Laughter Yoga

My thought was that it would be great and better outside than to disturb other classes that were happening. There was a classroom set up like a band shell with chairs, tables and benches for the kids. I had a display board I worked on for just this event.

It was two weeks since I finished my weekend class to be a leader of laughter yoga. Laughter yoga has been good for me and I shared that with the group in the beginning. The 16 year old participants were great, and some of the younger more hyper active children were ready to laugh.

Then there were a few that looked like they hadn't laughed in ages. Or ever. I said to my husband that I thought kids would be an easier group to start with as they have an easier time laughing. Wrong. They were not a great audience, but they weren't the worst audience either.

It was a very good thing there were the adult chaperones that would assist, and that enjoyed laughing along with me. One staff also videotaped the kids when they did their laughter performance. I can ask for a copy of that tomorrow.

It was hot outdoors and humid. There was a slight breeze but not enough to keep from getting too hot. Now, I know the high eighties is not what some people call hot, however my ideal temperature is in the seventies. And the nineties are a definite no way will I be out in that heat, unless I'm in the lake.

After the class, two children came up to me and stated that they liked the class. I wasn't expecting that and one girl even introduced me to her parents and after saying what I did said, I am living with my father and my mother doesn't like that I have decided to do that.

Both parents are sitting there and I said this happens, I have had people say, ''I don't know why I said that, I have never told anyone else that." I know what happened as according to laughter yoga's two rules, 1. Don't judge yourself or anyone else. 2. Eye contact to help to develop trust with laughter yoga.

Then I gave them permission to have eye contact with me and others in the group. I said it would build trust and it did for her. She was later in a fashion show and I told her how well she did! And she acted shy but smiled at me.

My experience with laughter yoga started in about 1990 or so. I met Dr. Annette Goodheart through video, books and from a class that I attended with a friend. So I understood the benefits of laughter from Dr. Good heart. She told me, "Can you believe that they pay me to be on stage with people laughing and crying?"

Then when my mother died in 2009 and I was slipping into a depression and knew that I did not want to go there, a friend recommended laughter yoga and I remembered Dr. Goodheart. As a Native American woman I also was familiar with how tears and laughter are our first two medicines.

Then I heard a group was just starting laughter yoga at a community building I frequented. I started soon after. Once a week I would go and laugh with others and I developed lasting friendships! At first it was difficult laughing after my mother had just died.

My sister died one year later and I stopped attending but stayed in touch and would attend very seldom as with both my mother and sister leaving so close together, I was the personal representative to handle their business, and that kept me too busy. Not much laughter in my life during that time.

Five of us have continued to stay in touch on messenger. Sending jokes, life updates and when people will be in the area, and can we get together.

After moving and dealing with my own cancer at the end of 2012, I connected with the laughter yoga teacher that I took the class from. I met here online in about 2014. Most of my contact was on the phone weekly, until the pandemic when she started a Facebook live channel daily for laughs for 20 minutes.

She stopped doing that group after a year or so and went back to a weekly call in. She wrote a book about laughter and is getting out there with her book with laughter yoga classes and book sales.

I believe in laughing and hope to get more people interested in laughter as medicine, or laughter as healing. If the kids didn't get anything more out of my class than it is a thing and is healing, that is great!