Thursday, July 31, 2014

THAT'S RIDICULOUS!

"Carol," this lady demanded, "your skin looks so great!  What's your secret?"

"Sun screen," I answered.

"Oh, please!" she snapped.  "That's ridiculous!"

OOOkay…

And then there was the guy standing in front of his dying plants, shaking his head forlornly.

"Carol," he asked, "your plants look so great.  What's your secret?"

"I water them every day," I answered.

"Oh, please," he said rolling his eyes, "that's ridiculous!"



What is the problem with this picture?
Was the solution too easy?

Do we need it to be complicated to believe?

What do ya say?
Does this one make sense to you?




CLICK BELOW FOR ANOTHER CHANCE TO LAUGH WITH US AND LEARN… AS THE HUMAN DANCE PLAYERS HELP YOU FIND YOUR INNER ALLY...

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING - GIVE IT A REST!


Isn't it interesting how we snigger at farts and other natural impulses we've been taught to censor…

Ever notice how those very 'shoulds and should nots' have a tendency to make us giggle?  Ever been in an elevator when someone lets loose with a stinker?  Can you keep a straight face?

How many of these natural responses have we been taught to cut off and what's the cost to us? 

We are obviously not talking about doing harm to ourselves or others, but let's face it, who ever died from a fart?





DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           
An opportunity to experiment with some fun
ideas...

Make a list of all the 'not supposed tos' you've been taught.
Here are some possibles:

          Not supposed to…

          Say what you think.
          Laugh out loud.
          Dress inappropriately.
          Talk too loud.
          Swear.
          Show off.
          Be silly.
          Moan and groan.
         
See if you can come up with 10 of your own…

Now imagine doing at least one a day!

What happens?

Might this just possibly lower stress… and put a smile on your face?



CLICK BELOW FOR ANOTHER CHANCE TO LAUGH WITH US AND LEARN…




Tuesday, July 29, 2014

#@%!!! YES IT DOES HELP!


I was setting my alarm clock and it went off… OK, the time I was setting it for and the current time were…opps! … exactly the same…

The noise was really shocking - I screamed and then I laughed and then I noticed that my headache disappeared…

Hmmm…

We have long known that laughter releases endorphins that reduce our experience of pain, but did you know that new research seems to indicate that a good creative cuss word can do the same thing?  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-swear/



What do ya say?

Interested in trying this experiment?


CLICK BELOW FOR ANOTHER CHANCE TO LAUGH WITH US AND LEARN…



Sunday, July 27, 2014

Join us on YOUTUBE …

MEET YOUR INNER BFF!


CLICK BELOW FOR ANOTHER CHANCE TO LAUGH WITH US AND LEARN… 



Friday, July 25, 2014

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING - HUMAN DUALITY

Being human includes being perfect/imperfect, graceful/clumsy, poised/awkward, silly…

It is when we demand that we only exist on one side of this scale that we traumatize ourselves.

Our societies have confused our natural duality by airbrushing out one whole side of who we are!

By going along with this contrivance we become truly off balance!



  
DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           
An opportunity to experiment with some fun
ideas...

OWNING YOUR SHADOW

Make a list of all the things you are supposed to be.

Now own these things by saying:  "I am …" and include one of these attributes.

So, you might say: "I am smart." "I am careful."  "I am kind." 
Take your time and go through your entire list.
How does it feel to say these things about yourself?

For part two of this experiment go back to your original list and this time make the "I am" sentences with the exact opposite of each of the attributes.

So, you might say:  "I am stupid."  "I am careless."  "I am mean."
How does it feel to say these things?

Finally, make sentences combining both sides of the equation.

So, you might say:  "I am smart and stupid."  "I am careful and careless."  "I am kind and mean."
What happens as you experiment with owning all of these traits?  What do you feel?






CLICK THE LINK BELOW ~ SHARE A SMILE AND A SONG AND JOIN US THIS COMING SUNDAY FOR EPISODE VIII!




Thursday, July 24, 2014

DO YOU WANNA DANCE?

Remember being a teenager and feeling awkward about so many things? 

Remember going to dances and praying that you got asked to dance… and dreading making a fool of yourself if you did?



Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Is it finally okay to be silly, happy, awkward, human?

Think about what it would feel like if you decided that you really were okay…

What do ya say?
Maybe it's time to really dance?



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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

SERIOUSLY SPEAKING - AND WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?

As we've been noticing, how we define ourselves is a function of many factors including family and community beliefs.

However, when these beliefs are detrimental to our health and well being perhaps it is time to let them go.

