Wellness

Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga

by
Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga Blog

Feeling into what to write about and the word Passion came to me as being a quality that all we all focus on living in our everyday lives. I have heard a lot about it and what I want to share are suggestions to embody it in our feeling nature, working through the mental constructs of what we have heard, observed, been told – our conditioning throughout our lives.

Years ago, attending business meetings, some coaches and leaders used passion as a most important element to live out of, and I suggest that we may hear this message with our heads, rather than our hearts. We take on suggestions and they become words, should, to do and become, without an inner motivation which can best come from our own heart centre.

We beat ourselves up, judge and thrash about trying to make it happen, losing motivation, which ties in with the last issue’s topic where we reach a motivational dip in our lives. What we do has to have a true meaning for us and when it does, we light up. We look and feel lit up and our whole character embodies passion in what we do, whatever that may be.

Perhaps it is simple, such as the joy of knitting or crocheting, collecting and the fun in finding those objects. It can be sport, which anyone of us can be totally absorbed in. If it is exercise, a danger is that it may become an empty habit we keep on doing, without stopping and rejigging, questioning why we do it. A lot of us, myself included, adore gardening, losing ourselves in that activity, whilst a majority of us no doubt, will express an urge to go outside and connect with nature, whether it may be heading up into the hills, or down to the beach. Or simply as we do, going to a park, meeting other doggie people for a chat, being outside, especially at sunset.

As in the way of all habits, they become habitual, another new ritual, like a religion, which may serve us at the time and over time, becomes, shall we say, fulfilled? As in we keep doing it and habits can be outworn, when it is time to release them and go in another direction.

There is nothing wrong in giving up on something. It is when the mind keeps us hanging on to things, which can be anything in our lives (let’s not take personal, worldly commitments into this, we still have to honour those commitments). At times we need to take the time to be quiet, still, contemplative, breathe, meditate perhaps, and reflect upon whether it feels ‘right’ to move on, as our time can be better spent in turning to another activity.

A friend shared with me how in the Philippines, there are better results because their healing approach is treat the whole body. Cancer is the one she spoke of and overall, the human body is looked upon from a holistic bodily approach. I loved hearing that!

We have a four-body system, etheric, emotional, mental and spiritual. Our body is intelligent and I have often heard it said many times over the years, that it can heal itself of just about anything, given the chance to do so.  

Coming back to the topic of Passion, Play and Laughter Yoga. It is not naughty to have fun. Our body is a beautiful, unique one. No two bodies or people are exactly alike and neither will t hey be alike all the time, because of the consistent changes that are happening, evolution in a nutshell.

I believe in living each day with love and enthusiasm and if we lose that, what do we have? Grumpy, disillusioned people walking the earth, projecting negativity and where does that come from? Within. We feel what we are projecting our first within ourselves. The same goes when we express or feel love, we are spirit living in a human body, lent to us by Mother Earth who is a loving, benevolent being. In order to give love, it wells up, is expansive and it flows from there, right inside our very own heart. Don’t try to fix the world, work on feeling love and a lightness, infused with passion, overflowing your cup into the world. The world needs it more than ever before and every person makes a difference. You do. I do. We all do. Let’s see if we can get in touch with the passion that has been covered over and get it happening again.

Laughter Yoga definitely helps to do that. It is very freeing. I will not say that it is the be all and end all. It is a wonderful, marvellous tool which we use to assist our body to be healthier and it works on the four body system, as mentioned before. How we do it at laughter club is fantastic as we are involved in playful activities, allowing our inner children to be released and expressed. We sing, laugh, breathe deeply and include positive affirmations. This all helps our overall wellbeing.

It is life changing for people who come along. At the same time, you can do it at home, especially with AI, which I am not a fan of. But if you Google about laughter yoga, many videos and much information comes up immediately for you to be able to do by yourself, if you have sufficient self-determination.

One of the benefits though is the social side of coming together with us or others in a group. Humans need connection with other humans. That I firmly believe. You are always welcome to join us.

So passion and play are crucial to live as if you are fulfilling your purpose in life. It may be a simple purpose too, to live each day to the best of your ability and to ground more love upon the earth. Simple as that. How about that eh?

Hobbies are good, to have an interest or outlet that really lifts you up, inspires you, something creative in particular I feel, not that I am judging watching TV or sporting matches, as they have their place. Choose something which helps you get in touch with your soul expressing through your body, where time stops, seems to stand still, are totally and utterly absorbed in the project, having a still mind and emotions. I find gardening works for me and a new hobby which I am revealing to the world here.

