Professional Stand Up Comedy at The Vineyard, April 24th, 2010

Save the date!
Lighten Up folks! – April is National Humor Month and to celebrate The Syracuse Vineyard is sponsoring a night of Laughter and Silliness.  On Saturday, April 24th, at 7:00 pm come join us in the Fireside Room as I host – Silly Business at the Vineyard.  Your headliner for the evening is Nationally Known Stand-Up comic Dan Viola. Dan has worked with Jon Stewart, Kevin Meaney, Steven Wright, Sam Kinison, Has been featured in numerous TV commercials and appeared on The Nashville Network  Tickets are $6.50 and includes free parking and  all the popcorn you can eat.  Plus we will be handing out over 25 door prizes donated by local companies. Email or Call Yvonne  now for reservations at 315-487-3771 and join us for an evening of smart, clean and razor sharp comedy.  That’s 315-487-3771.

Bring your friends and neighbors and join us for an evening of smart, clean and razor sharp comedy.

Yvonne Conte, Motivational Humorist
Humor Advantage, Inc.
4736 Onondaga Blvd., Ste. 231
Syracuse, NY 13219
Yvonne Conte Website
Voice: 315.487.3771
Fax: 315.487.5633
E-mail Yvonne here

A Picture Perfect Day

Dr. Rob’s brother Ray takes a few moments to shares some positive words from sunny Coachella Valey in California.

Riding Lessons for Life #20

Inner Calmness:
While I was training in Wellington, Florida a few weeks ago my trainer really had me focus on inner calmness.  He really had me focus maintaining inner calmness while riding, and especially while jumping. If we get excited or nervous that translates directly to the horse and they will become nervous and excited.  If we maintain our own calmness the horse will remain relaxed as well.

As a rider I’ve known the importance of staying relaxed on a horse for a long time.  What I had to work on specifically was staying totally calm as I started jumping bigger and bigger jumps.  I am a competent rider up to a certain level, but the great thing about riding is that you never stop learning and my trainer is pushing me to higher and higher levels.  I need to jump a 4’6” jump just as calmly as I do a 3’ jump.  My trainer said my job as a rider is to present the jump calmly to the horse and then it’s his job to carry us to the other side.  Again, if I get nervous or excited right in front of the jump then the horse will associate that nervous energy with the jump; when really the goal is to have the horse remain relaxed to the jump, over the jump, and landing from the jump.

In life, we are faced with obstacles both big and small.  I think the trick is to deal with the big obstacles in life just as we deal with the little ones.  Once we can positively and calmly get through the small bumps in the road we are ready to face bigger bumps with the same inner calmness.  Getting nervous will only attract negative energy to the situation.  Remaining calm and trusting the universe will allow the universe to carry us over to the other side of the situation. Maintaining inner calmness when facing obstacles in life is key to successfully clearing them and getting to the other side.

–
Claire Affleck
Claire Affleck Training website
Email me

Busting the Myth that Self-Care is Selfish: 10-Week Self-Care Challenge, Week # 6

I want to congratulate you for taking such good care of YOU. Although at this point you may only be reading about self-care. Even if you are not doing the exercises my intention is that you will be gaining insights into what is possible. For those who have not only read but applied the exercises I would love to hear from you. What has been your experience so far? Has anything shifted for you? Are you able to see how little time it actually does take to focus attention on your needs? Does it easily allow you to reap major benefits? Tell us about your experience in the comment section of this blog. Previous challenges: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

I want to turn our focus to week six as I tell you about my new experience with meditation. If you have been with me for a long time you know that I have written about meditation before and confessed to struggle with it. That is until a few weeks ago when I learned Transcendental Meditation. It is a truly a passion of mine now. I feel like I did 30 years ago when I quit smoking. At that time, I told everyone I came into contact with how great I felt because I was not smoking anymore. Now I am telling them how great I feel because I have finally learned to meditate in a way that is joyful for me.

“The Transcendental Meditation technique has been shown to be the most effective health and wellness program there is. Nothing we know of is as effective for promoting good health and reducing health-care utilization and medical expenses.” ~ Kulrett Chaudry M.D. Neurologist

Exercise Week Six:

Meditation as a self-care practice: Spend a little time checking out meditation if you don’t already practice it. Read more

The Truth About St Patrick!

