of ourself with a person, mentor, counsellor or other person we may think of who is a few steps ahead of us on the path.

Bringing it down to small managable steps, what about baby steps? Instead of trying to solve all of our problems in a day, what is one thing that we can do to take ourself forward today?

Oftentimes we take one step and do something, which creates movement; unseen forces then work with us and support us moving forward. Rather like that beautiful poem ‘Footsteps in the Sand’ by Mary Stevenson.

I will share how easily you can change your state with some laughter and simple breathing and this way, you can just ‘fall into doing it’. Take note of how your body is feeling right now and then go ahead as follows.

Laughter is the best medicine and now, take a deep breath and as you are breathing out, quietly or loudly, laugh, hahahahaha. Now breathe in again and as you laugh out again, do so more deeply. And again, do it three times.

If you prefer, it can be quieter laughter with the mouth closed. If you feel to open your mouth and laugh wholeheartedly, please do. It is your exercise and experience.

Now how do you feel? A little or lot lighter? Your perspective has probably changed for the better.

Here is another little thing that you can try. Standing is preferable for this exercise; we will do a little deeper breathing, using our arms and hands. Try this two ways, first with one long deep breath and then two short, deep breaths.

It goes like this. Standing if you will, arms stretched out straight from the shoulders, on the in-breath, bring your hands in to chest then stretch them back out in front on the out breath saying ‘ha’. Rest a little being conscious of your body limits then repeat with two or three breaths in, breathing through the nose. This can be described as sniffing breaths. Then a long breath out through the nose. The hands can be left to do their own thing, naturally you will bring them in on the in-breath as fists or open hands on the chest.

My suggestion is to do this exercise in the morning to get your energy flowing and at night, even as well in the middle of the day and monitor the difference it makes to you. Once you have mastered it, it can be done at any time, even without the outstretched hands and arm movements. If you hold the intention of it assisting your body, however you need it, your subconscious mind will work with you and make it automatic and success is assured in helping you to be freer from stress, conscious, in the moment and grounded.

As I am a Laughter Yoga coach, I enjoy combining Laughter Yoga and coaching, believing there is a lot that we can do to help ourselves lead a happier, less stressful life. This can be done as outlined, in baby steps, to simply decide to do small, regular practices to experiment and if they work, incorporate these helpful things into our everyday lives. When we are happier, less stressed and becoming more joyful, finding fun in little simple things, the world around us changes and our upliftment helps those around us and ultimately, is a positive effect on the planet and those upon it. I invite you to email me about this sharing if you wish to or need clarification about the breathing exercise.

Love and laughter blessings.
Lynette Mitchell xxx ooo

Love Your Sister Organisation

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Samuel-JohnsonLast week I met Samuel Johnson, a speaker at a conference I attended. He was chosen to speak to inspire and motivate his audience by his self-determination and passion. His sister is dying of cancer and set him what would appear to be impossible tasks:

  1. Raise a million dollars for Breast Cancer research
  2. Raise awareness of the disease that’s killing her
  3. Break the Guinness World Record for the longest journey on a unicycle.

Samuel is well on the way, has ridden 12,000 kilometres and raised over $800,000 so far. By February, 12 months after starting, he expects to have raised $1,500,000. I felt to share so as to help increase the awareness of his mission, which in part is to tell every woman in Australia to be aware about breast cancer.

The entire audience gave Samuel a standing ovation and rushed out to buy products in support of his cause, as well as be photographed with him. He is such a rare breed to follow through with such utter determination. He has made it fascinating, like Hamish and Andy’s show, asking that very town and city that he rides through provide him with a local challenge, which makes it all very newsworthy. You can read and see more about the ‘Love Yours Sister’ organisation on the following links:

http://www.loveyoursister.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/loveyoursister

And remember to love your sister and each member of your family while you can. Really love and appreciate them, not forgetting yourself.

Love and Blessings.
Lynette Mitchell xxx ooo

Sam-and-Lynette.

