Debbie Rosas, Nia Co-Creator, says:

No other joint provides as much comfort, conditioning and energy flow as the hip joints. If you’re in my Nia class, you will hear me frequently say, “Keep your balls alive.” People laugh when they hear me say this; however, as the largest ball and socket joint in the body, the hips are responsible for balancing our energy from below and above. The hip joints are the conduits for mobility and stability. With every step you take, the balls of your hip joints beg to move. When they move, they rock and roll the energy, sending it from left to right and around your spine from the tail to the crown. Keep the balls of your hip joints healthy and you will breathe more deeply, have more resilience in your legs and more strength in your abdominal muscles and back. Not to mention, you’ll look and feel better!

It took me ten years to let go of the tension in my hip joints. There were several things standing in the way of my having free and mobile hips. First, there was the attitude, “good girls don’t move their tails.” Second, there was the belief system, “If I walk down the street with a loose pelvis, I’ll look a loose woman, and I might even get attacked.” Yet once I understood the science of The Body’s Way, I gave myself permission to move my pelvis – which is the way of the body. I am happy to say I no longer carry those stories and attitudes. With knowledge and practice, I have freed my body and my mind to allow a full range of motion in my hip joints. Of all body parts that provide immediate pleasure, my hip joints are the ones I can always rely on. Whether I’m sitting, standing, or walking in heels or flats, sensing my hip joints and “keeping my balls alive” keeps me happy and healthy. It gives an extra “pizzaz” when I walk down the street in a pair of pumps!

Tips

• Practice Heel Lead and make a connection between the ball of the foot and the ball of the hip joint. Sense energy transferring from the feet to the hips.
• Play with transverse motion. As you step forward with your right foot, allow the left arm to swing easily across and in front of your torso, and vice versa with your other leg and opposite arm.
• As you sit down, sense the rolling of the hip joints lowering your body into the chair.
• Resting on all fours (hands and knees) circle your pelvis and undulate your spine to stimulate mobility in your hip joints.
• Practice the Figure Four hip opening stretch. Do this by resting on your back and crossing your right ankle over your left thigh. Interlace your hands between and around your legs, drawing your left leg in towards your chest. Breathe deeply as you open your hips. Switch sides and repeat.
• Exhale the sounds “Oooh” and “Ahh” as you practice the Nia Pelvic Circles.

“If you feel more than a little cranky AND have been skipping your Nia class, there may be a relation of cause and effect, here.”

I am sharing with you my morning shower bit of wisdom – addressed to ME.

Kids are back in school and I have been looking at “how do I make this work?” I want all of us home early for dinner together and really, if I skip a Nia class here and there, it wont be that big a deal. So I have. I have skipped a couple. And this morning, I am cranky as hell. Which is not great given my “Happy Director” title. Sure, there are some hormone fluctuations going on and sure I can be cranky once in a while. But when I found myself moving my arms Nia style in the shower, I knew what was part of my angst.

The movement for sure. But also the smiles, the togetherness, the view from up there, all of us and all of it.

So tonight, I’m going. I’m going to make this work another way. Because being home early and cranky isn’t helping anyone.

If this resonates with you in any way – please join me. And maybe we can do some kind of dinner co-op rotation thing ?

When I opened the door to the Ballroom today, she was glowing. Fifty steps didn’t seem to have phased her and she looked very ready for her first life coaching session.

As she sat on the couch, she told me that as she was driving down from Bellingham, she had been smiling a lot, and thinking to herself :”I’m on my way to the Center for Happiness!!”

The recollection made her smile even bigger and I thought … hmmm…. we need us some bumper stickers!

Now, THEY’re on their way!

How do you decide if something has been “successful?”

This morning, the “morning after” an event a couple of courageous friends and I organized, I am sitting with the question. Hearing about the need of a local family, we decided that together, we could make things a little easier for them.

