Daily Archives: May 6, 2017

Baker is co-founder of the Roanoke Laughter Lab, which meets monthly at the South County Library.

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.

Laughter has a long history in human culture. Ancient Greek physicians prescribed their patients visits to the hall of comedians and the theater as part of the healing process. Early Native Americans had clowns who worked in conjunction with witch doctors. The 14th century surgeon Henri de Mondeville told jokes to his patients in the recovery room. In the 16th century, Martin Luther used humor therapy as part of pastoral counseling of depressed people. President Abraham Lincoln was adept at using humor to ease his pain and stress.

Through the ages, laughter has been recognized for delivering joy as therapy. It speeds recovery from surgery. As therapy and counseling of the depressed it also relieves one of excess stress and tension. It is a vital factor in the treatment of the sick and dying. Laughter helps regain ones emotional equilibrium after trauma and crises.

The most significant recording of the benefits of laughter come from Norman Cousins in his book Anatomy of an Illness. In 1964, Cousins, Senior Editor of the Saturday Review, was diagnosed with a crippling and extremely painful inflammation of his body, Ankylosing Spondylitis. Doctors gave him little hope of survival. He refused to accept the diagnosis as a death sentence, checked himself out of the hospital, hired a full-time nurse and moved into a hotel suite. Along with mega doses of vitamin C, he watched Candid Camera, the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and laughed constantly. Soon observing, I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.

Digging deeper, Cousins discovered a surprising number of recorded incidents in which patients have laughed themselves back to health, or at least used laughter as a positive response to their illness. His anecdotal account of his self-styled healing became the bestselling book. He was hired by the University of California medical school where he taught and researched for twenty years the merits of laughter in healing.

In a study of mid-life wellness factors by Harvards eminent physician, George Valliant, laughter was singled out as a major stress-coping mechanism among healthy men. Laughter diffuses anxiety and anger, while acting as a blocking agent against the ravages of panic.

There is anesthetic effect of laughter lessening pain with the release of endorphins and easing anxiety and depression for those in chronic pain. Laughter charges our energy, provides relief from our problems and even helps us find solutions to them. Laughter radiates through us, helps us feel happy and provides us with a joyful illumination as we deal with the disharmonies of life.

World Laughter Day, this year, May 7, originated in 1998 with Madan Kataria, a physician in India, who founded the worldwide Laughter Yoga Movement now operating in 105 countries through over 6000 Laughter Clubs. The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and intended to build up a global consciousness of brother/sister hood and friendship through laughter.

How can you use the power you have been born with laughter to increase your quality of life? The first thing to do is get a laughter buddy. Typically, someone you already joke with and who also wants to have a better lifestyle incorporating the power of laughter. Then simply commit to meeting regularly to laugh.

Your first meeting could be in Roanokes Laughter Lab, held the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. inside the South County Library on Merriman Road. Bring your laughter buddy for an evening of experimenting with laughter under the direction of two certified Laughter Yoga leaders who will give you tips on how make laughter a vital part of your lifestyle.

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Baker: Laughter, healing and personal empowerment - Roanoke Times

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Ivanka Trump wants you to live your best life. She wants to empower and inspire you through empowering, inspiring inspiration. She has written a whole book with these meaningless platitudes and more. It's 217 pages long and about a millimeter deep.

Much of what's wrong with this book, Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success, has been detailed elsewhere: It's ostensibly about "women who work," but most women who work won't recognize themselves in a book aimed almost entirely at white-collar employees gunning for the C-suite. It rips off ideas and arguments made better elsewhere, as well as the usual clichs found in any popular "how to succeed in business" books. She laments her ability to make time for a massage while on the campaign trail and quotes Nelson Mandela to make a point about asking for workplace flexibility.

But what this book is really about is selling the Ivanka Trump brand not just her clothes and jewelry (although those too) but the gold-plated Trump name, and her own fame. Ivanka Trump isnt just a woman or the label on a sweater, but a lifestyle. While Trump spends ample time in the book encouraging readers to find their passion, it's obvious that hers is, like her father's, little more than name recognition. Her passion for her "brand," and the importance of having your own personal brand, comes up again and again throughout the book building your personal brand really means defining what youre passionate about, she writes in chapter one; what shes passionate about, she says in the same chapter, is providing empowerment through IvankaTrump.com and Women Who Work. The goal of Ivanka feminism is less gender equality and more a cosmetic feel-good feminism of women all happily cheering each other on in surprisingly comfortable pumps.

