In this issue:
What's New
Quote of the month
Current Events
Article of the month: Lighten Up!
Question of the month
Recommended book
Upcoming Events
What's New:
Our new web site is up and running. Visit us at www.lightworksforwellbeing.com. Here's what you can find at the site:
All of our events and various workshops
Registration link to register to our workshops, events and newsletter
Resources such as recommended books and links
Past newsletters
Get to know us
Services we offer
Let us know what you think of it. We look forward to receiving any comments, suggestions and of course, " kudos"
Quote of the month:
" To be upset about what you don't have is to waste what you do have."
Ken Keyes, Jr.
1921-1995, Personal Growth Leader and Peace Advocate
This a great quote to help us launch a new series of circles every Third Tuesday of the month. This new 2005-2006 series will focus on creating well-being in your life ... From more health to more prosperity to more vitality to more contentment.
Current events:
Women's Circle:
Come and join us and invite your friends to our ongoing monthly women's circle held the third Tuesday of every month. Take the opportunity to learn, listen, share and laugh. The evening focuses on women's challenges, strategies and energizing exercises to promote happiness and well being.
The next circle is on September 20, 2005 from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at 190 Robert Speck Parkway in Mississauga.
From Hurontario St.:
Coming N or S on Hurontario, turn on Robert Speck Parkway, away from Sq 1 shopping mall.
On Robert Speck, on your RIGHT side, go past the business buildings, and the field and the first laneway on your right, where there are 3 red mailboxes, The Treetops sign, turn in and find a parking spot. #190 is the building closest to Robert Speck.
From Burnhamthorpe Rd.:
Turn onto Robert Speck Parkway. On your LEFT is a condo then a laneway with 3 red mailboxes and a Treetops sign. Turn in and #190 is the building closest to Robert Speck.
Please call 905-821-4361 or email: elizabeth@lightworksforwellbeing.com to reserve your space for the circle to be held on September 20, 2005
Registration at the door from 7:00 pm. to 7:20 pm.
Cost: Pre-registration: $15.00
At the door: $20.00
Facilitators: Anne Bourke and Elizabeth Skronski
Women's Retreat
The Women’s Renewal Circle Weekend
“Be Inspired to Re-Create Yourself Retreat for Women"
A weekend just for you: to relax, rejuvenate and energize yourself.
A weekend of self-discovery, to spark your creative impulse, to move forward in your life towards well-being on all levels.
A weekend to create possibilities, imagination, insights and a focused plan of action.
with Anne Bourke and Elizabeth Skronski
Anne, a psychotherapist, counsellor and spiritual teacher and Elizabeth, an executive and personal coach and spiritual mentor combine their years of learning and experience to present a profoundly empowering and inspiring group experience.
What Makes the Group Experience Empowering?
Participating with a group of women gathered to connect and share the common purpose of examining choices to expand feelings of fulfillment and well-being, promotes a strong energy. This encourages you to access deep insights, feelings, and a sense of who you really are and what you need to live your life in a heart-centred, healthy state of well-being.
The power of this positive energy can be life changing, giving you the vision and purpose to strive for a meaningful life and make each day a celebration of living!
The group experience provides a variety of approaches and activities: meditation, guided visualization, breath work, written exercises, drawing, creative dance, experiential exercises, small group creative challenges and circle discussion
What are the Benefits?
Revitalize yourself
Reconnect with your authentic self
Explore your strengths and needs
Overcome personal obstacles
Strategies for empowered thinking
Find an inner peace
Create your personal plan for well-being
Enjoy being playful and joyous
Date: November 4 to 6, 2005
Cost: $ 499.00 per person, minimum 3 people per room.; double occupancy: $ 559.00 per person; single occupancy: $ 639.00 per person. All fees are subject to GST.
Visit: http://www.lightworksforwellbeing.com/Lightworks_for_well_being_events2.htm for more details and to register or call 905-821-4361 or 905-785-6383
Article of the Month Lighten Up!
Written by Anne Bourke
Are you like many people who often get too caught up in life’s pressures and issues and realize one day you’re taking life too seriously? From TV comedies we may get the idea that we laugh a lot and that everybody is having a great time. The truth is that as adults we don’t laugh so much.
Did you know that North Americans score 11th in a survey of worldwide humour? That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise since as a culture, most of us are always on the go and trying to accomplish as much as possible. Apparently, kids laugh an estimated 300-400 times a day, while we busy adults get amused about 15 times in the same number of hours!
I don't know how you experience it but my sense of humour is one of the first things to go. Then I get into: " I haven't got time for ... chatting, puttering, playing and laughing". It seems that work related concerns and timelines to get everything done right, if not perfectly, become the truly important goals in my life! Even spending fun time with my loving husband, dog and special telephone calls to our " Brady Bunch" adult children, family and friends can go the way of ... " I haven't got time for!"
