That 2017 stress...

Stress is the root of so much bodily malfunctioning and harm.

Back in 2007 I went through a year of tremendous stress in my personal as well as professional life.

It culminated in a visit to my doctor which resulted in an MRI scan and a consultant who told me I had MS in early 2008.

I changed my life around, started The Telephone Laughter Club, left my rather dysfunctional relationship a year later after trying to ignore the breakdown of the relationship, and I decided to be happy with my daughter and focus on good things instead of being stressed out about money I did not have, I spent what I earned and was happy with what was left.

Falling in love again was wonderful.

Sometimes it is not enough to be in love and be happy for yourself and in yourself, if everything else is stressful and is ‘out to get you’, sometimes that is sadly what happens and what gets you down.

So 10 years later 2017 happened.

A year with so many ups and downs and downs that were true downs from my own dramatic point of view. The year was full of my dramas in my life. I felt people were truly out to get me.

Get real – no one is out to get you! Seriously, how self-absorbed can one person be and I laughed at myself.

Although, it felt that way because no matter what I did of good for myself and others I had verbal rubbish blasted back at me to the extent I thought I was losing it but I wasn’t. I was just considering it all from a very human perspective. It stressed me.

But all is good that ends good and if you can laugh at yourself in stressful situations then you are already miles ahead!

If you love yourself everything and anything is enough. Yet sometimes your world can be shaken. Other people cannot be fixed by your own good intentions and good wishes.

Change has to come from the self.

• If your ego is hurt your ego will hurt others. 
• If your heart hurts you will comfort yourself and others. 

At least that is what I learned about myself and what is true for me.

If you cannot see your ego is hurt but think it is your heart then hurtful things will be communicated and expressed through the connection you make with the centre of your hurt bursting out. I never believed that bad and nasty things should be said in anger between people who love each other, friends or love partners, angry things perhaps but never deeply hurtful, untruthful things. The thing about this is that those very hurtful things are often a reflection of the person saying them and their own issues and personality. It doesn’t hurt less having this thought. When it is people you love and care about who say hurtful things it will affect you in some ways.

It took me almost a year to let it go, let go of fixing something that didn’t want fixing. And it happened in 2017 in all areas of my life.

It almost sounds like I have been upset and stressed for a year hahaha - I haven't I have simply been on a rollercoaster and laughter has been a great companion to help me see through the mists that at times seemed like thick pea soup. At the end of the day I am a jolly person and it takes more to truly push me off my path.

I let it go.

The impact of stress on our wellbeing cannot be dismissed in any way. We all know this because we are constantly bombarded with stress relief messages, exercises, medication, events, gurus etc. because we all know what stress can do to us or how we can make stress our negative companion.

My only say in this matter is, listen to your own body wisdom.

Don’t take other people’s word for it because they DO NOT KNOW what it is like for you. And they may call your stress a nervous or mental breakdown when in fact it is just going through some tough dealings and you handle it the way you do without breaking down. The things that cause people to ‘decide’ you are breaking down may be the fact you swear a bit more, you speak a bit less, you seem more introvert, or you may even rage more.

It is human to let emotions out and it is human to seek solitude when things are causing deep reflection.

None other than yourself knows what it is like being you so don’t let someone judge you and do not take their word for granted. Respect yourself and move on with your honesty and integrity intact.

In 2017 my health was impacted by this stress. Almost a decade to the date.

I continue to believe that MS is a myth of the past for my life but I also know that when the immune system suffers through the constant pressure of stressful events there is no guarantee it doesn’t hit you in some physical, emotional or mental way.

No matter what the stress brings with it – there is always laughter, love and nice deserts to be had.

Laughter got me through many challenges in the past and I continue to enjoy telephone laughter with lovely people who are on the same 7am laughter wave, deserts and wonderful people far and near are not to be underestimated either.

Life is life!

Nothing is going to stop me and no one is going to break me.

I share laughter and Laughter Yoga because it creates instant change. I have been accused of many things over the years including being all about the money and those who have made those decisions about me are wrong – it only shows how little they have listened over the years and how little interest they actually had in finding out who I am and what I am about. You cannot work together if you have no interest in knowing who you work with - especially not in Laughter Yoga where connection is key.

My life’s mission is to share laughter because it has a real positive impact on us, our health, our connections, our ability to cope, and when you share it honestly, truthfully, authentically and in integrity then you cannot be someone you are not.

You cannot pretend anymore.

It is no one’s fault that my health got a kick in 2017 – if I wasn’t invested in my work with a real passion I would just have ignored everything and gone into hiding. But I DO care, I care about the people who have trusted me as their teacher and I care about those who have decided that I am no longer worth their time. Love was there when we met and I will never change my heart.