Sometimes we don’t know why we are doing something, at least I don’t. We may simply feel led, that for whatever reason, it feels right to do something, until it doesn’t feel right to do so. We can really miss that. Let me share that 19 years ago, right from the start of offering a free community laughter club and for four or five years, hardly anyone was coming, none at all a lot of the time. This seems to be a good example of following one’s heart. Somehow, I hung on, believing it had the potential of bringing people together, as I always felt it important to maintain positivity and hope in our lives as time passes. I had observed as a youngster that was not the case in adults and somehow, I made the decision, not to let it happen to me. Life can beat us around the ears and it takes conscious application to remain in a positive frame of mind at times. Especially when we are in our darkest hour. You know what I mean?

I have been dabbling in art all my life and would have given it up, and did not feel that I had a particular talent, except that I am dogged about things, hang on maybe too long as well. It is not about being good at it, the main thing is to keep on going. Once I had a bad argument and reacted to John, my hubby and greatest supporter. We were driving towards the city and he said that his previous wife was a real artist and I felt deeply hurt by his remark. I made him stop, jumped out of the car and thumbed a lift back home. This shows my low self esteem at the time and it is not a healthy habit to compare ourselves with another human being.

To be successful, I encourage you to work on your worthiness and monitor your reasons for whatever it is you are doing. You do it for yourself, because you are greatly loved and matter. Does it really make a difference after all, our judgment of what we do and whether we feel something is good or not, because if you are expressing yourself, feeling better for it, it has a purpose.

In my art I have done a lot over the years and each for a long time. I got interested in Zentangle drawing years ago and discovered that the loose, doodling drawings I had been doing for yonks, were very much in that style. Well at present I am passionate about combining my calligraphy, painting, drawing, positive words and affirmations into rock paintings. It feels important to write positive words or sayings and share them with people, as a reminder to keep your chins up – stay positive at all costs. It is alright to drop in doing so, as in steps forwards and backwards. Keep getting up, marching on, going forward and never, ever give up!!!

With my rock paintings, I feel absorbed, completely and utterly. I often listen to something while doing so and for me, it takes me into another space and time, as I feel very still and absorbed. This is what I am suggesting you may like to do, pick up an old creative hobby or a new one and get it happening. I had been doing a daily jigsaw on my tablet for a long time, which was very stilling for the mind and emotions, but not giving me the creativity connection which was missing.

Here is a photo of my rock paintings, as they are presently being expressed, because everything seems to be a new opportunity to learn and grow within myself. Isn’t life simply wondrous? Well it can be so at least.

What will you do?

I would love to hear and encourage you to give yourself a break and become totally absorbed in something which you can feel by the results of doing so, is highly beneficial for your whole body, the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

God bless. Sending you love and passion in abundance. Wishing you well.

 

Laughter and Other Events

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month behind the library. We are also greatly appreciative of Ajne, Team Leader at the Ferntree Gully Library who loves and believes in what we do, hosting laughter and meditation sessions on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2pm. I also facilitate regular spiritual growth classes and workshops, which you may want to hear about at some stage in your life.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette in case of a meeting change, and if you would like to read my email newsletter, receive the email reminder when the laughter club is on next, or even you may like to join the Facebook group (Google it or ask me).

Cheerio for now and be kind to yourself. 

Lots of Love, Laughter and Blessings. Lynette Mitchell. 

 

Equanimity From Laughter Yoga is Fabulous

by
Laughter Yoga Provides Equanimity in Our Lives

Do you ever think about, ponder, focus on or are aware of the topic of equanimity? I do all the time, as part of my spiritual journey.

Equanimity is living in a state of balance, achieved by focusing on living in the present, self-aware mindful and with compassion. It may look like someone is centred in one’s being, remaining calm, grounded and centred, whilst experiencing challenges.

Equanimity is generally on board as we practice living in this form of self-mastery. It is not something we can choose in case of emergency; it is ingrained in our being through regular practice in our daily lives.

This is a wonderful topic and the cool thing about it is we can all improve in this area if it interests us and we can see the importance of living this way. Let’s face it, we are not alone and are nearly always in various relationships, whether they be family, business, work, social etc.

I feel that equanimity is a whole body experience, a feeling, spiritual thing and need not be a controlled mental state. This implies suppression and the heart is not involved, although there are good intentions present.

