The Silent Giggle

It sounds kind of eerie, the silent giggle as I like to call it, but it is incredibly effective. What is it? It’s my favorite tool to pull out of my arsenal when I’m having a bad day or when I just want to really plant a positive seed. Actually I really like to use it as much as possible.
So what is the mysterious silent giggle? Exactly what it sounds like. I teach this one regularly in my workshops. It’s very easy, but does require a bit of practice so you don’t come off as a raving lunatic at times. Simply put the silent giggle is that tickle of joy or that funny joke or silly song that you keep in the back of your mind. You just don’t outwardly laugh. Keep your laughter inside, but allow the joy to flow through your eyes and voice without laughing. Sometimes when we practice this in my classes, I do admit that some of my students come off a looking a bit deranged, which is hysterical and really great for a Laughter Yoga class, but to truly hone in on the benefits of this technique you really need to be able to use it publically. You can always hear a smile through the phone. Go on practice it. You can literally hear the smile in some ones voice. Now just remember the silent giggle of joy. That really amps up your phone calls and messages. It is amazing how people will respond to the sound of your voice when you use this technique. Feel free to try this out by recording yourself saying the same message once normally, once with a smile and then again with the silent giggle. You can notice an immediate difference! It had made many opportunities available for me that I never knew existed. This sis because the joy spills out and people are just drawn to you. Another great way to use the silent giggle in a public or one on one meeting is to just remember to hold on to your thought that make s you giggle. Don’t let it go. You will express absolute joy with your eyes and yet again people are drawn to you. I can’t tell you how this has opened doors for me as well. It’s as if the whole world is in on your secret. Individuals open doors, give you parking spaces, offer you free coffee and the list goes on to even further things to such as offering of jobs and the like. The trick to it is to be sincere with your level of joy from the silent giggle. Don’t force it and don’t come off as if you are laughing at anyone. Just BE in that place of joy that comes from the giggle and know that you are planting a positive seed.
What are the Laughter Yoga benefits from this if you are not outwardly laughing? I still believe that this technique can reap numerous benefits, a boost in your self-esteem and ease from stress for starters. Also, you may cause overflowing joy in another and there may at some point be some genuine outward laughter as well. At the very least you will cause yourself to just feel good, but more than likely it will spread out to those around you as well.

Laughing when it isn't funny

As a Laughter Yoga leader I am often presented with the question of “what if it just isn’t funny?” There are many times in our lives when nothing is funny. Everything thing has turned upside down, we experience grief, are bogged down with life circumstances, are sick or just simply forget to have a moment of enjoyment. It’s easy enough for this to happen to all of us. It’s called LIFE.

I have great news for those of you that suddenly forget to find a moment in your life to laugh. You don’t have to find anything funny to enjoy a hearty laugh. That’s right. You can still laugh for no reason. Why do this you ask? By allowing yourself a chance to experience laughter in the face of everything that life offers you, you allow yourself an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and those around you. You allow yourself a break or a mini vacation rather from whatever challenges you may be facing at the moment.
How is this possible? Scientific research has found that the body does not know the difference between real and fake laughter. Fake it! I have many times found myself doing this. Sometimes the whole session is fake, but often I am able to start genuine laughter after faking it because I simply get tickled at myself.

Sometimes it is just too hard to try and yes, there have been times that I faked it when I felt terrible and even started to cry. That’s ok too. Keep trying and you can learn to get a good laugh in. Find someone willing to laugh with you or watch funny videos. YouTube has many things to choose from for a quick fix to help you get started. You may need to practice a bit and that’s fine. Lock yourself in the bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror and start fake laughing. Usually just the thought of someone accidently hearing me is enough for me to get giggling. Remember to take a basic breath in through the nose and out through the mouth during the rest periods of laughing to ensure proper oxygenation.

So, back to the whole idea that the body doesn’t know the difference between real and fake laughter, your amazing body will still produce all the movements in a fake laugh that it will in a real laugh. These abdominal movements cause a massage of the internal organs and your heart rate will still rise with the activity. Your body will also still release the same hormones during fake laughter as well. Some of these include endorphins which aid in pain management and dopamine, the feel good chemical.

Stress relief and relaxation also occur after a good laughing session. Allow yourself the opportunity to reap these health benefits and more by really trying to get in a laugh when you know that you need it, especially when you are to a point that it seems impossible to even try. This is probably when you need laughter the most. So go ahead and grab a mirror and find a special spot to let yourself loose. Nothing has to be funny at all. Just practice and you will discover the powerful ability your body has to cope, rejuvenate and enliven itself.

Who says raw snacks can't be easy and fun?

I was in the mood for a little snack, but really didn't want to take the time to whip up anything too fancy like a cake or pie. I needed something NOW. So I made this plate of goodies to share. Very quick & easy. Most importantly, it was delicious!

First I made the banana sandwich cookies which are nothing but banana slices with raw almond butter sandwiched between the slices. That's easy enough and always a crowd pleaser.

