11 Refreshing Ways to Find Your Own Sanctuary

25 June 2008 525 views 9 Comments Print This Post Email This Post Home »Growth

Photo Courtesy of Tostie14

This is Part II of an ongoing series - Find your own sanctuary.

Find your own Sanctuary Part 1 - With Nature focussed on spending time in nature, absorbing the beauty, the stillness, the calmness, the sounds at different times of the day to relax and rejuvenate.

Find your own sanctuary II is all about getting refreshed and re-energized in totally unexpected ways. Unexpected because we have not really seen them as a possible refreshment option. Unexpected because inspite of knowing that they work, we sometimes forget about them and lose out on some simple refreshment options.

11 Refreshing Ways to Find Your Own Sanctuary

1. Have fun with water.Splash water on your face, take a bath or shower to relieve tension, go for a swim, play with kids in water.

2. Use laughter therapy. Laugh and smile. Read comic books, watch your favourite comedy re-runs, share a joke, tickle your spouse.

3. Bring out the chef in you. Use food therapy. Not by eating - but by cooking. Treat your spouse with a day off. Use variety of vegetables, add a dash of spices, savour the flavour. Be creative. Create a recipe of your own.

4. Bring out those dusty photo albums. Get those photo albums, videos and letters. Go through them. Share your stories, pass comments and have a blast with your family along the way.

5. Meet the kid in you. Each of us is a kid at heart. Be that kid. Go to garden and swing, pick up your favourite sports and play to your hearts fill, forget about everything other than playing and having fun. Laugh, giggle and be silly.

6. Exercise. Put on your running shoes and go for a sprint, go to gym and work out for a while, take a yoga class, aerobic class - use your body in some form and exert it a bit. Give mind some rest.

7. Catch up with song, dance and movies. Listen to music, humm a song, dance to your favourite numbers. Catch up with your favourite movies and quote all dialogues as you know them by heart.

8. Be a friend. Call up good old friends and catch up with them, chat with your neighbours and be friend them, meet up with friends and spend time together.

9. Spend time with family. Take your spouse on a date, have a long walk and long long conversations. Take kids to parks and play with them. Spend time at home with family.

10. Take a break from technology. Unplug your phone, have a laptop/internet free day. Spend some time with yourself. Spoil yourself, treat yourself, pamper yourself.

11. Do something you really enjoy. What are your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing the most? Go to sleep, read a book, play a game, go golfing, sking, dancing, cooking, trekking … do whatever you enjoy the most. Re-connect with your hobbies. Do something you really enjoy.

Stay tuned for Find your own sanctuary III - Within
More Articles on Growth

Sea Laughter

The idea: Some round stones from the sea or river over the tummy to stimulate natural Laughter.

Development: Take some midium-sized round stones and practice with them over your tummy. Each one with a different colour (paint if you like) and feel the sensations of your Laughter depending of the weight and colour.

Also, you can take smaller stones and put it over your face. The effect is magic! You will see flying and flowing in the River of Laughter.

Put smoothy tiny stones over your brow, cheeks, point of the nose (my favoutite laughter).

Tell me your experience.

Sure you will enjoy with the energy of Laughter Sea!

Laugh with the clouds

Last Spring, in the beauty village of Folgoso de la Ribera (Leon , Spain) I walked through the giant trees and the singing meadows of this magic place and then I lay over the grass.

The wide deep blue sky front my eyes and then I laughed and laughed like a bird, like a breeze, like a sun ray and Heaven and Earth flowed from my heart as if the first instant of Life Universe start in my simple ha he hi hu and all was just and all was true... and all IS love.

Stick a Neuron in Your Head and Laugh!

Dr. Ellen Weber August 31, 2006

Has work lost its luster for you? Are you bored by small talk … sorry jokes … and repeated redneck opinions of a few recycled workers around you from 9 to 5? Then stick a new neuron in your day and laugh! If nothing else you’ll create a buzz for a new and zesty topic.