To effectively be in equanimity we need to centre ourselves first and act with clarity of intention and compassion. As I practice being in equanimity, in order to centre myself I pause, take a breath or two, allow myself to slow down and become aware of how I am feeling. To be in this calm, centred, mindful state of mind and emotions, I am better able to apply myself to every situation. It is not necessarily so simple, nor easy to do, which is why it is important to have the quality of equanimity on board in one’s personality and self expression. If you attempt to be that way in an emergency, failure is more likely to be the case.

There are many Buddhist references to living in equanimity, which is a state of balance where one doesn’t react to difficult situations. It is part of living in a grounded, mindful manner, without supressing emotions and feelings. Equanimity is a beautiful state to become endowed with, which has a positive, uplifting effect upon those around us in our everyday lives.

It is a non-judgmental, accepting way of being and it may be developed through the practice of laughter yoga. 

How laughter yoga helps you achieve equanimity

Did you know that laughter yoga is a practice that greatly assists us to live in equanimity? A lot of research mentions the benefit of being in greater equanimity when we come together doing laughter exercises. Isn’t that grand? Perhaps is another terrific reason to come along and join us for regular laughter exercises.

This happens organically, that is very naturally, when we come together in playful fun with each other. The way we perceive life upgrades to that of becoming self-accepting and it follows, we become more tolerant and accepting of others and of life situations.

Notwithstanding the times when we may need to walk away from things or people, this is not an airy-fairy way of being, where we become doormats and allow ourselves to be in abusive situations.

What laughter yoga helps with is slowly developing a more cheerful, fun filled, optimistic personal value, leading to living in far greater equanimity because of the way regular laughter can help us.

Some Aussies Involvement in Laughter Yoga

It feels like a good idea to impress upon you more about this, the fact that many people around the world work professionally with laughter yoga and also a great many who are making grounded differences here in Australia. They come from different backgrounds and fields of work.

I will mention three people, firstly to give a shout out to Merv Neal, a local, who filled in for me when I was on a retreat recently. He is responsible for initiating laughter yoga in numerable places which call for more equanimity in people’s lives. For example, it is being accepted as a fabulous activity in the wellbeing and healing area; he is involved in research conducting laughter for kidney dialysis patients and working with the Cancer Council. He co-authored a scientific study book last year which I love.

A prominent Melbourne laughter leader, teacher and academic is Ros Ben-Moshie, who has written two laughter books. Ros also teaches short course courses in Laughter, Resilience and Wellbeing at Latrobe University.

There are many more prominent Australians doing amazing work in the laughter yoga field, which is taking off, i.e. becoming widely known and accepted as a highly beneficial practice for us all to be doing.

The third one I will share with you is Annie Harvie who lives in Adelaide and has written The Giggle Game. Annie has taken this fun, simple, interactive card game all around the world. It is designed for early learners, and I highly recommend it to school teachers and parents. It is a simple way of bringing the exercise of laughing together to us all and in particular, children.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and wishing you an excellent 2025. You are always welcome to join John, myself and the small group who come regularly to laughter club.

First timers, please contact me, Lynette to in case of a meeting change. You may even like to add yourself to the email reminder for the laughter club or sign up for my newsletter. My website has information regarding workshops, classes, laughter yoga and blog.

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club meets at 11am on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month.

We are at the Ferntree Gully Library 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of the month March onwards and at the Boronia Library, 11am the 3rd Saturday of the month recommencing in May.

Cheerio for now. 

Lots of Love and Laughter. Lynette Mitchell. xo

Minimising and Decluttering, Why and How Laughter Yoga Can Help You.

by

Decluttering has been part of many people’s intentions over recent years and, quite a mini revolution in many homes. It has been a prominent buzzword and a whole range of businesses have arisen to cater for de-clutterers who embark on their own unique personal journey of letting go of possessions.

Marie Condo wrote Spark Joy, which helped create this enormous clearing out of stuff movement. I love her book, reading it opened my eyes and started me on a long journey to reduce material possessions. These include various hobbies and collectables such as ornaments of horses and elephants. (I am keeping the swans for now). I have accumulated a lot over my 81 years. Many people have referred to me as a hoarder. Does that ring a bell with you too? We can all be hoarders of a variety of objects and not others. Our interests can change, yet we usually accumulate more things, rather than letting go of what has passed to make room for the new.

I prefer the term ‘collector,’ it is kinder, and I feel has a depth of understanding, of emotions or reasons why we like to keep things. There is nothing wrong with having anything, rather it is our motives about possessing, collecting, hoarding, hanging on to things that is paramount.

