07 June 2010

Ever Heard of Laughter Yoga?

About an hour after I'd first heard of laughter yoga, I got to try it out at the annual stake Relief Society get-together.

Did you know:

  • children laugh around 200 times a day and adults only 15 times?
  • the brain can't discern between forced and real laughter, meaning you can fake your brain into releasing good hormones?
My main question was, how were we going to start laughing? No, the lady didn't start doing stand-up comedy. Rather, we did ridiculous things in a group setting so that we felt so stupid we had to laugh. (I'm guessing the concept wouldn't work very well by yourself.) Between each activity, we clapped our hands and walked around saying, "Hoo hoo, ha ha ha!" And every time we came across someone, we had to direct the "ha ha ha" in her direction.

We reenacted a growing flower, the breathing in and out of all the good in the world, and toasting drinks. I think the funniest was the running around after we'd "started up our lawnmowers."

Overall, I think the idea is sound. But I didn't feel like my mood was especially lifted afterwards. I had hoped to laugh so hard that my stomach and cheeks hurt (that hasn't happened in a while), but I didn't feel like my real laughter ever got started. Yesterday, while feeling down, I forced myself to laugh as I walked home from the park. And it never really caught on. But I guess there are some moods that just can't be lifted that easily.

Anyway, try laughter yoga some time.

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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousTuesday, June 8, 2010 at 5:23:00 AM PDT

    Reed Johnson told about a lady that wanted to do yoga. For one hour she waved her arms around and jmped up and down and then gave up because she couldn't get her leptard on.
    Dad

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  2. LauraTuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:47:00 AM PDT

    Lol. This is brilliant. I shall do this.

    Thanks!

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  3. DashaTuesday, June 8, 2010 at 8:12:00 AM PDT

    I love the feeling of laughing so hard your cheeks hurt. Sorry the yoga thing didn't create that result for you. My mom used to tell me about an ayurvedic exercise that involved laughing at yourself in a mirror- maybe that would work better?

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  4. AmyTuesday, June 8, 2010 at 8:47:00 AM PDT

    I've often heard that stat about kids laughing 200 times a day, but I think the same is true of crying. Kids cry 200 times a day, but I only cry maybe 4 times a year. Some of the difference can be attributes to the ability to manage emotions, not just that adults are too serious.

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  5. Michelle GlauserTuesday, June 8, 2010 at 8:58:00 AM PDT

    Amy, true that. You're always better at using that kind of logic than I am. :)

    Dasha, I'm not sure I could laugh at myself in the mirror. But maybe I'll look that up on YouTube and see if something there amuses me.

    Laura, good luck.

    Dad, you make me laugh. Maybe I just need you.

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  6. UnknownWednesday, June 9, 2010 at 12:42:00 PM PDT

    I love it! I'm going to try

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