Happy Dance Practice Wrap-Up – The Best Of

So, the April Daily Practice was Happy Dancing! Did you join in? Did you have fun? Or if you didn’t join in, what stopped you? I must admit, I wasn’t as committed to this practice as I have been to others…but I did it about 20 times in the month, and thoroughly enjoyed it…and I’ve actually kept it up in May – whenever I’ve felt a lack of energy or felt a bit ‘meh’, I’ve gone and browsed through my facebook page to find some Happy Dance-spriation and Danced away my ‘meh’-ness!

Which gave me the idea to collect all of the Best Happy Dance resources here in one place so I can (and you can too) bookmark this page and come back to it whenever I need an injection of Happy-Dance-ness!

This video is like a tutorial for Happy Dancing – a collection of Happy Dances from all over the world.

If you only have a minute, let Will Smith inspire you with a bit of Drum Happy Dancing!

http://youtu.be/fQNiN-9vaCM

I loved this one so much I played it about 8 times to learn the dance, and I went and bought the song!

Join the Dance Walking Fitness Craze!

Snoopy shows you how it’s done!

One of my favourite tunes to Happy Dance to! Oo-be-do…

Forget your troubles and just Get Happy

More inspiration to Happy Dance from the Jungle Book – come on Baggy, get with the beat!

Even when it’s raining, you can still sing…and dance in the rain!

For me, this is the ultimate Happy Dance…you just can’t beat Carlton’s joy at Tom Jones!

http://youtu.be/2KPwzGzk2S0

I hope this post helps you to keep Happy Dancing…and please, take a photo of yourself Happy Dancing and share it with me! I did this (as you can see) and it was so much fun! Don’t forget to bookmark this page!

Love

Donna.x

PS If you have half an hour and want to cheer yourself up with all of these on a playlist…here it is! The Happy Dance Playlist

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Ask Donna: My SMART Goals Aren’t Inspiring Me

Q: I was trying to figure what I wanted from life, and I got some ‘SMART’ goals…but they don’t feel like a Big Dream. I think a couple of them are close to being part of that Big Dream, but the energy feels all wrong and I don’t know how to change them…and they’re really not that inspiring! – Mel

I find SMART goals really boring – they have no energy, no juice to them. So, let’s talk about SMILE goals instead (something I made up!) — does your goal make you Smile? Does it have a touch of Magic about it? Is it Inspiring to you? Do you have Lots of enthusiasm for this? Does it give you Energy?

For example, a SMART goal might be “Lose 10 pounds in 3 months”… whereas an example of a SMILE goal might be “Look stunning in a beautiful frock with gorgeous shoes”.

If you have a question you’d like me to answer, please leave a comment below or contact me.

Love

Donna.x

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An Easy Decision Making Tool: Toss A Coin

How do you make a decision? Do you weigh up the options carefully, plumping for the safest, cheapest, easiest, most sensible? Do you worry endlessly about consequences and never make a decision at all? Or do you jump in and make a decision and worry about the consequences later?

For many years I have tried (and failed!) to do the first of these – and do the ‘right’ thing. The problem is, the ‘right’ thing is often the ‘wrong’ thing for me. The sensible decision is usually the one decision which will stifle my spirit, bore me to tears or keep me in a situation I hate. And I like flying by the seat of my pants – it’s far easier than all this pros and cons bull. I now toss a coin to help me decide.

For someone who has been known to be indecisive on occasion it is marvellous…and rarely wrong. The simplicity of a coin toss appeals to me because it is quick, easy and relatively uncomplicated – no evidence gathering, no researching, no discussing, just a flip and there you have it – a decision! And I don’t just mean for small decisions, like pizza or pasta? I have decided whether to buy a house, go to Australia for a year, leave my job to start my own business, and buy a car…all on the toss of a coin.

I can see some of you twitching at the very idea of this – not exactly scientific, responsible or sensible, right? Correct! I’ll tell you what it does do though, it focuses you very quickly on what YOU want. Imagine you wanted to decide whether to look for a new job, you toss a coin and it comes up tails…stay at your current job.

