|
|
13 Ways to Improve your Perseverance Quotient
You may not have control over what happens to you in every season or cycle of your life, but you most certainly have a choice as to how you deal with everything that happens to you. You may experience health problems, business setbacks and...
Calling All Writers--It's Party Time!
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself.
I am large, I contain multitudes." -- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
The dedicated writing student must continually search for tools to explore the core balance of plot,...
Does Prayer Really Work?
As a young Christian, I felt that there was no spiritual activity more beneficial for my success and well being than prayer. After all, the Bible emphasizes that God is personally involved in the intimate details of our lives. Christianity is...
Eat More and Lose Weight with the Ornish Diet
In 1993, Dr. Dean Ornish came out with a book entitled Eat More,
Weigh Less. The primary focus of the book was to urge people to
boost their consumption of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables
while decreasing their consumption of fat. Ornish...
Tips for a happy life
To firmly believe we have the power and deserve to lead a happy life: that's the motto of this article.
Our lives can be a pleasing and miraculous journey.
Does happiness exist? Many will unhesitatingly claim it doesn't. Others,...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prescription: Laughter
"They" say that laughter is the best medicine. And whoever
"they" are, I'd have to agree.
In fact, studies have shown that when we laugh we...
* lower our blood pressure.
* promote relaxation and reduce stress.
* increase the oxygen level in our blood giving us more energy.
* increase the endorphin activity in our body resulting in a
sense of well being.
In addition, laughter seems to have a positive effect on our
*healing and recovery processes, as some physicians like Patch
Adams and other medical professionals are beginning to
understand.
And all I can say is, IT'S ABOUT TIME!
When my mother was first diagnosed with cancer in 1993 she did
all of the things the doctors told her to do, which included,
among other things, surgery and radiation. She also did some
things that I told her to do, including guided meditation and
visualization. And she did some things that my sister told her
to do, like taking vitamins and herbs with names I can't even
pronounce, let alone spell.
And she did something else, something she came up with on her
own without the help of all of us bossy people in her life.
Mom laughed .............. A LOT!
Already a very optimistic person by nature, she was convinced
(as I am) of the importance of the mind/body connection in
relation to healing and health. So she believed that a large
part of her recovery, whatever the final outcome, would be found
in a positive attitude with lots of laughter.
She took to heart what Norman Cousins said in "Anatomy of an
Illness" - that we who laugh...last - and put it into practice
in her own life and illness by self-prescribing a variety of
movies, tapes, and books that made her laugh. And I mean really
laugh - the kind of deep belly laugh that is sometimes
embarrassing - the kind that might make you snort, or might
cause liquids to come out of your nose if you happen to be
drinking at the same moment something strikes you as incredibly
funny.
(Warning: drinking Coca Cola while laughing hysterically CAN
lead to a very painful situation - carbonation and sinus
cavities do NOT mix!)
Oddly enough, my mother's favorite motion picture medication was
a VERY SILLY movie - one that remains close to her heart even
now, nine years since her original diagnosis, and five years
cancer-free since a recurrence in 1997.
I say "oddly enough" because my mother isn't typically amused by
pratfall or physical humor. She always considered herself to be
sophisticated and maybe even somewhat snobbish about what
tickled her funny bone (okay maybe it was the rest of us who
considered her to be that way, lol). But she rarely agreed with
the rest of us about what was humorous. For instance, she never
really understood why we kids enjoyed Monty Python as
much as we
did.
So, since we all figured that her idea of comedy was limited to
programs like "Upstairs Downstairs" on Public Television -
imagine our shock and delight when we discovered that a little
film called "Weekend at Bernie's" had captured her comedic
heart. Yes, Mom, Bernie, Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman
laughed their way through months of cancer treatment together -
and for that I am truly grateful (and highly amused).
For those of you unfamiliar with this 1989 comedy, "Weekend at
Bernie's" is about two guys invited to spend the weekend at the
beach home of their wealthy boss (who is actually planning to
murder them because they've uncovered an embezzlement scheme of
which he, the boss, is a part). When they arrive, they find him
- well, to put it delicately - they find him dead - and they end
up dragging him around with them all weekend, pretending he's
alive, so that they aren't blamed for his death.
Confused? Sorry about that, it's really quite simple, and silly.
The movie is full of juvenile pratfalls and predictable sight
gags, including water skiing with the deceased Bernie and other
zany antics and madcap hijinks, lol. But for whatever reason,
Mom found "Weekend at Bernie's" to be just the right
prescription for her laughter regiment, with a little "Grumpy
Old Men" thrown in on the side.