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Much of the book is meaningless corporate speak, a series of evocative words (Empowerment! Authenticity!) thrown together into nonsensical arrangements. "Cultivating authenticity is essential to creating strong bonds with coworkers," she writes without irony, missing the point that "authenticity" is, by definition, not something that can be "cultivated" or designed. The book is an extended ad for her fashion brand and her #WomenWhoWork campaign, and yet, by the end of the book, it's still not clear what #WomenWhoWork actually does. "My mission is to empower and inspire women and this was a scalable way to do that," she writes about IvankaTrump.com. How women are "empowered" by a website and a hashtag is not explained, nor is what scalable empowerment looks like.

What it clearly doesnt look like is anything resembling political feminism or social justice. Ivanka feminism is about supporting women, yes, but not about any sort of deep-dive into structural inequality; its enough to simply quote women about freedom and empowerment, not to put them in context or talk about the ugliness and real difficulties of so many American womens lives, and the ways in which race and class shape our realities. This is perhaps most obvious in Trump's chapter on working smarter not harder, which is flanked by a quote from Beloved, Toni Morrison's masterful novel about a freed slave. "Bit by bit ... she had claimed herself. Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another." It's clueless (bordering on offensive) enough to use that line to make a point about women seeking freedom from the strictures of the traditional white-dominated white-collar workplace. But then a page later, Trump crosses over into jaw-dropping absurdity when she asks her readers, "Are you a slave to your time or the master of it?"

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So who, according to Trump, is a woman who works? She seems to be pretty much just Ivanka Trump, the book simply a vehicle to sell the idea that Trump is a figurehead for college-educated young women who work office jobs (and buy books aimed at college-educated young women who work office jobs). But she misses the mark even there, assuming that we arent able to spot an obvious lie or blatant attempt to manipulate us. One of Trump's passions, she writes, is "disrupting" the fashion and fine jewelry industries. "There was an enormous disconnect," Trump writes, between how women live "and the apparel and accessories that were available to us." To solve this clearly pressing issue, she put out a line of middle-market workwear. She's proud, she writes, "that my collections captured a femininity and a sense of fashion that working women haven't been able to express just a decade before" one wonders where she was in the heyday of J.Crew, The Limited, and Ann Taylor, and concludes that shes probably not ignorant of their existence, but more interested in the alternative set of facts that make her brand necessary rather than the reality that made it unimportant. And because feminism is cool again, and feminism now a part of the Ivanka brand, even hawking necklaces is reframed as a feminist act. What women want, Trump asserts, are clothes and accessories that emphasize their femininity and make them both professional and "alluring."

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Trump, it's been observed before, seems like a likable, poised young woman, and that comes across in the book. Criticizing her feels mean, because she seems very nice she writes about her sweet relationship with her family, and goes out of her way to not pass judgment on other women for their choices in work and life. But that doesnt make her book useful, or even benign. In many ways, Women Who Work reads like what Sheryl Sandberg critics who hadn't actually read Lean In assumed it was corporate self-help jargon that puts the onus of success on individual women and ignores not just structural inequality, but the way most women live. That wasn't actually what Lean In was; it is what this book is.

I don't doubt that Trump does care about helping other women to succeed. But she doesn't seem to really understand what that means, beyond platitudes about empowerment, inspiration, and applauding every woman for choosing her own choice. Feminism, in Trump land, isn't an inherently political movement focused on the equality of women; it's a cultural zeitgeist that can be leveraged to build one's "brand," a set of feel-good lady-centric slogans that tells women they too can feel empowered and inspired if they buy this chic but still practical business-casual pencil skirt that can go from day at the office to date night by swapping out a blazer for a cute blouse.

Trump does laudably pay lip service to necessary policy changes, including paid parental leave, writing that these policies are important steps to forging more equal workplaces. But she doesnt address the fact that its the Republican Party, now led by her father, that has blocked these very policies from becoming reality. And here she is, in a position to advocate for the same policies she deems crucial to the success of women who work, and there's been no movement at all on this supposed marquee issue. Women who work, it seems, are valued in the Trump universe primarily insofar as they can buy Trump's book.

Jill Filipovic is the author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness.

Follow Jill on Twitter.

Originally posted here:

Ivanka Trump Wrote a Whole Book of Meaningless Platitudes - Cosmopolitan.com

TORONTO Shoppers Drug Mart has teamed up with The Running Room, local police departments and high schools across Canada to educate female students about mental health and the benefits of physical activity through the Run for It program.

"Studies show exercise that raises your heart rate for at least 25 minutes can have the same effect on your brain as anti-depressant drugs," stated Valerie Taylor, psychiatrist-in-chief at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. "The goal of the program is to empower young girls with the knowledge and training needed to take their mental wellness into their own hands."

Run for It is a six week program available at select local high schools in fifteen cities across Canada. It is a mental health education program that provides female high school students aged 12 to 19 with information and strategies for managing mental health while also incorporating training for a 5 km race.

