Monday 25 June 2012

I pledge to stretch.

Last week I read a comment saying something to the extent of '...strain your imagination to find a solution...' and it got me thinking - again.

I would prefer to 'stretch' my imagination, first of all because it doesn't feel like it will ache at some point as well as being endlessly outreaching, and secondly it leads me to the topic of this weeks' blogpost...STRETCHING!

Stretching...
What a fantastic word, stretching, it almost tells a story of how things can be stretched and expanded and unfolded and extended.

Think about it.

You stretch your arms and your whole body when waking up and make space for lots of new energy, thoughts, oxygen, ideas and so on and so forth.

An automatic inhalation takes place when stretching and you fill your lungs with fresh oxygen that circulates your body in an detoxifying way and leaves you relaxed upon the exhalation of stale air, carbondioxide and stuff.

Stretching is a superb way of extending your exhalation as well as stretching your muscles, tendons, ligaments, veins, arteries - all the anatomy-things you have inside your body, plus your imagination. Stretching, I might add is also a natural way to finish any exercise routine. However, the kind of stretching I mainly refer to in this context is the spontaneous stretch that often comes with lenghty inactivity and when waking up.

And your energy-body stretches equally. Reaching out to spread freshness and vitality.

Back to the air issue - cos this has indeed relation to laughter and Laughter Yoga.

In Laughter Yoga you stretch with a 'reach-for-the-sky' inhalation and allows the oxygen to fill you and nurture your cells.

You fold at the waist when you exhale which presses out more of the old stale air (basically toxins and carbondioxide etc.).

Repeating this cycle means that the space for fresh oxygen expands when more old air leaves the lungs - a new healthy breathing cycle has begun!

Woohoohoo and aaaaaahhhhhh!

When I think about stretching it also focuses my mind on life, reaching out and letting energy surge through my whole being. It is a wellness action that goes well with yawning that also extends the exhalation.

With stretching there really is only one outcome... Feeling good in bones and tissue!

Wishing you a wonderfully stretchy week delivered with an extended exhalation of love and laughter from me to you!

Monday 18 June 2012

Everything Happens for a Reason

Last Monday I received the 'Note from the Universe' which is kindly channelled by Mike Dooley.  The note read the following:

For every setback, disappointment and heartbreak, Lotte, ask yourself, "What does this create the opportunity for?"

And therein you will find its gift.

Everything has a reason,
The Universe

Thank you, Universe, for your continued support - I am sure I will fully get it at some point.

That is indeed a great thought and a way I always view things... Opportunity in all challenges! Miracles constantly in the making no matter the obstable!

My life is not only about my work although it is a big part of me . It also holds great elements of love and friendship, buildingblocks for any human being to grow from and feel connected to life.

I never underestimate the magical and powerful energy 'my people' bring into every moment of every thought they fill, the inspiration and imagination they add to my every day.

Everything happens for a reason and every encounter has its value even if it seems bleak at times and events may unfold in ways that appear to carry no blessing whatsoever.

Often when trying to force a certain outcome things start going in the opposite direction... Therefore, going with the flow and knowing that the Tao, the Energy, the Source, the Life Force, whichever term you use, will lead the way combined with your efforts and actions.

I believe in the outcome of my dreams and although to some it may seem a farfetched way of planning, I know that things will turn out wonderfully as long as the energy I add in terms of thought, visualising, inspired action etc. is in line with the highest good of everyone involved.

Oh yes! The Future creeps into every day transforming itself mirthfully into the Present!

The Dream for World Peace through Laughter in Action
Dream your dreams wildly, vividly, large, huge, amazing, unimaginable, colourful, beautiful, lively - and then build them in reality!

Now is the right time!

I hope in some ways that my doodles drawn up in these writtenly expressed thoughts create room for you, who read my blurb, to find inspiration for something bigger than the self.

My thoughts may not always make tremendous sense at first glance but who could fully understand another person's mind, in any case?

Wishing you a week full of wonderment and unforseen miracles and opportunities!

Monday 11 June 2012

Being Unstoppable

Wearing my 'Thinking Hat' (tut tut tut)
What does it mean? There is a 'stop' in the middle of the word, does that mean that even being unstoppable has a limit?

I suppose that is a really silly remark because the whole word is made up as the 'stop' that is an 'unstop'. But this was just a random thought anyway, and I sometimes wonder what on Earth is happening in my mind when these thoughts appear - woah!

So.

Being unstoppable - I learned that many years ago, and I also learned along the route to this present moment, that it is not about flattening everyone and everything in your path while you are heading on towards the goal the set you out on the unstoppable path.