One of our 80+ year old friends told us about meeting a new arrival to her retirement community.

"So," she asked the newbie, "and what brought you here?"

"I came here to die," the newcomer stated.

"That," our wise friend informed her, "is the stupidest thing I ever heard!"





DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           
An opportunity to experiment with some fun
ideas...

Imagine that you could change some of the personal attitudes you've been carting around with you...

WHICH ONES WOULD YOU CHANGE?

* Make a list - this might include rules about who you are 'supposed' to be and how you 'should' act.

* What feelings come to you when you think about changing these things?  These feelings might range anywhere from joy to fear.

* Now imagine yourself making these changes.  Pay attention to your breathing.  What happens?

* Do a dress rehearsal.  Take one of these 'shifts' and actually try it out for a day.  Do you experience barriers to trying this?  What are they?  Can you identify where the 'noise' comes from?

*Finally, give yourself permission to throw off some of the unnecessary baggage that you've been carrying.  
How does it feel?






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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

OOO LA LA

So this lady came to our table to say hello and give a gift to a gentleman sitting with us.  It was a tiny bejeweled Eiffel Tower.  

She was thanking him for some introductions to people on her recent trip to Paris…

No big deal right?

Except the lady was in her 80's and it was her first trip ever out of her native country…

Oh, yeah, and she told us all that her favorite part was the Folies Bergere …


"It wasn't that they were all naked," she informed us adamantly.

"It was how beautifully they decorated their bodies with all that glitter and spangles!"

So, who said getting old had to be terrible?


What do ya say?
Attitude is everything, right?



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Thursday, July 17, 2014

BEDTIME STORIES

Here's another one we tend to take for granted about positioning - Remember that story about the Grasshopper and the Ant?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper

Most of us grew up hearing a version of it as we drifted off to sleep - thereby ingesting the message in that semi hypnotic state…

And really what was the message? 
That hard work was necessary for survival

The lazy, fun loving grasshopper was doomed to suffer and those miserable ants who were not having fun would get through the winter…


Now it's true that the top note of this fable was about working hard to make it in the world, but think about the secondary message.  Not only was having fun dangerous, but it was totally divorced from survival. 

Work or fun.  You could have a choice. 
Backbreaking work = survival.  Fun = starvation…  Hmmm…

No wonder so many of us don't think of work as fun…

What do ya say?
Did this one get to you?


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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

WHAT DETERMINES WHERE WE STAND…

AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO CHANGE OUR POSITION?

A lot of the time we are not even aware that we have positioned ourselves in a certain way - that our beliefs about who we are and how we should react to the world and people around us are not etched in stone, and that we can shift and change that position. 

Although our points of reference have been conditioned by the beliefs of our parents and other influential people in our lives - this is pretty natural - what we often lose sight of is that we can choose to 're-locate' ourselves.

Think about some of the beliefs you have about who you are.  How many of these beliefs do you think are actually your intrinsic nature, and how many do you think have to do with the 'positions' you have bought into?





DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           
An opportunity to experiment with some fun
ideas...

HERE'S A FUN EXPERIMENT TO TRY ~

Imagine that you are a professional portrait photographer.
Take a photograph of yourself.

This is a magic photo which shows not only an image, but also your beliefs about yourself, your beliefs about your significance in the world and beliefs about your connections to others…

What do you think about who you are, how you look, what others think of you, what you are 'supposed' to do in your life.  Do you see yourself as beautiful?  Smart?  Funny?  Loved?  Worthy of love?  What words would you use to label this portrait of yourself?

Now as the photographer, change things! 

Stand at a different location, use different lenses and filters. 
Create a different image of the same human…
Now re-label the image.  What words describe this new creation? 

See how many shifts you can create and how many different ways you can see yourself…





CLICK THE LINK BELOW ~ SHARE A SMILE AND A SONG
 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

  

This great quote, by American photographer and environmentalist, Ansel Adams doesn't just pertain to taking pictures, but also to life in general. 



To a large extent, where we position ourselves in life determines what we see and how we feel.

If we look at someone else's behavior towards us as a reflection on us we are standing in a very precarious position!

If we look at things that go wrong as part of an ongoing pattern in our life, we will miss the rest of the picture!

If we see life as limited and dangerous, we create a picture that shows danger and limitations! 

What do ya say?
Where do you position yourself?



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Sunday, July 13, 2014

JOIN US ON YOUTUBE


CLICK THE LINK BELOW ~ SHARE A SMILE AND HUM ALONG WITH US …