My physical health experienced a set back because I didn’t honour myself and didn’t look after my own self, I let other people’s negative energies get the better of me - AND it didn't kill me!

As simple as that.

I will probably never change so I will probably do it all again.

However, I know who my people are and I know we are in it together supporting each other and loving people and positive change. I have not had a nervous or mental breakdown regardless which whisperers are whispering. I do not need anyone telling me I need help. I have the best help in the world inside me and around me – as we all do. I cry, I laugh, I scream, I quieten – it is not having a breakdown, it is being human.

My world is created by my word and my outlook, and I am done with negative ‘impacters’. Besides...

...it is none of my business what happened in the opinion of others anyway but slagging others off behind their back is NOT okay and that IS my business when it is about me and when people avoid saying things to my face about me, to me. More so laughter is my business and I am here for and with those who are up to something with laughter and Laughter Yoga.

Laughter cannot be separated from my life.

Challenge me!

When I allowed the opinions and the hurtful egos of others to have their effect it shook me up and it is the same for everyone when we let stress get to us. It is detrimental to our health.

Growth happens when we learn from our experiences and apply the lessons of life. There will always be someone behind you disagreeing or disrupting  when you are committed to move forward for the good of everyone because we all have our own pace of learning in life and ideas are individual not always to everyone's liking.

The important message in this is…

Remember yourself, your tribe, your people, your chosen and your blood.

And remember your body is awesome and it is also so complex that it does not know right from wrong and will do what it does best, react to the energy and release what is suitable in the given situation.

So, make sure you feed it love in all thoughts, words and actions.

I got spirited away…and now my body tells me it is missing my care and attention.

Remember who you are.

I remembered who I am on 31 December 2017.

And now I am off to indulge on B12 and D vitamins along lots of laughter to support a healthy and strong immune system and life spirit - 2018 is already a dance with life!

A reflection on teaching from the heart

What makes you ready to teach Laughter Yoga Leader Training?
And what makes you a good teacher? Or even a great teacher?

In the past many Laughter Yoga Teachers in the UK have learned on a 5-day training with me in Hemel Hempstead or Durham.

I am extremely grateful and feel truly blessed that this has even been possible. Some have even come directly from Laughter Yoga International and Dr. Madan Kataria.

There are now many Laughter Yoga Leader Training courses being offered in the UK and I am really excited about this because it means we have wider reach and share more laughter.

 But what makes you a teacher? A teacher who can teach Laughter Yoga?

Well. Many things, figures, and one really important thing is of course the drive, the passion, the excitement to share laughter because it is so great for us all. However, it is a passion from a selfless giving, loving heart as opposed to one of selfglory and selfpromotion.

When we teach from a selfless heart we share a bit of ourselves.

This training is not just what is in a user manual - it is what is in our hearts and how we each have created change in our lives through the mindful practice of Laughter Yoga.

How can we be teachers who teach from the heart?

• Practicing Laughter Yoga every day is the first step to being in tune with the changes that extended, deep, hearty, unconditional laughter offers
• secondly running a laughter club is essential for teaching others to do the same and to share the experience of running a laughter club, the benefits of doing this are tremendous when you become a new Laughter Yoga Leader
• Thirdly, running community workshops and networking events, charity and other events
• The next one is about getting experience you can share with your students from professional workshops run in workplaces and paid for by the client.

Without all of these experiences in Laughter Yoga there will be areas you cannot by any chance get across to new leaders and teachers. Of course, we are all constantly learning...

Laughter Yoga cannot be learned from a book, it is an experience and you cannot know other people's experiences, you have to do it, and be there, be Laughter Yoga, learn what works and what doesn't work, who likes it and who don't, the setup, the share, the laughter, the whole experience from leading for the greater good of the group. 

There is amazing and wonderful feedback on my workshops and courses, and sometimes less good feedback, too, I take it all onboard and learn to be a better leader and teacher. I listen to my groups and individuals - and grow wiser and humbler. 

The great words do humble me but I could not do it without you, without the people laughing and sharing in my training courses, workshops, events and laughter clubs. 

Experiences and lessons are what create the future Laughter Yoga Leaders and Teachers, and what touches, moves, and inspires each of them and us as well to move forward with new laughter clubs and other events. 

Great teachers and leaders share openly no matter what and act as an example with open minds and hearts - on training courses, and in life. 

We are creating history as we teach - creating World Peace through Laughter!

Knife Crime is Life Time

I did not know the young man who brutally got stabbed in St. Albans nor did I know the circumstances of this sad, sad event.

What a waste!

However, I know some of the young people who were in his friendship circle - young people who I hold in high regard and respect, young people who are close friends with my daughter who knew of the young man from her time in secondary school.

My deepfelt sympathy goes out to those near and dear to the 19-year young man.

Circumstances.

