People who laugh together…

We don’t necessarily need laughter yoga at parties in order to have fun this season – but having someone come to lead a session proves to add quite a spark.

I was invited to a private party this past weekend to lead laughter yoga. The hostess wanted to help eveyone relax and to make a memory.  The group arrived looking a bit hurried and was quiet. However, after a few laughter games, hilarity was not a rarity.

The men, responsible for cooking hor d’oeuvres, came running in from the kitchen, alarmed, after we cheered, ”Very good, very good, yay!”  Twelve women with a glass of wine and stress to get out can cheer loudly enough for houses ’round the neighborhood to hear.

Their laughter continued robustly after the session was over. The atmosphere was quite different from women rushing to get there on time and being tired from work. 

I’m convinced that relationships — whether friendships, romantic or families — that laugh together, stay together. What a way to introduce eating dinner together every night? Hold a laughter session, even if for just a few minutes. Invent some new laughter games.

I’ve been laughing with my sweetie for about a year, and can testify that had we not led laughter yoga sessions together a few times weekly, sometimes daily, our relationship would not have the same ease. We would be more tense around each other. Prickly. Laughter yoga smoothed our edges and opened our communication.

I’m so thankful to have discovered this path and for my many gifted teachers along the way. Laughter yoga truly transforms — parties, relationships, and if you stick with it — everything!

“Humor in relationships is touchy: Laughter can bring you closer, or it can pack a cruel punch. How to avoid the pitfalls and use humor to strengthen your bond.”
Link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200606/crack-me

 

Thanksgiving Laughter

Laughter yoga has always seemed like a form of giving gratitude – for each other, for ourselves and for what has been gifted to us.

I’ve come up with a few new laughter games to celebrate the opportunity to give gratitude. The first is making gibberish small talk. It’s similar to the greetings games except we’re gibberish-ing to each other.  More games: Snoring after the meal, the green jello mold, stirring the stew, being giant parade balloons, and of course, the turkey squawk game.

Hope to see you soon!  

 

Laughing Away Arthritis

Today Jon & I volunteered with JABA, at the Mary Williams Center with about 4 older women, out of 20 or so who could have participated. That ended up being great, because those who participated were enthusiastic.

Jon cherishes the older generation. He regularly remarks about how wise they are, how much they know and could pass on if we’d give them a chance… so he did most of the talking. I did most of leading the games.

This group couldn’t move very much. Their mobility was limited to standing up – then only briefly. However, by then end of class, endorphins had started flowing and a lady reported how much better her arthritis felt throughout her body.

Endorphins are the neurochemicals responsible for the “runner’s high” that we get after aerobic exercise. They’re also released when we laugh. They have more pain-killing power than morphine, which is why arthritis is helped by laughter yoga. We also forget about pain when we’re laughing.

Laugh yourself to health!

The Power of Volunteering

We’ve all heard that when we give, ultimately, it comes back to us. I’ve found this to be real. This is one of the more powerful spiritual principles for manifesting. We reap what we sow. If we sow joy, we reap joy. Maybe not where we expect to, but it will show up – predictably when we need it the most.

I am grateful for chances to volunteer to lead laughter yoga. I limit myself to those I can afford, financially and emotionally. I know my gifts and where I lead with the most grace. When I give laughter, my heart is emptied – full of room to receive. I become more aware of when and how I receive what I need. Then gratitude happens… which helps me want to give again. It’s an automatic spirtual cycle that is already in place. We just need to step in. It’s our move.