Spark Joy helped me to value, respect and treasure my possessions, to treat them with appreciation and look after them as well. For example, to thank the clothes as we fold it and put it away, not to squish it into cupboards. To treat our belongings with gratitude and respect. Marie says that things last longer when we do so and treat things as energy, even a low level of intelligence. That is an interesting concept, who knows? Perhaps there is a miniscule of intelligence in everything, as everything is energy resonating at different wavelengths. And think about this, our possessions need our attention and energy, otherwise their energy is weaker. You can even feel it.

Why do we have Clutter?

We become who and what we are in our upbringing and influenced by our parents or caregivers’ behaviour. Added to this has been the outer influences in our lives, radio, television, printed material, and innumerable other things. Now there is Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, all sorts of modern age apps and the list grows exponentially.

All these modern conveniences impact on most of us as a general rule. There is less time, less sitting quietly in stillness, more of being busy being busy. Our minds and lives become cluttered as we tend to rush and try to fit more and more into our lives.

Low Self Worth and Wanting a Happy Fix

A major reason we hoard or collect things to excess that is most commonly spoken of is due to our lack of worthiness. Oftener than not, it is out of our radar of awareness, as we struggle to cope the best way we can, in varying amounts and situations. We may not be aware of having a lack of feeling worthy. Many of us have unconscious needs to be fulfilled, as we struggle with feelings of unworthiness. Buying or acquiring something makes us feel better for a short time. We feel a little happier for a moment or longer, as we try to fill ourselves up with things. Then look for the next fix, like a drug addict. Shopping can be an addiction in this day and age.

The temporary fix may be objects or activities, we develop a life and habit to be so busy so as not to feel negative things such as sadness, anxiety, depression or empty. It is a big and complicated subject. The theory and scientific evidence are that there may be some underlying cause which is making us want a full house. It could be an unresolved loss in our life, something so horrible that we have not been able to accept or get over it is occurring.

Isn’t it wonderful that there is greater awareness about all this now? There are many hoarders shows on TV and a favourite of mine is Space Invaders. Peter Walsh is the presenter, with a psychology background who confronts participants as he uncovers usually traumatic experiences, which led to the deeply seated unbalanced obsession of hanging on to stuff.

Decluttering sure is interesting and has led to me to delve into the subject of becoming a minimalist.

Minimalisation.

I love this one, as I am learning that to minimalise which is like a higher turn of a spiral, a more evolved, less mental way of looking at our possessions. It is feeling based, less thinking involved, it is gentler, with one being able to do it slowly, gently, learning and appreciating ourselves and life itself. We can embark on an interesting journey where we develop a graceful relationship with the universe and discover our needs are less than what we thought they were.

What we really and truly need in life is unique to us and ever changing, as we discover how free-er we become with less accumulated stuff around us. People wrongly may have the understanding that a Minimalist is a person who has hardly any possessions. That may be so, but those who think that is what it boils down to misunderstand.

They can be frugal with an empty looking house, storage areas, etc, but consider this, it is not about forcing change, instead it is learning to live with less over time, which ultimately unburdens us.

Essentially developing this way of living is having a growing appreciation of what life has to offer and to value it, unburdening ourselves of much that gobbles up our time and money.

We can then feel enthusiastic about our future, to find time to do what is important in our lives and develop greater appreciation of who we are and our direction.

How Decluttering and Minimalisation Links With Laughter Club and Laughing

Part of the benefits of laughing together are psychological and social. When we come together in group harmony as we do, we feel many beneficial things. A sense of belonging, being loved, accepted for who we are, without judgment. Over time our sense of humour hones itself in ways that we do not ourselves notice. Simply put, many wonderful things change in our lives which naturally induces greater self-appreciation, as well as compassion for ourselves and humanity. As our belonging grows, we feel sucked into place and hold hope in our hearts. The hope is unique for each individual person.

Gradually, people who come regularly somehow feel a greater hope and connection with mother nature, with spontaneity. Gathering afterwards for a social chat and cuppa helps as we have an opportunity to share with others who feel like family. I firmly believe and have observed people feeling better about themselves, simply by coming and being part of the group and what it offers.

that over time these improvements add to the way we view life and, in this way, we ever so gracefully, with courage and conviction, let go of stuff we have gathered around us to feel better or to cover up feelings of inadequacy.

A Golden Rule to Live By.