There should never be any circumstances where it is necessary to carry a weapon on a night out for fun and light hearted squirmish. Sadly, the nightlife culture dictates a different story, a different mentality.

It has got to stop!

We go on and on and on about how horrible war and suffering is and yet, we fail to avoid the fighting and killing at our doorstep.

It could have been avoided.

No matter how much someone gets to you there is never an excuse for plunging a knife into the depth of someone's flesh - watching the pain, the hurt, the terrible, terrible suffering and death too soon.

There is no excuse.

The event triggered memories from five years ago when my close friend was pointlessly stabbed and nearly died on a night walking home from St. Albans train station. This was a random attack - not triggered by heated discussions or fights but simply someone who held a grudge that got rammed into action that evening believing someone else was at the receiving end of the knife.

It does not stop when the knife drops to the ground.

It does not only involve two people, the killer and the victim.

Knife crime is for life.

For the perpetrator as much as the families, friends, and everyone who is touched by the event.

It never goes away.

So how do we move on from here? Move on from those sad moments, moments of regret, moments that cannot change back to how things were before someone died?

Back to the Future is not real.

However, we are all superheros who can make profound differences through our choices! Wear your invisible cape at all times and make a stand for the good stuff in LIFE!

And I worry - I am a mum, that is what I do. My daughter and her bessies go out on the evenings and I pray that I will never get a call like the one the young man's parents received.

If ever there is a dark moment where it seems pointless and without reason find someone to talk to - someone who has no vested interest in the story that is building up but instead can find ways out before it all crashes down into something too overwhelming.

Speak to someone who can make you laugh, someone who can help tap into joy, someone who can get the tears rolling and get back to the laughter and to what is important.

No matter how dark it may all look, it only takes a tiny spark to initiate something bigger than the ego.

And I do know that we are not all born into the same 'circumstances' but one person regardless of background can change the flow of events - only one person gives the first punch.

Remember what it is all about!
Remember community and friendship.
Remember joy and love.

Peace.

Laughter Yoga Conference 5-7 June 2015 www.unitedmind.co.uk 0800 1214 714

Springtime.

The wind, the sun, the hair knots - Spring is here!

Spring is here.

Funny - everytime we get to this time and I think about spring the first song that comes into my mind is the original The Producers song Springtime for Hitler and Germany.

It may not be very politically correct but I am so sorry I just can't help my mind. The even funnier thing, in my book of funnies in this context, is that last week I met a German lass who brought up this song in conversation and we were both in stitches. You don't get more unpolitically-correct or politically-incorrect do you?

Yeah.
We laughed a lot that afternoon.

We laughed so much that everyone wanted more laughter the day after and I honestly hope the people who want more laughter never stop and always will create the settings for laughter when there is little or none.

That's what Laughter Professionals do.
Encourage laughter and encourage joy.

I was watching the news reporters on local TV tonight and no disrespect to the serious events taking place around the world but honestly? Is there really no space for a tiny smile while presenting?

Americans do it. But then...they are considered slightly OTT, aren't they? But they are not, are they? They are just naturally expressing themselves even in unnatural circumstances.

Let's stop judging and just be who we are.
Joyful being with an abundant ability to love.

I know this is an autumn picture but it is just so fresh faced - like spring!

Play, dance, laugh, and sing - and life will play, dance, laugh, and sing with you!

Now!
It really is now!
Everything is experiencing growth and positive change!

No life - that was meant to be

Celebrities speak for Syria and other countries in dire need of help, e.g. food and other daily necessities. There are countless adverts on telly and the radio, videos shared on social media to get the attention of people who can spare an extra few pounds, dollars, euros or other types of dosh, per week to ease the poverty challenges of those less fortunate.

Where do I take my anger?
Where do I take my fear?
Where do I take my sadness?
Where do we go from here

The lines of Thomas Helmig's song struck a cord with me as I was driving south from a lovely weekend in North-East England. Not in the sense of their harsh bitterness but moreso as a reminder of the fortunate incidence that happened to bring me into life in our abundant world in the western wealth. It brought into my mind the total imbalance of resources and effort - also in the light of the lack of help to the good people of the flooded areas in parts of the UK.

If it takes money,
why don't we print some?
If it takes food,
why don't we give some?

The words streaming out on the car stereo reminded me of the butter mountain and wine lakes that were piling up in the EU storage space back in the 70s to  mid-80s when we first learned about the excessive abuse of abundance in the wealthy countries of the west. All the overproduction of food that was just laid there instead of being shared. The overload and false expectations that lead to the beginning bankrupcy of many little farmers across EU - or EEC as it was called back in those days... They had to find different ways and different means to survive.

And in the meantime, people shrivelled because of lack of food and water. A bit like today...

Where was justice then? Where is justice today? And if not justice, where is compassion and love?