After the dead of winter, St Patrick’s Day is a welcome sign of spring. It’s a day when everyone claims to be Irish. We wear green shamrocks, eat corned beef, watch parades and wear silly hats. It’s an all day celebration. The patron saint of Ireland is one of Christianity’s most widely known figures. Over 3 million people line the streets of NY and 180,000 happy people are part of the largest and oldest parade every year. But how many of us really know the truth about this day of joy?  Let’s take a closer look at this world-wide holiday and separate the fact from the blarney!

It all started at the end of the forth century – not in Ireland, but in Great Britain where a little boy was born Maewyn Succat. At 15 he was kidnapped by Irish Marauders and taken to Ireland where he was imprisoned. After six years, he escaped walking nearly 200 miles to safety. Once back Britain, he had a vision from God to return to Ireland and help the very people who had taken him. He studied more than 15 years and became a priest, took the name Patrick and convert the Irish to Christianity. Folklore has him driving the snakes out of Ireland.  Truth be told, it was a metaphor. There were never any snakes on the island, but he did cleanse the island of paganism. We think of the Shamrock as a good luck charm, however St. Patrick introduced the shamrock as an easy way to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.  Three parts and yet one-brilliant!

The Irish are famous for oral legends and myth, leprechauns and lucky charms and so it is no surprise that the story of Patrick’s life became entwined with symbolism over time. However the truth of his life is a far greater story and one we can all learn from. This is a story of a man  who came from a horrific situation, a small boy taken from his family, enslaved,  who was able to inspire a nation, introduce them to a strong faith and completely change the color green to be a symbol of a nation.  No matter what your beginning is….it’s what you do with your life that really matters. Go out and do your part to make this a better world for those who come after you!  I can almost hear the bagpipes! Happy St. Paddy Day!

Yvonne Conte, Motivational Humorist
Humor Advantage, Inc.
4736 Onondaga Blvd., Ste. 231
Syracuse, NY 13219
Yvonne Conte Website
Voice: 315.487.3771
Fax: 315.487.5633
E-mail Yvonne here

Finding Your Never-Never Land

We all remember the wondrous and adventurous children’s story “Peter Pan.” The story of Peter, leader of the “lost boys”, who could fly, never grew old, lived in the magical Never-Never Land and was friend to a fairy. Peter befriended Wendy and her brothers one night who had grown up never seeing and believing in their dreams or imaginations, something we are told very young to forget and just follow everyone else through life.

Peter showed them, how to believe in dreams and themselves and to travel with with him to Never-Never Land. This was not heaven, it was a wondrous place that also had fear, anxiety and confusion. After all, an arm-hooked pirate and a clock carrying crocodile can be pretty scary. However, it was dream and imagination that allowed the children to fly, belief that saved the fairy and the crocodile that got the pirate.

Remember today, that you can overcome your arm-hooked pirates and clock carrying crocs and soar to great heights if you simply Believe in yourself. With Belief all things are possible and all dreams can become reality. It is time to find your Never-Never Land.

David Ritter

As Good As Your Word: Promises

Ever since human beings could speak to one another, they have been making promises and keeping them or not keeping them. Those who keep their promises are regarded as people of integrity, while those who don’t keep their promises are regarded as people who at best can’t be taken seriously and at worst can’t be trusted. Sometimes we forget how powerful our words are, and we use them haphazardly or unconsciously, creating expectations that are never fulfilled, leaving disappointment and distrust in our wake.

On an even deeper level, there are promises we may have made to ourselves that we don’t remember because they have slipped into our unconscious. An early heartache may have been followed by a promise never to trust love again. Without realizing it, we may be fulfilling that promise and wondering why our love life looks so grim. Upon realizing that we have made a promise we no longer wish to be beholden to, we can perform a ritual of requesting release from that bond. In doing so, we clear ourselves of outmoded connections and patterns, returning ourselves to a clean slate. Then we can resolve to remember that our word is sacred and to be very conscious of any promises we make to ourselves or to others.

We may ask to be released from any promises made to ourselves or others, consciously or unconsciously, that are holding us back from fulfilling our greatest good. We may ask that love, light, and healing be sent to any souls who have suffered from our inability to be true to our word, including ourselves. We can ask for the wisdom to do our best and from this point forward to be true to our word, promising only what we truly intend to deliver. The resulting clear conscience and liberated energy will illustrate this truth: We are only as good as our word.