We decided to pool our resources together (creativity, energy, connections) and generate enough cash to buy enough gas cards to lighten their current load.

And we went for it (I heard the words “balls to the wall” being mentioned a couple of times by observing eyes, in the last couple of weeks.). Yup, we went for it. We were on the radio, in the paper, on posters … We gathered a really varied and rich array of donations for our silent auction. A group of musicians joined us and offered their heart-guided sounds for several hours. The room was beyond beautiful, looking as though it belonged in a 5 star hotel. We had a great movie to sing along to. Scrumptious hand crafted food and drinks. Flowers. And beautiful people.

We worked fast and we worked well and we worked “hard” in a joyous way.

We made it happen.

Our goal, as defined during our first meeting was to generate enough gas cards so that these folks could go back and forth from their home in Anacortes to Seattle’s Children’s Hospital once a week for a year – and not worry about the fuel cost. We guessed that to be around $2000.

And last night, after everyone was gone and the Ballroom was quiet, we estimated that between the direct donations, the movie tickets and the silent auction … we most likely have reached our goal. Within two weeks and with a lot of energy and lots of generosity from some “YES people,” we have done it.

So why do I feel “funny” this morning? Well, first, there is that “morning after” feeling. No doubt about that. After focusing so intensely on this event, it feels strange to be on the other side of it.

But there is more.

There is a bit of … something. There is a bit of something that comes from the fact that really, very few people showed up. Let me re-phrase this. A LOT OF PEOPLE SHOWED UP. As I write this (writing is always my no-fail therapy), I realize that a lot of people showed up.

In many different and beautiful ways. But not in the way that my mind had thought they would. I had imagined a room full of people. Really, a room full of strangers who would have shown up lured by our savvy promotion and would have mingled and donated and made a lot of cocktail party noises. I had imagined a loud affair. I had imagined something different than what was. And often, that’s exactly where the snag lives: in the space where things are different that what we had imagined.

What really did take place? Well, very few “strangers” showed up, last night. Instead, it was more of our lovely growing little community. The silent auction brought in a good amount of cash and when Marilyn added it up in her head, about half way through, and shared that number with me, I was shocked. How could it be? Hardly anyone had been here! Wrong. Plenty had been here. WE had been here. Something about that felt weird and last night, I was too tired to extract the gifts from that. I was still living in that “snag” place. I had stories in my head of “Well, if we bid on our own auction, does it count?”

This morning, I feel very differently. This morning, I am seeing how while this did not happen the way my mind (ego ?) had envisioned it, it was beautiful. There we were, in that room that has become our home away from home, our place of creation – together. And together we doubled the money that had been sent to us over the last two weeks by many many people – many of them whom we have never met.

It seems to me that again, we are dealing with a matter of Essence vs Form. The Essences we declared when starting on this little adventure were Peace of Mind and Joy. I am going to say that these two Essences have been met. Clearly. Peace of Mind and Joy for us as we created this thing out of thin air (ok, so we may have gotten a little bit overwhelmed a couple of times), Joy for the people who chose to play with us and contribute, and now Peace of Mind for a family who is about to get handed a stack of shiny gas cards. In the amount we had hoped for.

The Form was not exactly what we had envisioned and yet, now that I sit with it, I am thinking that it may actually be way sweeter than what my little mind had crafted. And the sweetness comes from another Essence which is so huge for me: COMMUNITY. Community with intimacy. Community that grows slowly and deeply from doing things together. Playing, creating, grieving sometimes too. And giving. Giving of our smiles, our time, our music, our art, our hearts, our gifts, our presence.

This morning, this “morning after” I look back and think that yes, this was very successful.

What a joy-fest!

Carol had found us a big old flat bed truck (and a great driver) and we decided to be in the 4ht of July parade. A few balloons, a couple of colorful swags (we will be raffling one of them off on Saturday for our “Fuel for Carter” event) and all it took was to invite some great people to hop on and blow bubbles.