Human Beings suffer,
why is out of our hands?
What's wrong with these people,
don't they deserve a chance?

When are the elected leaders of this world - whether elected by people or self-proclaimed - going to step up to their responsibility and create the change that is needed? Where are they?

Life is not about achievment.


Life is about contribution.


The world needs leaders who are on a journey of contribution and not looking for personal gain and own win. It is the only way to change.

Where do I take my dignity?
Where do I take my love?
I'll take it to my daughter.
And pray that it's enough.

Baby, there ain't nothing stronger than the love that you carry within!

And then I laughed - because there was nothing else I could do while I was driving. It was liberating and comforting to laugh at all these thoughts that were created by one song spinning faithfully on the cd player seemed to soften and become ideas for playing for change.

Laughter is the most powerful expression which unites us all when we share it in good spirit. It can release any tension and create a sharing environment instead of stress and disagreement.

When will governments realise the potential of our mutual language? It only takes one person to listen, and another, and another, and another...

So when do they start listening?

Listening to The Elders and people who know about what matters!

As long as there is a world being fought within, there will be a war outsite. Make peace with yourself and peace will be.

Laughter Yoga is for peace in life and for World Peace!

Just a word or two on laughter or something like that

Ha ha and then some he he he or perhaps even ho ho ho ho!

I would even go so far as to say hruf hruf hruf... but that is kinda advanced laughter...

So anyway.

Laughter.

I have had the privilege to laugh with a great variety of people for the past many years and the past week all these different people seem to have been embedded into the groups I had some great laughs with in just a few days.

Of course that is not true because every single person is an individual and it is simply the fact that my week was manic in terms of laughter work and I loved every minute I spent laughing with fantastic people ranging from business professionals to cancer support groups to teenagers to young stressed-out people to vulnerable women to people who wanted to learn and then there was the laughter club people. And this reminded me of all the wonderful people I have met over the past many years of laughing for life.

Oh yes, what a wonderful week full of fun and laughter as well as challenges and rainy weather!

How is it that laughter is made out to be so amazing?

Well, first of all - it is not just 'made out to be amazing', it simply IS amazing and totally awesome in the way it touches us all.

No one who gives laughter a chance can honestly say it doesn't work. Truth.

However, it is easy to say no to laughter because it is a safe place to be when that is the only know place. There is comfort and safety in the known even when it is not great.

People have walked out on my workshops and trainings in the past because 'it was not for them' but I don't take offence, I feel great compassion because I know it is not easy to leave the familiar and try something a bit edgy - something that challenges confidence and requests removal of inhibitions and the well-known 'what-so'.

Yes, I know all about that and I salute every person who has made it, and also those who didn't quite make it but at least gave it a go, but no one can say it is not right unless it has been tried.

That is of course in my opinion.
And deciding based on reading a book does not count!

All I can say, and I may have said it before, is...

Laughter Yoga has changed my life.
Laughter Yoga can change any life.

I laugh therefore I am.

Laughter, Rain, and Bladder Control

Going to Bridgend on Wednesday was exciting!
I was on my way to meet an MS Society division and laugh with people living with MS.

All ready and only a three hour drive.

Things changed from normal-M25-traffic to rainy about 20 minutes into the drive and no matter how good time you feel you have when taking off, there is no such things as being in good time when the motorway starts piling up with rain and traffic.

A Sunday evening on M1...

The more I was stuck on M25 the more I sent a loving thought to the M1 which I frequent most weekends.

The chance meeting with a motorway service station becomes a risk to the 'being on time' challenge that has not been presented owing to what seems to be the Heavens' having opened their flood gates for no particular reason than perhaps 'it rained for 40 nights and 40 days'...

Or did I get that one wrong?

To people in Somerset it must feel as if that is the truth in the rain. Even the News Presenter commented on the scenery as being 'almost biblical' in the way it looks from above. My thoughts really are with everyone who is being affected by either floods or drought or any other weathery measures that seem out of proportion altogether.

Back to the journey and the choice of stopping for a quick relief or continuing the journey without weeping too much. Now, there's a word you don't want stuck on your mind when you got to go and you REALLY got to go... Weeeping wiiillows, peeeople whiiinging etc. And on top of all that - the sound of water running freely down the windscreen, happy as a little clucking stream... Stress?

What can you to, though? If you drive past the next service station it will be quite a few miles before the next one and the next one and the next one.

So - what???

I started laughing. A tough one and not very accommodating for the situation but after a while it actually takes your mind off any challenge and I arrived safely and dryly in Bridgend in well good time for the laughter session.

So, if you are in need then start chuckling, it can potentially provide the mindshift that is required to remove focus from the urgent need!

Not the M25 either...

Lesson learned - even if you can never fully foresee how the journey unfolds - even if it is M25 or any motorway in the UK. 

