Minimalising and Laughter Yoga 101 in 2023

Hello Everyone

I feel to touch on decluttering again and bring up minimalising, as they can be expressions of our personality, because our habits are ingrained in our daily lives. A high percentage of people hoard and buy stuff, or even live in a way where they are being busy being busy, because of low self esteem. It may well be unconscious too, as we can put on a bravado attitude, which covers it up with others and we can be led to believe our strong bravado, outgoing way is a ‘good’ thing, when in fact it covers up how we actually feel about ourselves. Ha. It is all very complex, isn’t it?

Attending a laughter club may help us to change for the better, as we let go of rigidity, which can improve the way we conceive of ourself in a natural and spontaneous way. My last blog on decluttering struck a cord in many people and there was positive feedback, as it really struck a cord, as we have in general, grown up in a material world, where we can look outside of ourselves, getting more and more away from nature and what matters the most. 

Many of us are aware of the value of releasing the hold that material possessions have on us for various reasons. I am doing well with letting go of possessions and enjoying a life where I feel more expansive, especially when I manage to create more space in our home. It has a beneficial affect physically on my life. There is also an awareness to review what I do, as many things have become, or have always been, unconscious ones which can make me feel flat. What we need is to wake up each morning with unbounded enthusiasm and positive self-talk, which releases positive endorphins into our brain and the more we do that, the better we feel, which is part of maintaining good brain health. 

If you listen to podcasts, Mel Robbins on Spotify interviews psychiatrist Dr Daniel Amen on 7th August, entitled ‘Optimize Your Brain: 3 Important Habits for Productivity….. (based on 2000,000 Brain Scans).  I hadn’t heard about brain health before, have you? It was extremely interesting to listen to.

We saw Peter Walsh from his TV show Space Invaders last week, as he was the guest speaker for Ryman Healthcare. I loved his presentation on downsizing, finding Peter most entertaining, informative and engaging. Peter spoke of two main reasons we hold onto so much material stuff, one is often out of duty, sentimentality and the other one we keep looking for fulfilment, instead of looking within and filling ourselves up. Peter’s third series is on TV now and he had been working 16 hour days filming it in Sydney, was obviously tired. I am looking forward to watching his show again, it is one of my favourites. Peter spoke of how we reach a stage that our possessions own us, we are so tied down by them, that we can feel suffocated and not have time to do things in our life that we would much prefer to do. 

Minimalisation

This, I feel is a softer feel to implement to the somewhat heady method decluttering. It is developing a sense of what is essential in our lives, which means we have more inspiration and energy to live a full and meaningful life. I found myself doing this and it is not rigid about getting rid of stuff, some advice is about experimentation of what we need and what would be better to release. Every possession has a drain on our energy and time. We can become lost in the humdrum of life when we keep on going the same way.

Books by Joshua Becker, a famous decluttering and minimalising genius from the U.S.A. have had a positive impact on me, in my journey of letting go of stuff that I have accumulated over 81 years. It is an ongoing journey for me. Joshua shares that everything we own takes up our energy. We have outlaid the money, things take time to look after, we need to create more open space, which gives us a feeling of being able to breathe, as we can feel so claustrophobic. Joshua has written several books, one being The More of Less. One of his famous quotes and portrays his philosophy is “The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t. Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. Owning less is better than organizing more.” I feel to share a YouTube video for you to connect you with who Joshua is. Click here to see it. 

Laughter Yoga

Laughter Yoga, is what we do at the laughter club, laughing and deep breathing. This helps us somehow to be more alert, conscious, aware, present and connected to life. It is such a great way to come together in a gentle, loving, kind, caring community. We have childlike, playful fun together as we move about, creating new brainwaves by singing, dancing and laughing, as we do in our version of improv theatre. It energies and instils light-heartedness in all of us. We do not tell jokes; rather we focus on spontaneity, being present in the moment which is just as well, as if we aren’t good joke tellers, it would be a very flat laughter session.

Laughter really is a fantastic exercise, where we laugh together followed by a cuppa afterwards, simply chat and share what we have been up to, everyday news and happenings in general.

Get in Touch?

Find out more on this website, which includes information on self-help classes, the laughter club and more. Feel free to connect with me if you need support or to find out more about laughter yoga. classes etcetera.

Cheerio for now and all of us at laughter club are looking forwarding to seeing you sometime!

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell.