Scamming, spamming, slamming, jamming...

When the internet opened its gates to the general public many years ago now the doors to people with less good intentions also opened up.

Luckily there are many more good intentions out there than those who are looking to defy and defeat good people.

Over the past few months it has been brought to my attention on a couple of occasions that there are emails circulating which may or may not contain the name of businesses that I am related to or responsible for in terms of the Laughter Yoga World.

My first REAL hack of www.unitedmind.co.uk, was in 2007 – a real hack where my website was temporarily taken over by another page. 

Second time was not a real hack but more an email issue that should probably have been picked up by my hosting company but they didn’t. 

I had an auto-responder set for when I was away and for some reason a spam or spoofing email kept replying back to me when I sent my ‘Out of Office’ it would reply and I would respond again with my ‘Out of Office’ and so the loop continued until I had used up my traffic max and my website became unavailable. 

There were 77K or more emails in my inbox and I could not access it because my data limit had been exceeded. Got it sorted with my hosting after lenthy discussions but I was offline for a few hours which is not good for any type of business.

These are just examples of how things can go horribly wrong and fortunately in my case it was just for a very short period of time as I am in the position where I can work it out myself.

So.

Getting back to the recent cyber crimes which they essentially are. These are emails suggesting that my businesses are either working with an SEO company or the latest one that Laughter Association UK has a mailing list of 700+ contacts that can be purchased at $195 or similar.

Let me reassure you that there are NO LISTS available for sale from Laughter Association UK nor from UnitedMind Ltd, The Laughter Company (TLC) Ltd or any other business with which I association myself, and there never have been.

All offences or presumed offences have been reported to the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre.

I am a publicly findable person on the internet but I take personal and professional privacy very seriously. UnitedMind Ltd, The Laughter Company (TLC) Ltd and Laughter Association UK have very strict privacy policies which are in line with the GDPR and any data protection acts applicable.

Please be aware that there are spammers, scammers, phishers, spoofers, fraudsters and all sorts out there who will email you even when you think you are safe from spam, the GDPR does not guarantee this at all. 

A TIP! If your name is not in the To-field AND you have not requested the information AND you don’t know the person AND there is no personal greeting and lots of other signs, don’t even bother but bin it straight away.

Please let me know if you have any questions - lotte@unitedmind.co.uk.

I am quite visible on the internet and happy to be found because sharing Laughter Yoga is important to me and if no one was able to find me or the people I work with then it kind of defeats the whole idea of what we aim to do to, share world peace through laughter.

Always with the best of intentions, a big heart, and lots of love and laughter.

Stay safe - in life and online!

Lotte Mikkelsen

Laughter Yoga Master Trainer

#youreverydaylaughterqueen

www.lottemikkelsen.com

www.unitedmind.co.uk

The Rock and the Tree - a short story of friendship.

A little thought I had when I was sat by the Clyde in Scotland last year.

On the shore of the River Clyde laid a rock and a proud tree stood tall by its side, reaching far into the air around them.

It was no ordinary rock it was a boulder that had been sat there for many many years, decades and maybe even centuries perhaps even longer.

The tree was old, too.

It had a wisdom in its branches, roots, twigs, leaves and big trunk. It was a happy tree.

Once it had been a tiny seed bursting through the soil on the shore of the River Clyde eager to live and to grow.

The tree had experienced many seasons of hardship in the rain, the gust, and even from the birds and other animals that had been seeking it out over the years. Yet it was a happy tree, a healthy tree with a lifetime of experience in its ever-growing branch-span.

There was a special bond between the rock and the tree.

For hundreds of years the rock had sat by the shore on its own. Maybe it was pondering on life or maybe not at all because all it knew was being solitary as the days and nights simply rolled along while the rock was watching seasons, life and weather go by.

Sometimes people would rest on the rock and sometimes animals would relieve themselves on its side. To the rock this was the flow of its being.

One day something very special happened in the ground beneath the rock. It felt the movement and the ripples in the soil, the earth and dirt shook gently. Such a small sensation but enough for the rock to notice.

A tiny little seedling broke through the surface of the earth just next to the rock. It was a moment of celebration beyond any past event as this vulnerable life showed its will power and its strength.

The rock felt proud and protective.

The tree was frightened but strong in its pursuit, thinking if it did not make an effort to grow then it would merely sizzle away and become dust. Not even a memory because there was no one around to remember it.

The rock reached out to the seedling and for the first time since its breakthrough it realised that it was not alone. Even a grand old rock had life streaming through its dense being.

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The storms and harsh weather from the mountains and the river would often pull and push the seedling and if it was not nature forces then it was wildlife pecking and pulling to feed.

For many years the rock provided shelter and protection for the seedling as it grew stronger and taller until it had become an impressive tree with a wide trunk and stretching branches full of lush green-coloured leaves.

The tree said to the rock, 'you have been my friend and protector for many years. I am now high and mighty and I shall return the friendship and favour. I shall protect you from wind and rain now'.

The rock was moved by this gesture and decided that it would always be there for the tree just the way it had always been in the past whether the words were spoken or unsaid.

Friendship exist beyond time and space, appearance and circumstances.

Even through tough challenges there is support in every part of life and although it may sometimes seem unlikely that backup is there for you.

Never dismiss anyone, they may have that tiny bit of magic it takes for you to feel special and to pull through whatever the challenge is.

Besides, no one knows what goes on in someone else's mind except that person so my encouragement and the point of the story is to let go of judgment and find a way to embrace change and diversity.

One world, one seed, one love.

#lottemikkelsen #unitedmind #thelaughtercompanytlc #laughteryoga #laughteryogauk #onelove #gratitudetsunami #youreverydaylaughterqueen #happinessinjection #friendship #oneworld #peace

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!

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

Easybeats, Vanda & Young notes thread

The gentleman on the train jovially burst out 'well caught' as he made a clumsy attempt to pinch his pen off the woman's chest with his thumb and index finger. She didn't look amused...

When you drop a pen and it lands on a co-passenger's chest shouldn't you let the woman hand it back?

He had pushed himself onto the seat next to me and I had only caught a glance of him from the corner of my eye thinking he was an orthodox Jew with his hat and suit but he turned out to be an eccentric music critic or professor of some sort. Don't know.

I couldn't help but laugh at this little interlude unfolding at my feet, literally, as the gentleman regained momentum and made his way to the exit.

Eccentricity seemed to be pouring out of him as he ventured on, leaving the train - the kind of assumption I made without any other reason that having watched the pen drop on the chest of the woman sat opposite me, listened and watched.

The other misconception on the train is that when you look out the window and observe the world flying by people often mistake it for watching them in the window mirror.

Suspicion and paranoia thrive on the train and all you can do is shrug your shoulders and get on with your observation, ignoring the turning heads and stolen gazes to check your do-abouts. Tut tut tut is all I can say, relax!

People are judged by appearance and action every single moment of each day. Didn't matter anyway because it was simply a brief happenstance on an overcrowded train to London and not even deemed an encounter. When you are awake on the train there can be lots of fun experiences to be had - even if it's by yourself and no one else shares the joke...

...which possibly where I enter the category of eccentric passengers who make a small communication transfer on the rush hour train and subway, e.g. smiling, grinning, thanking or sorry'ing when none of it is necessary or expected.

Enjoy your train ride and if all else fails, pick up your phone and pretend someone is telling you a joke on the line - perhaps that will make you grin and it feels almost legit.

Ho ho ha ha ha - Laughter Yoga is so much fun!

It lets us play and have fun as our sense of humour and joy grows daily!

Besides there are little shops who nurture our sense of feeling good - even at the train stations.

Books.

As the train was rolling steadily along its tracks I experienced the full range of emotions from laughing loudly to sobbing. My fellow travellers gazed regularly in my direction and I wondered if they thought I was not normal.

But what good is a book if the story does not engage you and entrall, lure you into its depth and allows you to feel. Feel as if you are the storyteller yourself.

These is My Words by Nancy Turner.

I lived the life of Sarah Prine as she told her story in her diary through the years from being a settler during unsettling times of cowboys and Indians to being an Officer's wife and running her own ranch in the territory. These clumsy lines, written by an uneducated child becoming a studied woman.

Yup. I liked the book.

So books.

I was reminded that lives are changing and our perception, our views, our world are constant and ever evolving elements throughout time. My Kindle was tugged away in my bag because My Words was not available for Kindle, so instead I had to add the bookweight to my luggage. One of these things I will always happily do because a nice companion on a long journey cannot be weighed up in grams or ounces.

I cannot imagine life without books.

And I am certainly one who hasn't often picked up a book over then past many many years except for those relating to my work whether this was in technology companies yonks ago or those about my passion and present work, holistic health and laughter, joy and communication.

The cult classic Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953 sprung to my mind as I was thinking of books and their impact. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and so-called "firemen" burn any that are found.

Well, it's a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That's our official motto.

Fahrenheit 451 - the temperature at which books burn!

The people who have formed the resistance to this atrocity memorise one book each and become that particular story.

So much information is available every moment of every day and sometimes it blurs our view of what is in fact true and false. The information posted on the internet is written by people and sometimes twisted to suit whoever wrote it - just like it is with any journalistic representation. We engage our minds in other people's lives via blogs and real-time messages.

Pick up a fictional novel from time to time. It really clears the mind in a wonderful way when you open a book on the first page and prepare yourself for the journey. Clears the mind to be ready for the world of the author who ransacked his mind to come up with lines of enchantment or perhaps it just flowed into a captivating story.

Honestly, take time out.
Whether it's with a book or just being sat on a tree stump pondering...

No pressure, just leisure!

Now the Dr. Kings are you and me...

Laughing for no reason is not only what it is about - there really is so much more to it.

"...so, love thy neighbour, and turn thy cheek to 'I have a dream' the leader speaks..."

Easy to say and I wish it was easy to do, too, but there is still a war within many people and as long as that persists there will be no peace outside of ourself.

When you laugh you cannot feel any negative emotions like hatred, fear, remorse etc. There simply is no room for it all. Your mind changes and it is in fact a change that kicks off and happens in your body first of all. Aren't we all just wonderfully connected in every way there is?

Many years ago I was asked to complete 'unfinished business' with friends and relatives in the sense that every little thing that I may have said or done over the years, things that weren't in full agreement, was to be tidied up and put back where it belonged - in the past without regret.

Now, you may think something to the extent of 'why dig out stuff that has been long gone and forgotten'? Well, you may have forgotten it and have to search you memory for things you can settle but the person that was at the receiving end may still hold a grudge or be lacking in all sorts of ways, confidence, self-esteem, compassion, and so on - things we often have no idea is going on between people we used to know.

Making sense? Maybe not.

But, ask yourself how many people you know that you have NOT spoken about to other people or spoken to about other people when the other people were not in the room? Doesn't have to be nasty, awful things that were said but perhaps things you wouldn't say to them in person.

That was the kind of stuff, among the other direct stuff, that I was sorting and although I didn't place much value on the exercise and the little things I 'cleaned up' with people, it was as if a huge weight was slowly lifting off my back and my shoulders when I looked back over the weeks of the process. This was years and years ago before I came to the UK but I am still reminded about how the change I made changed the world.

Even if you don't think there was anything that was left in limbo - well, perhaps there was for the other person or people.

I don't think I would be where I am now if I hadn't searched my soul and cleared my mind back then and I don't think I would do what I do now if I hadn't made life changes to accommodate a clean conscience, a compassionate heart, and an open mind.

Right now, thinking about those events makes me think about my current life, and in all honesty if you have ever felt over the past many year any negatives from me or felt intimidated in any way that has held you back in life. I sincerely and deeply apologise.

Now, back to the fact that it seems 'all the leaders of the world are gone'...

When we make peace with our past and everything in it we are on a fasttrack to peace within and guess what the next big thing is?! Peace without limitations and without prejudism, fear and hate.

I will repeat what I stated above:

When you laugh you do not have negative emotions chewing away on your mind.

Laughter Yoga works because it combines all the elements of having fun, laughter, play, singing and dancing.

In a world where people are desperate for lightness and positive experiences but where every moment seems full of distraught and unhappiness, Laughter Yoga brings an improved outlook along in its wake.

No more laissez-faire, it is time to take charge!

Life is too important.

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.

A day late... and a lot of apologies...

So I had this thought of trying to blog a day later because it is one of my things... being on time...

Funny that.

I learned about this whole hooohaaa about personal and professional integrity which includes being on time and in a timely way a log time ago - and it has kinda stuck to me.