William Morris’s famous quote is “If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” I have also heard and live by an additional item, ‘Is it necessary?.” Many necessary everyday items these days and neither useful nor beautiful, possessing them brings ease into our lives. Necessary examples could be having a roof over our head, a car to drive, a television set.

Get in Touch?

Lynette is available to talk with you about this or other blog subjects, if you feel to reach out to her sometime. Also, she runs self-help classes, if you want to find out about that, you certainly can.

Cheerio for now and all of us at laughter club are looking forwarding to seeing you sometime!

Lots of Love and Laughter,

Lynette Mitchell.

How Laughter Affects our Judgment and Self-Acceptance

by
Release the Judgment with Laughter Yoga

Did you know that Laughter Yoga can help us feel better about ourselves? Gently, gradually, with regular connecting at laughter club, we can become more self accepting and a less judgment person. We develop a tolerance as we accept other people, situations and things in our life and at the same time, lose self-judgment.

Many of us humans are full of crippling self-judgment, lacking in self-love and self-acceptance and the great news is that laughter helps lose that pattern. Our habits are developed from a very young age as a survival mechanism, even from a baby, we instinctively and unconsciously develop ways to have our needs fulfilled, even when so tiny and unable to express ourselves clearly.

Habits develop as we grow and for those like me who believe in reincarnation, habits are on board when we are born, where we pick up where we left off in our previous life. Our habits, strengths, tendencies and abilities make up our self-expression and it is a humungous subject.

As we learn, we are drawn to having pleasure and avoiding pain. In fact, it is said we learn best through painful times, which by far motivates us towards growth, rather than when things are going well. Most of us can attest to that.

Parents generally judge their kids, some lucky kids have kind, loving parents, but parents are frequently judgmental, although they want the best for their children. Parents often toughen us up with cryptic remarks, thinking it is in our best interest. However, it can also create the system where we learn to judge ourselves which can develop into us being quite judgmental. To cope, children develop the attitude of being self-judgmental.

Words can hurt and we cope the best we can, which may be to have a warped sense of humour as it may help us get through life. Of course, we may also learn to supress our feelings. Life coaching teaches us that we do things in order to feel free of painful memories or situations and can feel safer when we are not criticised. We can learn the habit of self-criticism, because subconsciously, we feel criticism outside ourself cannot then hurt us.

When we are moulded by feelings of being judged, we can feel that we are wrong and others are right, they are ok and we are not ok, and feel lost. It can be felt like a background whisper and we can feel isolated. We have taken it on board and our lives are filled with the taste of criticising ourselves and others and somehow, we do not feel okay within. We experience a harmful stress, (beneficial stress can actually be necessary at times, in order to fulfil a goal) a need to please, the list goes on.

The good news is that once we become aware of something not being ‘right’, we can begin to do something about it. Ideally we will work towards living in harmony with ourself and others once we do become aware that there is a better way. As we realise unhealthy habits, we can work on them and live a happier, more purposeful, fulfilling life.

How Laughter Can Help Us

Being in a group of laughter club people can make a huge difference in our life and how we feel about ourself. We can let go of anxiety tied in with self-judgment as we practice accepting each other and they of us. We acknowledge and honour everyone’s uniqueness, contributions and belonging in the group. We listen, we care and have drawn to us lovely people, who appreciate one another. Gradually, coming from feelings of being ‘not quite right’, needing to change to feel loved and fit in, we discover that we are, in fact, very ok!

Self-consciousness certainly effects our sense of purpose, our wellbeing, of feeling okay within ourself and laughing out loud can be a hurdle to overcome when experienced for the first time, especially in a group, to the full extent. When people first attend laughter club, they feel uncomfortable to some extent. Even I remember feeling self-conscious, despite embracing the new experience wholeheartedly.

My husband John frequently suggests to people new to the concept of laughing together as a healthy practice, “It will get you out of your comfort zone”. Which it does, gradually and gracefully. What happens is that at first most people will feel uncomfortable and choose to join in and experience it firsthand. Over time, people settle into the pattern and how the session is run, which is spontaneous and interactive with one another. Self-limiting inhibitions are removed and in its place is generally a self-acceptance from all the frivolity and role playing that we do.

Laughter Club is very social, we are a small number of people, about six or eight as a rule and like many other social clubs, there develops a sense of camaraderie and total acceptance of each other. I believe this helps us to accept ourself, to feel safe, nurtured and to feel we belong.