Your stomach sinks, you stare at the coin and think…best of 3! Then best of 5, best of 7, best of 9, best of 73. You see, I’m not suggesting you take the advice of the coin! Merely flipping the coin will give you an indication of what it is you want – in the above example, you want to leave the job. Deep down, the decision is already made but your conscious mind is getting in the way with the endless pro’s and con’s of making a decision.

By tossing a coin, you can find out very quickly what it is you really want. Many years ago I was trying to decide whether to buy a house. Every signpost pointed to yes – it was the done thing, the sensible thing, an investment blah blah blah. Even the coin toss agreed, I should go for it.

But I carried on flipping that coin for 10 minutes, wanting tails to come up. Suddenly I realised there was one overwhelmingly good reason for me not to buy a house. I didn’t want to. If I had, I would have tripled my money by now. I don’t regret it for a second. The coin was wrong, but it did tell me what I really wanted. What does the toss of a coin tell you?

- Something to Play With -

Take a decision you have been struggling with, and toss a coin…what does the coin toss tell you? (note how you feel, not if it’s heads or tails!) For the next week, try this method of decision making – get in touch with your intuitive leanings and quit wasting time endlessly weighing up the pros and cons! Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave a comment here or pop over to my facebook page and leave a comment there.

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Striving For Perfection

Are you striving to be ‘perfect’? Do you insist that you never ever make a mistake, get something wrong, cock up? Will you accept nothing less than perfection from yourself?

High expectations are all well and good, but not when they come at the expense of your peace of mind, your love of yourself, your joy in life. Most of us are much harder on ourselves than we would ever be on someone else, and by having absurdly high standards, we can really make our lives miserable.

By all means be the best you can be…but get there by having fun, by enjoying the journey, by striving for joy and laughter, by being kind and supportive and loving to yourself. You might be astonished to find that you are more likely to meet your high expecations if you apply some encouragement, joy, support and laughter to your life. And hey, even if you don’t, you’ll be having fun!

I doubt that you will get to the end of your life and say “I wish I had been even harder on myself and made my life more of a misery”. No, you are much more likely to say “Why was I worried about never failing – I wish I’d been more laid back, had more fun, laughed more”. Why not pre-empt that life-end statement and get on with the serious business of being laid back, having fun, and laughing a LOT?

Love

Donna.x

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April Daily Practice: Happy Dance

In March, I had started to feel that my Daily Practices for this year had all been just a little bit sensible! Getting outside in January, 10 Minute Tidy in February and Trusting your Body, Mind, Heart and Soul in March. I am all about the Joyful Life, and pursuing your Big Dreams, living to the full…but mostly, Living Joyously. So, this month I decided we needed a slightly sillier, more fun Daily Practice. I had a few ideas, but none were really jumping out at me…until Friday 30th March (talk about leaving it to the last minute!) when I got my 150th ‘likee’ on my Facebook page.

And I did a Happy Dance! And took a photo!! If you pop over to my Facebook page you will see said photo! And it struck me – there’s nothing better than a Happy Dance! So this month, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find excuses to Happy Dance every day. You could also take a photo and share it on my Facebook Page! I’ll be doing that a few times through the month too. So join in!

And because this is a bit of a ‘silly’ practice, I feel compelled to explain why this is a GREAT practice to adopt for a month. Firstly, Happy Dancing is FUN! But if you need more reasons than ‘it’s fun’ to do something, here are some more: When you look for reasons to Happy Dance, they are almost always there – even on the shittiest of days, there is an excuse for a Happy Dance, and this practice will train you to see the good stuff that is there in your life. When you get used to looking for good stuff, like any other skill, you get better and better at seeing it. So your life gets better. Simply because of a small perspective change (and a Happy Dance).