"Shoppers Drug Mart has always been a proud champion of putting Women's Health first," commented Lisa Gibbs, director community investment, Shoppers Drug Mart. "Our goal through this program is to boost confidence and help young women across Canada gain coping strategies to improve their mental wellness."

At the end of the six weeks, the youth are ready to participate to participate in the SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run for Women in their city. The SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run for Women is Canada's first and only women's and girls' running race series. Proceeds from each run benefit local women's mental health initiatives.

"The solution to the growing concern on mental health requires total community collaboration and action," noted John Stanton, founder Running Room. "Exercise, combined with clinical care, are both powerful and proven antidotes to assist a vast variety of mental health issues, most importantly the personal empowerment and support of the individual."

The program was introduced in 2015 with the endorsement of the York Regional Police in Ontario. In its first year (2015) the program involved three schools and 150 students. In 2016, it grew to 44 schools and 561 students across Unionville, Ottawa and Winnipeg.

This year marks the national launch of the program in fifteen cities to coincide with the SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run For Women, including: Unionville, Moncton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Kitchener Waterloo, Edmonton, Oakville, Quebec City, Regina, Montreal, London, Toronto, Calgary, St. John's.

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Shoppers Drug Mart teams with The Running Room on women's health event - Drug Store News

The annual events seeks to inspire seniors from local high schools to develop the confidence, courage, and conviction to pursue their academic, personal, and professional dreams.

Bronx, NY (PRWEB) May 04, 2017

Monroe College, a national leader in educating urban and international students, today held its 8th annual "Male Empowerment Event" to inspire seniors from local high schools to develop the confidence, courage, and conviction to pursue their academic, personal, and professional dreams.

The College began this annual workshop eight years ago to help combat a deep-rooted problem within American higher education -- the weak enrollment and even weaker program completion rates for urban minority men, specifically African-Americans and Latinos. Programming is designed to encourage students to reject unhealthy social pressures, continue their education, and lead positive, productive lives.

Approximately 200 minority students from local high schools in the Bronx attended this year's event. Its theme -- "Tying into Manhood" was chosen to reflect the journey the participants have started as they prepare to graduate high school and transition into adulthood. Keynote remarks from Sherman A. Browne, a recognized advocate for improving academic, personal, professional and social outcomes for young men of color, and Dean Meminger, a respected journalist with NY1, emphasized the importance of academic excellence, personal accountability, character, and community service.

Small group mentoring provided by approximately 30 accomplished male role models followed the guest speakers' stirring remarks. Monroe College faculty and staff, as well as judges, lawyers, doctors, members of law enforcement, bankers, and entrepreneurs served as the mentors. They spoke with students about their personal challenges and career opportunities, and encouraged them to similarly open up about their goals and plans to achieve them.

The event concluded with a Tie Ceremony, during which the mentors presented each of the students with a blue and gold tie and taught them how to properly tie it. As part of this tradition, the young men, their mentors, and other men involved in the program then pledged their commitment to lead by example in their communities.

Monroe College's 8th Annual Male Empowerment Event was held in King Hall's Mintz Auditorium on the College's Bronx campus. A similar event for young high school women was held in late March.

ABOUT MONROE COLLEGE

Founded in 1933, New York-based Monroe College is a nationally ranked private institution of higher learning with a student-centric learning approach that prioritizes hands-on academic experiences, practical and relevant academic programs, flexible learning schedules, best-in-class instructional technologies, and committed and engaged faculty to ensure that students are well positioned for career success upon graduation. Monroe is among the leading higher education institutions in the country for graduating minority students.

Monroe College offers Certificate, Associate, Bachelor's, and Master's degree programs. It has campuses in the Bronx, New Rochelle, as well as in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, with programs offered through its Schools of Criminal Justice, Information Technology, Nursing, Education, Business & Accounting, Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts, and Allied Health, as well as through its liberal arts and continuing education programs, and its King Graduate School. For more information and admissions criteria, please visit http://www.monroecollege.edu.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/05/prweb14304365.htm

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Monroe College Hosts 8th Annual Male Empowerment Event to ... - Benzinga

People ask me why I feel comfortable being nude, but I've never thought that showing my body was to be revealing something that intimateafter all, its something everyone has. The naked body isn't inherently a sexual body, even though the female body is inherently sexualized within patriarchyconfronting that, in fact, can even work to remove the shame. There's a history of using your nudity to reclaim your body, which for some can work despite experiences of sexual assault, which are disturbingly common among women, femmes and other queer identified folkmyself included. Even sharing that myself becomes an act of removing that inherent shame.

Not that I'm a full-on nudist or hanging out naked with my friends all the time. (I mean, there are occasions.) I have family in Iceland, where theres a big public bathing culture thanks to an incredible excess of geothermal energy, and things like having to get naked to shower before going into a pool have helped normalized nudity for meexperiences that remind me of my body's grounding functionality, and even universality.

