Positive Points: Breathe, laugh and relax

As I get older, I find that I not only talk to myself, but I get tickled at things and just start to laugh. I find myself thinking, "what's so funny?" Then I get even more tickled and can't stop laughing. In a conversation with a friend, I told her that I thought I might be sliding into the deep end of the pool. That's what Floridians say when someone is going off their rocker. She started laughing at me and said laughter is great for a person's health in many ways. Being locked in the house last weekend with temperatures in the teens, I was about done with the doom and gloom and hearing about the arctic storm that was coming. I felt like a cloud of dread was hanging over people when I talked to them — worried about electrical outages or pipes bursting. I decided I had done everything I could do to be prepared. I didn't feel like reading, so I got on my computer to find something interesting. I found a website called "Laughter Yoga" and it really made me laugh. A doctor in India was so concerned about many of his patients, and he was so serious about his medical practice he was developing health problems from stress. Dr. Madan Kataria said he had no sense of humor and rarely laughed. He said he had an idea of starting a Laughter Club in the middle of the night, and the very next morning, he met five people in the park and they all just started laughing. He presented the idea to the group for health reasons saying you don't have to be happy or have a sense of humor, just start laughing. It makes you breathe better, so you feel better, even if you have to fake your laugh at first… just give it a try. From the small group of five people, Kataria's group grew to more than a hundred, and would you believe, there are now over 5000 Laughter Yoga Clubs all over the world. A video showed a group just getting together on the beach to laugh — no jokes or punch line — just laughter. Some in the group say even if you start off just faking it and even if you feel silly at first, you begin to feel good and then joyful almost immediately. They just "BREATH, LAUGH AND RELAX" — sound too easy? It looks like it works to me. This is what one site says about Laughter Yoga, "A simple practice with the power to change the world." That, sounds positive to me. The article goes on to say: "Laughter Yoga is not just an activity, it's a lifeline for health, happiness and harmony. Imagine a practice so simple yet so profound that it transcends the barriers of age, language and culture. This is the power of Laughter Yoga — to bring people together in a shared moment of pure joy, creating bonds that outlast the sessions itself by combining laughter and exercises with deep breathing. The technique stimulates the body and mind in ways that conventional fitness or relaxation methods often cannot. Just 10-15 minutes daily reduces, stress, energizes the body, and promotes calmness and positivity." I tried it, and you do feel uplifted and calmer, yet energized at the same time. So maybe I am not as crazy as I thought. If I get to giggling and it turns into a great big laugh session, then I might be positively improving my health. There are sites about Laughter Yoga on line. Check them out and let me know what you think. ••• Linda Poland is Jonesborough's resident storyteller.