And Happy Dancing is good exercise! And lastly, if you’ve not Happy Danced before, you will learn a new skill! So just in case you need instructions on how to Happy Dance: imagine you are Super Happy about something, then do a dance that expresses that happiness. Happy Dances are usually silly, fun, involve lots of limb waving and smiling…with the occasional whoop thrown in (for experts only). Are you going to join in?? And before you ask, no, this is not an April Fool’s joke…I’m serious about Happy Dancing!

Love

Donna.x

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Every Moment is a Choice

How many choice points do you think you have in your life? Do you only see the “big” choice points – this job or that job, this relationship or a single life, buy a house or go to Australia. What would you think if I told you that this moment is a choice point?

And this one?

And this one?

And this moment right here?

What choices can you make in this moment?

Here’s a couple of ideas:

Do I do the most self-loving thing for myself now or not?

Do I look for the silver lining or not?

Do I do my best in this moment or do I just give in to apathy?

Do I choose to LIVE my life or do I wait for life to start?

Do I choose to raise my energy in this moment and do what I can to feel good or not?

Do I choose to smile or frown in this moment?

So what choices are you making? In every moment, you have the choice to change or not. There is no right or wrong in this by the way – no judgement, no blame. Just choice. So if you were to choose to do the most self-loving thing you could for yourself in this moment, what would happen? I understand that you may be at work and unable to have a long hot bath, but given the constraints you have, what would be the most self-loving thing to do?

How about if you chose to see the silver lining? What might change? Chose to do your best in this moment? Chose to LIVE? Chose to raise your energy? Chose to smile? (maybe even BEAM, chuckle, laugh, guffaw?!) You may choose to do the opposite of all of these – to see the worst, to do your worst, to exist apathetically, to lower your energy (we’re very good at that), to frown…but that’s your choice! So if that’s what you’ve chosen, I hope you’re enjoying it. (Once you get to a certain level of positivity, having a bad day can be fun too!)

What are you choosing in this moment? Let me know – leave a comment.

Love

Donna.x

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The Real 12 Days of Christmas

Part of our Christmas tradition is to listen to Frank Kelly’s version of 12 days of Christmas – it never fails to make me laugh, and my dad cry…with laughter. ENJOY this video!

Wishing you the Merriest of Merry Christmas’s!

Love, light and laughter

Donna.x

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Wishcasting: How Do You Wish To Nourish Yourself?

It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

How Do You Wish To Nourish Yourself?

I wish to nourish myself with love for myself, support for myself, 100% belief in myself. I wish to nourish myself with joy, laughter, self-expression, fun, dance (see the daily practice!), creativity, nature, beauty. I wish to nourish myself by caring for myself so well that I feel cradled in the arms of love. I wish to nourish myself in every way that I need nourishment…and mostly that is by backing myself 100%, trusting in me and believing that I can fly high.

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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November Daily Practice: Dance

So, did you join me in October for the daily practice of laughter? Did you laugh every day? If you enjoyed it, I hope you will continue to make laughing a high priority in your day! So this month, I decided to have another FUN daily practice. This time, it is Dance. Dancing is fun, it’s good for your physical, emotional, mental AND spiritual health. And since I stopped going clubbing every weekend, I don’t think I dance enough! So, my comittment for this month is to dance every day.

And you know me, I believe in making it easy, so I’m not going to suggest hours of dancing! Oh no, it is just one song of dance, every day. (more if you really want to!) And you can dance to anything you like, in any style you like. Maybe you could have some fun finding new dances you’ve never tried, or dredging your memory for dances you loved as a child, or learning the routine to your favourite pop song. And if you ‘can’t dance’, this is the perfect time for you to have some fun learning – just move your body to the music and dance like no one is watching!

Happy Dancing!

Love

Donna.x

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31 Days of Laughter

Just in case you missed any of the daily reminders on Facebook this month, here they all are in one place (feel free to bookmark this page to come back to whenever you need a reminder to laugh!):

1. The daily practice for October is…laughter! Are you going to join me in laughing every day this month?

2. Practice laughing for no reason. Just laugh. That’s the ‘purpose’ of Laughter Yoga (find the videos on YouTube) – one of my favourite things! Big breath…and HAHAHAHAHAHA. Just to laugh.