To the tunes of “I Love This Town” and “It’s a Small World” we sang and laughed and had a great time.

Again, I love being reminded of how little it takes to create and sprinkle joy!

(see more pictures on our Facebook page)

Last night’s New Moon Drumming Circle was quite an event. Not that I have anything to compare to as I am a Drumming Circle Newbie. But still, I am pretty sure this was rather special.

There were many, many of us and while some people came for the first time, I could feel the beginning of a bond between “the regulars.” There was an ease and a warmth and what I would call a very powerful blend of depth and joy.

Elke led us into drumming, rattling, singing, dancing and something else which was not quite tangible but very acute.

What a gift to be part of this growing group of people. Thank you, Elke. Oh, and THANK YOU for your mountain of still warm, gluten free cookies. I had about eight more than is reasonable.

And as is often the case, the impromptu “after party” was a real treat. Aaron on our old piano (which somehow became almost in tune as if by magic), Chrystal and Wendy on the drums, several of us dancing … while the sun took its sweet time setting…. pure bliss.

Welcome, New Moon.

That’s it. We’re doing it.

The Anacortes Center for Happiness is becoming one of Washington State’s new “Social Purpose Corporations.”

The State’s website tells us that:

As of June 7, 2012, a new type of profit corporation will exist in Washington.  For the past two years, the State Bar Association has been working on this law that would allow a corporation’s shareholders and directors to put a social purpose (such as saving the environment or saving the whales) above the purpose of making a profit.  They discussed the need for the law, the different points of the law, and the differences from the “Benefit Corporation” law that seven states have already enacted. The Secretary of State’s Office participated in these discussions and was happy to support HB 2239.

So yep. Here we go.

Question from the Secretary of State form for the SPC:
The business purpose or purposes of this corporation is/are_______________

Answer:
To provide joy, growth, connection and kindness for its patrons and anyone associated with it -  as well as for the local, state, national and world community.

Sounds right, no? (this is a really important part because it becomes part of the “DNA” of the corporation and we need to report yearly on “how we’re doing” based on that.)

I find it amazingly cool  – and inspiring -  that there is room for these words on a State Application.

Whew! All right … now to send in the $180. Lick the stamp and voila!

Being in the same room with an “expert” (which I think of as someone who is so passionate about a particular subject that they have devoted a large amount of their time and energy learning about it and really exploring it) can be a huge gift especially when that expert is ready to share his or her knowledge with us.

Now imagine curling up on a couch or in comfy armchairs with a group of women (or men), shoes off and maybe sipping tea. The room is beautiful and you feel safe and at ease, ready to talk and listen to each other.

And right there, is your expert. Possibly curled up on a chair also and ready to let you in on all the great stuff she knows. For a fraction of what it would cost for you to book a visit in her office, and with the added benefits of taking advantage of every one else’s questions and experience.

Now, add a bit of really good chocolate and you have last night’s talk with Dr Alethea Fleming, ND.

It was just great.

The topic was menopause and peri menopause and we all learned so much (not to mention going home with all kinds of cool stuff).

Everyone left feeling so much more equipped and … heard – which goes a long way.

So, we’re going to do it again. And again.

Alethea and I are working on an upcoming series, starting in the Fall. If there is a particular subject you would like to see her explore, please email us and let us know.

Last winter, my kids and I saw a very young woman standing on the street corner, with a sign saying “anything will help.” We pulled over and asked her what she needed. She said “food” – then she paused and added: socks would be really great.

We drove to a store, bought a bag of stuff to eat and a pair of warm, fuzzy socks.

When we handed the goods to her (after tracking her down through a comical series of one way streets), her face completely lit up at the sight of the socks. Right there on the spot, she took off her shoes, her old socks and put on the new ones. She seemed so happy.

Socks are a big deal. They are a home for our feet, they start everything quietly right. Whether we have a warm place to sleep or not, when our feet are happy, we have a much better chance at being happy too.

