Quantum
HEALTH
Issue 11 April 2011
asthma and allergy groups as well as those with physical disabilities. All have experienced laughter’s wellness benefits.
Laughter has other, less body-based positive benefits. It has been shown to enhance creativity, increase the ability to cope, strengthen resolve during difficult times, and increase overall quality of life. While laughter may not cure disease (although Norman Cousins and Patch Adams may take issue with that statement), research shows it is beneficial to health and well-being in myriad ways. And best of all, it’s free, doesn’t require any equipment or training, has no negative side effects (unless you burst out in guffaws at a socially inappropriate time or place) and we all know how to do it.
You don’t have to join a group to do Laughter Yoga and benefit from it. Laughter Yoga Alone allows you to partake solo and still reap the benefits. Dr. Kataria has posted a Laughter Alone video on his website,
www.laughteryoga.org, for at home or office use. Watch it and laugh your way to a quick, healthful and happy break from your hectic day. Laughter Yoga Alone is particularly well suited to the elderly, shut-ins and others who can’t easily leave home. The elderly in particular reap the benefits from the exercise and the breathwork, and they can do it regardless of their cognitive, sensory or motor abilities. Of course, regular group Laughter Yoga also works well with the elderly because it gives them a much needed sense of bonding and a positive connection with life.
Since his creation of Laughter Yoga, Dr. Kataria’s vision has expanded. He is striving to promote world peace through laughter. That goal may be idealistic, but since laughter fosters feelings of happiness, warmth, bonding, tolerance, forgiveness, and compassion it leaves little room for feelings of hate, fear, violence, jealousy and aggression. Dr. Kataria believes that if even a small percentage of the world’s population laughs more, they can change the consciousness of the world. And that’s something to smile about!
TIPS TIPS TIPS
Ready to add more laughter to your life? Here are some simple Laughter Yoga moves. And grab a partner to double your fun!
Find Your Laughter Center Probe your head with one finger as if looking for your laughter center. Imagine that each spot you press is a button that triggers a different laughter sound. Make that sound out loud. Soon you will realise that each sound triggers a different sense of playfulness and happiness. Be creative! Let yourself go! There are more kinds of laughter within you waiting to get out than you might have imagined! Got a hoohoohoo in there? How about a haahaahaa? A yuk-yuk-yuk? A tee- hee-hee? A chortle, a snort, a cackle, a guffaw? Sure you do!
Mental Flossing
Need to shake the cobwebs out of your head? Want to energise and refresh yourself mentally? Then floss! Sit comfortably in a chair with your back straight and feet on floor. Shake or twist your arms to loosen up. Then pretend you have a long length of “mental floss” in your hands and begin moving your hands alternately toward and away from your head (at ear level if you want, imagining the floss going in one ear and out the other). Your left hand comes in towards your ear as your right hand moves away on the other side of your head, as if you were flossing your brain. Go for it! Clean out that brain-drain plaque! Flossing was never this much fun!
Lily Dawn Robertson is an alternative health practitioner, writer, speaker and workshop facilitator of Magical Living and Energy Dynamics. She lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
34 Quantum Health
www.quantumhealthmagazine.com
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