Link to my Cancer research page x

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/isles-booze-no-more

Kick up my bum to get laughing

Hey and hope everyone who reads my blog are well :)

I have been trying very hard to remember my laughter yoga exercises over the festive period but have to admit the mind has been elsewhere so I got up and gave my backside a kick :) so today I renewed another month to my laughter club for January, started the water challenge again and my gorgeous husband and myself are going sober for January for a fantastic cause Cancer Research which is very close to my heart.  Cancer needs its ass kicking as it has taken so many good people from me.  Anyways my hubby,s birthday is in January also so its a massive thing for him too to stick to the challenge x go team Isles-booze-no-more !

If you fancy donating please click on the linke below...a fiver is just a bottle of cheap plonk ;)

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/isles-booze-no-more

cheers guys

x

Christmas eve at work with fun and singing

I have been told by my laughter coach that this week is all about singing, playing, laughing and dancing.  Well today I have managed most of this.  I was working all day and it was he usual busy Christmas panic but I could not help myself...I was singing louder than I normally would, having a little jig around the workplace and generally happy...now most people who know me would see a stress head who just wanted to go home, not make the most of the day and basically frown throughout.  I can honestly say that it felt easy today to act childlike and enjoy work.  This laughter yoga has given me some hope that I can bring back the hidden happy person :)

Well time to watch a fantastic kids movie with my boys...have a lovely Christmas and will blogg real soon xx

why be serious when you can be silly :)

My crazy hubby

one of my crazy friends

taking myself seriously NOT :)

Feeling better and ready to rock this christmas

Yey finally feeling myself and ready to rock this christmas....last week was hard but did as much laughing as my lungs and the lurgy would allow.  I am feeling brighter and I genuinely feel like I am making progress and feeling more positive.  If during these stressful few weeks at work, I have not managed to loose the plot, then thats all good :)

 Just had a session with Maria and I have been given my next weeks homework on the laughter yoga front...lots of laughing, playing, singing and dancing :) sounds simple but lets face it we are all a little guilty the older we get, leaving the fun bit to the kids.  So the next few days I am going to make a massive effort to do a bit of all the above each and every day.  Even at work over the last busy days before christmas I intend on NOT getting stressed and using these fun techniques.

ho ho ho YAWNNN ha ha ha YAWNNN

Finally got a voice and can laugh again...well more of a laugh with a wheeze :)

I missed my ten minutes yesterday morning on the laughing conference call and boy did I miss it.  I woke up with a bad chest and could not talk very well never mind attempt to laugh so I thought there is no way I am missing Thursday.  This morning I could only manage a pathetic laugh so that I did not choke down the line at the others but learnt one very valuable lesson.  Just how much breathing one needs to laugh! hence the yawning every few minutes.   I would do a few hohoho,s hehehe YAWNNN hahaha hoho YAWNNN hehehehehe YAWNNN you get the drift.  So thats why Maria said it is all in the breathing.  Anyways, I feel happier to have done my ten minutes and now its to work to face the crowds of customers in panic for there christmas medication.  Gonna keep smiling and laughing the best I can xx Have a good Thursday guys xx

laughing with the lurgy

Morning all (sniff snook ahhh choooo)

Got up at 6am this morning...two cups of coffee...two cocodamol...an ibuprofen...a.sudafed...and a bowel of chocolate chip coated porridge later and I managed to get onto the phone by 7am for my laughter yoga x

How hard can It be I thought to laugh for ten minutes :O lets just say It cleared my chest after a massive coughing fit at 7.10am.  Worth it though as I missed it yesterday morning And I realised the difference in how it makes me feel :)

Well its time to get ready and try to cope with one of our busiest weeks of the year in the pharmacy...but I am going to try my best to keep smiling through it.

speak soon

Amanda xx

its feeling a little easier this laughing thing

Not much to say about today really...starting to get the Lurgy but keeping the laughter going.  In the car with my lovely son Alex and I was actually finding laughter much more natural and easier.  The same happened last night whilst waiting in the car for Alex to come out of the cinema.  I was watching YouTube clips and I was in hysterics.  Now before laughter yoga don't get me wrong I laughed but it feels so much more natural and nicer now some how.

Its chill time now and a nice glass or two of southern comfort to treat this lurgy.  Hoping it goes away for my Monday morning laughter session 😄

xx Amanda xx

Christmas work stress and laughing

Well what can I say but Christmas brings me a whole month of sheer madness and stress at work.  The panic of people is unbelievable to man and stress levels would be through the roof by now.  I am not saying I ain't feeling the stress at the moment but I do feel physically different.  I am having a moan and groan like the best of them but I am not feeling the same as I usually would.  Stress gives me muscular chest pain and I feel it in my neck and shoulders.  I also shallow breath and very quickly go into melt down but things feel so much easier.  I have not had the same levels of aches and pains and have actually managed a laugh or two during the busy periods.  I keep taking my mind back to my 7am laughter conference call and have a little secret jig around the dispensary too which automatically brings a smile to my face :)

To sum up I have a way to go but its showing its benefits this week.