~Reprinted with permission from DailyOM

Generate Your Own Patterns: Becoming Your Parents

Heredity plays a role in almost all human development, whether physical, mental, or emotional. We tend to look like our parents and are subject to the same sensitivities they have. We may even be predisposed to certain behaviors or preferences. As we grow older, we become increasingly aware of the traits that exist within us and the clear history of the traits of our mothers and fathers. Our response to this epiphany depends upon whether the inclinations, tendencies, and penchants we inherited from our forebears are acceptable in our eyes. We may honor some of these shared traits while rejecting others. However, there is no law of nature, no ethereal connection between parents and children, that states that the latter must follow in the footsteps of the former. We are each of us free to become whoever we wish to be.

When we accept that our parents are human beings in possession of both human graces and human failings, we begin to regard them as distinct individuals. And by granting mothers and fathers personhood in our minds, we come to realize that we, too, are autonomous people and in no way destined to become our relations. While we may have involuntarily integrated some of our parents’ mannerisms or habits into our own lives, conscious self-examination will provide us with a means to identify these and work past them if we so desire. We can then unreservedly honor and emulate those aspects of our mothers and fathers that we admire without becoming carbon copies of them.

Though many of the tempers and temperaments that define you are inherited, you control how they manifest in your life. The patterns you have witnessed unfolding in the lives of your parents need not be a part of your unique destiny. You can learn from the decisions they made and choose not to indulge in the same vices. Their habits need not become yours. But even as you forge your own path, consider that your parents’ influence will continue to shape your life—whether or not you follow in their footsteps. Throughout your entire existence, they have endeavored to provide you with the benefit of their experiences. How you make use of this profound gift is up to you.

~Reprinted with permission from DailyOM

You Bet Your Life Book Launch Party

You Bet Your Life Book Launch Party with Laura’s List: Books for Women. Join Laura  Ponticello with author and international speaker, Trisha Torrey, known as Every Patient’s Advocate. Open to the public- it’s sure to be conversational!

Thursday, March 17, 2010
7:00pm at Creekside Books & Coffee
Skaneateles, NY 13152

You Bet Your Life, The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes, by Central New York resident, Trisha Torrey. As my mother would say, like a bible, in your home, this book should be on your nightstand. Given three months to live, Trisha misdiagnosed with an aggressive terminal cancer, now travels the country, speaking on an international level as Every Patient’s Advocate.  As a columnist, radio talk show host, she empowers patients to get the health care they deserve.

You Bet Your Life by Trisha Torrey, known as Every Patient’s advocate

Connect with Trisha at www.everypatientsadvocate.com and http://YouBetYourLifeBooks.com

~~~
Laura Ponticello
Live a Beautiful Life : Laura’s List – Books for Women
Visit my website here or stop by my blog here
Laura’s List can be found at www.creeksidebooks.com now on display.
E-mail me


Words Have Weight: Feeling Our Words

Words carry energy and this gives language its power and its potential to heal or hurt. Most of us can remember a time that someone sent a word our way, and it stuck with us. It may have been the first time we received a truly accurate compliment, or the time a friend or sibling called us a name, but either way it stuck. This experience reminds us that what we say has weight and power and that being conscious means being aware of how we use words.

The more conscious we become, the more we deepen our relationship to the words we use so that we speak from a place of actually feeling what we are saying. We begin to recognize that words are not abstract, disconnected entities used only to convey meaning; they are powerful transmitters of feeling. For the next few days, you might want to practice noticing how the words you say and hear affect your body and your emotional state. Notice how the different communication styles of the people in your life make you feel. Also, watch closely to see how your own words come out and what affect they have on the people around you.

You may notice that when we speak quickly, without thinking, or rush to get our ideas across, our words don’t carry the same power as when we speak slowly and confidently, allowing those receiving our words time and space to take them in. When we carefully listen to others before we speak, our words have more integrity, and when we take time to center ourselves before speaking, we truly begin to harness the power of speech. Then our words can be intelligent messengers of healing and light, transmitting deep and positive feelings to those who receive them.

~Reprinted with permission from DailyOM