3. “May laughter fill your home, relieve your stress, and strengthen your friendships. Do not let a day go by without laughing; it is good for your health.” – Catherine Pulsifer, from SEVEN GIFTS TO GIVE TO A FRIEND

4. Here’s a video that will help if you don’t feel like laughing…http://youtu.be/HUkPGL4zQyw

5. What’s your favourite ‘crap’ joke? Here’s mine – What do you call a sheep with no legs? A cloud. Makes me laugh EVERY time! Xxx
What do you call a fish with no eyes…. A fsh
Why does Edward Woodward have so many D’s in his name?…. Cos he doesn’t want to be called Ewar Woowar

6. October Daily Practice: Laugh. Who’s your favourite comedian? Go onto YouTube and find some clips of your favourite comedian today (let me know who you’re looking up!).

7. Laugh. The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings So get laughing today!

8. What films make you laugh? This weekend, put on a DVD of something that makes you laugh…and get laughing!

9. Laugh. Hoorah for youtube and funny clips – this is one of my fave tv moments of all time! http://bit.ly/nzBs56

10. “Laugh. I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” ~Woody Allen

11. What’s your favourite comedy show? For Irish humour (not for those who don’t like ‘bad language’!), check out Mrs Brown’s Boys. Funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdSaWW9vuow&feature=channel_video_title

12. Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. ~Kurt Vonnegut

13. YouTube is such a gift for this practice of laughter – check this out – one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen: http://www.donnaonthebeach.com/blog/2009/03/friday-fun-japan-binocular-football/

14. What’s your favourite joke of all time? Here’s mine:http://www.donnaonthebeach.com/blog/2011/10/friday-fun-gis-a-push/

15. Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. What puts man in a higher state of evolution is that he has got his laugh on the right end. ~Max Eastman

16. When was the last time you laughed until you cried? If it’s more than a week ago, that’s too long. Try harder!

17. Try this yoga laughter technique for laughing alone…let me know how you get on! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsbqDglPNsk

18. A good time to laugh is any time you can. ~Linda Ellerbee

19. October Daily Practice: Laughter. When you need to laugh quietly and alone… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvAkyoA7l4U&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=3

20. Some more laughter yoga exercises – my favourite is at around 1.27 minutes – reminded me of starting my car…a good association, I can now laugh every time I start my car! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NoamivA4SY&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=7

21. Laugh. A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book. ~Irish Proverb

22. The sillier we are, the easier it is to laugh. Get more silly in your life, laugh more. Today, be silly.

23. Your mission today, should you choose to accept it is to laugh, cackle, chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, snicker, snigger, snort and titter. 1 point for each. 10 bonus points for doing all 10 (and you can fake it – release your inner thespian and act them all out!)

24. More laughter yoga exercises – this one is a wonderful way to start the day! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZNKf7_ZJC0&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=6

25. More crap jokes: What bee can’t you hear very well? A mumble bee.
What’s the name of Zippy’s wife ? Mississippi
What’s brown and sticky??
a STICK.
What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t work?…..
……a stick
Did you hear about the cat who swallowed a ball of yarn? She had mittens!
What is long, brown and runs around the garden??

A fence.

26. “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.” Audrey Hepburn

27. They have to do more of these – I’m wiping away the tears of laughter! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmsh0kRKyB4&feature=related

28. This captures the joy of booking a cheap flight perfectly! http://youtu.be/uVASZ2lCY5Y

29. “It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.” Wayne Dyer

30. “Live by this credo: have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations.” Red Skelton

31. It’s the last day of the daily practice for this month. Did you join in? Will you continue? Today, find any way and every way you can to laugh loud and free! And keep laughing!

With love and laugh.

Donna.x
PS Get ready for the November daily practice…it’s another fun one! Make sure you ‘like’ my facebook page to join in!

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