Sometimes she laughed so hard that she cried when she watched
"Weekend at Bernie's" - and all the while she told herself that
no matter what, even if cancer were to ultimately be the cause
of her death, she'd go out laughing.
That is a legacy she's given to me as well - and I do my BEST to
make sure I laugh, HARD, several times a day. And I am always
amazed at how better I feel after a good robust laugh!
So here is my prescription for a healthier, happier life - a
good hard belly laugh at least five times a day, the harder the
better! And if "Weekend at Bernie's" isn't your cup of tea, find
out what IS, plug it in, and LAUGH!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *
*When I speak of "healing," I am talking about something
entirely different from "curing." For me, people who end up
dying of a disease may still have experienced healing in their
life - it just may not have come in the form of a cure. Healing
for me means becoming whole again and experiencing a sense of
oneness and peace in spite of any physical or emotional trauma.
To my way of thinking, a person can be cured without being
healed - and a person can be healed without having been cured.
About the author:
Susan Ryder likes to laugh, and is an author on a site for Writers
(http://www.Writing.Com/)- her portfolio can be found at
http://www.Writing.Com/authors/sophie - so stop by and read for
a while.
|
|
|
|
|
Learning Meditation Home Page |
Introduction to the basics of meditation and the reduction of stress. |
www.learningmeditation.com |
  |
Meditation Room |
Choose freely and feel free to perform more than one meditation. ... Allow some time for your meditation. These meditations last from 3 - 10 minutes. ... |
www.learningmeditation.com |
  |
Meditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
An introduction to different traditions, forms, techniques, and benefits. Includes links to other resources. |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
World Wide Online Meditation Center |
Contains colorful, clear, concise meditation instruction on a variety of meditation methods from various spiritual teachings, plus tranquil meditation tapes ... |
www.meditationcenter.com |
  |
The Transcendental Meditation (TM) Program - Official website. How ... |
Meditation validated by over 600 scientific studies. The best meditation against stress. Online video! Personal instruction and lifetime follow-up. |
www.tm.org |
  |
Vipassana Meditation Website |
Homepage of the organization which offers Vipassana Meditation courses as taught by SN Goenka. |
www.dhamma.org |
  |
Welcome to Meditation Mount |
Meditation training programs and group meditation as a service to humanity. Worldwide organization based in Ojai, California. |
www.meditation.com |
  |
Guided meditations on mindfulness, peace, the 23rd Psalm, the way ... |
Come into the present moment with this 10-minute mindfulness meditation narrated by ... Experience a flow of positive energy with this meditation on peace ... |
www.beliefnet.com |
  |
Meditation Station Presented By The Meditation Society Of America |
Meditation Society of America's web site. Dedicated to sharing meditation techniques and concepts from all traditions. |
www.meditationsociety.com |
  |
Wildmind | Learn Meditation Online |
Wildmind provides a complete guide to simple meditation techniques. |
www.wildmind.org |
  |
Meditation |
An article By Dr Tom J. Chalko explaining the process and stressing the need for a spiritual teacher. |
www.thiaoouba.com |
  |
Free Learn to Meditate, online meditation - Meditation Australia. |
Details of activities, events, and classes in Wollongong University, Australia. Also offer a free online Meditation course. |
meditation.org.au |
  |
Meditation, Home, what is meditation, types of meditation ... |
Meditation Meditation is an alternative therapy. It can be broadly classified under the mind-body medicine. More and more doctors are prescribing meditation ... |
1stholistic.com |
  |
Sivananda Yoga - Meditation |
Introduction to the Official Web site of the Internationa Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. Lots of information on Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, ... |
www.sivananda.org |
  |
Stress Reducers: Articles index |
yellow arrow button, Choose a Virtual Meditation Slide Show for Your ... yellow arrow button, Meditation and Relaxation: 20 Minutes A Day Can Make A ... |
www.selfhelpmagazine.com |
  |
Zen Mountain Monastery: Zen Meditation Instructions |
Detailed instructions from Zen Mountain Monastery on how to practice Zen meditation. |
www.mro.org |
  |
Meditation and concentration |
meditation concentration ability. ... Online fire meditation use it and develop concentration ability; Online flash meditation look at the screen and ajust ... |
www.ababasoft.com |
  |
Siddha Yoga path - Gurumayi - Swami Muktananda founder |
Under the guidance and teachings of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Siddha Yoga meditation students embrace the spiritual practices of yoga. |
www.siddhayoga.org |
  |
Meditation Handbook |
Survey of seven meditation techniques for beginners. |
home.att.net |
  |
Healing Music|Meditation Music|Self Help products |
Healing Products offers healing music for your Mind, Body & Soul at low prices. Use sound and music to heal and relax. |
www.healingproducts.com |
  |
|