The human brain creates new neuron pathways when you try something new… change one routine … which can be as insignificant as driving a new route to work … or laugh at anything or everything you do. Get others laughing too. It’s the opposite of boredom which is brought on by negativity, cynicism or pessimism.

It’s also the enemy of whining or blaming others at work….

Einstein and other geniuses claimed to enjoy the unrealistic aspirations of an optimist … daily… and that triggered their brains in directions of success. It spreads like wildfire when it sparks new neurons in others. Try these laughter tips for the workplace.

Start by modeling one positive behavior in a humorous way and stay with that until you see it take root and build new neuron pathways in one person beyond yourself. As soon as one other person jumps in you have already doubled what I call laughter-neuron effect. Do the math and you’ll see how fast new neuron pathways can blitz new business benefits at your firm.

Whenever we Laugh – especially at ourselves … everything around us lightens up and complex projects suddenly seem doable! We also build new neuron pathways for fun … and if you’re wondering how it works … just watch how it prospers the person with most wit and wisdom where you work.

Humor’s good for business because it release enzymes into the brain and opens new spaces for learning, giving and for enjoying what you do. It’s also good for expansion … because people gravitate to humorous people, and research shows they like to do business with people who can laugh at themselves. New research also links humor to health, happiness and healing…. If people do better work when they laugh… and we can all build new neuron pathways with a bit more wit … what might add a few laughs to your workday!

New trends in Laughter Yoga

Filed under: Laughter Yoga Alone — Dr. Madan Kataria

Telephone Conference Laughter Clubs / Laughter Buddies
In India laughter clubs are held every day thereby helping people to reap enormous health benefits as they laugh regularly. But, in the Western countries laughter clubs happen just once a week leaving many wanting for more. Realizing their need for daily laughter, I devised certain techniques and exercises that would help people to laugh all by themselves.
The new concept of Laughter Yoga Alone is inspirational for those wanting to laugh daily and experience the healing power of laughter for both mental and physical wellness. It is especially beneficial for the old and the disabled and for those who find it difficult to go to a laughter club on a daily basis.

It will also help to generate more awareness about the clubs and the tremendous heath benefits of laughter as an exercise. It will encourage more and more people to join the clubs and practice these exercises for good health and well being.
In my search for different techniques to laugh alone at home, one of the most ingenious was to have ‘Laughter Buddies’ on the phone. It all started last year when Jackie Curran, a laughter teacher from Sydney, formed a telephone buddy with whom she laughed once every week. She found it extremely uplifting and energizing. The concept proved to be very beneficial as laughter leaders all over the world picked up this practice.

The American Breakthrough
I was pleasantly surprised when our laughter leader Gaga from California started a telephone conference laughter session called a ‘Bridge line’, with nearly 20 - 30 people laughing every day at 9 a.m. California time for 20 minutes.
The experience was similar to being in a Laughter club. It caught on rapidly and they now have four laughter lines at 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wow!! Very good very good Yeah!!!!
Anyone interested in joining the Telephone Laughter Club please call 712-432-3900Access code is 6071292#

The Australian Laughter line
Inspired by the American success story Jackie, the laughter lawyer from Sydney wasted no time in setting up the first Australian Telephone Conference Laughter Club every Monday at 6 pm.
For joining the Australian Telephone Laughter Clubs please write to jackie@laughterlawyer.com.auTelephone: 180069266 and the access code is 6136488.
(They may ask you for your company’s name but you are required to only give your name)
Thank you both Jackie and Gaga and other laughter professors of California. You have created history and shown a new direction to get more and more people laughing on a regular basis. This will help to generate more awareness about the benefits of laughter.
We want more and more readers to take the initiative to start with these telephone laughter clubs in other parts of the world. Is anybody listening?
Ha hah ah good luck.

(How To) Laugh On The Phone!

