When I did laughter yoga I had a transformational experience.
I needed several hours of silence after it to process the stagnant stuff that was released with the laughter. It is an excellent healing technique not to mention the honesty & grace that Michael & David charge it with.
I look forward to going again.
Veronica de Ferrari,
Author & Former Director Wesley Mission Jobnetwork,
Rockdale.
In Yoga-Laughter we do a breathing exercise & practice laughter to trigger a natural laughter spasm. If you observe someone naturally "splitting their sides with laughter" you will see that s/he exhales fully and sometimes gasps for air. So a laughter spasm is triggered most easily by laughing when you have fully exhaled.
The breathihng exercise we do is to pretend you just heard or saw the funniest thing in the world but are not allowed to laugh (due to your surroundings). You hold it in, hold it in, but suddenly you just can't hold it in any more and it bursts out! Breath out all the way then start giggling,,,,see what happens! Simple? Yes it is!
Inauspicious?.....maybe.
The day after I wrote about how I was able to use yoga-laughter to beat pain on a massage table, I had a horrible accident.
I crushed my finger in a steel jaw clamp, giving me bad laceration, & possible damage to the bone.
Could that be the universe saying..."oh yeah? let's really test you!"
My response was pretty natural....huge agony accompanied by shock & a massive dose of adrenalin.
I had to race to the doctors with blood pouring everywhere.
Now if you're expecting that I was able to switch off
the pain with laughter, sorry to dissapoint you!
But here's the thing. Having pain is one thing but I was getting hugely frustrated, angry & upset at my own stupidity
....I was going DOWN man. big time.
I made myself laugh...pretty half-heartedly mind you
at first but it did make me feel better.
After a while I did notice a physical shift...the bad-news feeling I had in my stomach & limbs because of my anger & being down on myself.....began to lift. After that I was able to see things in perspective and it didn't seem so bad.
I got first class medical attention and things kind of flowed as smoothly as possible. I think if I hadn't had the help of yoga-laughter I would have plunged into dispair and made it a lot worse.
Empowerment?...let's just say I prevented myself from totally dis-empowering myself. & I'm sure I will heal faster now.
And Yes! I was able to divert my attention away from the pain with yoga-laughter.
With laugh, Michael
Today I went for a massage. The massager was a real pro who knew exactly where all my knotted muscles were, and was ruthlessly determined to release them.
I started squirming...... It was painful!
But I knew if I could just stay still enough to allow the process,
I would feel much better later. Ouch!
I remebered how laughter is so empowering in other situations
so I started doing yoga-laughter. Lo & behold! My mind instantly switched off from the pain and I was able to bear the ruthless massage! I actually felt that the laughter affected my muscles as well and made it easier to relax.
It was quite hilarious really. When the digs got deep I would roar with laughter!
Another string to the yoga-laughter bow.
Lots of Laugh, Michael
.!
Yoga-laughter is doing practice laughter to trigger real laughter.
This happens very quickly in a way which is spontaneous & natural.
After only a week or 2 practicing 10-15 minutes a day.....you can develop the capacity to laugh at any time whenever you want to.
The main thing about developing this capacity to laugh
whenever you want to is that it is very empowering,
& very useful for everyday life.
Many situations of modern life are stressful.
But it is mostly far healthier to laugh than get stressed,
& I mean healthier physically as well as mentally.
Because when you laugh the body injects a huge dose of "happy chemicals" in to the blood stream (mostly endorphins) & halts the production of cortisol, the "stress hormone".
Laughing, (or at least doing laughter breath) helps you to stay"bouyant" and handle most situations better.
3 Steps: Yoga-Laughter
1. Laughter Breath: Laughter breathing is easy....try it now!
Breath in a shallow breath.
Pretend you have just heard or seen the funniest thing
in the whole world, but are not allowed to laugh!
Hold it...hold it...hold it!
Finally you just can't hold it anymore
and your breath bursts out with a big huff! Breath out all the way.
2. When you have breathed out fully, start giggling. Pretend you are "spliting your sides" and can't stop laughing!
Very soon you won't be pretending anymore!
Laugh as much as you want.....It is so much fun!
3. Stop when abdomen muscles are tired, or when you feel like it. Your mind will be totally still at this point.
Now just watch your natural breathing.
It will have become soft & delicious In yoga this is called easy breath It is an important step in yogalaughter: it prolongs your tranquillity. Now repeat these 3 steps over & over until you have had enough joy & release.
WE are presenting an introduction to Laughter Yoga tomorrow at the DEEWR.
It's an exciting opportunity for us to spread the love of laughter.
If you are just joining this site, we would highly value your comments which you can place on the blog.
You can keep connected to the developments in our Yoga-Laughter offerings by clicking the RSS feed & linking your email.
We put out newsletters, articles & valuable references connecting you to health & well-being information. relating to laughter yoga.
Don't forget to check out the original & main site for Laughter Yoga.... www.LaughterYoga.org
Love & laughter Michael
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