Articles from The Hospital Clown Newsletter that can be helpful  

to clowns going to clown in shelters for the displaced persons from the Katrina Disaster

 
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Clowns at Ground Zero New York CIty with Firemen 2001

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We Caring Clowns go not to mock tragedy, but to caress it with our compassion,

We march straight into the battlefields of grief,

Armed with unconditional love, and our joyful silliness,

We bring a reminder of the resilience and brilliance of the human spirit.

Gently tickling the heart and gathering forces in play, we give fear a hearty shove.

Ah, Maybe the trickster Coyote has a soft belly after all.

                                                                                                                   – Shobi Dobi

Workshop Handouts

 

Please note that some of the PDF files are very large and may cause errors in your Acrobat Reader.  

Every computer reads PDF files differently.  There seems to be no problem reading these PDF files on a MAC computer.  For a PC (Microsoft Explorer/
Netscape), it seems to work best if you wait for the files to download  and then "save a copy" of the PDF to your computer instead of reading the pages of the file online. 

If you don't have Acrobat Reader 7.0, you might want to upgrade (free download (Adobe Reader)

If you have trouble with Adobe Reader 5, and 6 please click [here]     Thanks for your patience,  Shobi

 

Ambassador Workshops / Relief Work

and

Hospital Clown Workshops

 

Ambassador Clowning

What is an ambassador Clown? A reprint of the article for AATH (AATH.org) newsletter

 

Clowning in an Ocean of Grief

Clowning at Ground Zero after 9/11

 

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times

                        A bit of encouragement for those going into 9/11 Ground Zero

 

Clowning in a World of Hurt - Shelters

. . . When working in shelter with populations that are stressed or emotionally upset for whatever reason, some precautions  . . .

 

Giving of Our Clown Hearts

What and how do we give things out in Economically Underprivileged Countries and events. Do we give out trinkets and become vendors, or do we give of our clown hearts?

 

Courage and Commitment

                         . . . For the clown working the hospital, it takes a lot of this..

 

Cultivating Gentleness

                         . . . Gentleness is what the heart seeks.

 

Heart to Heart Resuscitation

. . . This takes some practice -- resisting the instinct to ‟flee.” Try to stay present. Stop and take advantage of the clowns’ performance freeze or pause, look into the patient’s eyes and see your best friend.

 

The Hygiene Mind Set

A “must read and study” primer for all hospital clowns.  Include protocols for using face painting, and puppets, and keeping the clown healthy as well as the patients.
 

HIPAA is not about a Hippopotamus

A Clown's view of the HIPAA Regulations (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).  which went into law in April 2003.  This is mandatory reading for hospital clowns in the USA.  What clowns need to know about confidentiality. 

 

Our Spirit of Service

There are many spiritual paths to the heart.  we hospital clowns share two. we are clowns and we work with those who are suffering.  We perform and we serve.  Editorial from Shobi     

 

Exploring Our Intention in Service

by Frank Ostaseski, founder of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco,  now gives workshops around the world and has founded the Alaya Institute.  www.alayainstitute.org  This is an article printed in View Magazine was based on a talk Frank gave at a conference on "Death Dying, and Living" in Munich in 1996.  A must read for all service clowns.

 

Exquisite Caution

 . . . This is caution without fear, caution imbedded in deep silence. It is the exquisite caution of the nun, the confident caution of the priest, monk, and rabbi and the delightful caution of a timid clown.

 

Courage and Commitment

Saying "Yes" to Life in the Face of Fear. . . For the clown working in service in the world, it takes a lot of this!

 

Sharing Tears as Well as Laughter

                            What Shobi learned from Eloise Cole, Bereavement Counselor and clown

 

Swimming in the Zone          

The importance of “Winging it!”  Being spontaneous in the face of fear,  is that possible?

 

Swimming in the Zone (in Japanese)   Translated by Yoshiko Takada and Kaoru Sasaki

          

Drawing Out the Spirit  

An Editorial By Shobi  - Religion and the Caring Clown

 

Are You out of Your Mind?              

How would you like to spend the rest of your life on the edge of a giggle?   Handout from the workshop - laughter for the clown in all of us

 

Laughing for No Reason At All              

 We don't laugh because we're happy – we're happy because we laugh. Happiness is a process. It isn't a place we walk to, it is the walk. 

  

Disability Facts

From the Good to Grow Website: www.goodtogrowtoys.com

The disabilities listed below are generalizations of the characteristics that MAY be seen in children. Each child with a disability is an individual and should be seen that way…keeping in mind there are ranges in severity of disabilities.

 

What People Laugh At by Charlie Chaplin in 1918

 

 

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