However, the bottomline is that with a long journey ahead of you it is always a good idea to have served the ways of nature and emptied what needs emptying - even if it's just the ash tray...

Fare well out there all you M25 inhabitants plus the rest of us on our journeys.

Coming from a home with a piano?

A Danish phrase meaning being from the upperclass in society - but not only that, the underlying meaning is that you know what you are talking about when you voice your opinion because you are per definition better educated than those who didn't have a piano or perhaps couldn't afford it - or something like that...

My dad used to jokingly say it because in fact it was true, not the upperclass part, but that we had a piano (and probably were quite wise-bottoms, too - in a nice sort of way I guess). I played it - almost 10 years of learning, and then I sold it when I moved to England. I wonder if my class relation went along with it...

But then, we never were upperclass apart from the fact that our family and closeness was certainly out-of-class in a loving, caring and sharing way - so what does class matter when you have everything you need? A lot of snobbery is what I think!

How wonderful it is to have beautiful memories of  luxuries I didn't really appreciate at the time but thinking back it was amazing to have a piano and be able to play it whenever I felt like it.

I always wished I was as good as my uncle at playing the piano but he was a total star (in my opinion), just like other things I wanted to be good at but - there was always someone who was better... These are my evening thoughts on some of my pursuits in my early life and early work life but things change!

Things change when you decide to be you with everything this 'you' entails - including stopping comparing to other people! There is no one quite like you or quite like me or anyone else.

I decided to discover the greatness of being me.

So I did that.

At some point in the late 90s... Rather late, you may ponder, but you live and learn what works and what doesn't and I learned I cannot please everyone forever so I changed into who I really am.

I am me.

Without a piano these days and no saxophone either (but that's a different story). And I mostly know what I am talking about (but that's another different story).

And then Laughter Yoga showed up so now I am from a home with Laughter Yoga!

But no matter what, I will always come from a home with a piano because that was my parental home and it is my foundation, the love, the support, the caring and sense of family. This is what I bring forward in my present life and hope to inspire in other people; the discovery of all the goodness and greatness in everything we are as individuals including the baggage we carry along as part of our creation.

Be who you are in a loving and compassionate way - directed at yourself just as much as others.

Go forth and change the world - with love, laughter and full of life!

Now THERE's a thought!

We are all just humans and I say that in my Laughter Clubs, Laughter Yoga Trainings, Laughter Workshops and everywhere I share my work.

Why?

Well, I have been laughing for a very long time and it has profoundly changed my life and my outlook, my perspective and my view on what is possible to anyone who makes choices.

However, often in conversation people use negative phrases about things being 'tough' or 'hard' or similar and it really is all in the language.

We create what is 'so' with out language.

So.

Even though people often think I am always in a great and cheerful mood (I am mostly just for the record), I also have days when things are not as I imagined them to be and I get upset or fed up or tired or frustrated. I am just human and we all are just human afterall. But the essential message here is about picking the self up with a grin and letting go of what is not serving a great purpose!

Not to beat myself up because I still have a tiny control freak hidden inside me and sometimes it is bigger than tiny and I lose my mind to it but the truth is, that I have everything inside me to snap out of it when it's no longer worthwhile to remain with the experience of the ego-grasp. And it is NEVER worthwhile!

Another fact is that laughing every day for no reason provides perfect a reason for laughing in this style because it enables me, and anyone who practices it, to quickly realise self-staged little dramas and decide they are not what's needed and what's great.

In the end this realisation makes the choice to let go so so so much easier.

I realised my own little 'thing', the stuff I still have attached to me, the 'stuff' I'd love to let go of, when I came back from a lovely break in the north-east and discovered that my home which was supposedly 'just as when I left it' was NOT 'just as when I left it'.

After 10-12 teenagers having celebrated New Years' Eve and afterwards done their best to put things right, well, I threw a tiny tantrum at the mere sight which was, to say the least, NOT what I expected...

One and a half hour later, after hoovering, scrubbing, re-organising etc. I apologised to her for getting upset about what had not been done to my satisfaction and instead decided celebrating that my daughter and her friend had actually done a good job with the things that had in fact been tidied.

It is okay to apologise when you are an adult and your kids have done their best - even if you feel they should know better.

It creates great freedom to acknowledge, set straight, and let go!

I love my daughter and her friends are ace.

They partied until 6am and my neighbours didn't complain because they had been warned them in advance.

To be 18 years old and know what is expected inside your mum's head - now, THERE's a task that no child will ever truly graps.

Kudos to Karen & Co. for their effort, and thanks to thought process for the ability to let go of how it should have been.

The New Year 2014 is here and is seeping into every corner of 2013 remnants with tremendous speed, erasing the past year's fnuff and dustbunnies with amazing integrity and empowering style.

