A Time to Seriously Play

Most of my life has been serious. Very serious. If I’ve played, being an introvert, it’s been mainly with one person or alone. Many of my younger years were spent playing outside — in the woods behind our house — alone. I seemed to like it that way.

Laughter is social. Even if we laugh alone, it’s usually about something we remember that happened in a group. Or, we laugh at ourselves (I do this more and more these days).

Today, I was walking out of Kroger, which has a distinct entrance and exit, at a swift pace, and nearly crashed into the enter doors. I laughed – actually fairly loudly – at myself. Then everyone around me joined in. So I laughed it up and laughed with them. Then people started comforting and teasing me… “Oh, I’ve almost done that so many times…”  “Lucky you stopped when you did…”

I didn’t laugh much playing in the woods. I was seriously busy building play forts and creating all of the highways between them. Sometimes we play seriously. There is a time to seriously play, too. ‘Tis the season.

Test your play tolerance and come to a laughter yoga session. Revive your ability to seriously play. Laughing for no reason may affect what you do this season and make it brighter, lighter. Ha ha HO HO HO.

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!  

 

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.

Laughter in the Park – Days 3 & 4

Thanks to Jeffrey for support and easy-to-do suggestions!

I faked my laughter during these days and proved that “fake” laughter works almost as well as “belly” laughter. I felt so much better after the meetings, even though I didn’t have the inner resources to put forth the effort to really laugh.

This is a rigorous but do-able spiritual discipline. Like any yoga, the more we practice it, the easier it becomes.

We’re still waiting for others to join us! I tend to morph energy from other participants and be inspired by their willingness to be goofy and courage to laugh, “in spite of.”

Our plan is to carry on for about 90 days, give or take a beach vacation for a few days. Kundalini Yoga posits our habits change within 40 days and our subconscious minds shift within 90 days of doing the same discipline each day. I am eager to see what changes and heals in my life just from laughing, on purpose, each day.

ha ha ha,
Leigh

Laughter in the Park – Day 2

I found it a little bit more difficult to laugh in the park this morning, and was a bit more self-conscious. That was my hang-up. I really tried to think and laugh at the same time. It’s almost impossible to do and tiring.

We came up with three new laughter games — progressive decibel laughter, swimming strokes laughter, and tight rope laughter. 

Jon and I are practicing, I think, for the time when people actually do show up to laugh with us. We’ll seem to know what we’re doing. We certainly helped a few passers-by laugh this morning.

Mainly, the consistency of making a commitment to laugh together every day – in a public place – will make all the difference in our relationship and perspectives as we stick to it.

————————–
From Jon:

Laughing Day Two – June 30, 2009

I felt little resistance today to arriving at the park, in fact was eager.  I have no attachment at this point with any number of participants.  Actually it is slightly less intimidating to just laugh with Leigh, as we are comfortable and familiar; the challenges will come as new people are added.

Leigh created a couple new games today (see above). I find myself more drawn to the motions that seem to open body postures.  The Archer, Tiny Measure and the Hands over Head, all seem to be freeing.  I am however more comfortable in closing in, Sneezing, Balloon Blowing and Colapsing in Laughter all fold inward and feel safer somehow.

Meditation today was grand.  The laughing section was slightly more forced, and I was tired…less inclined to push than yesterday.  However, I went in deeply and quickly during the silent meditation.  My connection to earth, with grass and sun was very strong and very tuned to a natural setting.  The bustle of the waking downtown area was a grand contrast.  I felt so grateful that I was able to not shut it out, but in fact, embrace the external as a soundtrack to my internal quiet.

Laughter in Lee Park – Day 1

Since last year, I’ve wanted to start a laughter club in Lee Park. It’s just been on my heart to do.

Jon and I showed up at 7:55 a.m., put up our sign and started with the usual warm-up laughter games. No one else joined us this morning. Although we missed our supporters, we were mainly there for ourselves. We have the ability to get too serious and need to laugh, every day, as a spiritual discipline. It brings us much more levity, which helps small things stay small.

I felt the energy disperse with every “Very good, very good, yay!” that we cheered. We confused a few dogs. Otherwise, people pretended we weren’t there. They looked down at the sidewalk and walked by like nothing was happening. I guess I would have done the same a few years ago.

I realized how much my inhibitions have shrunk to a workable size for authentic social interaction as a result of leading laughter yoga each week for two years.

Staring at the bright blue sky in the morning while laughing, then meditating, was a special treat. The weather was gorgeous. We left refreshed and ready to start the day. It was great. Come join us!

The Challenge of Change

If we need to change something in our lives, if something “isn’t right” and needs “correcting”, the process usually bears shame for us. “Shame on you! Be different!”

What if we embraced the “not right” parts of ourselves - those icky behaviors – instead of hiding or tucking them away? What if we loved those parts for absolutley no reason?

I think we can love ourselves for no reason as a discipline just like we can laugh for no reason. It may seem really really fake at first. We’re so used to loving ourselves for reasons. The only problem with that concept is reasons can change from moment to moment. So our self-esteem will be shaky or overly rigid if we choose that route.

When we surround darkness with laughter, it becomes lighter. It loses it’s power to shame,blame and threaten us. Whatever we laugh with, for a reason or not, no longer has the power to rule us. Laughter has a way of leveling the playing field.

When you attend a laughter yoga session, especially during the laughter meditation, locate a dark place. As you laugh throughout the session, be mindful that you are embracing and laughing with that part of you. When you laugh during the meditation, pull you knees into your chest, wrap your arms around them, and rock back and forth. That part of you needs forgiveness for no reason. Allow any amount of forgiveness in during that time. You may not be able to use this discipline yet. If you keep laughing, a time to forgive yourself will open.

The more we laugh, the more we love.

laughlovepeace,
Leigh

The Heart-Healing Retreat

What an honor it was to co-lead the Heart-Healing Laughter Retreat at gorgeous Bridge Between the Worlds! I came away with a few thoughts on laughter that were reinforced by the comments made by the participants. It works. It heals. It brings hope as it is adopted as a discipline, a yogic path. It opens the spirit to visions of new possibilities that hadn’t been seen, or fathomed, before.

Leading with Jon was a special treat. He has a background that compliments mine, and a leadership style that is different, too. We seemed to flow well together.

Most of all, my belief that laughter is many things and serves us well in so many ways was underscored. It’s taken about 2 years for me to become an irreversible, bonafide, “addict” (I’m using that word cautiously as substance abuse is so very painful) to laughter yoga. I want to start a laugh-a-demic and help foster an energy shift with whatever group who are willing and open to do so. Improv. Fun never-been-done-before stuff. If that interests you, please let me know. info@yogalaughs.com.

laughlovepeace,
Leigh

When Contentment Feels More Natural than Sadness and Fear

This is what I’m starting to discover about developing a habit of laughing for no reason, regarding arguments with those I love: Contentment feels like a more natural emotional state for us than fear and sadness.

Laughter helps me be more quick to forgive and forget and start giggling again. I’m not such an expert at laughing at nothing that I can laugh in the middle of a painful argument, nor do I think that would be appropriate. But the increasing ability to “bounce back” after an argument is surprising me.

If I can remember to capitalize on the fun times, to laugh as much as possible when I do feel like it — then my sad and fearful times seem less overwhelming and don’t last as long. 

May joy, healing and forgiveness flow in and from our relationships.