Inhibitions, Stress and Bringing Laughter Yoga to VCE Psychology Students.

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Who likes to get out of their comfort zone? It can be a rewarding experience to stretch yourself and the more that it becomes ‘normal’ the more comfortable you will be with unexpected things. The only constant thing in this world is change and every day is like a new day in your life, with things around you constantly changing. At times it is hard to get comfortable with your life situation and keep that familiarity. Do you agree with me?

Recently I was given the opportunity to provide three laughter yoga sessions for Beaconhills Secondary College at Berwick, which was from what I gathered, a top notch school. Specifically I was brought to share about laughter yoga and the benefits of it, Year 12 Psychology students.

These students are presently under enormous pressure, reaching the final lap of their school life. Just think, ten or eleven counting preps, compounding into these last few weeks, studying hard, feverishly catching up on all this year’s work before exam time?

It was interesting and important for the psychology students to learn about other ways of dealing with stress and how to recognise it. Two of the groups were better prepared by their teacher in class, having learnt about the body’s responses to stress, encompassing breathing and relaxation techniques and biofeedback.

What was in it for me also was observing in the first two groups, how completely different they were because of the peer group dynamics, the first group having a strong leader, which was not the case in the second group. The teacher also observed this, commenting that she had expected one particular boy to step up and take that role.

The next week when I returned to do one more laughter yoga session, that group were also very well prepared by their teacher and I shared with her that I felt to stretch them and go a little deeper. I felt to encourage them to drastically get out of their comfort zone, if that was the case as is quite usual when we do something for the first time. Especially ‘laughing for no reason’ as laughter yoga is called and a lot of people get out of the habit of laughing and find it difficult to do without someone else telling a joke or funny story.

The teacher agreed and explained that she had been with some of them all their school lives, trusted her and would do what she asked of them. Interesting indeed because I asked them to observe their feelings at the start, might check half way through their session and at the end. This was different for me, as the kids were old enough to approach this laughter yoga session in a way that could enhance their learnings, being given opportunities to witness their feelings as never before. In particular I shared how the one group with the strong leader looked to him and the next one felt disempowered, not entirely joining in wholeheartedly. I suggested participating fully, choosing to as an exercise, even if it did feel strange and uncomfortable, not to say that it would, but most likely would start like that at least a little bit.

Well they were fantastic and when their attention lagged at one stage, I brought them back, reminded them of their agreement to participate as fully as they were able to and they then re-engaged with the exercises.

Towards the end another great example of how easy it is to lose focus, something that I am personally forever working on, staying focused with the intention to stick with things and not get distracted.

In came a student who was having a birthday. We sang happy birthday using ‘ha ha ha, instead of the words and in the next exercise, they didn’t get into it at all. I stopped them, pointed out how the energy dropped, asked if they felt it, which they did and said ‘let’s do it again and this time fully participate’. Well it was a complete turn around and proved a point or two.

After we finished the laughter meditation, which is lying or sitting relaxed with free laughter, we had time for a relaxation. This went down very well too, which surprised me as sometimes children/people can even get uncomfortable with being still, quiet ‘doing nothing’ and start to giggle, distracting those who really want to simply relax their body, mind and emotions.

Love to hear of any other schools who would be interested in bringing some laughter too. It is tailor made, according to the school’s requirements, whether it be sharing laughter with relaxation, meditation, affirmations, games etc. I personally feel the world would be a better place for children to keep up the habit of laughter. Also learning the benefits to be had and holding on to this most precious and natural gift, as it sure is easy to lose it as we get older and so much harder to bring something back once it is gone. Many of you will be nodding your heads in agreement with me right there.

Thanks for reading, sharing and I am sending out lots of love, light and laughter blessings.

Lynette Mitchell xxx ooo

Day of Joy Workshop Saturday 20th July

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Well what a great day of fun and different activities it was. A good day of learning for me too, as previously I have done such a day with other ladies who liked to keep to a strict schedule. This time, we had a timetable with many activities, which we did all of them, yet at the same time the day developed into one where we went with the flow. It was lovely.