So, I am slowly birthing this idea of a Socks Fundraiser. I am not sure yet what it’s going to look like… maybe a concert, maybe a class, maybe … I don’t know but I’m pretty sure that between all of us we have what it takes to generate a whole bunch of happy making warm socks.

What do you think? What idea pops up for you? Talk to me!

First, a disclaimer: I am not an expert. I have not (yet) held a big fundraiser and I have not (yet) written a grant. I have not gone to school for this  and I am pretty new at it.

Having said that, I will add that I feel rather confident in my ability to make great stuff happen. And that’s really what Happiness Sprinkling is about.

Last week, a group of us stood at a busy intersection, wearing bright yellow shirts and holding up signs that said things like “You Rock,” “It’s Going to be Okay” and “Yes oh Yes.”
We stayed there for an hour, having a blast and from what I see, the happy ripples reached far and wide. Even though someone wrote that this was “the best kind of advertisement they’d seen,” we never thought of it as advertisement. The Center’s logo was nowhere to be seen, I am pretty sure none of us had any business card on us (well, I bet Carol did) and well… that just was not even on our radar. In fact, not till the night before the event did it occur to us that maybe the newspaper would want to hear about it. So, what was on our radar? To have a great time and to light people up.

A week later, amazed at the abundance of great feedback we have received, I want to take a look  at what worked because I think that it makes for a great lesson. I want to share that with others too, with the people who have asked me, over the last several days: “How did you guys do this?”

In no particular order:

1) Have a great time and let it show
I think that’s the big one. Don’t suffer in order to make a point. Make it great for you and make it so great that you are going to enjoy the heck out of it. That means, pick music you like – if music is involved – wear comfortable clothes, invite people you want to hang out with (not people with whom you want to be seen) and make it so good that even if no one shows up or notices, you will have a great time. By being 100% authentic, you are going to attract people who resonate with you, with what you are doing and this is how you will grow your tribe, a tribe that will feed you because you are feeding it. Anything else is fluff and not the least bit nutritious.

2) Keep it super simple
Once the idea is out, it is tempting to want to set up committees (they sound so grown up) and organize pre-event meetings, send out tons of memos … all that stuff. While some degree of organization is going to help, consider the possibility that it may take a lot less than you originally think. Keep it super simple. In our case, once I decided (more on the “I” in a minute – see #9 ) that I wanted everyone to wear bright yellow shirts, I simply asked everyone to show up wearing bright yellow shirts. Sure there was the temptation to order shirts so we all matched and I am so glad that I dodged that. There was also the temptation to get us all together for a “rehearsal” or a “brainstorm session” or … I dunno. Because I had so many other things going on, I knew from the beginning that this event could not take much room and what a gift  that was. Between a few emails, a couple phone calls and regular facebooking, it all came together. We showed up, we grabbed our signs and we did it. Simple.

3) Good enough
Some shirts were brighter than others. Some people canceled at the last minute. Others  didn’t show up. Others yet just joined in at the last second. It rained a little bit. Who cares? Remember the 1) point? Have a great time. Once we get excited about something, it is easy to want to hold it tight and that’s exactly when we suck the magic out of it. Another danger of not going with the “good enough” philosophy is that it may never happen. You wait till you have it just right, all the ducks lined up and you wait and you wait. Next thing you know, you see someone doing “your idea” on TV and you sit there going – wait …  that was my idea! It’s good enough. Just go do it.

4) Involve people on a personal level
When I decided to do this, I knew I wanted the people holding the signs to be more than jazzed up about wearing bright shirts and standing on the corner holding signs. I wanted them to be excited about sharing themselves with others and this is why I asked everyone who wanted to be there, what they wanted their sign to say. I wanted them to be so inspired that they were going to be really inspiring. And this goes back, again, to authenticity. In the end, some of us tried on each other’s sign out for fun and that too, was great. So yes, involving people’s essences and giving them a platform to share that essence is a big deal.