In the past decade, Laughter Yoga has spread throughout the world via laughter clubs, with groups meeting and laughing together in parks and many other venues. Laughter Yoga is now set to spread through a different medium: telephone wire... Few Laughter Clubs in the West meet everyday. Most meet only once a week, sometimes only once a month. I found that laughing on the phone is easy and can be done every day! Here is how.

Following my learning and experiences at the Byron Bay and Kerala Laughter Yoga Spiritual retreats, I have found it increasingly easy to laugh every day on my own. I use a combination of breathing with laughter, followed by free laughter, which, once I start, just comes easily as I relax my body.

My work as a lawyer regularly requires me to be in a serious frame of mind for hours. I therefore enjoy any excuse to laugh as a break from my serious work.

While laughing one morning, it occurred to me that an easy way of enjoying laughter with others would be to call some of my laughter club friends over the phone and we could have a good laugh together.

I tried it out and after a quick chat we just both started laughing. It was just as infectious as being together in a group laughing, and left both of us feeling happy. It was as good as being at laughter club, without having to leave home. I also had several laughter sessions with Dr. Kataria, and other members of the Laughter Yoga Team, while we were talking on Skype about matters relating laughter yoga international.

This new path to Laughter, will provide Laughter lovers with another channel to allow them to Laugh Without a Reason. We encourage people to enjoy Laughter Sessions with other Laughter lovers, the world over, while being seated at home or in the office, through the phone or the internet. Several people around the world are reporting very successful experiences to us about laughing on the phone and we would like to promote this idea. Many do not have a local laughter club that they can visit to laugh to their heart´s content every day. We are convinced that telephone laughter will be a great way to consolidate our worldwide laughter movement. In the future we can have a helpline for those who want to laugh just to feel good.

How it works

Here is how it works: call a friend and make sure that both of you have the willingness to laugh. Then, after a quick hello or a brief conversation connecting you with each other, just agree to start laughing at the same time as you would in laughter club. Then, just laugh. It is that simple. As in a regular laughter session, you can come up with any type of "phone" laughter exercises to create an excuse to laugh (e.g. gradient laughter, gibberish talking followed by laughter, talking a deep breath and holding the breath followed by laughter as you breathe out, express surprise laughing at receiving an imaginary very high bill, etc.). Your own creativity is the limit.

(...)

Many have found that http://www.skype.com/ was very useful (this is free internet telephony - although it only works if you have a high speed internet connection). They create a special "laughter" ID on skype, so that everybody knows that when they are online, they are looking for other people to laugh with.

by Jackie Curran, Australia

Telephone laughter Buddy

It is a common practice among the laughter club members, all over the world, to share a laugh with someone over the phone on a fixed day or time which is mutually convenient. The context is unconditional laughter without any reason.

As it is difficult to o a laughter club everyday as it may not be in your area this is a very innovative way of practicing laughter exercises and reaping all the benefits of laughter. Many a times there is a lack of motivation and one does not feel like laughing alone. To have someone on the phone lines at times like this will make the process interesting and inspiring.

The advantage of having a laughter buddy is that in case one is busy, the other person will remind one of laughing on the line. People were initially apprehensive about telephone buddy laughter as they thought that it encroached upon their privacy, comfort zone and was a nuisance. They had written it off even before trying it out. But life doesn’t work that way. If you laugh with someone and share a lighter moment, all the privacy issues of comfort zones and inconveniences will disappear against the benefits of laughter that you will receive.

Another economical option of doing laughter yoga is through Skype. This is popular free Internet telephone service and one can laugh with anyone anywhere in the word with the added facility of webcam. All you need is to download a messenger from www.Skype.com and have broadband Internet connection and a headphone.

Skype also has to telephone connection service where 10 to 20 people can log on to Skype messenger and laugh together.

This is a beautiful way of connecting with people around the world as we have laughter clubs in more than 55 countries now. It will provide an opportunity to develop international laughter connection.

We are launching telephone laughter body project very soon through our web site.

Dr. Kataria’s Laughter Yoga Diary 18-Jan-08