How different to be able to get together and play around, dancing, drawing, breathing, mindfulness, meditating, games and more. I love the games. We played Redondo and I would like to acknowledge Bernard De Koven, whose website I visited for more game ideas. He also has a page of fun quotes, which we shared together, reading them out as we felt moved to do.

The Redondo game was great and we became so engrossed with it, drawing doodles, someone else picking it up and naming and the next step was someone else holding it up describing it as if they were an art gallery owner.

The A-Z ‘In my grandmother’s house’ game took 25 minutes and I learnt that from Sebastien Gendry from Laughter Yoga America. It is a great memory game and I am going to test them next time, as I wrote down which words we chose for the different letters of the alphabet.

The day became more individually creative as it wore on and the only thing missing was the home made shortbread. I will have to do better next time.

We have a new date for the next one, which you might like to put in your diary now, Saturday 13th October. The time will most likely be 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Movement was a great thing, we had fun as it evolved, moving to John Denver, pretending to play the fiddle, walk like a country bumpkin, play other instruments and it was all so spontaneous and creative.

I acknowledge my friends who came along and were committed, as there were a lot of last minute cancellations. That was good learning for me as what I would do differently would be accept registrations with payment and establish a refund policy for cancellation.

At any rate the day was great fun and who came along was absolutely perfect.

Sorry not to have taken any photos but I didn’t for once, partly because ‘Mr Incognito’ Pete, the glue who holds the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club together does not like being photographed. I honoured that and didn’t take any happy snaps this time. Be warned Pete, next time I may not be so kind!

The next date is Saturday 12th October. Write that down and be sure to be there if you want more fun in your life.

Lots of  love and fun blessings.

Lynette Mitchell xxx

Feel the Community Spirit in Melbourne!

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AUSTRALIA DAY MARCH 2013

Community spirit injection. Well, our dozen or so band of laughers joined in the March again and it was a beautiful day for it, neither hot nor cold, which meant that we could completely focus on walking and ho, ho-ing all the way to the Domain Gardens, where there were heaps of activities.

I feel the more that we nurture ourselves with the spirit of community and coming together in love, enjoying fun activities, the greater our roots are grounded into the earth.

Hats off to the laughter club members who marched and I feel that I can speak for all of us, it was a completely and utterly uplifting experience. The public of Melbourne were several deep lining the route and some of us high-fived them. Bronwyn counted and got up to 125, what an extraordinary number indeed.

After a little while I got right into the spirit of it and it was doubly joyful to do that. I put my hand or both hands up to give people a ‘high five’ and with that found our eyes connecting and could feel our hearts joining together. People’s faces lit up with that extra close interaction, instead of watching us walk and make noises as we passed.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be on the inside out looking at so many people and feeling that I made a difference, together with my buddies, demonstrating laughter and light heartedness, bringing it to the awareness of the public that we happily exist in their home town.

The Australia Day People’s March was reported to have over 2000 representatives from community groups including multicultural, sporting and special interest clubs and 4000 public lining the streets watching the March. That is huge, is it not? I feel that there is so much fear and negativity in the world and on this day people take the opportunity to connect in body mind and spirit.

Mahes Karuppiah led the laughter session in the afternoon, here are some pictures that my husband John, my greatest supporter took of us laughing together. I noticed that the crowd of onlookers was far greater than others years and that they joined in with the laughter and breathing exercises without restraint. It was a fantastic session and one can only hope that the positive experience will indeed help to spread the laughter word around the halls of Melbourne and wider.

I would also like to acknowledge the consistent and long time service given by Phillipa Challis, the Founder of Laughter Clubs Victoria Inc. Each Australia Day, Phillipa arrives early at the Domain Gardens, bringing banners and information and staying all day manning the marquis in order to talk with the hoards of people wanting to find out about laughter clubs in Victoria. Thank you Pip.