5) Allow yourself to get inspired
The idea for this came from a photo that someone sent me online. It was four or five people standing around in orange jumpsuits and holding happy signs. As soon as it popped up on my FB wall, someone said “This is so cool, let’s do it!” and right then, I knew we would. It would have been very easy for our egos to say “Oh, I wish I had thought of that” and dismiss it as it “had been done before.” Who cares if someone did it before? Who cares if this was not your idea? If it lights you up and inspires you, go put your own spin on it and do it again. I bet you that you have some great stuff, some “you stuff” to add.

6) Improvise
You dont have to know exactly how it’s going to go. Set it up and then release it. That’s what play is about. Once we were on our corner for a few minutes, we decided to switch spot with the group that was on another corner. We didn’t have notes that said “let’s switch corner every 10 minutes.” We just walked across the street and switched. The ones who didn’t want to switch stayed. We didn’t have even numbers of people on each corner at all times. But we laughed and we hooted and we shimmied and we had a great time. Which… remember #1 ? is the point.

7) Ask for help
You don’t have to do it all yourself. You don’t have to stress. I know that there is some myth out there that says that this sort of things is stressful and lots of work but … I don’t think so. I think you can do great stuff (much greater stuff) if you don’t stress. So, ask for help. Who would be really good at ———- ? In our case, I wasn’t sure how to get the individual signs made. First, I considered making them myself (I always consider doing everything myself at first, I’m told it’s a Capricorn thing – but I am recovering and doing much better), then I considered finding a way to pay to get them printed and finally, I called my favorite design / printing company and asked them if they would “play” – and donate the printing of the signs for us. Again, that’s where 1) comes in. If you are having a great time – even just talking about the event – you are going to get people excited about it. That’s what Landmark Education calls “enrolling.” And guess what? They said yes. They said yes and they made us the best signs I could ever ask for. So yes, ask for help.

8) Record it. Better yet, ask someone to record it.
While the event is going on, you are high. Here it is. You have thought about it for days and here it is. And then … pouf!  it’s gone. And if you don’t record it (on video, photos, interviews) you will miss the “after juice.” The event was great. No doubt about that. But the pictures? Oh my goodness! These are forever. They keep the gift going long after. And they remind you of what a great thing you did. Which reminds you that there is so much more you are going to want to do. And then… who knows? A great photo lands on someone else’s radar and they get inspired by YOU. See #5.

9) Have one person in charge
I love the idea of joint brainstorming and I do believe that together we make things so much better. And yet sometimes, when you want to put something together quickly and you have a clear vision and little at risk, one person in charge is a great way to go. Again, at first I wanted to have a meeting, have everyone decide where we should meet, what color shirt we should wear, how long we should do it for etc … I come from a strong democratic and socialist gene pool and yet I knew that for this to be easy, I needed to be in charge – while using suggestions as my guide.  I decided that the shirts would be yellow, that we would meet at 4, be done by 5:30. I took someone’s suggestion on the location and adopted it right away. It made is super simple. Now, a few weeks ago for Happy S.W.A.P., Stephanie was in charge. For our Mexican Potluck, Carol was in charge. When that happens, I love being the assistant and I love the ease of turning to them for “what do we do next?” So I am learning that for these small projects, having one person at the helm works great.

10) Trust
You birthed the idea, you gathered your little tribe, you have checked your list and kept it simple enough that you are sure to have a good time… now go for it. Release it. Go play with your creation and trust. Trust that whomever is supposed to be there will be there. Trust that the weather will be perfect, even if it pours. Trust that your happiness drops will land exactly in the right way. And trust that by being you and sharing that with others, you have shared the biggest gift you can share.

Happiness Sprinkling is serious business. Ok, it’s not. But it’s important business. So go to it, sprinkle your own happiness! I can’t wait to feel the drops.