But then puberty is so confusing and awkward, so it hasn't always been that way. I remember that as the first time I really felt my female gender assigned to me by outside forcessomething about boobs and the attention they garner. Then, of course, there's the inherent shame that comes with wanting to show off this new body you're growinga shame that for me came in layers, as I was also discovering my queerness at that time.

It was around then, too, say 13 or 14, that I also did my first work in the fashion industry by randomly modeling for a magazine, which definitely brought along some weird validation. Not that I didnt have any misgivings about modeling. I immediately saw how ugly certain aspects of it areits all masked in this kind of glamour, but the industry is cutthroat, and the quick-churn schedule is relentless. I interned at a showroom and a few fashion houses when I was in high school and even thought of being a designer before becoming more interested in art, activism, and other ways of connecting to people.

India Salvor Menuez and Michael Bailey Gates Romp Through Iceland, Naked and Free

Despite the resentment I feel towards the wastefulness of this industry, I actually think clothing has potential healing properties; we can use it like armor or emotional support, which I do by weaving good luck and intentions into it with secret little alterations. Ive gotten better about it, but Ive semi-hoarded clothing beforeavoiding washing it or keeping it even after there were holes from moths or fire, just because of the memories.

On a personal level, then, getting dressed can be comfortingI treat it like dressing as a character, day-by-daybut things get tricky when it opens up to the whole industry, which creates these images that we're so obsessed with, but in fact have collateral damage. Theres so much more to what you see in magazines, and you forget about how much time is spent on makeup and hair, how a "natural" look can take an hour, and how many interns and PA's can be found outside of the frame.

Of course, that aspect of image-making goes all the way back to the Virgin Mary and iconography like Botticellis The Birth of Venus, but the truth is that women exist in multiplicity and arent limited to these idealized images. When we look at them, we have to remember to look with discerning eyes and think about what these creations have obscured. As the filmmaker and artist Hito Steyerl says, being invisible can be deadly.

But the truth is also that we're living in a cis-normative, white-supremacist, capitalist patriarchy, and familiarity sells. The question, then, is how can we exist within the system and find ways to create images that chip away at it? How can we explode something without getting crushed in the rubble? Lately, Ive been grappling with the discomfort of elevating my own visibility and trying to figure out why I choose to take opportunities that are only accessible to me because of my privileges. I'm trying to learn how to find a balance.

Modeling, for example, has always been a route to financially supporting myself; it was how I achieved financial independence at 18. Even though I knew that came from having the privilege of a certain Euro-centric look, it made it possible for me to afford rent and keep living in New York, where I grew up, not to mention time to work on art projects.

Its within my power to stop and decide Im going to disappear and go live off the grid, maybe even be a farmer upstate. But I actually have an immense gratitude for the opportunities I have now, like being able to curate a show at MoMA PS1 this past February, and making the work of others I believe in more visiblethe type of thing that goes beyond me or any one person. Its about trying to live in a way where you can link your personal empowerment to the empowerment of others; we can lift ourselves up through the process of lifting up our peers. So, however you feel about your body, try and be nice to it today.

As told to Stephanie Eckardt.

Related: Meet Elizabeth Wood, Morgan Saylor and India Menuez, the White Girls Behind "White Girl"

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Why India Salvor Menuez Has Always Been Comfortable Being ... - W Magazine

TSR Kids First Friday Youth Empowerment Event

WFMY 8:39 AM. EDT May 04, 2017

Current indoor 55m dash champion 14-year-old Zariyah Black will enspire kids at the First Friday Empowerment Event

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- If your kids need a little push or inspiration, here's your answer.

TSR Kids First Friday Youth Empowerment events start up this week featuring an awesome line up of guest speakers.

14-year-old Zariyah Black kicks off the summer series, Friday, May 5, 2017. Black, better known as "Flash" is the 2016 16u USATF Hershey's Indoor National Champion in the 55m, winning with a personal record of 7.19 seconds.

Black is also the 2017 16u USATF Hershey's Indoor National Runner Up in the 200m with an indoor personal record of 24.92 seconds.

The Greensboro native is ready to inspire your kids to follow their dreams. Black will talk to kids about staying focused and safe over the summer. A lot of her speech will focus on being successful.

"I want every person I talk with to leave inspired, that they can do anything they put their mind to with hard work and dedication," said Black.

The TSR Kids First Friday Youth Empowerment Event is designed to inspire youth through positive entertainment, music and inspiring stories from today's youth. The event is designed for kids ages 4 to 18 years old.

There's also a scholarship opportunity tied to theTSR Kids First Friday Youth Empowerment.

"We are giving away our first scholarship to a child who shows interest in music

2017 WFMY-TV

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Free First Friday Youth Empowerment Event - WFMY News 2