FERVOR OF HAHA

To me, FERVOR, is when you love something so much that all you do is think about it, experience it in different manners and find ways to implement it everywhere.  

 

That is how I feel about Laughter Yoga - it permeates my thoughts and feelings and sits deep in my bones

.  I am always trying to laugh at my life  and find the humor in every situation.

You see, what I discovered over the years is that the act of HAhaHA - laughing - has some deep physical and psychological effects.  It also helps me stay grounded and maintain my emotional balance.

I find that everything has an element of HAHA in it somewhere.  The Universe has a great sense of humor and creates opportunities for us to laugh all the time.  Although I may not see it immediately in the MOMent, I learn to breathe into it and sit with my feelings.   I tap my fingertips with a HAHA HOHO HEE HEE movement and calm my mind and warm up my body.  As my sense of wellbeing returns, I can usually see the present of the situation, the irony of the Moment, and the gift of this experience.

I am passionate about my laughter and the techniques I have to help me stay in the HAHA zone.  I find life more stimulating and rewarding from this perspective.  I am enthusiastic and ecstatic about my time here on this planet.  I am a HAhaHAppy camper.

Here is my immune booster technique.  This light touching of the fingers and the rhythmic HAHA HOHO HEEHEE chaHAhant is effective in lowering my blood pressure, regulating my emotional state and warming up my core.  It also creates a yummy tingle in my fingertips and helps me feel my chi moving.

Enjoy!!!

Family

When WSM Noah and I married 13 years ago,  he wanted a ceremony where he could introduce me to his friends and family.  Being brought up of the Jewish persuasion, we decided to have a traditional wedding.

Just prior to the actual wedding ceremony,we had to sign a document called a Ketubah - pronounced KeTWObah.  A Ketubah, as defined by Wikipedia:   " a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. Considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, it outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride."

According to this document we signed in front of witnesses and our parents, Noah's obligations as a husband to me, his wife, were clearly delineated.  In fact, there were three major things he needed to provide for me:

1. Clothing
2. Food
3. Conjugal Relations

Interestingly enough, there was no mention of any of my obligations or duties to him.   Hahaha.

What I know about Judaism, having had an extensive Jewish education (thanks Dad) is that while most of the important stuff is written, the truly important is unwritten.  While the 5 Books of the Torah (hebrew for Bible or Old Testament) have the important laws of Jewish life, there were 613 unwritten rules about how to live these laws. Eventually, they were written into a book called the Mishnah.

So, when I signed the Ketubah, I knew, deep in my heart, that there would be some unwritten rules about my rights and responsibilities as a bride to my groom.  I call these the KetubahaHAha.

Over the years, I have determined that the three major things a wife provides to her husband:

1. Sacred Space
2. Humor
3. Adoption of family

1.   Sacred Space - a wife has to create a happy, peaceful home for him where the clothing and food and conjugal relations can be stored and eaten and performed.

2.   Humor - a wife has to have the ability to laugh at all the new changes that occur in her life as she becomes a bride.  She has be able to laugh at herself as she slowly changes from an individual to a wife.  She has to be able to laugh with her husband about life and what comes up or goes down.

3.   Adoption of family -  Becoming a wife means that all of a sudden, you are not just marrying the man you love, the groom, but adding his whole family to the mix  - whether you wanted it or not.  His siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, long lost relatives, brothers from another mother, and all sorts of friends he has collected over the years now become part of your MishpachaHAHA (hebrew word for family with an emphaHAhasis).

This week, it was my blessing to honor one of my adoptees, my Great Auntie Sylvia.   Over the last 13 years, this woman has let me into her life and her heart and into her kitchen (no easy feat - it took me 9 years to earn this privilege).  We have hobnobbed to some of the best and worst restaurants in Broward County, seen delightful movies, gone to the zoo, and even snuck in a little walk at the beach and a trip to Orlando, New York and California.

On Sunday, we had a birthday bash to celebrate her 95th birthday.  I had the privilege to make a movie about her life and the wisdom and joy she's shared with me over the years.

I love you Great Auntie Sylvia.   Looking forward to celebrating 100 with you.   Woohoo.  

Laughter & Longevity

Research shows that laughter affects longevity and that a sense of humor can enhance the quality of life in later years.

For me, laughter has been the secret tool in the longevity of my marriage. WSM Noah and I celebrate 14 years of marriage on May 30th. We've been laughing ever since we met. In fact, that is what keep us together strong and haHAhappy - the ability to laugh at everything and thrive from whatever circumstances are presented.

Over the years, we have laughed through broken bones and excess weight and family drama and changing jobs and moving and learning to love ourselves and each other. In fact, we shaHAhare what we know so others can grow younger with us too.

Scientific proof comes from the medical school at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Dr. Sven Svenbak tracked 54,000 Norwegians for seven years and discovered that those individuals who found life the funniest lived longer than their less mirthful countrymen.

Israeli researchers who have been trying to decode the "longevity gene" announced new findings this week that personality traits such as being outgoing, optimistic and easygoing, enjoying laughter and staying engaged in activities may be a crucial part of the mix. The findings, published online in the journal Aging, come from Einstein's Longevity Genes Project,

"When I started working with centenarians, I thought we'd find that they survived so long in part because they were mean and ornery," said Nir Barzilai, M.D., the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, director of Einstein's Institute for Aging Research and co-corresponding author of the study. But, "we found qualities that clearly reflect a positive attitude towards life," he adds. "Most were outgoing, optimistic and easygoing. They considered laughter an important part of life and had a large social network. They expressed emotions openly rather than bottling them up."

As I look forward to another 14 years with this wonderful man, I pray for the longevity of my laughter muscles. May we laugh together, may we have aBUNdance and may we find friends who enjoy laughing as much as we do.