Can you relate to some of these typical reasons or excuses why we can’t or won’t lighten up, cited by Loretta Laroche?
We’re too busy...Will we ever not be busy?
Many of us are filled with an inner critical voice that wants us to be terminally serious adults!
We may need to be right. It’s hard to laugh, isn’t it, when we’re feeling so intense about making our point?
We may have a habit of judging and criticizing. It’s hard to be happy when everything is less than we expected.
We may have too many personal rules and regulations, and when we act like drill sergeants, life can become a forced march.
We may have a big ego and a sense of self- importance and if we were to laugh we might lose our “inflatedness”!
I feel embarrassed to admit how much I can relate to some of these reasons. I teach balance and well-being and I truly strive for this in my life. Yet I know that we can all fall into the old habits especially if, in our younger years, we were proud of ourselves as a human “Doing”. Oh, how I long to come back in my next life as a human “Being”!
I’m learning that lightening up isn’t just fun, it’s good for our health! As George Vaillant, an MD from Harvard said, “Humour is man’s most elegant coping mechanism.”
An excellent example of this is Norman Cousins, who wrote the book, “Anatomy of an Illness” after he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a crippling disorder for which there was no cure at the time. He refused medications, except vitamin C, and he invited family and friends to sit with him and watch TV comedies like Candid Camera, and funny movies. When he healed himself the hospital community started to pay attention, by creating humour rooms and carts and installing cable TV carrying comedy channels. Some hospitals employ clowns to make the rounds each day, a la Patch Adams.
Each month modern medicine is discovering more about the therapeutic dimension of lightening up through humour and laughter and is encouraging us to add them to our wellness programs.
Laughter is a totally organic medicine, with no side effects; except for my grade 7 teacher, Mrs Glare, who was allergic to it! We have discovered that humour offers us many wonderful benefits in body, mind and spirit.
When we laugh, we:
Feel less depressed
Lower our blood pressure
Feel more relaxed
Reduce stress and increase oxygen in our blood, giving us more energy
Increase the endorphin activity in our body, resulting in a sense of well being
Banish boredom
Are more socially attractive
Laughter is not only beneficial to our health. It has a positive effect on the whole family for when we laugh together we form a connection. In fact, laughter has been called “social glue” because it bonds us to the people we laugh with.
The healthiest kind of humour occurs when we can laugh at ourselves. If you are like me, you can find lots of material!
The message is clear: TO LIVE BETTER - LAUGH MORE!!
The psychologist Alan Watts wrote: "The whole art of life is in knowing how to transform anxiety into laughter."
IF IT FEELS GOOD TO LAUGH THEN LAUGH TO FEEL GOOD!!
Try some of these ideas to increase your daily dosage of Lightness.
Buddhists practice this each morning: Laugh for one minute and real laughter will follow
Turn that frown upside down: A Clark University psychologist found that by getting participants to re-arrange their facial muscles, they could create a feeling of anger from a frown and a feeling of well-being from a smile
Do an internal aerobic workout, by shifting your muscles into a smile and laughing deep into your belly. By practicing this you exercise many muscles and your perspective improves!
Laughter makes life easier because it allows us to see the absurdity of it all, give our brains a vacation and a reality check. All in all, being in good humour keeps life simpler, lighter and more humane.
Laughter is contagious - BE A CARRIER!!
As Loretta Laroche says: “Life is short - Wear your party pants” and
Lighten Up!! Copyright 2005 Anne Bourke
Question of the Month:
Do you take yourself too seriously?
Recommended book:
Life Is Short-Wear Your Party Pants - Loretta LaRoche
Upcoming Events:
Relationship Renewal
A 4-week course for couples that benefits the relationship by providing:
Experiential exercises that promote personal and couple awareness of beliefs and values
Informative presentations to guide couples toward realistic expectations and goals
Weekly instruction and practice of constructive communication skills to enhance understanding & intimacy
Visit : http://www.lightworksforwellbeing.com/Lightworks_for_well_being_events3.htm for more information and to register or call 905-785-6383.
Facilitators: Anne Bourke and Wendy Saxe
Self-development Course
Is your angry behaviour hurting your chances at work, in your personal life, or is it getting in the way of you achieving your goals?
A 4 week group interactive course that provides self-awareness and understanding of your anger style, the purpose of your anger, naming your stressors and practicing constructive strategies to make changes at all levels: mentally, physiologically and emotionally.
Visit: http://www.lightworksforwellbeing.com/Lightworks_for_well_being_events4.htm for more information and to register or call 905-785-6383
Facilitators: Anne Bourke and Paul Morgan
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