For those locals who feel that they may be keen to come in next year or any other year after that, let me tell you that there are many and varied activities around the gardens after the March. Especially for young children, there was a marquis of people called ‘Outrageous Workshops’, where the littlies were busy sticking things onto CDs to thread and hang around the necks or to decorate a shade visor for their head.

There were hundreds of old and collectable cars and my husband even made a newspaper pot and potted an Australian native seedling. Wait there’s more, a sheep dog herding sheep, little ponies to pat, ducks, goats and sheep to hand feed.

I loved seeing the Roulettes fly over in formation again at 2pm. There were six of these special planes and OMG they looked as if they came so close that it took my breath away.

James Morrison was playing his trumpet, opera singers were singing, the Ukulele club were Ukuleleying. All in all it was a fabulous, community spirited and fun filled day.

We wearily walked to the railway station and took a train home, being really glad for making the effort to go and do it and I will be back next year, rain, hail or shine.

Come and join me! Please!

Love and Laughter Blessings once again.

xxxx oooo

Keeping a Promise

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KEEPING A PROMISE

Sometime ago I made a promise that I am about to keep to a group of people who have come to live in Australia and decided to take up a Certificate course in English. This is a regular accredited course run through my local library, the Boronia Library, which is part of Eastern Regional Libraries, east of Melbourne.

The group was made up of very good hearted people who have a very dedicated teacher, Myrella Desfosses, who shares with the class the basics of learning how to speak, understand and write English.

I cannot imagine what that must be like for people introduced to this country, who have come here to make a new start in life without perhaps any understanding of the English language or Australian culture.

What a wonderful choice, that is what I say, to come and live in the most livable city in the world. Check out this link: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/melbourne-named-worlds-most-livable-city/story-e6frg6nf-1226450134842. Adelaide was equal 5th to Calgary and Sydney 7th. How wonderful is that? Australia has 3 out of 10 most livable cities in the world.

Myrella, the tutor asked me to come along and talk about Laughter Yoga, focusing on the advantages of laughter in one’s life, followed by a laughter session and then further discussion. For me it was a very positive experience, as they were all so keen to learn and after I left and the following week or two, they used the subject of laughter to feel into and write a short piece on. My promise was to include it in a blog with Laughter Yoga International, which I am about to come through on.

I loved the way the students were encouraged to express themselves in their own unique style, which from my viewpoint allowed them to write freely, without fear of having to be a stereotype of their teacher.

And now here are two expressions from the eyes and hearts of Shirley White and Paola Penagos.

The advantages of laughter yoga – By Shirley White

Everyone has different experiences in life.  I think that laughter yoga has some advantages .  And I am going to write a list of them to give you some ideas.

There are many benefits in doing laughter yoga.  The most important reason is it will help to relieve stress.  Another reason is you will gain friends because laughing is contagious.  Aside from being relaxed, it is also a good exercise.  When you laugh, your body system uses energy that will help in your blood flow which is also helpful.  A further positive is, laughter yoga is free.  Furthermore, there are many social groups who conduct laughter yoga and some maybe in your local area.

In conclusion, I think laughter yoga has more advantages and you just need to try it to know the difference.  As what they always say “laughter is the best medicine”.  In summing up, it is good for your health and well-being, therefore I encourage you to do laughter yoga.

Advantages and disadvantages of laughter – By Paola Penagos

Laughter is not only the action of laugh but a benefit for our health, for many reasons laughter does not have many disadvantages.

It is really hard to count the benefits of laughter as there are lots. It can help at any age, especially kids for their development and social interaction. Laughter can be used as an ice-breaker for people who struggle with their shy personality.

People say that laughter is excellent not only to improve the mood, feel younger but give positive energy to our body/spirit and it is easy to contaminate other people. Laughter has health benefits like improve blood pressure, breathing even heart problems. Laughter is free and can be done indoors or outdoors, it is also independent.

In the end laughter makes a big difference in our lives, and we can enjoy no matter what time or situation. Therefore people should not forget that all happiness depends on us, just let it fly and laugh.

