Call the phone-in Laughter Club (Free!). Ina Lukas is leading a laughter meditation on the phone every Tuesday at 7pm PST. The call lasts about 30 minutes. Call 605-562-3000, access code 928864# every day. First started by Gaga Barnes from Carlsbad, California, “Laughter Yoga on the Phone” has now grown to a daily, almost hourly, offer staffed by volunteers. It’s free and a unique idea that unites people in remarkable, spontaneous and hilarious sessions of healing and health. It’s oh so fun! Listen to sample call #1: 20 minutes, with some explanations. Listen to sample call #2: 14 minutes, non-stop laughter. Listen to sample call #3: 13 minutes, very playful.
The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and is intended to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood, sisterhood, community and friendship through laughter. Its popularity has grown exponentially with that of the Laughter Yoga movement now counting over 6000 Laughter Clubs in more than 65 countries.
When: Celebrate with Laughter Yoga NYC and Others Sunday May 5th Time 1:00pm-3:00pm
Where: Riverside Park at 79th Street, Upper West Side. FREE! Donations welcome, suggested $5.
Come celebrate with Laughing Diva and many others! Everyone of all ages and all abilities welcome!
Share your photos, links and activities by:
- Cheering the Day of Happiness celebration on Cheers
- Use the #happyday hashtag on Twitter
- Post on the Action for Happiness Facebook Page
“Extensive research shows that making other people happy activates the same reward sensors in your brain, so it’s a win-win situation.”
Dr. Mark Williamson, Action for Happiness
The United Nations has declared March 20 the first International Day of Happiness to underline the commitment of its 193 member states to “better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and well-being in development with a view to guiding their public policies.”
Laughter Yoga for All Abilities, 1:00pm – 1:30pm, Sat. May 4, 2013
Laughter Yoga is enhancing the lives of people with all types of disabilities, around the world. Laughter Yoga is a great solution for managing everyday stresses and challenges. Many people also experience a significant improvement in their physical and mental health. This workshop will include a presentation and a demonstration of Laughter Yoga and Yumm Meditation. For all ages and abilities.
Take a break and listen to the The Laughing Song !!!!
(it might as long as a minute to load so be patient, ok?)
“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.” unknown
Psychological studies into the art of seduction show that the world’s greatest aphrodisiac is laughter.
So link your laughing hearts today!
The above title may seem inappropriate to some. “Death is not funny,” they might think. The idea of laughing at a time of loss seems antithetical to the emotional upheaval the bereaved is feeling. Yet, for those who work in the field of laughter yoga, it is perfectly understandable to laugh at a time when you least feel like it. The healing benefits encompass body, mind and spirit and help to ease the pain.
Each of us will be touched by grief. It might be our personal journey through a death, divorce, serious illness or any other type of loss. Perhaps a friend or family member is grieving. We may be asked to speak to a group that has experienced a tragic loss. When giving a general presentation, it is important to recognize that at any given time there could be audience members who are privately grieving. Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” While we cannot help others with the pain of paying taxes, we can assist them through their grief.
Why laughter? If laughter is the best medicine, then is there anything that cannot be eased by using it? When a person is grieving several symptoms are common. Their immune system is suppressed. We are all aware of the ways in which laughter can help to boost the immune system. Another common trait is the difficulty in concentrating. This is a great gift when someone is faced with a loss. We could not function if we were to face the enormity of the loss all at once. So, the brain slows down and lets the reality creep in little by little. This process could take weeks, months or even years, but the slow recognition of how life is now forever changed is part of the natural process. This also means that the bereaved live by Post-It notes. Simple tasks are forgotten and they rely upon taking copious notes to remind them of the tasks of the day. Many people have found themselves at the grocery store in tears because they cannot remember what they went there for. Again laughter can help with brain function and memory retention. Stress levels rise, sadness and depression increase and it becomes difficult to find joy for even a moment.
What can we as laughter yoga professionals do to help our clients, our loved ones or ourselves? Give people permission to laugh if they feel like it. Help them understand and experience how the physical act of using therapeutic laughter, or laughing for no reason, can help them.
ho ho ha ha ha…..
Mobility. Many people with a physical disability are sometimes unable to move parts of their body without regular physiotherapy exercises. Due to lowered mental functions, they often find it difficult to follow commands properly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that laughter sessions help people in this situation be much more compliant with physiotherapy commands, leading to notable physical improvement in motor functions. Also, because the exercise revolves around laughter all physical challenges are approached positively. Participants do the best they can physically and always feel they succeed because they are invited to laugh on their own terms, and that’s always a win.