That's what comes from letting go and being in the moment instead of all the other past events and should've, could've, would've beens - momentum.

The only thing at stake when you let go of being right and in control is your ego - and honestly, the ego is not worth the fight, what's behind the ego is what matters!

Peace.

19:56.

Where to start when life just flows as a natural stream?

It doesn't matter who says what or who does what or who is what - what matters is that everything is perfect the way it is.

This time of year frustrations and stress seem to be thrown about as if it was a matter of life and death getting those exact presents of getting somewhere or perhaps the turkey is too small...

Well, if you are a believer of Baby Jesus then he arrived at the exact time he arrived and it didn't really matter if it was too early or too late plus the latest games and gadgets were merely wrapped in fragrance and soothing oils for people to invent thousands of years later.

If you don't believe in the story of the Christ that's perfectly so, because this is not about religion but about being in the flow instead of forcing our way upstream.

The past few years have been a mix of challenge and flow and it is amazing to look back and review all the times where the challenges have forced their way to the surface and it has in fact been because of trying too hard. But what IS 'trying too hard'?

When you are passionate and compassionate about life, laughter and love then there should be no 'trying too hard' - it is all about sharing it all and not forcing it onto people.

I love what I do and sometimes it may seem that it is just too much but isn't that just because we all carry our own stuff around that cause us to react to certain stimuli in certain ways and sometimes it is contrary to our conditioning and our sense of 'over the top'.

OTT!

Cheers to Over The Top and sort-of-apologies if you feel I am too much but I really don't think I can help it much. Not because I don't care but because I do care about people, about you, about life, about love and about Laughter Yoga!

That took up up to 20:06.
Wishing you a great rest of Monday.

Burumbubumbum...

Peace on Earth - can it be...

On the 1st day of December I was listening to Michael Bubble sharing his favourite Christmas songs. You don't have to like Christmas songs or even Christmas - and you can do all you want in your own way to avoid feeling December.

However, it is practically impossible!

With all the street displays, TV shows, radio programmes, smiling strangers, stressed people, overcrowded parking lots... well, how do you plan on avoiding it all?

It may not be to everyone's liking but if people would only let go of the 'stuff' that prevents them from experiencing the December-feeling then we are one step closer.

And I am not being disrespectful to anyone who is going through some of the challenges in life where Christmas may be the time of year it gets a little big tougher. All I'm saying is to keep an open mind and there is love in all hearts - especially useful if we have to dig a bit deeper past the shopping-stress and planning-panick because that is probably when it is most needed.

Seemingly impossible to avoid and if that really is true just make sure you extend your December goodwill - a smile really can create a bridge between a bad day and a good day.

Be gentle with the shopcrew - they are doing their best and tackling all possible situations with a smile even when it is sometimes a stiffened one. Smile on the phone, smile in the car, smile with other people, smile, smile smile...

Even if Christmas is not your celebration, have patience with everyone else who is amindst the seasonfrenzy of food, outfits and whatever else we focus on.

So, live a little peace on Earth and share some goodwill to men and women, animals and plants.

We are in it together - Christmas or no-Christmas.

Wishing you a wonderful December!

The 1987 crash and life on the motorway

1976 Opel Kadett - 1987 Crash Version

When I was 19 years old I crashed my first car quite seriously. It was the year's first snow storm - in April - and I was driving from Copenhagen to my home in Vordingborg, about 80 miles, late that evening. This was before the motorway was extended between Rønnede and Udby, and on this particular stretch on the way the snow was wooshing across the road (which wasn't even a dual carriageway but just a plain small-size A-road). I was tired and to keep myself awake I had windows down and was smoking heaps of cigarettes - yup, I used to do that yonks ago...

Really cold it was! So windows closed again. I must have just blinked very very slowly becuase at that moment my car went over the edge of the road, onto the frozen field and took a few rolls before landing on the side - me inside.

I was lucky and I count my blessings every day.

I got myself unstrapped from the seat and climbed out of the window which was now above my head - in heals and very tight skirt, those were the days of those outfits...

When I got onto the road there were very few cars and a few that passed me as I was waving my arms vigorously, finally someone stopped. Those were the days before mobile phones and before dodgy drivers taking advantage of stranded people on the highway. A nice angel who drove me home and everything got sorted, a nice person who along with my universal protectors got me home safely.

Nice people exist - and there are plenty of them when you expect nice!

For many years I had an ingrained concern about long drives and being tired on the road. I still have ever so much respect for the hours we spend on the road because if heads are not clear... Well, split seconds happen in moments of weariness.

However, years later I realised that if I wanted to go places, I just had to deal with it and get going.

So, I started venturing out on day breaks where I would drive for hours and hours in order to beat my fear of driving lenghthy stretches on my own.