It doesn't mean I have not done that - and for that I apologise - but it has put things in perspective when I have found that the 'stampede-way' of pursuing things has not taken me to where I wanted to go...

Being unselfish in sharing and passionate about life and the work I do makes me feel unstoppable in my pursuit for spreading what I love - laughter, joy and happiness for all people. Through this work, I have met many wonderful people who have been walking the path with me whilst being just as unstoppable, as well as having picked up others instead of trampling ahead without compassion and understanding of other people's needs.

I firmly believe that the drive I have which comes from a vision of creating a world of change in a positive way is what makes me unstoppable and willing to go that extra mile.

However, I also know that sadly enough not every unstoppable person is unstoppable from a human and loving perspective.

Without the support and encouragement of the people I love in my life, my friends, my family, my love, students, my network, my wonderfuls - being unstoppable would very likely have a different angle and view.

Love makes the world go round and love makes me invincible and unstoppable! and I hope it is what makes YOU invincible and unstoppable, too!

We are not stopped by physical separation - hooray for the Internet!
With an unstoppable mindset comes a great deal of unreasonability - that is, being unreasonable with the self instead of letting the smallest hurdle stop us.

I have found that laughter kick-starts a creative cycle and ideas start flowing, fluctuating and developing - amazing how a laugh connects us with out creative, right-brained self.

If you don't yet know how to get in touch with your inner laughter and childlike playfulness, perhaps it is time to have a laugh with me! Or with one of the many Laughter Clubs...

On that note, I think it is time to finish this completely random thought which came into thinking on Saturday morning.

Wishing you a week of being unstoppable in your life pursuit!

Monday 4 June 2012

René Descartes - true or false?

My thinking pose - ha!
'I think therefore I am' most famously stated by René Descartes - based on a series of dreams in which he found his grounds for pursuing true wisdom through his pursuit of science.

'Thinking', was the very basic truth he found based on these visions.

This is, of course, a very brief account of his very profound discoveries and ways in which to look at logic and science...

Many great philosopers have come and gone and some have even had a word or two to say about laughter - and a lot about the philosophy of humour!

The definition of humour is that it is a person's ability to perceive something or someone in a more funny way. It is brainy work and thinking, the work of our intellect, that is required in order to find humour funny and in order to laugh at comedy.

So, in order to bring more laughter into life we have to think a lot to find comedy funny but to stop thinking too much about why we laugh in order to find more things funny as in comedy and humour... Woah! that's a bit of a mind-boggler...

Over the past week I have watched a great deal of comedy, incl. Eddie Izzard, Peter Kay, Michael Mcintyre, Friends, Red Dwarf, Robin Hood - men in tights, Blazing Saddles, Bruce Almighty, Friends - you'd think I watch TV all the time but I don't.

All of what I have watched is very different in the sense of its humour and comedy, some is subtle, clever, daft, inappropriate, potically incorrect etc. All of it made me laugh out loud!

So what makes comedy funny?

I have not always laughed at comedy because 'I was too clever for it' - you probably know what I mean by saying that...

Sometimes we think too much about it instead of just being with the laughter, and with less judgement in thought more laughter may indeed arrive. Imagination and creativity is being nurtured when we laugh, and we find more things funny in real life. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we don't get angry at people when we THINK they laugh at our expense.

H. C. Andersen - not The Thinker but puts thought and imagination into fairytales for children and grown-ups.
Often people come to laughter clubs or laughter sessions with the very same issue, they don't laugh anymore, they don't have a sense of humour. Sometimes they even say 'Make me laugh!' - but guess what? In Laughter Yoga we don't make people laugh. We help people find their own laughter, their own joy, inside.

It is easy to laugh when we have comedy and people around who can make us laugh but let's face it, the news is full of bad, sad, horrible news and rarely things that are funny and encouraging to read.

When our laughter dwindles away, when it becomes less and less active we find less fun in life in general and laughter dwindles even more.

However, when we laugh we nurture our inner spirit of laughter and joy, and we play with fun and lightheartedness, we cultivate our laughter in a way where we can enjoy life with all its magic and miracles.

A key reason to learn Laughter Yoga and practice Laughter Yoga is to find that inner spirit and allow for it to surface and have fun - in all parts of life! There is so much bounty in Laughter Yoga - ask me why and what and how.

Don't wait for others to change you, don't wait for others to make you laugh or make you do anything - laugh and stop thinking too much about why you laugh.

'Be the change you want to see in the world' a great leader once said.


And on a final note, wishing you health, wealth and happiness plus unconditional laughter:

'I laugh - therefore I am, more than when I think.' thought by a 20th century pocket-philosopher, me!