Posts Tagged ‘laughter therapy’
« Older Entries |old garden, new tricks
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
So April is here. And with it came more snow. Friday, April 1st, was April Fools’ Day. And fools we all were indeed, waking up to 6″ of fresh snow here in southern New Hampshire.
Yes, more snow. Still. Again. Arrrrrrggggg….
I woke up on Friday and was just, plain bummed. Even though the snow was super sticky and looked rather beautiful, I was mentally done.
In haste and desperation, I made my April banner. Snow covering the lillies in our front flower garden. Proclaiming how silly all this snow will seem in 30 days.
And it is silly!
Because here it is, 2 days later, and the snow is gone! Melted! Ba-bye! This weekend it has been really windy again, but the temps reached 50°F both yesterday and today. And with the melting and warm temps, Spring triumphs once again.
The croci are up! In the backyard, no less. Last year I had a few out back, and this year they have spread. Coming right up out of the moss under the maple in our backyard.
It’s funny how a flower so delicate can be so hardy, being the first to emerge after a long, long, long Winter.
And even better, for the very first time since I planted my croci 4 years ago, I finally have a bloom out front where I originally planted my bulbs!
Ha! It’s the little things that can make your whole outlook improve in an instant. All it took was seeing that wonderful, tiny surprise, and I felt victorious.
So a new April banner is up. Redo! And, yes, you can teach an old garden new tricks.
Tags: crocus, gardening, gratitude, laughter therapy, spring, winter hibernation
Posted in The Growing Season | 1 Comment »
goodbye winter
Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Hello! I know my posts have been infrequent lately. I have been consumed with spending time sleeping and running and devoting myself to wellness over the past month.
Winter just seemed like the right time to make wellness a priority in my life. I am a work in progress, as we all are. I have written rather extensively about my propensity for working a lot and getting caught up in a vicious cycle of working late and staying up late and focusing outwardly. I have come to realize that I am very good at avoiding being present in my body. Avoiding uncomfortable feelings. Running away from anxiety.
But where is it getting me? Nowhere, really. It’s a cycle that just goes and goes and doesn’t lend itself to progress or nurturing.
And what I have come to understand is that nurturing is tough work. But good work—the real work. We need to nurture ourselves. And I need to nurture me, foster goodness and love in ME. Especially if I plan to become a parent.
This discovery seems so simple, and yet it has taken me a long while to really wrap my head around it. Every day is a new opportunity to be good to myself. Every day I owe it to myself to commit to being gentle to my body and mind. Nourishing. Forgiving. Urgent. Loving. Progressive. Patient. Nudging.
It’s a dance. A delicate balance.
And not every day goes smoothly. But I am doing the work. My hope is that it gets easier with practice, and that my good habits become second nature.
I can so easily be thrown off course by a bad work day, a conversation, a wayward feeling, a wave of anxiety or doubt. But I am learning to embrace these sometimes uncomfortable, ambivalent feelings. To exist in total, utter shades of gray. It’s been difficult, and yet, transformative.
It’s not this gigantic epiphany, more of a building. A resonance of how the next chapters of my life are meant to unfold. And while this learning has been ongoing over the last several months, the clarity really came during Winter. Winter allowed me to slow down and focus. And process. And heal. And dream.
So, goodbye Winter. You have been so good to me this year. I am ever so grateful for all that you have given me and what I am learning because of this time.
To cap it all off, today/tonight I am babysitting my 18-month old nephew. It was such a wonderful day hanging out with the bug. He brings me such raw joy, it is amazing.
Playing with a finger puppets Old MacDonald Had a Farm book.
Reading a baby sign language book
Just about nap time. Ready to snuggle.
If you are ever in need of renewal or affirmation, hang out with a toddler. It helps. My nephew is simply delightful. Happy, inquisitive, peaceful… such a healthy reminder of what we are all capable of and striving for.
Tags: gratitude, laughter therapy, winter
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »
yeah for aloe!
Monday, March 7th, 2011
I am a huge fan of aloe plants. I have 8 of them, and most have grown from parent/baby aloe plants.
Aloe is very easy to grow because it requires very little water. Give aloe some generous sun, and be sure to root the plants deep in soil (they are top-heavy and will vomit themselves right out of their pots if not buried deep enough in soil).
We use aloe for all things skin-ailing. Got dry skin? Use the “gel” from aloe. Got a blemish or scrape or sore? Aloe to the rescue. Aloe works wonders.