The great thing about cars is that they pretty much do what you tell them to do... This is also the case if you want a break then it will in fact drive the way you turn the wheel, e.g. into a resting area or so.

Cool stuff, eh?

I went to Glastonbury, Bamburgh Castle, Manchester, other places, and most importantly to the North-East Coach where I now drive almost every weekend.

These days, every week I spend between 8-10 hours driving to Co. Durham and do you know what? It is kinda recreational in a strange way.

Some would say it's a waste of time, and I guess you could argue that it is but on the flipside, I get to spend those hours in the company of Thomas, Sanne, Gabrielle, Heather, Kim and my love songs, and although they have been in the car for a long time - isn't it just great to spend time singing along to familiar tunes, knowing the lyrics, and enjoying the trip? Yup, I think so, too and best of it all - it leads to love!

The most important thing, though, is that no matter how many miles and hours we spend on the road, there really is no need to rush and there is always time to take a break! I've had a few close ones over the years and I am thankful they were only close. Being respectful of other drivers, the weather and road conditions is key to living many moments on the motorway - whether it is in the fast lane or the granny lane.

Take a break!
Break away from the rush!

As for the miles...
Never underestimate the power of love!

Sickening...

'...when I hear myself talk about how tough it will all be...'

More wants mooooore...

The raindrops were tapping on my windscreen last night as I was making my way from the north to the south to the beat of Steffen Brandt's voice from the 90s consumeristic Danish paradise where everyone was trapped in the dreaming of a better life - the pre-stage to dotcoms booming, rise and fall...

An easier way to make an easy life... So many opportunities, goodness knows how many people have spent the money I have on trying for that one glossy solution...

My heart bursts with love and hope when his voice proclaims 'I'm saying this again and I shall say it only once - it is now in the now that everything happens now' - my clumsy translation doesn't really cut it but the beauty in those words from 1995 is everlasting yet we have a long way to go.

So many still trapped in the dreams of yesterday's glory of the future 'hidden at the bottom of the soup' - once again his cynical words hit a button and I am thinking of the many people who lost their mojo because of recession, circumstances or lack of inspired drive owing to leaving responsibility behind.

Forced into the unnatural social stress of appropriateness and political correctness where we forget the moment we should reach for the sky and kiss the stars. Looking for solutions outside the self... the lyrics keep flowing and inspiring my mind...

My thoughts are drifting to my weekend spent celebrating love, dreams, hope, and more love, knowing this is the future and the future is here and now. I know that everything does not happen overnight but I know the image and the pictures of how it will all be, and have the confidence and certainty that it is not from a hope perspective but from real knowing.

Visualisation of dreams is beautiful and with a bit of motion, action, and trust in the process the visualisation becomes real-life happenstance with all its amazingness and bold truths.

Never underestimate the power of your mind and your thinkings - whether you believe or don't believe, perhaps the things that happen in your life are based on thoughts from yesterday...

Time to move the boundaries of what we think we know and how we were told to think!

I've said it before and I shall say it many times again, I'm sure - life is now!

To status

I was inboxing back and forth with my Australian Laughter Friend, also touching on the subject of holidaying, and language (once again) popped into my mind...

Since when did 'inbox' become a verb? Well, it has been for quite a while and I believe it was my daughter who introduced it to me years ago when she stated that she would inbox me a link. That was my first introduction to the fact that you don't 'email' on FaceBook, you 'inbox' when using the email facility... Der???? Same with holiday - to holiday???

Well, not necessarily having thought it through I started thinking about how I am statusing daily to inspire and lift spirits. I hope my aim is achieved and that no one feels let down or undermined or even uninspired.

So, now introducing:

To status
- verb I status, I statused, I have statused, I have been statusing, I will status (won't status)

Okay.

Now, I have been going on quite a bit in my past blogposts about language but in all fairness I find it invigorating and interesting, exciting and exuberanting to explore communication. Afterall, it is one of our methods of interaction and it can either be exhilarating or it can be downright depressing.

Share wisdom but don't point fingers - be the centre of exploration and make sure people are left empowered in a conversation.

It is all in our words, posture, attitude and expression and it comes across the moment we open our mouth and let it out. Don't tear it all apart.

Create the world!

Words - where creating magic begins...

Have fun statusing and beeeeee gooood.

Or as we say in Gibberish: Glysdi snoogle abishpiboop!

Future footsteps in the past

As I am sat here on Friday afternoon pondering on next Monday's Laughter Blog post it feels as if I am writing in the past for the future which reminds me of selfhelp books and personal development trainings teaching to write a letter to the future self about all the achievements and the journey getting there, then open the letter ten years from now.

Haha, I've done that!

My future footstep in the past...

