The Last Day of Gnomevember, 2022
was a whimsical Wednesday that did not disappoint!
I was co-learning with children ages 3-5 at Forest School, the Big Sur Park School,
check it out!
Nature Discovery-Play-Laughter Yoga
and of course, Magical Gnome Hats!
As we were restoring the Magic Castle, we unlocked the Green Care Code:
Stop, Look, Listen to Nature.
Energizing our senses, all six, what is the six sense?
IMAGINATION!
I haven't laughed and played so heartily in what seems like years.
Photo: Gnome BizKit
Intergenerational outdoor whimsy is so much fun!
Not only fun, our health and the health of our planet, depend on it.
Laughter is an eco-friendly and free medicine we can enjoy everywhere, always!
And Laughter is Contagious! A win for me and a win for YOU!
The Benefits of Laugher are Endless.
In a 15-year study between a sense of humor and mortality, Norwegian researchers found that women with high-levels of the humor cognitive component:
48% less risk of death from All Causes
73% lower risk of death from heart disease
83% lower risk of death from infection
The humor cognitive component is the aspect of personality that may influence the way individuals attribute meaning in everyday experiences.
Laughter, smiling, and joyfulness= buffer against overall stress by preventing the escalation of stress hormones (cortisol) while creating a flow of happy brain chemicals, giving you a DOSE of:
dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins.
"I expect that children who lack adult models for the use of humor as a coping resource in the face of challenges are less likely to activate their sense of humor to cope with everyday life when they grow up,"
- Sven Svebak, co-author and professor emeritus of neuromedicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
If your childhood was humorless, no worries!, plenty of studies show that all ages can learn to 'embrace the absurdity of life at any age'.
I am thankful and honored to have been the First Visiting Teacher at the
Big Sur Park School; check it out!
The experience brought an unexpected awareness for me. I reawakened a part of me that had been dormant for far too long; The Gnomestress.
Yes, this is my muse, joy, heart, and soul work. The sweetness that gets me jazzed up with cheerfulness, curiosity, possibility, and creative innovation.
For the last 10+ years, folks here in
Big Sur gnome me as The Gnomestress.
Photo: On my way to forest school, age 46
Since I arrived in 2012, I have sewn and given away Hundreds of magical gnome hats, also known as 'gnomeifying'. *laughing*
I even gnomenified a tie-dyed chicken sock, a pink flamingo, and even my dog, BizKit.
The smiles, the joy the giddy fun that sparks with these hats is extraordinary, Magical!
I have come to a conclusion; This is what our world needs more than ever!
= Whimsy!!
Thanks to the play and the endless hearty laughter I experienced at forest school:::
I am RE-Inspired to revive a program
I created seven years ago,
Gnome Thyself!
Whimsical Wellness and Magical Gnome Hats
Oath of the Gnomebassadors:
Spread Cheerfulness, Jubilee, and Laughter, Everywhere Always
Gnome Thyself! is a Nature-Centered Wellness Movement for All Ages.
Gnome Thyself!
Whimsical Wellness and Magical Gnome Hats
is a simple story about the 7 Gnomes of GNoTown who workplay at GNOPE Productions,
a B-Corporation hand-crafting the finest magical gnome hats in all the land since time immemorial.
Gnome Thyself! Encourages participants- of all ages - to awaken our connection with
Nature and each other with whimsical play and imagination.
Laughter, silliness, and creative play enhance the inner child in all of us while offering a refreshing and fun physical, mental, and emotional activity that boosts Vitality.
By stimulating our inherent Nature, inner child, we become more connected to Nature
= We Are Nature!
Nature Connectedness prompts us to care for Nature, and we become more apt to protect, preserve and restore the very ecosystems that sustain us- moving us to live more sustainably, The Way of Gnome.
Research has shown make-believe play:
Increases cooperation
Grows empathy
Reduces aggression
Promotes physical, Social, and Emotional Health
Hearty Laughter improves blood circulation and flushes the lungs of stale residual air; this helps stimulate focus and enhances our learning ability, improving academic and work performance and much much more!
Laugh! Dance! Sing! Play! Interconnect with Nature!
JOY, does the body and brain good!
Stay tuned; 2023 will be filled with more Gnometastical Whimiscal Wellness Adventures.
May we all be Gnome for the Holidays and for Always.
Photo: Gnomenified Pink Flamingo
Cheerfulness gives harmony to the soul and is a perpetual song without words...
Research:
Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2013). The role of make-believe play in the development of executive function: Status of research and future directions. American Journal of Play, 6(1), 98-110.
Louie, D., Brook, K., & Frates, E. (2016). The laughter prescription: a tool for lifestyle medicine. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(4), 262-267.
Romundstad, S., Svebak, S., Holen, A., & Holmen, J. (2016). A 15-year follow-up study of sense of humor and causes of mortality: The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(3), 345-353.