I am not saying that we will radically change into a completely different, non-judgemental person, full of self-love. I am saying it all helps in that right direction and being involved in laughter yoga provides the ability to let go of some things and feel greater inner peace and purpose. Some of us do not have connections with people other than one’s immediate family, neither go out for lunch or see a show or movie. In this way our club serves a purpose, after we meet, we generally have a cuppa at a café. Most of us come together in a social environment, which may be to see a non-professional theatre show, or go to Morning Melodies and have lunch. There is great friendship and some even meet up for a coffee at random times. These may include past members who are always welcome, held close in our hearts as we stay in touch.

Overall belonging to a laughter club enhances our lives, as we bear in mind the founder’s motto of ‘World Peace Through Laughter’. We would love to see you at a meeting and you are very welcome to join us and try it for yourself.

Summing Up

The Ferntree Gully Laughter Club is having its 18th Birthday in April and if you were to come along on a regular basis, I am confident to say that you could expect judgmental and low self-esteem issues to radically improve. Give it a try this 2023. What a momentous year it will be in many ways, if you embrace, flow and run with it.

Click Here for Ferntree Gully Laughter Club page

Laughter Yoga 101 – in Other Words, Basic Info.

by

 

Laughter clubs run on the premise that we laugh together for fun and fitness. There are many things we can do for fun and fitness, but none as simple as choosing to laugh and consciously do deep breathing exercises. You do not need any props, just a willingness to make it regular and do it. It is easier to laugh together in a group, that’s why laughing clubs have taken off all around the world.

Deep breathing has many benefits, some are to oxygenate and circulate our blood around our bodies. It also increases our lung capacity, strengthening the muscles around our lungs. We become more aware of how we breathe too and it encourages deep, diaphragmatic breathing, instead of the shallow upper lungs, which becomes automatic to breathe shallowly when we feel stressed or uptight.

Deep belly laughing gives us an aerobic workout, even more than exercising on a rowing machine, which you may find quite surprising? Then we have little, quiet, gentle breathing, which reminds us to calm down, be quiet, still. How beneficial to receive such a reminder?

Following are just a few of these, to give you a feeling of what we do at laughter club. Go to the Ferntree Gully Laughter Page click here.

Exercises:

Deep breathing – breathe deeply through the nose and out the mouth. We frequently do three big breaths and on the third out breath, we laugh loudly and at times, giggle it out.

Slow breath in short bursts – breathe in with short sniffing breaths, which is a type of basic yogic breath, following by a long slow exhalation through the mouth.

Chanting – between the exercises we shout ‘ho ho, ha ha ha’ three times and as well at times throw our arms up in the air and say ‘Very good, very good, yay’ twice.

Singing for health

I often mention we sing a lot, because it helps with establishing brain neurons, known as Neuroplasticity. The songs are often nursery rhymes or very well-known songs – you can do this yourself in the shower! Occasionally we use the song words, however generally we sing the tune with ha ha words, or humming, even he he he, because we mix them up. You can sing the words to remember the tune and switch into non-verbal, because it fires up the right side of the brain, also called the creative side of your brain.

Laughter exercises

We do the laughter exercises as in improvisation theatre, which helps extraordinarily, laughter attendees to tap into their own ingenuity, to be and feel inspirational and you are never the same again!!! Laughter is often referred to as ‘faking it till you make it,’ because you may find it difficult at first, which is rather to be expected than to the contrary. Because the body cannot differentiate between genuine and fake laughter, it relaxes and gets involved, providing the many and varied health benefits of spontaneous laughter.

Examples of laughter exercises

There are traditional, almost old as time, ones that we regularly do, such as

– Greeting – High fives, Namaste with hands in prayer position, shaking hands, other international ones too.

– Unbuttoning Cardigan – say ha, ha, ha, as one undoes each button and with the final button, a big laugh.

– Lion – good for the thyroid gland also – make like a mane with your hands by your ears, poke your tongue out, growl and laugh, clawing your hands around.

– Cup of tea – we jiggle it to ho, ho, ha ha ha, then throw the tea bag over our shoulder, put out our pinkie finger and act superior, pretending to be Mrs Bouquet, or have a Twining’s, or at the Windsor Hotel for high tea.

– Kookaburra – make Kookaburra sounds.

Basically, laughter exercises are both regular ones and with a lot of spontaneity throughout the session as well. When we do a Zoom one, various people from other countries bring the flavour of their country and share their favourite laugh.