Thank You.

Thank you once again for inviting me to speak, laugh and share about laughter in my life, which was a very useful experience to again share my story and the benefits of laughter in our lives. I appreciate the fact that laughter helps me personally to express myself and to go out and meet wonderful people through such a simple thing as being able to laugh. I would love to add at this point that I love to write and spent so many years learning to speak and then write in the English language, which is rich and full of meaning. My mother was a great influence and encouraged good grammar and my husband John is equally fascinated with words and prides himself on being a good speller.

Adaptability

I believe that for people born and bred in a country, they take many things for granted and in particular the basic things, how to get around from one place to another and the simplest of things, communication. I take my hat off to all the people in the world who have shifted from their place of birth, either by choice or through force or pressure, needing to learn a new language and of course, the customs of that country and city.

I am choosing to finish up with a wish and a prayer for all of us reading these words to breathe and take a moment to inwardly express gratitude for words and the ability to speak them or simply ponder for a moment what it means to us. Many people cannot express themselves through words either through misfortune or some physical or psychological reason and it is because of this it is time to appreciate something we have maybe never contemplated before.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to everybody, yourself the reader, Myrella the English teacher, Paola and Shirley who wrote the summaries, participants in the class, my mother for giving me the love of words, my husband John for helping me to continue this on and for our grandson Kenji, whom we share much of our love of the English language, with all it entails and to Melbourne and Australia for giving us so many sayings indigenous to the area that visitors start to muster. Such as ‘Come on Aussie, Come on’ and ‘She’ll be right mate’. There truly is so much fun stuff that can help bring more joy to one’s life by becoming involved in written words.

It would be fit and appropriate to express my thanks, appreciation and honour to all the great teachers in the world who dedicate themselves to the teaching profession. It is quite amazing how things flow on and everything is so inter-connected. Writing this makes me realise that most of us are teachers in our own way, in life, with our children, family, work and community. Please give yourself a pat on the back now and acknowledge yourself with a positive remark. Did you know that your body accepts the acknowledgement as written in stone, as the subconscious mind cannot differentiate whether it is you or another person?

Love, Laughter Hugs and Blessings

Lynette Mitchell xx oo

Feel the Fear and Stretch Yourself

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I love to stretch myself and move beyond fear and have two awesome mentors who assist me to do that. In order to grow, we all could benefit and move to far greater heights with a mentor or role model and I honour Caren Hendrie, my business mentor who suggested I begin with the following paragraph, instead of finishing with it, as you are the ones who will find that approach more interesting. Thanks Caz!

Yay! It’s great to feel the fear, get comfortable with change, learn and practice new things. Learn some more. Make time for family and friends. Love oneself. There is so much that we can do in our bodies both for ourselves and to help and inspire other people.

I am over saving people. How many people and I feel, in particular women, like to save people, to put themselves down, others first, want to help and in fact often when we do that, we are actually being arrogant and we disempower those people whom we are trying so hard to help. Teach a man how to fish, that is what I say. And that is from a recovering control freak.

I love the Mind Body Spirit Festival. Each year I have the opportunity to share laughter with the Melbourne public and each time it is different. It is held in a big exhibition building lovingly called ‘Jeff’s Shed’ after the Premier of Victoria who was behind it being built. It is a huge building. Here is the link to it: http://www.mbsfestival.com.au/index.htm.

What I love about presenting laughter is it gives me an opportunity to relate with people and practice being myself, being unique and authentic. I started to lead a laughter club seven years ago after doing the leader training with Phillipa Challis, who was the founder of laughter clubs in Victoria. Phillipa is a great ambassador for the laughter movement and has not missed being present at her laughter club in Geelong, which is west of Melbourne, an hour away by car, since she started it, which I believe is about 10 years ago. Phillipa has been a great personal support for me also, encouraging me to keep on in the early days when I felt discouraged. Thank you Pip.