Anger. Life is not always fair, and neither are physical disabilities. Why me? is a nagging question many people with disability ask themselves sooner or later. Trying to live with a disability can be very frustrating as it forces one to be dependent on others. Laughter Yoga focuses on the exhalation, “letting go”, and through this helps people focus on what is here, now, with a positive attitude. It is an ideal exercise that helps people be at peace with who they are, as they are, always now.
Sadness or depression. People with disabilities often find it hard to express their feelings and emotions and are therefore more prone to depression. Anecdotal evidence all over the world for the past 15 years suggests that Laughter exercises help people be more expressive and joyful. In particular they help to lift depression.
Sadness or depression. People with disabilities often find it hard to express their feelings and emotions and are therefore more prone to depression. Anecdotal evidence all over the world for the past 15 years suggests that Laughter exercises help people be more expressive and joyful. In particular they help to lift depression.
Stress or anxiety. Any form of disability can be the cause of immense stress and anxiety. Frustration anger, aggressive behavior and irrational logic overcome the power of reasoning. Laughter has been shown scientifically to provide a substantial and immediate reduction in stress levels as it lowers stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine and enhances the levels of health hormones and neuropeptides that alleviate the negative symptoms of stress within minutes.
Shock and denial. Physical incapacity can put people in a state of shock and trauma. There is not just the physical pain but a mental denial that can lead to blockage of feelings and an inability to express one’s emotions freely. The group dynamics of laughter sessions leads to more openness and helps people to share their grief. The exercises and the deep breathing relax the body and the mind and assist one to accept reality. Laughter sessions are a safe haven for people to release their inner feelings without fear and pain.
If you can breathe, you can laugh.
Laughter triggers the release of a natural opiate called endorphin into our bloodstream. While this usually provides an immediate pain relief that’s either partial or full, what is worth noting is that people’s relationship with pain “shifts” as they find that they can laugh about what before was a source of physical and emotional pain.
This simple realization is sometimes life changing.
When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky. — Buddha
Many people with a physical disability are sometimes unable to move parts of their body without regular physiotherapy exercises. Due to lowered mental functions, they often find it difficult to follow commands properly. Anecdotal evidence suggests that laughter sessions help people in this situation be much more compliant with physiotherapy commands, leading to notable physical improvement in motor functions. Also, because the exercise revolves around laughter all physical challenges are approached positively. Participants do the best they can physically and always feel they succeed because they are invited to laugh on their own terms, and that’s always a win.
If you can breathe, you can laugh.
if this doen’t get you going, you might want to run to the hospital
Studies show a huge leap in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children with this disorder are extremely hyperactive and find it difficult to concentrate for even short periods. In the US, one in 18 school children now suffer from ADHD.
An extended hearty laughter improves blood circulation and flushes the lungs of stale residual air. It also releases dopamine, something most people with AD/HD don’t have enough of. Laughter helps to improve concentration power, increases learning ability and helps to enhance academic performance.
Seeing the humor in our ADHD ways provides relief and perspective. When my clients with AD/HD like myself laugh things off and let them go, we all become more relaxed and less anxious.
So chuckle when you grab the ice cream spoon and point it at the TV to change the channel.
“A sense of humor is an attribute that most AD/HD kids will need. Try to develop it in your child. You don’t need the comic instincts of Leno or Letterman, just the impulse to create a light moment when the opportunity arises. It’s never too early to laugh! Infants laugh and giggle when presented with funny faces, funny noises, and exaggerated behavior.”
Laughing is hard-wired into every human being.
More here: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/797.html
Laughter Yoga exercises are extremely beneficial to AD/HD kids and their families.
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. — Kahlil Gibran
Laughter has been shown to be a means of communicating emotional information between infants and their caregivers.
The Baby Laughter project is run by scientists at the Babylab at Birkbeck College, University of London. The Baby Laughter project is a set of online survey for parents of babies and toddlers to see if there are developmental changes in what makes babies laugh at different ages. The aims are two-fold. Firstly to see how laughter changes in the first two years of life and secondly to see if those changes track other milestones in cognitive development.
They hope to accumulate evidence in support of the hypothesis that babies laugh most at events and activities for which they are just starting to understand the relevant features of the world. Laughing at falling objects as physical intuition develops, etc.
How early does social laughter start? What are the primary causes of laughter in infancy? Do these change with cognitive development? Is laughter influenced by, family size, socio-economic status, temperament, etc. These are some of the survey’s questions.
So let’s make sure all the infants in our life get off to a good start!!