Cheerio and do your best to be kind and gentle with yourself, have fun, at the same time exercising a good balance of hope and discipline. Bye for now, until next time, laughter blessings.

Feel free to contact us for a chat as we are friendly and love meeting people, as we are all in this together, this business of living a life. Thank you for your interest in reading this, did you learn something of interest today?

We would love to see you sometime, either when we meet in the park or on Zoom. We meet outdoors at 11am on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Sunday and on Zoom the 1st Sunday. You may also join the Meetup group, click the button below.

Lots of Love and Laughter, Lynette Mitchell. xo

Learn more on the laughter club page
Join Meetup Group Click Button
Contact Lynette - Click Button

Nuroplasticity and Laughter Yoga

by

Laughter Yoga and Our Brain

Laughter Yoga is the name we use when we combine laughter and deep breathing. People trained in laughter yoga consciously practice the art of using laughter yoga to benefit the whole body, whilst understanding laughter helps in creating brain cells (Neuroplasticity).

Our Intelligent Body

Human bodies have amazing abilities to adapt and heal themselves and overall, we are largely ignorant of possibilities that may be achieved. Unaware, not on our radar, ignorant until someone inspires us about what is possible. We express ourselves through our conditioning, our experiences. Much is tied in with our deeply held beliefs, coupled with motives – we may need a strong reason to get out of our own way and go for our goals and ambitions.

Covid grossly lessened our much-needed brain and general sensory stimulation. It brought frustration on many levels, the most post powerful, obvious being the inability to see and be with our family and go out to work. It has reaped havoc in our lives, as well, it brought new situations and chances to be and do differently. It brought new, higher evolved opportunities to experience and embrace. I feel there is a gift in every circumstance and situation waiting for us to embrace it.

Your Plastic Brain

Have you heard the notion that you can change your brain? Scientists have proven that your brain is influenced, restructured and shaped by what you do every day, which is referred to as neural plasticity, or neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the nervous system to change its activity, by reorganising its structure, functions, or connections. New neuron pathways may be produced when required. We can consciously engage in activities which stimulate our brain, such are jigsaw puzzles, learning a new skill, iPad/tablet games, memory games. A different part of the brain can become active to compensate for an injury or inability to function at primal level.

Laughter, singing, dancing, are major contributors to creating new brain neurons, ‘Neuroplasticity’, is only one of many benefits attributed to regular laughing. Thai Nguyen, a write from Brisbane has written an article about it and he has made a list of 10 things, which are beneficial for our wellbeing when we are aware to stimulate our brain: Fasting, travel, mnemonic devices for memory training, learning an instrument, doing non-dominant hand exercises, reading fiction, expand vocabulary, artwork, dancing and sleep.

Positive thinkers change their brain function by focusing on gratitude, meditation, kindness to self, self-awareness, releasing negative thoughts and more. We can weaken old habits and create new habits, which help enforce them into our lives. I find that awesome. Once upon a time, scientists thought that brains stopped developing when people reached adulthood. How inspiring. Think about it. We have the power within us to change our lives positively and answers will unfold to us if we are open to the change. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ – so untrue!

Laughter Club Helps Create New Brain Neurons

Members of the laughter club feel invigorated, joyful, fulfilled and with more sense of purpose when they come together. We include a lot of singing, some dancing and laughing, which stimulates the brain, as well as receiving other physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits. There is an abundance of stimulation with our imaginations, as we role play the various laughs = grown up playful fun. It is great!!!

And now there is a new rage that Lynette brings to her professional laughter yoga sessions, which is Bollywood Laughter Dancing! You can even find it online and be able to do it yourself at home. What a great combination, for people who love to sing, dance and laugh. People find it a very light-hearted practice to do.

Laughter Club Back in Person and on Zoom

We will meet again in person on the 9th January. Zoom laughter clubs are available worldwide and easy to track down. The laughter family has expanded to be truly worldwide and is a superb community to belong to. We all resonate and have a sense of belonging with each other. Contact Lynette if you wish to join the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club Facebook group. 

Trusting that you are doing as well as possible as things are opening up as we will shortly head into a wonderful new year, filled with unknown possibilities and experiences.

Wishing you the very best Christmas wishes and a safe December, followed by a prosperous 2022. I like that, lots of 2’s. Cheerio for now. Until next time, love and laughter blessings.

The Ferntree Gully Laughter club meet behind the library at 11am on the 2nd and 4th  Sunday of each month. If you wish to come along, please let me know, on the off chance of a time change or necessary cancellation. You may also like to join the reminder email list  that is sent out the Friday before we next meet. 