Back to the MBS as it is called. My husband John and I went in together and led the laughter on the main stage on both Friday and Sunday. Frankly it was a bit early at 11.30am and other laughter leaders could not make it in time after leading their own community laughter clubs. I tip my hat to all the community laughter club leaders of Melbourne and beyond, who do the service of bringing laughter into the community with such open and loving hearts.

On Friday a most unfortunate thing happened, we were 20 minutes late, due to train delays. Apparently a train before us had run off the track and we were shuffled off on to buses in between stations. Nevertheless, it was an excellent laughter session, we were given extra time and although it was only a 15 minute session, people in the audience all joined in and we had lots of fun doing it too. John’s favourites which he usually leads are the Archer and the Milkshake laugh. He is gorgeous as you can see in the photos, laughter has been good to him also and I have found that people involved in laughter yoga are more connected with their hearts and certainly do, as I heard the good doctor say on TV, ‘carry the spirit of laughter with them’.

Sunday we drove the car in and I was a little nervous after being held up on the Friday, in case something happened on the road, as sometimes happens. Well, I need not have worried, we were early and off we went at the appropriate time again.

I decided to read out the blurb that the wonderful Sebastien Gendry has shared about laughter, which we use on the Laughter Clubs Victoria Inc website and with a couple of slight changes, I use on my Ferntree Gully Laughter Club flyer as follows: ‘Laughter Yoga is a powerful healing modality that is simple, fun and filled with laughter that works simultaneously on the body, mind and spirit. No particular equipment is required. All can practice and benefit. It’s a form of exercise where we choose to laugh, because we can and this is done without jokes or comedy. The benefits of laughter are scientifically documented. It’s a practice that follows a systematic activity approach that guarantees fun and success to all, every time.’

I have not read something out like that before and felt inspired to do so, which may give the audience a different take on it rather than watching and joining in alone. After inviting people to come up on stage, we were pleasantly surprised that six people came up, three young boys, a couple of teenage girls and a lady. I was personally quite thrilled how most of the audience, which was only about twenty strong, joined in with the exercises. Some stood up, moving around and at times I caught the eyes and attention of people walking past and they also responded. A little trick that I find works too is that if we have the intention of being connected, we are. In fact, our energy is connected, as our hearts link. That is a very nice experience. Some people were sitting alone and I got their attention and did for instance, a High 5 in the air towards them, as they did back to me. All we needed was eye contact and a little loving smile.

I love too that practicing laughter more over the years makes me quite un-self conscious. That has been a big one and I am not completely there yet, originally I was afraid of public speaking and felt motivated to – as Susan Jeffers says ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. I am always preaching to people about how much we are benefited by getting out of our comfort zone and stretching ourselves. Otherwise, how can we grow? We stagnate, stay the same or perhaps even, if we are standing still, go backwards. I trust that you have enjoyed the sharing and will choose to do something different today, tomorrow, this week. Believe in yourself and that it is worth the effort, as it is said, ‘there is no gain without pain’.

That is enough from me.

Lots of love, blessings and laughter hugs.

Lynette Mitchell xxx ooo

Husband John sharing a laugh with the people of Melbourne.
Me doing the Archer laugh.
Me doing the Archer laugh.

Seniors Week – City of Greater Dandenong 9 October 2012

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Last week for the third annual time I did a Laughter Yoga session for Seniors Week for the City of Greater Dandenong. It was a very successful one, however not what we might have expected. The two previous years we had about twenty people attend and it went down very well, they obviously felt uplifted and enjoyed the laughter session, ending with some meditation.

However this time was different, as their bookings were low. In fact only three people turned up. Perhaps some got lost, as it was difficult to find the place and correct building. But wait there is more! I did say it was successful. We asked the Dutch people in the next room if they would like to join in and we went in to their space and did the session. It was a bit different to the other times, as we included a great discussion about laughter, fun and that led into a discussion of stress and ways to reduce it with breathing and meditation.

