When I first thought of doing my 40 days to 40 project, I made a list of all the activities that I thought would be really fun - that might fit with my core desired feelings: active, bold, connected, creative and productive.
One of the activities I had listed was a laughter circle. I'm not sure where I first heard about this bizarre idea - I think it might have been the news. I have a vague memory of a news story about people in a park in China, all in a circle, forcing themselves to laugh. Laughter circles.
One of the activities I had listed was a laughter circle. I'm not sure where I first heard about this bizarre idea - I think it might have been the news. I have a vague memory of a news story about people in a park in China, all in a circle, forcing themselves to laugh. Laughter circles.
The Search
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So I went to Google and looked it up. I found someone in my area who was doing something called "Laughter yoga," which sounded similar to the laughter circle I had in my head. I filled out a form on the woman's website and spoke to her on the phone. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit it into the 40 days before my 40th birthday and I promptly forgot about it.
But, as fate (or the laughing buddha) would have it, on Saturday I received an email from the laughter yoga lady about World Laughter Day being celebrated with her laughter yoga in my neighbourhood park. I didn't know anything else about it - other than what the email said, but I was determined to go.
The next day my husband was sick so I thought there was no way I was going to be able to go - I had two kids to look after. But I decided to ask my kids if they were interested in going. My son said no but my daughter said yet. It may have been the allure of the park, but regardless, she agreed. And off we went.
But, as fate (or the laughing buddha) would have it, on Saturday I received an email from the laughter yoga lady about World Laughter Day being celebrated with her laughter yoga in my neighbourhood park. I didn't know anything else about it - other than what the email said, but I was determined to go.
The next day my husband was sick so I thought there was no way I was going to be able to go - I had two kids to look after. But I decided to ask my kids if they were interested in going. My son said no but my daughter said yet. It may have been the allure of the park, but regardless, she agreed. And off we went.
One Hour of Laughing
I wasn't sure if there was going to be two people there or 200. We were a small group of around 30. And we may have looked silly doing all that laughing. But I sure felt bold and active and connected and even a little creative.
We did various laughing exercises where the facilitator had us knee-slap laughing, he-he-ho-ho-ho-ing, alternating between laughing and crying, Kirtan call-and-response laughter (where we copied the laughing the facilitator called out) - sometimes moving in a circle and sometimes greeting each other one on one with laughter instead of words. It felt awkward at first and a little forced, but I found that the first second of laughter in an exercise was forced and then the rest was real.
The one-hour session ended with a lying down laughter meditation - 10 minutes of group laughing. Now that was something. Laughing for a whole 10 minutes is no joke. (Sorry about that - had to do it!) At the end of the 10 minutes, my cheeks and my stomach were sore - just like after the first time I saw Whoopi Goldberg's one woman show or Eddie Murphy's Delirious. Wanna lick? Psyche!
I felt so light after all that laughing - and a bit emotional too. There was one point where I felt like I could have cried, which the facilitator talked about afterwards since the two can often go hand in hand.
The leader has a class every Wednesday in a nearby community space. Anyone want to join me?
We did various laughing exercises where the facilitator had us knee-slap laughing, he-he-ho-ho-ho-ing, alternating between laughing and crying, Kirtan call-and-response laughter (where we copied the laughing the facilitator called out) - sometimes moving in a circle and sometimes greeting each other one on one with laughter instead of words. It felt awkward at first and a little forced, but I found that the first second of laughter in an exercise was forced and then the rest was real.
The one-hour session ended with a lying down laughter meditation - 10 minutes of group laughing. Now that was something. Laughing for a whole 10 minutes is no joke. (Sorry about that - had to do it!) At the end of the 10 minutes, my cheeks and my stomach were sore - just like after the first time I saw Whoopi Goldberg's one woman show or Eddie Murphy's Delirious. Wanna lick? Psyche!
I felt so light after all that laughing - and a bit emotional too. There was one point where I felt like I could have cried, which the facilitator talked about afterwards since the two can often go hand in hand.
The leader has a class every Wednesday in a nearby community space. Anyone want to join me?