Best-selling author and American spiritual teacher, Marianne Williamson, is coming to Australia this June/ July to conduct special one-day workshops exploring the deep connection between our relationships and our spirituality. The #1 New York Times best-selling author has been a pioneer of the spiritual movement for more than thirty years, influencing millions of people around the world to lead ‘happier and more fulfilled lives’.

‘Spiritual’ is a term that is bandied about a lot these days as many psychotherapies and methods often neglect the spiritual potential that can underpin and influence our relationships. But spirituality has its place and can offer a different kind of energy and enlightenment in a fast paced, technologically-driven and often selfish world. Author, John Amodeo, in the Huffington Post, offers three descriptions of what spirituality means to him.

1. Connecting with life’s sacredness
2. Surrendering to something beyond our limited self
3. Seeing things clearly

Like Amodeo, the personable Williamson believes that spirituality is about connecting with life rather than being detached from it. She holds that we are all interconnected; all our minds are joined. There is a pivotal focus on relationships, particularly forgiveness, through mindfulness (vissapana) – seeing others as they really are. Seeing their fears and hurt, as well as their hopes.

Having published 10 books and appeared as a special guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live and Good Morning America (amongst others). American-born Williamson was named one of the fifty most influential baby boomers in 2006 and is well-versed in delivering relatable content and teaching tools designed to lift your life and relationships to the ‘highest level of creative possibility’. The workshops include a series of teaching sessions, exercises and insights designed to encourage emotional growth and maturity. Her teachings are based on a set of books called ‘A Course in Miracles’, a self-study program based on universal spiritual themes by clinical and research psychologist and author, Helen Schucman.

Marianne Williamson will be conducting workshops in Brisbane (June 28), Melbourne (July 4) and Sydney (July 5). Course costs are between $185-$200 with the option of a ‘kindness scholarship’ for people who are financially challenged.

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Laughter Yoga

Everyone knows that laughter is the best medicine and life is better when you’re smiling, right? And some believe that yoga adds years to your life and life to your years. Somewhere along the line a clever, enterprising boffin had the smart idea to blend the two (although this writer expects that monks have been doing both naturally for centuries) and offer classes in laughing yoga! According to some, it is the idea of Dr Madan Kateria, an Indian physician from Mumbai who started the first laughter club in 1995 in a park with just 5 people.

Humour is infectious and Sydney Laughter offers regular laughter yoga classes designed to get you in touch with your ‘natural and healthy desire to laugh freely and express joy’. Run by an internationally certified Laughter Yoga Master Trainer (yes, they exist!), Kylie Willows (one of only two Master Trainers in Australia), uses her background as a professional speaker, as well as her commitment to health and well-being, to provide insight and support (as well as laughter and yoga) to aid in personal development and to connect with people, helping them achieve maximum benefit from her classes.

Kylie’s classes have proven very popular across a wide demographic, from corporate stress relief seminars and laughter for seniors to children’s laughter yoga. As well as general laughter classes, Kylie is open to new ideas for laughter sessions and gives public talks about laughter therapy and the benefits of laughter. Some of these benefits include boosting the immune system, anti-ageing effect, improved circulation, reduced blood pressure, reduction of stress hormone levels, as well as positive effects on psychological problems such as anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. For maximum overall scientifically-proven benefits, students are taught to laugh vigorously from the diaphragm for at least ten-fifteen minutes to enable participants to experience sustained laughter, thus reaping the health benefits.

Laughter Yoga Australia offers laughter workshops in most states of Australia and describes their classes as combing unconditional laughter with yogic breathing (PRANAYAMA). Their laughter clubs are free for everyone and promote non-political, non-religious and non-competitive associations that are community-based. Everyone is welcome regardless of age, gender, physicality, social or economic backgrounds. A common question and hesitation that many people have is ‘Will I feel silly and embarrassed?’, and although you may initially, the idea is to get in touch with that inner-child who is playful and free. Laughter Yoga guarantees that releasing inhibitions and shyness will enable you to experience joy and relaxation from within, something we could all do with improving upon in our busy, serious and responsible lives.

There is a lot of pressure in life today and one of the most motivating factors for people to partake in laughter yoga classes is the multiple health benefits believed to derive from embracing a regular exercise routine, in this case a routine revolving around having a jolly good time. It is a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between real and fake laughter so why not get the same physiological and psychological benefits. I’ll laugh to that!

HIF: Health Insurance Fund of Australia: Your health, Your Choice

At the media launch for the 2014 Sydney New Year’s Eve, the theme of which is “Inspire”, Thompson said Sydney is “the city I love and there’s a lot to be inspired by.”