Even though it was not what had been anticipated, the hour was valuable for us all. A couple of noteworthy sharings to make here, were that a 92 year old (or should I say young?) lady shared how she spent half an hour each morning in the bathroom doing her exercises. Talk about walking the talk, keeping up and never giving up.

And a gentleman shared how he is inclined to feel anxiety and he chooses to laugh every day as an exercise. If he misses doing it regularly, he goes right back to being filled with apprehension and anxiety. So glad he came along. It was worth it, even with smaller numbers. I hope they put it on again next year because to even touch one person’s life positively is a great worth.

I  invite you to share your positive experiences from your everyday life regarding laughter helping you, or perhaps like the 92year old lady, a regular routine that enables you to get more out of life. Thank you. xx

Here is a link received today from Natural Therapy Pages regarding the psychology of laughter.

http://blog.naturaltherapyforall.com/2012/10/15/the-psychology-of-laughter—why-do-people-laugh/

Relay For Life – Greater Dandenong

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Recently I had the pleasure of participating in the Relay For Life, at the Sandown Dog Racing Track which was indoors. Rather than cancel the event due to the heavy rain, it was decided to set it up under cover which worked really well. The event took place from 3pm Saturday 26 May until 11am Sunday 27 May.

Today was perhaps timely to write this blog, as one of our most famous daytime TV personalities, Kerry Anne Kennerley was diagnosed with breast cancer, which every day 76 Victorians hear the words ‘you have cancer’. Kerry Anne is brave and most courageous in her handling of it, immediately seeking medical treatment and all the necessary scans and diagnoses possible. It is a very early stage and she will have an operation within days and then radiation treatment.  Apparently the prognosis for breast cancer has radically improved with modern day treatment and does not bring up as much fear these days, as the majority of women who are treated early after discovering it recover fully.

This news of Kerry Anne’s story sent a strong message to other women to engage in regular mammograms and check-ups. It is a reminder to all about regular screening plus the need for immediate treatment. She went public with her story to urge all women to undergo regular mammograms. When Kylie Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 at age 36, it triggered a surge in breast imaging of low risk women.

And back to the relay. Believing in helping build the morale of the tired walkers, many of whom had been walking since 3pm in the previous afternoon, I turned up at 8.30am and met Marita Lokata, a committee organiser and she helped place stickers on people’s cheeks and clothing. We simply acted the goat, or in otherworlds, silly, skipping around, rushing up to people with lots of spontaneous laughter. It really brought smiles to their faces and I hope that it helped them get through the last couple of hours.

People were camped out overnight and it must have taken some organising, their gear for cooking meals, all sorts of camping stuff in order to give them a short rest, as it was a relay. From what I could see though not many people slept. How wondrous indeed.

Overall the funds raised for this Dandenong group was close to $200,000. That is awesome and please remember that this is an international organisation. Many of you reading this will have been involved or heard about it and I think that most of us have been touched by a close relative or friend who has experienced cancer.

If you want to get involved, Google it and no doubt Relay For Life, which is through the Cancer Council in your country will pop up. You can either join a team or create one of your own. The people I spoke with have done the walk for several years and by the look on their faces, find the experience a fantastic opportunity to give something back and go beyond their own immediate, personal vision, embracing something that connects us all together as a human race.

Once again I left in time to go to the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club and we were uplifted by my sharing of the event once again.

Please do contact me if you wish to share about the Relay For Life, I would love to hear of your interest in this event and if you have difficulty in locating the event locally, I could contact ones I know for you.

Love and Laughter, Laughter Friends.

Lynette Mitchell xxx ooo

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Day of Joy 31st March 2012

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We had another heart warming and centring Day of Joy on 31st March at The Hut Gallery in Ferntree Gully. Participants love the variety that us four ladies from The Global Coaching Community put on.

Kay shared with us her take, with a fabulous hand out and a wonderful display table of Sacred Geometry, which really made us think about everything in the universe being in an ordered fashion, rather than randomly thrown together.