Next I got creative with some leftovers and made pear "fries" and Strawberry Raspberry "Ketchup". To make the "ketchup" I blended one large handful of strawberries, about 1/3 cup raspberries, 1/3 cup young coconut meat, 4 brazil nuts and a squirt of agave nectar. It was delicious, but I imagine that you could get creative & make any kind of fruity sauce using some red berries and it would be wonderful. I was just using up leftovers and had no idea that it would turn out so delicious. Asian pear slices were used for the "fries."

I must warn you that this is a great snack and I have had to make it repeatedly upon request for several days now.

After months of watching videos and reading up on spring water,I finally had the opportunity to gather fresh spring water this past weekend! I found this spring located on findaspring.com. I was so excited to be in the area that I had to go at the first opportunity.

It seems that there was quite a following for Mt. Vernon Springs in the days before the Great Depression. At one point this healing spring hosted a hotel for individuals to come and use the spring waters for health benefits. I plan on doing further research on this spring and will be adding my findings here as soon as I can.

I found the spring to be very well maintained and easy to locate and the water was fantastic. I became obsessed at soon as I tasted it and believe it to be well worth the journey. There were papers posted with the findings of recent testing on that spring waters that deemed them as safe drinking waters so I did not worry about testing them myself as I have met other individuals that have gathered here previously. Also, I found out that many locals also regularly consume from this spring as well.



Health and Beauty are regular hot spots for avid spring water drinkers. Delicious!


This is a flyer posted from the old hotel. There is a bit of a glare, but you can still read it. I found this to be so fascinating!



This is the bridge that joined the hotel and the springs. It is the only thing remaining other than the springs themselves, which are in a shelter and have a couple of picnic tables close by.

More information on Mt Vernon Springs can be found at: http://www.fomvs.org/

I realize now that gathering spring water has become a new obsession for me. I spent the rest of the weekend researching more springs that I plan on visiting and sharing information about. It seems that my hometown is very close to several spings. A few of them were well known for their medicinal and healing waters and even shipped out bottled spring water from the springs back in their thriving days. The Great Depression really took its toll on these health destinations and now they are not very well known anymore. Hotels closed, burned down, etc. It seems that to only a few, all this information was lost. I seek to change that and I would like to thank Daniel Vitalis for his endless research and education on locating springs and the benefits of drinking pure water. Spending time with these glorious waters resonates deep within me and I know that I will be doing this for years to come.

Pomegranate Cranberry Salad & Pumpkin Pie

I thought I'd share a few of the Thanksgiving goodies that I whipped up this year. Actually, these were my favorite two, the absolute best being the raw pumpkin pie! I can not stress enough how wonderful this pie really is. It is the best pumpkin pie recipe I've ever had. Better than anything I ever ate cooked and I only wish I could take credit for the recipe. However, I can't, but I can give a darn good review and if you want to try it out, I can tell you where the recipe is! (I never publish recipes that are not my own out of respect for the creator - just my little quirk.) This pie is so creamy and so fulfilling that you will never, and I mean NEVER want to use another recipe for punmpkin pie again. It is perfect to prepare for your non-raw friends. Trust me, they will never know the difference. I've done it many times. It's simply amazing. For more information on this recipe contact the creator, Jackie Graff or Gideon Graff at http://www.sproutrawfood.org/. I am not sure which of their recipe books this creation will be found in, but trust me you will love it!

I've never been a big fan of cranberry anything when it comes to the seasonal salads. Especially not the canned jellied stuff. I remember that I always passed it up as a child. This year I decided to tackle the cranberry salad for myself and put my own spin on it. It turned out much better than I expected. In fact, I loved it and wanted to share the recipe.

Pomegranate Cranberry Salad
- 1 & a half cups of fresh chopped cranberries
- 1 cup of pomegranate seeds
- 1 orange peeled & chopped
- 6 apricots chopped
- agave or honey to taste


Very simple with layers of flavor. I used a local raw honey that trully made this dish. The tartness of the cranberries marries well with the pomegranate, but the true rockstar of this dish was the apricots. I added them on a whim and I'm so glad I did.


Enjoy!

Persimmon Pudding!

Ok, I obviously made this recipe awhile back based on the picture - Halloween! However, I really wanted to share this delicious recipe before all the persimmons are gone! Bare with me because nothing will be exact because I tend to not measure when I'm creating in the kitchen. I just taste and play. If you are willing to experiment I promise that you will be pleasantly surprised. This is just such a yummy treat.

I used:

- about a cup of persimmon puree

- the meat of 2 young Thai coconuts

- and about 1/2 cup of either coconut water or brazil nut milk - I've done it both ways

- about a half to one teaspoon each of cinnamon, tumeric and ginger (1 inch of fresh ginger root)

- 1 Tbs of agave nectar

I topped off the pudding with hemp seeds for an very seasonal & delicious treat.

Sorry that this is so breif and not very informative but I've been promising to share this for awhile so it's kinda a quick treat. Feel free to experiment and enjoy!

I love you!