New blogging app. for my phone....

So I found a blogging app for my Samsung Mesmerize Android phone. I can also insert video and pics right from the app, so I may start adding some video and pics! Excited!

Laughter Yoga!!!

So about a week and a half ago, Angela from The Ki Inside talked me into going to something called Laughter Yoga. I had no real idea what to expect other than I have been known to laugh a time or two and have done yoga before. So I kinda figured it'd be laughing while doing regular yoga poses. Sounds kinda hokey and weird. I was right and wrong.
First, let me say I LOVED it. I talked my friend Crystal into going along with me. She brought her 4 and 7 year old boys along. We got to The Ki Inside and set up some chairs in a circle and had a seat. In walks Glenda Aldrich, the laughter yoga instructor. She reads us some of the benefits of laughter and then gets right into it. She had us do a little light stretching (very light). She then had us laugh. That's right, no jokes or anything, just laughing. You pretty much fake it til you make it -- you fake your laugh until you really start laughing. It becomes contagious. Glenda had us moving around pretending to throw snowballs at each other, laughing like Santa with a deep belly laugh or laughing high-pitched, or giving birth to a laughter baby (I took it literally and had everyone laughing as I put on a little scene where I pretended to give birth). As I mentioned, your laughs eventually become really!
Don't be worried if you don't move all that well. It's VERY light stretching and are encouraged to do what you're comfortable with. If you're in a wheel chair, no problem, you can sit and do this as well!
I left there feeling great! My spirits were lifted and I was a bit sweaty! Who knew you could sweat from laughing?! And Crystal's boys loved it! Who doesn't love laughing and being goofy for an hour??
And it was only $10. I haven't heard of this great of a deal for an hour of laughter since I heard about my sketch comedy group, Banana Punch's, upcoming sketch show this February! PLUG! http://www.bananapunchcomedy.com/

The Register just did an article on this great class this week! Check it out and come join me this Tuesday night in Sherman Hill at The Ki Inside from 7-8pm!
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201012080327

Great book I'm reading for homework.

So Angela recommended a really, really good book that I'm taking a liking to and that makes complete sense as I read it. It's called The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz.
The book is about ancient Mexican (Toltec) principles that, when followed, bring freedom and then happiness to your life. The four agreements are (taken from www.toltecspirit.com):

1. Be Impeccable with your Word:
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

I love the way the author writes. When I read books, I sometimes tend to not pay attention 100% and then have to go back and re-read a bit. The author repeats, recaps, restates and reiterates his points. It's all very logical to me and makes total sense. After reading it, I find myself thinking, why did I never think of this before?? It's very cool. At work last night, I read for a little bit after doing my work and read 80 pages!

Monday's Reiki session and a strange occurrence! Also relationship stuff and me seeking out socializing without alcohol....

So Monday Angela performed another Reiki session on me. Almost immediately, I felt a wave of energy pulsing through me. It started at my head and went through my whole body and was accompanied by a little bit of heat. That's not the weird part....

So shortly after she started, she still had her hands on either side of my head. I felt somebody holding my right hand. Yeah. Seriously. We were maybe less than two minutes in, so I was still awake and wasn't in a trance state or anything. It was followed by a feeling of comfort, peace, and relaxation. I know it sounds weird, but I felt it! I can't explain it and can't say if it was a spirit guide, a dead relative, or my imagination, but I can tell you, it felt real. I'm keeping an open mind through this process as I want to change and improve what's in my noggin!

So Angela also told me to be open to falling in love again. She had me fill out a a contrast/clarity list where you write down on one side the things that you don't want in a relationship and on the clarity side the things that you DO want in a relationship. For instance, say you don't want someone abusive, so you would right that on your contrast side and on the clarity side you would write maybe that you wanted someone kind. The goal is that when you're done the clarity side will basically list exactly what it is you're looking for in a relationship. I need to finish filling mine out...it's a work in progress.
I don't remember dreams much, but I had one the other night. About my ex, Amy. She broke up with me almost exactly a year ago. ON MY BIRTHDAY, And we lived together. Wow. She broke my heart. I don't think I've been able to get over her. I won't go into all the details, but she was the only girl I've ever lived with. Anyway, I had a dream the other night about her. The jist of the dream was essentially that she had moved on but I was stuck and hadn't. I ended up trying to tell her that she broke my heart, but I ended up telling some other guy in the dream who, I think, symbolized whomever she moved on with (pretty sure she had been cheating on me at the end). Not sure what the whole thing means, but pretty sure it had something to do with Angela talking to me about relationships and being open to falling in love. I think I was seeking closure in that dream but was unable to find it.

We also discussed my wanting to drink less. That being said, I don't feel I have an alcohol problem, but I feel that my social interactions revolve mostly around alcohol. I also need to expand my horizons as far as needing more friends and more social interaction in general. Pretty much what my social life consists of is hanging out at Billy Joe's on a night when it's mostly empty and singing karaoke and drinking beer. Pretty boring! I need to seek out some interesting things to do that don't center around alcohol. This has the potential to bring with it a lot of positive side effects.

