Laughter Yoga
Ho, Ho, Ho! Ha, Ha, Ha! Hee, Hee, Hee!
Laughter helps us to experience more fun and joy and enables us to deal with and/or let go of the stresses and strains in our lives. When you laugh, it is like you are playing and having fun whilst making yourself happy and healthy.
What is yoga laughter?
Yoga laughter is the practice of laughter combined with easy, gentle stretching and breathing. When you breathe and stretch, you open up your body and your heart and mind for new and wonderful things to happen. Doing this together with laughter is very empowering, helping you to flow more joyfully in your life.
Laughter is a great tool to ease your life, allowing you to sail along the crest of the wave of positivity, instead of drowning in a sea of negativity. It works both on a physical level and on an emotional level. When you laugh, you release endorphins and serotonin (chemicals in your brain) that make you happy. So I recommend smiling and laughing often.
As Charlie Chaplin said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”
Are you getting your five portions of fun each day?
Take a moment to remember a good joke, or a funny story, or a silly memory, such as slip-sliding on a banana skin or in a tobaggon and landing in a flurry of snow. The trick is to lighten up and make some fun. Be creative and enjoy discovering a sense of the ridiculous. This can be done in even the most stressful situation. The great thing is that, when you do this, you often find solutions to problems that initially seemed to be insurmountable.
GK Chesterton wrote: “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.” So let’s lighten up and make everything fun with laughter.
Smile exercise:
Consciously lift up the corners of your mouth. If you can, hold for five seconds. If you wish, you can increase this to 15 seconds. Make a habit to consciously smile first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Make a point of smiling frequently during your day. Smiling at yourself in the mirror reinforces your good feelings – try it, and see if it works for you.
It wasn’t always easy for me to laugh.
Several years ago I suffered a car accident and the years following that were very difficult for me. I felt that my life was ruined and physically I was in a lot of pain. My shoulders were hunched over, and I felt really down. I had lost my ability to laugh. Over a period of time, with the help of yoga, cranio-sacral therapy, and Louise Hay’s positive approach to life, I turned my life around.
Louise Hay wrote, “I open my heart and sing the joys of love.” I decided that it was up to me how I felt, and gradually I learned to laugh again. Then I opened my shoulders, lifted my head to the sun and roared with laughter… and I felt so much better! So I repeated it and have continued to laugh ever since.
I love to share my love of laughter and my joy in life.
Laughter is infectious, and I love to laugh with as many people as possible. At my laughter workshops, we have lots of fun whilst learning the benefits of laughter, exploring effective and easy-to-use techniques to keep healthy, and tapping into our inner wisdom of joy and love.
Ho, Ho, Ho! Ha, Ha, Ha! Hee, Hee, Hee!
By Margaret Brace
Margaret Brace has been leading Love Your Life Workshops since 2001. She teaches yoga and works internationally as a Louise Hay Teacher, Amatsu practitioner and cranio-sacral therapist. Her story of personal transformation was published in Louise Hay’s 2010 book Modern Day Miracles. Margaret loves to laugh and finds joy in all aspects of life. She is committed to helping people to embrace their own vitality to create what they want in life: for more information, see her website www.embrace-your-vitality.com or join her in March at her next workshop in Zurich, Laughter Keeps You Healthy.
Illustration by Laura Munteanu
Laura has studied journalism and advertising, and has been working as a journalist and an illustrator. She has been illustrating for magazines, websites, charity and diverse campaigns. She lives in Zurich with her husband and almost-nine-year-old daughter.
