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Information is Not Transformation.
Practice Promotes Progress.
My Happiness Practice.
#1. Make a gratitude list of at least 3 Things
Be specific, the whys and the hows.
#2. daily doses of laughter — watch comedy
Laughter truly is the best medicine for health and happiness.
#3. practice silent Hayasa, laughter yoga. repeat as needed.
#4. at least 5 minutes of dancing/aerobics to happy songs, the more the merrier.
#5. minimum of 5 minutes of meditation
#6. 30 minutes of exercise, move and stretch everything daily.
#7. socialize, engagement—practice kindness and compassion.
#8. fresh air, a 15 min walk minimum daily outside
#9. Act silly. (laughing yoga, Hayasa qualifies as silly too!)
#10. make your own meals from fresh whole foods.
#11. list Three Good Things that happened today before bedtime.
#12. 8-10 hours of sleep nightly.
#13. mantra: I am loved. I am lucky. I am loving.
#14. utilize your strengths vs. only concentrating on our weaknesses.
#15. do one thing at a time vs. multi-tasking
Close your eyes, and focus on just your breathing, even for just two minutes, will train your brain to concentrate on just one thing again.
#16. acknowledge good work wherever you find it.
#17. don’t complain.
#18. rest your eyes every 90 minutes, deep breathing to clear cortisol.
this is a form of meditation and quite powerful when practiced for 60 seconds only.
#19. think the best about people.
#20. Mid-day stroll to clear my thoughts and move.
#21. SMILE.
a “real” smile involves the muscles around your eyes, so practice using your whole face. This combined with a daily practice of Hayasa is magical.
Eating good whole foods, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly are just common sense for staying strong and healthy. As Joseph Pilates instructed, “Fitness is a requisite of happiness.”
Making gratitude lists rewire the brain to look for the good around you which actually focuses the senses to be more acute and in tune to what is really happening around you.
Priming for positivity with comedy and silliness gets you ready to perform at your best, raising your productivity by 30% and increasing your chances of success. As Shawn Achor has shown scientifically, happiness is an advantage.
*note about July 7, 2011 update
I have added 5 new daily practices since May. More Stress? More practice.
#22. Do not Feed the Negativity.
Be truthful. Did you ever really feel better after complaining to a friend?
Witness
Marcel Carné “Les Enfants du Paradis” (1945) starring Arletty, Pierre Brasseur, Jean Louis Barrault.
The Many Uses of
Cats and Kittens
from the classic Peter Cook and Peter Seller’s scene in the movie “The Wrong Box”
#100factsaboutme
1. I love my life more and more with every passing year.
2. My teeth have a lot of character.
3. I am an INTJ.
4. I do not have a shy bone in my body.
5. I dress down when I go out in public by myself.
6. I am a joyful iconoclast.
7. I do not respect authority without question.
8. Men with lots of money and power never interested me.
9. My fascination with people is only exceeded by my love of life.
10. I will be able to do pull-ups before I die.
11. I am almost impossible to ignore in person.
12. I do not regret any of the choices I have made so far in my life.
13. I got the ability to enjoy making a fool out of myself in front of other people.
14. I am literally interested in everything.
15. I spoke in full sentences before my first birthday.
16. I started walking when I was 8 months old.
17. I love making fresh tortilla.
18. I graduated from high school when I was 16.
19. I start working full-time when I was 14 years old.
20. I have a special place in my heart for platform shoes.
21. My love affair with greeting cards started when I sold Xmas cards in 2nd grade.
22. I write and perform comic beat poetry as Mona Moor, the upbeat Beat.
23. I adore Jerry Lewis and channel his characters often.
24. I was a huge fan of “Dark Shadows” and have a collection of their episodes.
25. I had a crush on Ilya Kuryakin when I was 12 years old.
26. I collect comic books, particularly Superman.
27. I can be so loud that my voice is a weapon.
28. I may give out but I never give up.
29. I am enrolled in an accredited PHP/mySQL course.
30. I adore dusting, vacuuming, and mopping!
31. I am a little bit afraid of birds because of Alfred Hitchcock.
32. I have always wanted a pet pig.
33. I had a pet rat when I was twenty.
34. As a child I loved the TV commercials as much as the programs.
35. Studied advertising art at American Institute of Art (Chicago) and F.I.T. (NYC)
36. I studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
37. I love to sing and dance.
38. My mother had a chihuahua named Carmen when I was a little girl.
39. I’ve had as many as 10 cats at once.
40. I make the best pizzas; deep dish Chicago-style.
41. I have a passion for whole foods and healthy eating.
42. I had to take seminars to get in touch with my feelings enough to cry.
43. I believe I can learn how to do anything that is really possible.
44. It took me over 55 years to get over myself.
45. I love being alive because I thought I was going to die more than once.
46. I am not afraid of new things.
47. I love to learn.
48. Because of childhood abuse, I made a commitment to being happy at age 17.
49. I am often told I am the most positive person someone knows.
50. I choose happy. I choose healthy.
51. My goal in life is to be happy.
52. I fell in love with the Internet when Google came on the scene.
53. I love to shovel snow.
54. When it snows I feel like a kid again.
55. I am a makeup artist.
56. I was once photographed wearing a boa constrictor like a boa.
57. I use to be afraid of ladders.
58. I love riding in taxis.
59. I really like to be driven around. I hate to drive a car.
60. Year I was born my father went bald and my mother went crazy.
61. I can grow really long hair and fingernails.
62. I love my MINI Cooper. Her name is Ruby.
63. At 5 years old I thought a MINI Cooper was a toy car.
64. I want to learn how to play the ukulele.
65. When I was 35 years old I couldn’t curl 10 lbs with both arms.
66. I now really enjoy my Irish heritage.
67. I avoided exercise until I was 30.
68. I’ve always wanted to have pure white hair.
69. I look completely different with bangs than without.
70. I shaved my head once.
71. I discovered that I have a blonde soul.
72. I had dreadlocks for three years.
73. I was a very serious child.
74. I am terrible with names.
75. I learned to swim at age 8mos in California.
76. I was raised a strict Catholic.
77. I can’t abide dishonesty or cruelty.
78. I don’t have true binocular vision.
79. I was stronger, leaner at 55 than I was at 21.
80. One of my best friends ever was a cat.
81. I have a collection of rubber chickens of various sizes.
82. I took classes with Marcel Marceau.
83. I’ve trained as a clown.
84. I once did a 10 day silent meditation.
85. I was a vegan for 4 years.
86. I was a 100lb weakling until I started body building.
87. I only wear makeup theatrically.
88. I had hair long enough to sit on.
89. I played classical clarinet.
90. I use to drive a van.
91. I worked as a bartender for 8+ years.
92. I was on my way to Paris when I decided to stay in New York City.
93. My first new car was a 1972 Mustang.
94. I am a beauty/portrait photographer.
95. I worked as a professional advertising photographer for 10+ years.
96. I once planned to get a collateral MD/PhD
97. I have a degree in Behavioral Psychology
98. I raised Shetland Sheepdogs and showed them in AKC obedience.
99. I studied chemistry at the University of Chicago when I was 11.
100. I am a member of MENSA
Dinner at the Doggie Diner
I wonder how much of a tip they left?
How College Boys Introduced Me to Lady GaGa
See more of the University of Oregon’s “On the Rocks” Click Here.
