I started Laughter Yoga circles here in South Florida because I saw it as a way to bring peace - to myself and in my life.
I found this simple method of laughing out loud for no reason had a huge impact on me. Before, I used to be so serious, and get broken up and delirious (Electric Light Orchestra, So Serious) Now, an easy peaceful feeling (Eagles, Peaceful Easy Feeling) permeates my soul, making it child's play to laugh at myself.
I have been building this muscle for five years now. And it works.
These simple HAHA techniques - deep breathing and Laughing out Loud and cultivating an attitude of gratitude and dancing the Hokey Pokey and affirming our OMazingness makes it easy to be the Peace that I want to see in the world.
I am in Montreal - my sixth day in this beautiful and cold city. It has been 25 years since I've been here in the winter. In fact, I would not choose to be here except for the fact that my dad's in the hospital. He had a cancerous tumor and part of his colon removed.
I arrived two days after the surgery. I came to help and support my Mom - the Caretaker. I am here to make sure she takes the time to eat and go home and shower and sleep. Most of all, I am here to help her laugh. Eating raw foods with Mom all week (Crudessence is a 7 minute walk from the hospital) has kept her full of energy and easy to laugh with. She's convinced the healthy food gives her the giggles.
While the surgery must have been a traumatic experience for my Dad, the after surgery has been quite a nightmare. All the tubes stuck inside of him (his nose, his back, the veins of his arms) and the cocktail of drugs administered created a perfect storm.
Sedated and feeling pain and confusion as to what is haHAhappening, my Dad was caught off guard and felt out of control in his own body. With his stomach distended and the organs not yet functioning properly, his insides are toxic. This causes him to be frustrated and angry. The nights are the worst. He can't sleep and he can't get comfortable.
My mom and I have been taking shifts so we can be with him 24/7 - so he won't pull the foreign tubes out of him. Last night, I pulled the 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift. As the sun set, my father was getting restless and cantankerous. We had a busy day getting chest scans and x-rays and walking - each process wearing him out excessively.
He was running a fever and received Tylenol through his tube directly into his stomach. This made him sweat like crazy. He started throwing things off his bed and yelling to go home. He attempted to get out of his bed and started pulling his tubes out. I had to move his hands away and remind him what they were. He threw his cell phone at me. And then demanded that I give it back to him. When I ignored him, he started cursing me out. In his feverish delirium, I was the One that had created this unbearable situation he was now in.
At a certain moment, I wanted to cry. I was exhausted, stretched way beyond my comfort zone in a strange space that was draining my energy. I was getting all emotional and taking things way too personally as my father got agitated and sweaty in his angry state.
As I took a deep breath and ignored his tirade, I remembered a laughter yoga exercise called Forgiveness Laughter. I pulled on my left earlobe and rubbed it tenderly - I forgive myself. I pulled on my right earlobe and rubbed it between my fingers - I forgive others. I massaged both my earlobes and felt my tension and anger dissipate. I felt my peaceful nature settle back in and my compassion build as I remembered that the man in the hospital bed was my father - scared and disoriented and trying so desperately to find some control in his situation.
I took a wet cloth and stroked his forehead and wiped his sweat. I rubbed his earlobes and saw him visibly calm down. His state of mind changed, his breathing shifted and he began to relax. The nurse came in and gave him a muscle relaxant. Within a few moments, he was breathing heavy and letting his muscles go into the sleep he so desperately needed.
I sat there in the chair in lotus position. I took a few deep breaths. I pulled on my earlobes and I laughed in silence. (see video below of Dr. Kataria and Silent Laughter). Chuckling in quiet giving myself an internal massage - until the giggles turned into tears running down my face. I allowed myself to feel it all - the emotional rollercoaster my life has been this week - knowing that this too shall pass .
I am learning to LAUGH through each MOMent - looking for the gift in every situation - no matter how it comes - gr8full for the opportunity to 4give and be ME.
Today I pray for cooperation because of the OMazing power I have witnessed in our healing circles. When people come together to create a peaceful vibration, to laugh and hug, to dance and shake - when we put our hands together and set our intentions, huge shifts haHAhappen.
I have seen first hand that laughter acts as a social lubricant and enhances a sense of group membership. Our Tuesday and Wednesday morning circles feel like family - we are so happy to see one another and play. Our Thursday night laughter ambassadors feel like a close knit community - welcoming new faces and snowbirds and locals alike.
I find that when I hold someone's hand to my left and to my right after we have laughed and hugged, a tremendous amount of energy surges. Our circle radiates with this yummy electricity, and desires and yearnings in the form of prayers and words can easily flow into the Universe.
Human laughter is a bonding mechanism - even though we laugh and sound differently, it is a same feeling sensation of joy and release and wellbeing. The twinkle in our eyes, the creases in our faces, and the color on our cheeks - all physical signs of the process that occurs in each and everyone one of us when the HAHA takes over. And because we all feel it, it is a heart opener, a softening, a familiarity that each person in the group experiences of being One with all.
The scientific study of laughter and humor,GELOTOLOGY (gel - haha social lubricant), has given us many important insights:
1. Laughter is a universal human behavior (Dunbar, 2004a; Eibl-Eibelsfeldt, 1999; Provine, 2000).
2. It is universally recognizable a (EiblEibelsfeldt, 1999).
3. Ontogenetically, laughter emerges spontaneously in children as young as 17 days old and it is one of the first social vocalizations (Deacon, 1997; Kawakami et al., 2006).
Laughter affects our brain which sends out all sorts of messages to different areas of our body. Knowing that we can control what kind of messages go through our bodies is quite a powerful tool. Flooding our bodies with feel good endorphins because we can, that is some powerful medicine.
We know that it is easy to laugh when we feel good. It's even easier to feel good when we laugh. Laughing together helps us build that HAHA muscle so we can laugh when we don't feel so good or it may not be "appropriate". The more laughter we have, the less stress we take on. As we build our laughter muscles and laugh at ourselves, we learn greater self acceptance and respect for ourselves and our self esteem grow
With no known negative side effects, when we cooperate to come together to create a laughter field of joy and wellness, it will be easy to chaHAhange the world, one laugh at a time.
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