And because it is such a forgiving, easy-to-grow plant, it’s very convenient to keep aloe on hand. And given the right conditions, it will grow babies. Like mad.
Aloe LOVES to reproduce.
My oldest aloe plant, however, was a stalwart. I had had this particular aloe plant for 8 years and it was doing its own slow growth thing. But then I started feeding it leftover coffee. Mostly for fun, but also because I had read that feeding plants leftover coffee was good for their soil ecosystems.
And watch out.
Last January I posted that my very old aloe finally had babies.
It took me a long while to realize the connection between coffee feedings and reproductive growth. And since January 2010, I have dumped many an extra cup of coffee on my grandma aloe plant.
Fast forward to present day March 2011:
Yikes.
The aloe are multiplying.
Tags: gratitude, house plants, laughter therapy, winter
Posted in The Growing Season | No Comments »
smack dab in the middle of winter
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Helllloooo from cold and snowy New England! There really is not much to report, sadly. Or, I suppose, not really sadly? It’s pretty much a winter homeostasis here. The work week is pretty much the usual work week. I get up and go to work and do my thing. I come home and I go for a hearty run on the treadmill. I eat dinner and hang out for a bit. And then I obediently head off to bed, even if what I really want to do is stay up late poking around on the computer.
I am trying very hard to establish and keep healthier, more holistic habits for myself in 2011. And that means lots of exercise, eating well, and making a conscious effort to get more sleep.
So far, so good. I am officially on Week 6 of my little renewal plan. Yeah, I started this re-commitment back in December for good measure. It’s pretty boring, I won’t lie. It’s a whole lotta routine. But I have to say, I forgot how much I like this routine. I used to be so good at it, but I had fallen out of practice. But, much like riding a bike, I picked it all right back up!
And I am feeling so much BETTER. I am sleeping pretty well. I wake up fairly easily. I have increasing amounts of energy each day.
And, get this… I am having these wonderful moments of pure, unabashed joy. Yeah. In the middle of winter. Hibernation time. Sometimes it’s when I am in the car driving to work. Sometimes it’s when I am huddled in my cube. Sometimes it’s right after I get off the treadmill and I’m stretching in the shower. Make no mistake, I get these momentary bubbles of real joy. Quite near bliss.
I have to think it has everything to do with exercising and sleeping more. My body craves these two things. More and more. Even if I am super tired and cranky after work and I don’t want to run. I do. I throw on my running clothes and I go.
And I feel so much better after.
In other news, it’s snowing outside right now. Another 4–8″ of snow due to fall overnight. I have to get myself off to bed so that I can wake up and shovel out before work.
And so it goes…
Tags: alone time, exercise, gratitude, laughter therapy, running, treadmill, winter, winter hibernation
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »
cross-country skiing
Monday, January 17th, 2011
The weather this weekend in southern New Hampshire was awesome. Cold but not brutally freezing. Instead it was clear and sunny and bright. Around 27°F. And with 20″ of fresh snow on the ground, it was finally time to set out and go cross-country skiing!
We live about a three-minute-walk away from a vast network of trails. It’s pretty fantastic to walk out the front door with our skiis and get going.
Craig and I bought skiis years ago at a local ski-swap. We scored a great deal and are so happy we made the small investment. Cross-country skiing may well be the most relaxing and yet vigorous winter workout.
You find yourself balancing in whole new ways, using muscles you forgot you had, and working up quite a sweat even though you aren’t huffing and puffing. Cross-country skiing is a total body workout where you are able to really feel present. You tend to forget that your heart is pounding and that you’re actually exercising. Perfect!
Anywhere you can find woods or a trail blanketed with snow, you can strap on your skiis and go. One of our favorite spots is a rarely-used rail bed near our house.
We also frequent trails along golf courses.
But my favorite place will always be in the woods, under the canopy of snowy trees. That is where I feel most alive. The surroundings are ethereal and breathtaking. This weekend we followed a trail along the Merrimack River, and we saw 3 bald eagles soaring overhead.
Am I sore today after 2 days of cross-country skiing in a row? Absolutely. It kind of hurts a little when I laugh. But that’s just my body waking up in winter. New activities are great to shake things up and keep winter interesting!
Tags: alone time, cross-country skiing, exercise, gratitude, laughter therapy, winter
Posted in Let's Get Physical | No Comments »