The reason I am writing now is simply because I am away next week and want to be well-prepared before heading off to the beautiful North-East England to run Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher Training - did I mention that I am the only person in the UK who is proper qualified to run this training? Yeah, I think I did - once or twice in the past - but I am everso proud of this achievement.

So back to the future and yesterday's typos and scribbles...

The sun is out and it is a beautiful day outside my window so I want to make lighthearted sense of what I write and I don't know yet what it will be.

Empty stare - waiting for thoughts!

Every Sunday evening or Monday morning my head is ready for The Laughter Blog and I don't have to think too much - it kinda just spills but this time, I am 2-3 days early and my mind is not yet tuned in!

It is funny how the mind works and I have been doing Ahhh in the morning just to build my manifest and clear it at the end of the day with Ommm in the evenings.

Just wondering if this will work for blog ideas...

Smiling slightly with my own thougths of manifestation and cosmic ordering. There are so many books, CDs, DVDs, workshops, courses etc. to help us all get to the essential state of abundance, both physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually - and all I can do is smile.

I already have an abundance of resources and I love my books and CDs because they are elements of de-stressing. But, you know what?

What I have found to work the best of all of these gazillions of wishful and positive methods - one way that works in an instant and is not even listed in these categories - Laughter Yoga - Laughter Therapy - Tao of Laughter!

Laughter! It simply does the trick every time!

Laughter is attractive when it shared freely and isn't used in a controlling and manipulative way.

When we laugh there is no pretence and hate, anger and suffering - we simply are right there in the e-motion of chuckles and self-expression.

Ho ho ha ha he he hu hu guffaw!

Draft

One of these word-things again...

Er, no.

Well, yes, but only because it is writing and therefore it is with words.

Initially, however, I thought of bringing up all the things about my draft blogs and why they remain drafts etc.

But then I thought of the word 'draft' and 'draught' and my mind drifted off to the thought of wind sweeping through the creaky windows in old houses.

Alas, this is not about any of those things. It is in fact the past tense of to drift.

I drift, I draft, I have druft.

No? Well, it could have been if no one checked the dictionary or other books for word origins.
So let me keep it at the past tense of 'to drift'.

This is only a thought up idea and complete nonsense with a bit of a chuckle in the background as I am smilingly writing these sentenses.

And why not? Why not I may ask again? Can we not make up words just like any other slang-swirling swinger who joins words and make up language progress. Why not 'normal' words with new bends and twists?

So back to draft.

My thoughts draft as I sat down to focus on serious admin stuff... Yeah, I can see why drifted is a much better word cos it may seem I have a drafty mind.

Alright, let me return to what it really is about. Drafts. The sketches that remain sketches because the outcome is yet to be completed.

I was looking through my documents, my scribbles and all my glossy plans of passionate writing. The only thing that sprung to my mind was 'Get on and finish the work!' instead of keeping drafts floating all about with ideas instead of realisations.

So much babbling to get to the point, wouldn't you agree?

The point is that I have so many ideas - so many ideas that are still ideas after all these years of thinking them up. I talk about taking action in my trainings and my workshops, and I do take action but I leave the toughies for later. Later being 'a timeless draft'.

Sincere apologies to everyone I have involved in my endless ideas and to those who have been involved in endless drafts and booked in the diary's One Day or Some Day.

The only way to move forward is to openly and officially stating the commitment and committing to taking the spoon in the other hand (Danish for 'turn over a new leaf').

I am ready to act instead of react! Are you?
All you good folk, I am ready for change! Are you?

Just ONE word today.

LOVE.

Oh and then perhaps Laugther Yoga and World Peace.

...and then there are mums!

Don't know where to start and where to finish today but one thing is true that with the right amount of love and laughter there really is only peace and freedom!

When it is August I usually miss my calling, Laughter Yoga, because I tend to keep the month free for holiday-type-of-activities. However, this year it has been full of loads of Laughter Yoga, including the real spontaneous laughter and giggles that stems from the heart of joyfulness.

How do you get in touch with that essential laughter core?

Well, you could ask my client who started an 8-week Laughter Coaching Programme last week because just one hour of learning Laughter Yoga brought real laughter into real life, or you could just ask me...

There is no doubt that real and spontaneous laughter is the most wonderful expression to be shared between caring people but when it is but a distant memory - how do you find it? How do you re-activate that laughter that does not even have a sound? Does a tree make a sound when it falls and no one is there to hear it? What is the sound of laughter when no one is there to express or experience it?

Ask me about laughter - I am no authority and yet I am, we all are, but some know a bit more about variations of laughter and that is where there is a choice to learn and to teach.

So back to love...

Laughter Yoga teaches you to let go of inhibitions and create space for real and profound love of life.

And...then there is LOVE.

I rest my case and finish with just one word and recommend you stick with it!

LOVE