HA-tha yoga

My friends, meet Ruth Gluxon. She is sticking her tongue out to laugh in an exercise during a laughter yoga class. She says she's worked with cancer patients who say that laughter therapy relieves some of their pain. LAUGHTER YOGA! WHAT A CONCEPT!

This is fascinating to me because I usually take my yoga classes very seriously, too seriously now I fear.

It started in India 15 years ago, when a physician, Dr. Madan Kataria, came up with the idea of free, public laughing clubs. He started out by gathering a few friends in a park in Mumbai.

Kataria claims laughing regularly helps boost the immune system, lowers blood pressure and lifts depression. He went on tour as a sort of laughter evangelist, and his laughing was contagious. Now, there are an estimated 5,000 laughing clubs in 53 countries: throughout India, Europe and of course, in southern California.

So, this leads me to ask...why isn't there a laughing club where I live?! Actually I already laugh nonstop with my family and friends, so I probably wouldn't need to go. But still, it's a nifty idea, don't cha think?

if today were a fish...

I'D THROW IT BACK!

let's just say i am sooooooo ready for pretty weather or at least some snow if it's going to be cold.

even Layla knows...

Someone pointed out to me the other day that I use my dog Layla often to convince people of something or as a source of advice/wisdom.

Here are just a few examples:

my friend: do you think everyone knows that I fell down at that party?
me: come on dude, even LAYLA knows you feel down at that party!

friend numero dos: did i just say that really inappropriate thing too loud in this restaurant?
me: um yeah, even LAYLA heard you say it.

friend numero tres: do you think i should apply for that job?
me: LAYLA says that you are overly qualified for that job and that she'll put in a good word with the search committee..so the answer is a resounding YES!

friend numero cuatro: do you think it's ever going to stop raining?
me: LAYLA said she was watching the weather on good morning america this morning and she said we might as well move into our rain boots and invest in a canoe because it's never going to stop raining!

friend numero cinco: i stopped by your house today, but you weren't there. layla barked a lot at me.
me: yes, she already told me. you interrupted her REM sleep. she wasn't a happy camper and said she wants no more of that nonsense.

All this just goes to show that LAYLA knows all, sees all, and is a know-it-all!!! So don't mess with LAYLA. Unless you have ice cream in your pocket. Then she'll melt and become your best friend.

So today was the best day of my life.

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there for you have been, and there you will always long to return.
--Leonardo da Vinci

(yesterday i was riding shotgun with a good friend in a 1960s plane, flying over beautiful southern kentucky-- yes my friends yes, this is about as good as it gets)

pockets or bust

Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly) describing a dress: "A steal at eleven hundred dollars!"
Jeff(James Stewart): "Eleven hundred? They ought to list that dress on the stock exchange."

-from Rear Window, 1954

DRESSES WITH POCKETS ROCK!!! as much as i love a great handbag, a posh clutch, or a stylish tote- nothing beats storing my belongings in a pocket. But you can't store your phone, american express, ID, cash, and camera all in two pockets, you may ask. YES I CAN (mccain love dies hard, i still support him, but i'm trying to get into this yes i can, yes we did obama as president mindset...bear with me). If you find the thinnest camera and bundle up idcashcreditcards to put in the other pocket, all that's left is the phone! and let's be honest here, my phone will probably be in my hand to call or text someone that lives far away that i wish was there. So this is all leading up to why i worship (whoa, strong word, ADORE, yes that's much better) Yoana Baraschi dresses. Most of them have pockets!!! And not just the fake ones that are sewn together for decoration. Real, live, deep pockets. Ahhhh yes just speaking of these beautiful creations makes my heart skip a beat.

til next time... when maybe i'll write about something 'deep'...wait pockets are deep!. nevermind

"Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about the things in my pocket. But I found it would be too long; and the age of the great epics is past." -G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)