I believe I may have mentioned it in past blogging over the months but it seems to come back to haunt me on the odd occasion.

Good thing is, I get less uptight about it now than I used to (honestly!!!) - although sometimes it seems my buttons get pushed more than others but that is a while ago (honestly!!!)...

So. What is it about time and being on time?

Well, first of all, it is about respecting other people's time and not just! but also the self-time - and it is also about missing out on important stuff that happens for everyone on time.

Why?

Even if the person being late may seem completely stressless upon arrival, there is no doubt that being late has an effect on everyone including the 'perpetrator'.

By the way, please read this knowing that I have a smile on my face. I can't help laughing thinking about the past few weeks where I have been made fun of for having a time-strickt gene but I suppose as a teacher/tutor/trainer there is a certain truth in being time-static - it still makes me grin, though, because it is true about me.

I have always had plenty of time to get somewhere when going somewhere but somehow I have always been dealt people who have been totally laid back and I think I have been the one stressing them by tapdancing around trying to get them on their way. I do apologise ever so much for causing stress to other people - no matter what the cause may have been in the past.

While writing this I feel there is a lesson for me hahaha...

The thing about this whole topic is that it is intriguing to think about where in our lives we may be to laid back or may be hung up about things that are not really important.

And does it matter if we are in fact comfortable in our own skin?
Really?

Whether people are late or not does not prevent the on-timers to kick off their planned schedule.

And at this point, I would like extend my apology to everyone who has ever waited for me and my own lateness.

You are all alright and I love my people who are on time as well as my people who are late - there is a bit of it all in me, too, and we all get there in the end - with a little help from our friends!

Luckily I can laugh at myself for having this element of stressiness in my life which is otherwise (mostly) stressfree.

Yup, goes to show, I AM human after all.
And aren't we all - early or late?

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!

Tunnel Vision

Going back to St. Albans after a great Blue Mondy Laughter Session in Central London I was thinking of all the different things that have been going on this morning - in particular on the train to London, I just couldn't help smiling.

It has been a great morning and honestly, every morning is although this one was slightly different in its content.

This smiling-thing all went down while I was waiting for the train at St. Pancras...

Until I heard the announcement that any suspisciously behaving people would be apprehended for questioning... I thought I'd better stop smiling - and started giggling instead.

So what was so 'all that' about going to London on the train?

Nothing much, except a few notes taken!

Tunnel vision, good people, is not a requirement to move through the tunnels between the stations although it seems people going through these tunnels adapt to this way of viewing the world. No smile, no frown, no connection - just plain straght and forward directed gazes that look empty and meaningless - I wish they were... empty and meaningless.

The crammed Victoria Line rolled by towards my Oxford Circus destination - once - twice...

As I watched the fresh perms squashed against the tube windows roll by together with crinkled suit jackets and unjolly faces, I started wondering.

I politely raised my question question to the train-waiting-group I was enjoying the quiet waiting time with. Asking if anyone was regular and thereby would know how many trains on average it would take before we would get on one. A few shrugs, a couple of smiles, a comment or two saying 'we don't commute here daily' and a few LOOKS. The tube rolled by and then! The fourth train and luck struck.

I couldn't help grinning - no one got it, I just grinned on...

It is Blue Monday today but does it matter?

I was on my way to meet a group that didn't care much that today is a day for the blues because we were all set up for a laugh and by golly! We had a GREAT laugh - right there, by Oxford Circus Tube Station we did milkshakes and mental flossing along with lawnmower and meter laughs - all in a good days' work!

Even if only a few shared a shy smile - it is always worth wearing yours!
Even on the tube!
Especially on the tube!

