On New Year’s Day, I was invited to participate in a sweat lodge – a Native American practice. If you’ve never done this, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like, even with the most thorough description.
Part of the ceremony involves sharing what we give thanks for from 2008. In my life, 2008 was great. For me to say something was great is miraculous alone, given my battles with depression.
My giving of thanks at the lodge, although coming up with the list required some emotional digging, was authentic.
Others had different perspectives and experiences in 2008. On New Year’s Eve, I tracked different New Year’s Eve celebrations from around the world. It seemed like an almost globally unanimous response – Thank God 2008 is over. We’re ready for 2009 because it can’t get much worse.
Do we really know what we’re saying? It can’t get much worse? I can imagine many, many ways that life could dramatically become much worse, individually and collectively.
With laughter yoga, I look back over 2008 and I’m amazed at the progressionof what I thought would only be a very small part of my life. I had my first laughter yoga seminar in November 2007, then had a well-attended New Year’s Eve celebration. A few days before, I had called David Mauer of the Daily Progress at, as he said, just the right moment, to have Laughter Yoga featured in Daily Progress. I headed directly from the New Year’s celebration to be interviewed by David.
Next, the Valentine’s Celebration brought 36 people and was aired by WVIR-NBC. I attracted the attention of Hampton Roads Publishing and they requested a proposal for a book on Laughter Yoga.
I started a Senior Center Laughter Club, which brought 15 or so participants for the first meeting. They immediately moved it into a regular program.
I volunteered at the regional jail with women inmates who, after getting used to me and laughing again, championed the classes. Their enthusiasm floored me.
Cathy Harding wrote a beautiful article about me and laughter yoga in c-ville weekly.
Then came the end of the year, meaning, from about October on. Celebrations brought maybe 5 people, even with heavy advertising. Laughter Club meetings had 2-5 attendees each week. I began to wonder if I was doing something inconsistent with my practice to start rumors or negative word-of-mouth about me and laughter yoga among the Charlottesville community.
By December, even with an email newsletter list of 170+ people, 4-5 people attended the special events I had planned.
By the end of December, I was ready to stop leading laughter yoga, except volunteering at the jail, where the women really like the class and appreciated laughing as a spiritual exercise. I need to invest energy where it’s returned, I thought. Baaaah Humbug.
As I looked at the end of the year, I thought, leading laughter yoga in Charlottesville can’t get much worse. Thank God the year is over.
Then I started reading some of the comments I’ve gotten from attendees throughout the year about how much they had been helped by me leading laughter yoga. I’ve kept a journal, just in case I needed some inspiration one day.
I feel like I’ve gotten myself back.
I didn’t realize laughter was missing so much in my life until I started laughing again in classes.
I used laughter here to beat some social anxiety.
That was a blast.
My leg doesn’t hurt when we laugh.
My blood pressure has dropped almost 30 points.
You have no idea of the gift you’ve given us.
She came home from your class absolutely glowing, so I had to come, too.
Those are a few.
The other part, that I hadn’t realized, from October until now, is that I believe I’ve found an incredible man that may become a true partner, through speaking about laughter yoga at a conference.
How can I not be thankful for the many opportunities to lead laughter yoga? It’s a good idea to reframe the year as a whole. There were good things that happened. A new president who is shattering racial barriers, for one.
Very good, very good, yay!
