Haha happy laughter with SMB beermen
Laughter is an igniter for greater expectations. — Norman Cousins
The best among the best was the Laughter Yoga session I conducted for the San Miguel Beer Human Relations Congress at Las Villas Hotel, Mandaluyong City. Attended by 170 participants representing the various human relations departments of San Miguel Brewery, the theme was: “Engagement of the Rules to Learn, Inspire, Fulfill, and Excel (LIFE).” It was exhilaratingly fulfilling!
After giving a brief background on how LYoga came about under Dr. Madan Kataria in 1995, (LYoga International Movement now operates in 65 countries worldwide), we did some warm-up exercises to help participants loosen up and drop their shyness and inhibitions.
There is a unique way of clapping while doing Laughter Yoga exercises by opening the fingers in such a way that the fingers and the palms of both hands strike each other. Clapping this way stimulates pressure points on the fingers and palms, which helps increase energy levels. This is ideal to do when feeling tired, sleepy, and sluggish at work or anywhere. When the participants had loosened up, we added the ho ho ha ha-ing, which makes the diaphragm move rhythmically, which is good for our overall well-being.
Studies conducted have proven that even if laughter is simulated, the participants would still get real healthful benefits from it. As we laugh, we exhale and get rid of stale air from our lungs, and replace this with new oxygen into our lungs, which makes us feel energized. LYoga is a healthy exercise, whose benefits have been proven scientifically.
The SMB participants did the LYoga exercises with mucho gusto — bending their waists, swinging their hips, swaying their bodies — as they laughed to their hearts’ delight. In the course of doing the LYoga exercise, I asked some participants to go up the stage, and together, we demonstrated some exercises to the others. Simple laughter exercises like Laughter Pill and Time to Laugh really had them laughing their bellies out. I asked two tall gentlemen to join me on the stage, and they gamely participated. When I met them in the lobby on my way out, they congratulated me and I learned they were Japanese. They were elated to know that I had my training as a LYoga teacher under Dr. Kataria in Osaka, and talked about LYoga clubs in Japan.
The heart of Laughter Yoga does not really lie in laughter but in helping people develop and rediscover their childlike playfulness. When we re-learn to be playful like a child, laughter comes so naturally, as your inner child comes out of yourself once again. From physical playfulness comes a playful mental attitude that helps develop one’s sense of humor. You then begin to see the funny side of life and learn to take life lighter — your outlook becomes brighter, and your attitude better!
To stress the importance of proper deep breathing, I narrated the findings of Dr. Otto Warburg, a two-time Nobel Peace Prize winner in the field of medicine. He made the correlation between oxygenation and the cells in the major organs of our bodies and our health. The amazed participants nodded approvingly when told what happens to our bodies under stressful situations. Stress is the culprit of modern illnesses — and LYoga is an exercise which helps reduce physical, mental, and emotional stress all at the same time. Let’s clap and laugh to that!
The SMB participants were surprised by the positive chants that I introduced — stressing that what we think and say is what we attract to happen. So much so that the “we are healthy, very healthy,” and “we are rich, very rich” chants drew the loudest and the longest laughs.
The health through fingertips exercises drew close attention from the participants. And why not? Through simple use of the fingertips, certain ailments can be cured such as: rheumatism, arthritis, cervical spondilytis, high cholesterol, overweight/obesity, anxiety, insomnia, depression, decreased memory power, weak heart, etc. To help participants remember and cascade them to their families and friends who may be suffering from any of these ailments, we did the exercises a number of times, swaying our bodies and laughing. Be with happy, laughing people — they exude some magical, healing benefits!
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To laugh for a healthy, happy, positive us, visit: www.laughteryogaphils.com and www.youtube.com/lycphohohaha. E-mail me at mega_abundant_lv@yahoo.com.