Have a great Friday peeps xxx Ho Ho Ho

Ten minutes laughter and a burning iron...ahhh whatever

Oh wow just had ten minutes in a laughter conference :D and buzzing.  Went into tell my lovely hubby how funny it was and noticed the iron starting to smoulder...it was actually going into melt down and would not cool itself slowly turning brown...now normally I would find this stressful thinking about fact its gonna cost me to buy another or what would have happened if somebody had left it on unattended, but I actually giggled as my hubby with just a towel around him went running through the kitchen into garden with burning iron to put outside, whilst setting off smoke alarms.   actually found the funny side...amazing...I feel great this morning...pleeeeease sense of humour stay a while :) x

breathing laughing dancing .... all in one day

I never thought it would be hard to breath and laugh at the same time.  Let me explain...since I have started my laughter yoga I have noticed that it almost feels like I can,t fill the old lungs without feeling an ache.  I guess that just shows how shallow I breath as I am the worlds biggest stress head.   I also forget to breath when I laugh and feel light headed.  One great thing I am learning from this is how to breath deeply pushing down to rid all that crap air out and let good air in.   In time this will improve im sure :) Anyway tomorrow morning I am going to ring and join in a 10 minute laughter session and I can,t wait :)  I am also going to take to work tomorrow the lesson learnt from tonight Motion creates Emotion session.  After my mad day today something has to change and this little tool might just get me through these busy days ahead x 

night night for now :) x

Jingle Bells Jingle Bells...Ho ho ho he ho

Had an amazing 10 Minute laugher session over the phone tonight...all started when I thought Maria,s laugh was a christmas carol...this ended up in ten minutes of attempts to laugh at Jingle bells, we wish you a merry christmas, silent night the list goes on. Well Just for fun see if you can guess the tune below :)

ha ha he he ha ha ha ha ha he he he ho hoooooooo
ha ha he he ha ha ha ha ha he he he ho hoooooooo
ha ha he he he he he ho ho ho ho ho ho hoooooooo
ha ha ha he he he he he ha ha he he ho ho ha ha haaaaa he he he ho ho he he hohohohooooo ha ha ha he he he he ho ho ho hooooooooooo

:) x

more highs and lows than Blackpool big dipper :)

Hey missed me? nope? ah well tough luck heres another update of the past couple of days...Friday hmmm what a horrid day I had.  Looking back to the events and after my lovely chat with Maria tonight on the phone I learnt one massive lesson about myself....Its ok to feel passionate about a situation when others show no support or emotion but its important to let it go and thats where my journey will hopefully take me.  Saturday I was exhausted beyond belief due to lack of sleep after hosting a teen sleepover Friday.  I did try to fit my laugher yoga between driving from shop to shop to do Christmas shopping but it made me feel light headed and I cold not stop yawning...yep that exhausted I yawned because I laughed Hahahaha so funny so I left the laughing for my Saturday evening with friends instead.  Sunday woke up with very stiff and achy joints.  Hubby run me a hot bath and I got straight back into my water challenge.  Two litres of water later a chilled out day and what a great high to end it a good chat and 10 minute laughing session with my coach...Feeling a little bit more normal now.  Maria you are like a tonic xx thankyou

10 Minute workout

Well laughing none stop for 10 minutes on the phone with my laughter coach.  My tummy and face muscles felt it and I was a little bit spaced out probably because its early days and I need to practice my breathing.  I can,t remember feeling this as a child when laughing so much :) goes to show how you can loose the ability to laugh so easily.

 I did feel better for doing it after a hard day at work as it felt like a release of tension.   I was rather stressed after the working day and its easy to just give in to the black dog mood.

Well its bed time for me and tomorrow I am just going to practice my breathing techniques at work to get through another busy day x

thanks for reading :)

Fake Laughter :)

Tonight with Maria was all about fake laughter and how the body can not distinguish the difference between it and real laughter.  My mission this week is to practice fake laughing and deep breathing using the laughter to expel the air.  Although its still a little hard to fake laugh I am finding that when people ask me about laughter yoga I naturally feel happy and smile when talking about it and I start to laugh without effort.  The next test tomorrow is to laugh for 10 minutes on the phone with my coach.  Its harder than than think :) aching face me thinks xx

Making time to laugh

Tonight was meditation night and not my one to one with Maria so I made sure I performed some laughter exercises in-between working playing taxi and doing mum stuff.  One great thing about the 10 minutes drive between Epworth and Westwoodside is that its perfect timing for a laughter session.  So I went for it making all kinds of laughing noises Ho Ho Ha Ha He He Ho Ho along to my fave tunes on the car stereo.  Lets just say Katy Perry must have a massive complex the amount of laughing at the same time :) perhaps I should try my funny face pulling too next time hehe x

The Laughter infection is spreading :)

Just completed day 4 laughter yoga Skype session which ended up on webex (technical connection issues).  Anyways Just before the session I was actually a little bit grumpy pants for some reason but I actually can feel a change in my mood.  It is seriously strange when I think how I felt a couple of hours ago to how I feel writing this.

Also the infection is spreading...my lovely hubby came into the kitchen a few minutes ago and said he could not help but notice the laughing coming from the bedroom and it was making him laugh as well...GREAT!!! BRILLIANT its actually contagious :)

its beginning to feel a lot like christmas...ho ho ho

Had my third session of laughter yoga tonight.  Another great session and I am getting into the festive spirit by sounding a bit like santa :) ho ho ho x Its scary how the muscles in my face and chest ache when laughing but I have been told this will get easier the more I do it.  I cant believe just how little I laugh most days.

On a serious note though, last night I had a few glasses of wine and today my pain has increased.  Maria not only is bringing more fun to my evenings, but also helping me in other ways too.  Alcohol causes massive body dehydration and boy can I tell, so I am taking up the water challenge she has set me.  We are starting with half litre a day and increasing :) so no wine for me for a little while.

Have a good evening guys and thanks for reading x