Phone: 0425 799 258  or you may like to Email: lynette@laughterforliving.com.au

Photo credit: Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

Click Here for Ferntree Gully Laughter Club page

Limitless Loquacious Laughter – It’s Springtime and Hopefully All’s Well with you.

by
Laughter Clubs using Facebook Live

Hello Folks. I hope you are managing well and aware of the silver lining in the clouds. At the same time, I send my love and empathise with you for the difficult times and even losses you may have endured, especially of late. Many things can be a shock to our system, especially when we do not see them coming. My recommendation is to feel as you feel and do not supress feelings or let any should or ought govern you. This I share from personal experience and a recent event, finding that grief can be felt as a physical pain in the body. All we can do is our best and work through it to the best of our ability and maintain hope, releasing self-judgment and continue, richer for our experiences, no matter what they may be.

On to the good news, sharing how the Ferntree Gully Laughter Club is thriving with people who have managed to master using Zoom. The restrictions and lockdown have opened new vistas, as people who know about the value of laughter yoga around the world join us for a session. Despite the Zoom time lag, it is a blessing to continue to come together in a positive minded group and the bonus of being able to connect in real time.

Where do you get your laughter from? Or perhaps you became serious over the years without realising it? Other than laughing in a facilitated laughter session, people generally find it easiest to laugh when choosing to watch online a funny video, comedy show or movie.  My Lynette Mitchell YouTube Channel has laughter club videos, as does laughter leaders. Here is the link to it, click here.

Are you aware of your laughter quotient? I am writing to jog your awareness, if you need it to be jogged, that is, and if you aren’t satisfied with it, maybe feeling the pressures a bit, you can fix it. There are families who habitually laugh and crack jokes and there are families who are less flamboyant, serious and everything in between. We tend to take on habits from our families.

After John became involved in the laughter club, our days became filled with light heartedness. Our living together contains simple childlike humour, which is a playful way to live together. I directly attribute this to our joint involvement leading laughter clubs. It is a choice too, for us and you as well. We are of more advanced ages and at times may physically not feel up to it, but once we get going and do the session, we feel uplifted, recharged, and invigorated. It was not always that way and if you resonate with this, feeling you would like to laugh more, you can! It may be as simple as a decision to change your habits which includes some daily or at least, regular laughter.

At the risk of being repetitive, here is a frequent message, that laughter is particularly good for you on many levels. It holds many physical benefits, it is good for tuning up your emotional body, while your mental body becomes acuter. Relationships are enhanced and you will feel more connected within to your spirit and the spirit of all that is, whatever you may call that. It helps to open you up to life, new opportunities, greater creativity, and inspiration. There is always a silver lining in the cloud and though things have been tough this year, there has been a chance to re-evaluate our thinking and to grow in unforeseen ways. Let us not lose what we may have benefited from being forced to slow down, take stock, spend time with family and cease the outer distractions and busyness that like for most of us becomes.

Take heart and come, join us in laughter, please do, and feel free to contact me for a chat and suggestions how to add laughter to your life. You will be glad that you did add more laughter to your present situation. I am here, available. Phone 0425 799 258 or email me.

I feel it is so important to love our body, which works harder when we do not value and nurture it. When we take care of our body with regular exercise, a good diet, which includes a good diet for the physical body, also our mind and spirit, we can thrive and grow, as we are akin to nature. I love Desiderata, especially the passage, “You are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees and the stars”.

If you have read my blog to here, thanks and full credit to you! Until next time, laughter and love wishes to you and yours. Do contact me to find out more about or join the free Zoom sessions. That is the Community Laughter Club and the Self Mastery class.

I look forward to hearing from some people and hope you are doing as well as possible, despite all the COVID-19 restrictions, which have been dragging on and now, some signs of relief are finally in sight. If you would like to receive my email newsletter, you can either sign up on my web page or request me to do it for you. Cheerio for now and remember to never, ever give up!

Lots of Love and Laughter, Lynette Mitchell.

Presenters At Swift Health & Fitness Summit

by

Here is the link to a blog for the Swift Health and Fitness Summit which I attended to present a short laughter segment over the lunchtime period. It was very well organised and in this blog I share about three people who presented, a building biologist, psychology coach and mindful movement coach. I bought the book by Nicole Bijlsma and Elizabeth Stewart, which are available online and also a link is there to the movement fellow, Chris Price. Enjoy the blog.