Thompson said he could think of nothing more wonderful to be a part of than gathering around the Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve celebrating life. He told reporters, “we are incredibly privileged people living in an incredibly privileged place and we need to celebrate what we have – and believe me, New Year’s Eve we will!”

The Inspiring Jack Thompson

As the designated storyteller of this year’s NYE celebration, the iconic Australian actor read out a poem he had written as his response to how Sydney has inspired him. In it he revealed:

I am Sydney. I am the city of Sydney.
Glistening in the sun, shining on in harbour lights when the day is done.
A city rich with achievements and stories that inspire,
A city who is vital here and now the whole world has come to admire.
And we, the people of Sydney, have Summer in our souls,
It is our dreaming and our lore, our heritage of old.

Upon reflecting on this section of Thompson’s evocative poem I considered what is was about the city of Sydney that truly inspired me. I moment of inspiration arose a few days ago when I was aboard a boat on the Sydney Harbour, cruising underneath the iconic Harbour Bridge, sailing past the incredible Opera House and admiring the stunning sights and wildlife of the Sydney Harbour National Park.

In a moment of appreciation, my friend uttered to me: “it’s moments like this that make me wonder why you would live anywhere else.” That is when I realised the true inspiration of Sydney for me – it’s unique history, iconic structures, magnificent sites, endless opportunity for adventure and exploration, and its ability to answer the call of ‘Summer in our souls’. Far from being simply a season, Summer in Sydney – as Thompson so eloquently expressed – is our dreaming, our lore and our heritage. Summer is embodied by the feeling of floating on the stunning waterscape of Sydney Harbour and feeling connected to its rich past, its magnificent present and its exciting future.

New Year’s Eve represents a time of hope and excitement at what lies ahead in the New Year; a time for gathering with loved ones to appreciate all that we have; and most of all a time for celebration. For this reason, I can think of no other place to celebrate New Year’s Eve than upon Sydney Harbour.

A Sydney Harbour cruise is the ideal way to appreciate Sydney’s beauty and celebrate this exciting event in style. A harbour cruise enables you to feel connected to the city and the Summer in a manner that those behind screens or even on the land would be unable to achieve.

The MV EPICURE I New Year’s Eve cruise is a perfect example of a sumptuous harbour cruise that coalesces history, celebration and opportunity. Sitting atop a luxurious vessel with unsurpassed views of the fireworks and enjoying gourmet food and beverages embraces what Jack Thompson referred to as ‘incredibly privileged people living in an incredibly privileged place’. New Year’s Eve is one of the most unique celebrations of the year and Sydney is one of the best places in the world to celebrate it.

So make the most of this incredible city and ensure you are inspired this New Year’s Eve by booking yourself on a resplendent harbour cruise this 31st December.

The Romans, using the Julian calendar, had long adhered to the 1st of January as New Year’s Day. From 153 BC, it marked the beginning of the consular year- when Rome’s consuls took their office. It was the Romans, therefore, who began the tradition of ordering the months from January to December.

In the Middle Ages, things got a bit stranger under the Catholic Church. Encouraged to shift the date of New Year’s Day to a ‘Holy Festival’ day, countries across Europe (and the near East) began adopting fairly wacky dates for the celebration. In some places, it was the 25th of December (Christmas Day) or the 25th of March (the Annunciation). Meanwhile, the Byzantines were celebrating New Year’s Day on the 1st of September (along with the Russians).

But everything changed once the Gregorian calendar was introduced. Named for Pope Gregory XIII, reforms to the old Julian calendar were first introduced in 1582. According to scholarly sources, the use of the Julian calendar had resulted in an 0.002% aberration in the length of the year. Essentially, each year was getting infinitesimally shorter. After one and a half thousand years of use, the Julian calendar (adopted way back by Julius Caesar!) was resulting in off-season Easter celebrations and other strange anomalies. After a bit of tinkering, the Catholic Church had shaved 10 minutes 48 seconds off each year.

Over the next few centuries, with some exceptions, adoption of the calendar was widespread. Today, we take for granted the opportunity to enjoy the end of the year and ring in the new. So, make the most of this year’s NYE celebrations and consider the MV EPICURE I New Year’s Eve experience. Offering a peaceful and elegant way to ring in the New Year, the state-of-the-art harbour cruise serves its guests a sumptuous Five Course Dinner prepared on-board by catering experts. Along with beverages and live entertainment, visitors are also guaranteed unobstructed 360 degree harbour views. It really is the best vantage point for viewing the once-in-a-lifetime spectacular!

With a long and storied history, New Year’s Eve promises each year to only get bigger and better – so be sure to spoil yourself this New Year’s Eve for the most extravagant and exciting celebration yet.