Can't wait to see what today's session brings!. Also, we might record a follow-up interview after today's session.

My first session of alternative healing.

So I had my first session on the 25th of October. I met Angela at the office after working 9 hours or so.
We talked for a bit and did some EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or also Emotionally Focused Therapy). Here's a definition to give you an idea of what EFT is: "a form of alternative psychotherapy that purports to manipulate the body's energy field by tapping on acupuncture points while a specific traumatic memory is focused on, in order to alleviate a psychological problem."
So Angela had me close my eyes and tap on various parts of my hand and face while repeating various phrases that she stated. I can't say I really felt anything on this first experience, but I didn't expect to on the first time. :)

We also did some Reiki (pronounced ray-kee). Here's a definition: "a spiritual practice developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui. It uses a technique commonly called palm healing as a form of complementary and alternative medicine and is sometimes classified as oriental medicine by some professional bodies. Through the use of this technique, practitioners transfer healing energy in the form of ki through the palms."
I can't tell you how relaxed this makes me. This first session went down like this: I lay on my back on a table and with a cover over my eyes to darken everything with the lights also turned off and relaxing music playing. Angela started by placing her hands on my head and saying a sort of prayer to state her purpose to god/spirits/whomever. While I never fell asleep, I was so relaxed; it was almost a state of hypnosis (that's what I know that I can relate it to)! She proceeds to place her hands above and below different places on my body: for instance, she would slide a hand under my back and have her other hand on my chest. She then told me to envision a sponge that acts like a magnet to soak up or pull all of the bad stuff (could be thoughts, energies, etc) out and at the end, send them to the sun to transform their energy. At the end I slowly come back up to 'normal'. I was sooo extremely relaxed. I can't say I felt much other than relaxed after this first session, but again, I didn't expect anything else.

Lastly, she gave me some affirmations to repeat to myself whenever I felt the need. I have used those affirmations and others since then, and I think they help!


Stay tuned for the second session and a strange experience which I wasn't expecting to have!

Now that the outer self is where it needs to be, time to work on my inner self.

So I received a phone call a few weeks ago while I was sleeping. I had the phone silenced, so when I woke up, I had an interesting voicemail from my dental hygienist. She knows my love of documentaries as well as my being vegan and my weight loss. She told me that she had just seen a documentary at the Fleur the night before called 'May I Be Frank' and that it was in town for one more night and that I should go see it because she knew I would love it. I called up my friend Crystal from New City Market as well as my high school friend Heather who also has lost a lot of weight.
All I really knew of the movie going in was that some guy had lost weight by eating a raw vegan diet. The movie was SO much more than just that. The movie was much more about how this man changed his mind in order to change his body. That's not doing it justice in the least. There were tears throughout the theater as well as lots of laughter. Frank was there to answer questions after the movie as well. I can't express how much this movie touched me. Check out the website for the movie at . It may be brought back to Des Moines next month!
A couple of days later, I emailed one of the sponsors of the film who got it brought to Des Moines. Her name is Angela Clark, and she has a radio show on Des Moines Amplified; you can find her show's site at . Angela has an alternative healing company called enrgPATH; check out her site at . I told her of my weight loss story and how I like to share my message to let others know that they can lose weight naturally as well. She emailed me back and said she'd like to have me on her show. After a few emails trying to coordinate schedules, we decided to meet up this last Saturday at the station to record an interview....
So we chatted for an hour or so before the interview so she had a better idea of my story. The radio/video interview lasted for about an hour as well where I shared my story and we talked about 'May I Be Frank'. I don't remember how it came up, but I had mentioned being depressed and wanting to change that. Angela offered to help me -- FOR FREE. How awesome is that??? VERY AWESOME!!! She's giving me my own Frank experience, or as Crystal said, she's Franking me!

More about the healing to come....

Creating a team for Live Healthy Iowa!

I'm creating a team for Live Healthy Iowa (www.livehealthyiowa.org). I'm going to be the team captain and am looking for 10 or so people to be on my team. You don't have to want/need to lose weight to join, just want to be the healthiest you that you can be.
If you're reading this, you likely know of my weight loss success of losing 120 pounds in a year through diet and exercise. It's been another year now that I have kept it off. I'm hoping to help others achieve what I've achieved by mentoring and offering advice, etc. I have a lot to offer my teammates!

If you want to join my team, please shoot me an email at either davedwilliams AT hotmail.com or 3062414 AT gmail.com. (email address changed to prevent spammers....I think you know how to figure out the email addresses from that!) I hope to have my team put together by the end of this week, however the deadline for registration is 1/14/2010. Please email me this week!

If you want details on the Live Healthy Iowa program, please go to www.livehealthyiowa.org. Otherwise shoot me an email with questions.