Language

Communication is all we do - non-stop! [exclaiming with a matter-of-fact face expression and a double-hand gesture]

Years ago body language used to be a large part of our communication but nowadays where so much talk is being done on messaging each other via electronic devices and the intention of the message is sometimes lost because the expression is missed, both gesture-wise and intonationally. [shrugging shoulders with a grimassing face and a half-intended 'hmpfh']

Funny how sunchronicity works its magic in so many ways because language seems to be up in the air. I noted that while writing this blog post and my inspirational connection, Mark Thompson (lots of people could learn lots from Mark, I'm sure - kudos to him and his work), is on the same path of commenting or pondering on language. [nodding in agreement and validating the comment with a better-knowing smile]

The time I've spent trying to get my point across in a text message because the true meaning has been lost in lack of expression is not worth measuring. It is worth mentioning that not everyone understands smiley faces, internet slang and urban abbreviations - all the little language flowers that supposedly should help anyone get their point across. [pondering while raising eyebrows and upward-turning eyes, revisiting past situations in quiet resignation to the thought]

And this is where it becomes interesting because if the message is lost in un-understandable shortening and pictures no one gets then perhaps it's time to get the phone off the hook [saying grinningly with the knowledge that this expression makes sense to people who knows the old-type hook-hanging phones from past centuries], and make the call instead of continously trying to explain the intension and ending up in either upsets, dismay, anger or other negatively loaded emotions and sensations.

Let's face it, when the people we try to communicate with start getting humpy and cranky because of miscommunication it has a reciprocal effect. This leads to even more language burps... [tutting whilst shaking head with a smile]

Proper talk and the refreshment of body language can save relationships - if not lives in some cases. But we are often tied up in our online virtual presence instead of facing real life [sighing heartfelt with the realisation of the truth in this statement]

Even when we do communicate person-to-person sometimes conflicts occur - that is kind of a normal thing when people with different background, opinions, experience etc. come together... Who is the bigger person? Let it go - I believe I mentioned that a couple of times last week [cranking the face in an attempt to think of something original with the fingers hovering over the keys trying to figure out if there is life in those plastic buttons]

Communication is essential - and so is language often. However, conflicts and disagreements can be solved more easily when sharing a smile and a laugh - and even when speaking Gibberish! The language of nonsense is a powerful solvent and has been known to improve relationships and get fun back into work and life in general! [agreeing with the statement by raising thumbs from the keyboard with an acknowledging gesture]

Bring back body language and intonation and real personal communication!

And if this is not an option, then learn how to soften your expression, and your interpretation in particular. Interpretation of other people's comments, adding our own meaning to what is being said, can be the root of all misdiagnosed intentions and communicative trouble! [sighing and considering the fact that this has happened in real life on so many occasions I have lost track]

Laughter makes us omni-lingual!

Bring back laughter and joy!

NOW!

Love grows naturally from anything that is light and bright!

What a difference a year makes!

Looking back over the year 2013 I am bewondered by all the amazingness that has happened in my life and in the lives of the ones I have been blesssingly connected with - either personally or professionally.

Although, having said that, the professional connections in so many ways are personal, too - it kinda comes with the work that I love so much and feel so truly blessed being able to conduct full-time.

You are all my people.

Yeah, it seems 'blessed' is a red thread through my year...

But life was and is ALWAYS a blessing - even when it comes in great disguises as challenges and hardship. As long as there is life - there is hope for the dreams we visualise in our mind's eye.

So what happened in 2013?

Hm. Where to begin...

• This is the first full year of running Laughter Yoga Teacher Training and I love it, I love the impact this amazing way of being has on everyone it touches
• Dr. Madan Kataria agreed to be summoned for the 2014 Laughter Festival which includes an Advanced Training Day for Laughter Yoga Professionals around the UK and beyond
• Unfolding business relationships and development of great new courses - a great year for laughter
• It was also a challenging year as it has been for many small businesses but as a true laughter spirit no challenge is too big and UnitedMind pulled through thanks to lots of enthusiasm and will power plus action and great support
• Radio, TV and news press mentions and appearances
• Mummy Mikkelsen came to visit
• Friends are the wonderful base for any life in both directions
• Two of my besties got married
• The year my little girl turned 18
• And with 18 came a drivers licence and a car
• My little girl, now 18 years old, received two university offers and one interview for early 2014
• 30th March was the official first date and love flourished into free flowing life
• 25th December - engaged - with a ring and a wonderful man!

So the year is not just about bling and growing business - all the things that come from putting your life at stake and make a stand for what you believe and what you dream are just things, but the true blessing and the true magic lies in the feelings, the sensations, the emotions all of this creates in you and in the people who are touched by your miracle of being.

On that note I wish you a very happy New Year with great health, love - and all of it in abundance!