Two Hats and A Heart -- A Unique Approach to Stress Release

Two Hats and A Heart offers a new approach to stress release.

Linda Woznica and Lilas Lysne, two nurses from the Edmonton area, formed their partnership six years ago.

As a team, they have taught Therapeutic Touch, Meditation, Reflexology, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Kirlian Photography and Grief Consulting.

It was obvious from their experiences in health care that many people have great stress and are unable to deal with it effectively. Not being able to relieve stress aggravates existing health problems and in itself can create problems.

Why Two Hats and A Heart? Famous for their unique hats, Lilas and Linda became known as "The Hat Women," involving fun and lightness to their instruction. Traveling around Alberta teaching courses in T.T., they met many people who were stressed in their day to day lives, and needed ways to relieve that stress to be healthier, happier human beings. They found a real need for instruction in this area and formulated a program for instruction dealing with stressors. They decided to call this program a PLAYshop, not a WORKshop, because play is what is needed in our stressful lives. Wearing hats of many colours, shapes and sizes allows participants to explore other personas and gives permission to be silly. As Dr. Patch Adams, MD has shown in his work with children, laughter is a great force for healing and stress relief. Lilas and Linda use hats in fun ways in their playshops to give participants a way to uncover their personal stressors. Every individual has different stressors in their lives which sometimes can be removed or avoided.

However, often removal or avoidance is impossible; improving participants' responses to stressors is the only way to deal with the situation. Learning more about the spirit, the emotional connection to stress, and practicing a variety of relief techniques helps participants demystify stress and eliminate their own unhealthy reactions.

In the fall of 2000, Two Hats and A Heart offered a stress relief workshop at the Tribal Chieftains Institute in Edmonton. In this playshop, many participants identified uncontrolled anger as one of their personal stressors. Linda and Lilas gave the following suggestions for managing anger:

Feedback following this playshop from one of the participants was that his life was much less troubled using these approaches. He was amazed at the difference it made after he was able to incorporate what he learned into daily situations.

The mission of Two Hats and A Heart is "Having Fun Using Practical, Personal Solutions for Life Challenges." Anyone facing stress in their lives, from the overwhelmed executive having to make budget cuts, to health care workers close to burnout from extra shifts, to a mother of a colicky newborn, could benefit from this workshop. Linda and Lilas believe: If it isn't fun, if you don't feel, if it isn't affordable, and if it isn't useful, you will not incorporate it into your lives.

By Lilas Lysne and Linda Woznica