Diana’s hour was very well received, as she helped us using pastels, to draw a face, which was a most meaningful exercise.

Carmen’s was great and simple, yet profound, an exercise in awareness, which helped us to be introspective and examine where we are putting our energy and how much focused we are, or not.

For myself, we started the day with Laughter Yoga, which always helps bind people together and improve the communication and lightheartedness, setting the tone for a successful day.

My presentation was last, when I facilitated a sharing and as well the Violet Flame meditation. As well was shared once again the Energetic Hygiene process and Conscious Connected Breathing exercise. Please reply if you would like a copy of these emailed to you personally, so that you can use them on a daily basis. You will undoubtedly find your energy levels more clearer, grounded and generally coming from a space of being centred and loving, rather than from a space of fear and contempt.

There was an abundance of food, I made my usual Scottish great-grandmother shortbread and we finished up coming together discussing over a cup of tea instead of taking the time for an afternoon break, which worked well.

We do like to share something different each time and our next Day of Joy is planned for Saturday 29th September, all things being equal. Please reply with a comment if you would like to be added to the notification distribution list, as they day is valuable and if you are drawn to it, why not go?

ImageMy apologies the photo is a little out of focus, at least you get the gist that it was a day filled with joy and revelation.

Relay For Life Cancer Fundraiser in Hawthorn

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Who has heard of Relay For Life? I had not until a request came through for a laughter club representative to do a ‘laughter session’ for it last Sunday in Malvern. What I discovered was that Relay For Life is a not for profit organisation, fundraising for the Cancer Council.

Apparently it is in 20 countries around the world and goes on at differing times throughout Australia. Here is a short blurb from the website: “Relay For Life is a fun, outdoor overnight fundraising event that brings communities together to celebrate and remember the lives of those who have battled cancer. Teams take turns to walk or run around a track whilst enjoying entertainment, activities and moving ceremonies.”

Anyhow, the one I went to was sponsored by the City of Boroondara and was held in Hawthorn.

Here is the thank you, which is self explanatory the great work that is being done. “Just wanted to say a big thank-you to your contributions to Relay For Life. As some of you know, we were able to raise over 100 thousand dollars (up to 600 thousand in total since its inception), with the aim of raising 1 million by 2015. Please find attached our Certificates of Appreciation. Hope to see you all again in 2013!”

I am sharing here how fantastic it was to be involved and I would happily do it again soon when one is coming up next in my area. At first I did not know quite what to do, as although there was a stage, people were walking round and round the track and so the only thing I could do was walk with them.

It reminded me of the Australia Day March and simply acting the fool. I think I am a frustrated clown and would love to be a clown some day. It was very moving that these people were part of teams and there were 1,000 people involved in walking, from 4pm Saturday until 10am Sunday.

I met one young girl at 9.30am Sunday who had not stopped. That was mind blowing. The organiser Graeme pointed out another young tall thin man, who had also not stopped and he said there were a few of them.

How extraordinary for people to get out of their own way and so something so significant in order to raise money for the cancer cause. So what I did was act silly, laughing, clapping, going up to people greeting them, placing a sticker on their forehead or cheek and I felt to offer them a sticker blessing. After a while it occurred to me and it was loads of fun. I said that I was the sticker fairy and was going to give them a blessing and said some gobbledey gook words, pretending to wave a magic wand. They appreciated it, were so tired from lack of sleep and open to some laughter.

Let us be thankful for the great good that is being done around the world. The media loves to thrust negative stories down our throats and I say, let’s hear about and share more positive, uplifting things that are happening all over the world.

For myself it was a big effort getting up early to be there and was quite a stretch after a busy week. Yet I left feeling over the moon with positive vibes flowing through my system after sharing the laughter, the joy and walking for nearly an hour with them. I would have stayed longer but had to go to do laughter again with the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club. They also benefited, because I was on a high from laughing and I continued the high energy, giving them all fairy sticker blessings and we had an excellent laughter yoga session.

Love to you all.

Blessings and Joy. xxx ooo