Laughter is not just good if you can get it. Laughter is incredibly helpful in building resilience. It releases dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, and also works on our heart, our lungs, our muscles, our thoughts, our behaviors. It helps with fibromyalgia. It helps with insomnia. Laughter is pretty good medicine.
The amazing thing about laughter is you don’t even have to really have something funny to laugh at. We can actually induce laughter as an experience. The body will still release the same endorphins.
Try this laughter yoga exercise to discover a foolproof way to induce laughter. It is based on the Hawaiian word “Aloha,” a nice vowel-y word that opens the mouth and throat just by saying it.
Laughter Yoga: A Gentle Movement Practice to Get the Giggles Going
12 Minute Meditation: A Laughter Yoga Practice to Get the Giggles Going with Elaine Smookler
- First, let your chin drop toward your chest and your head hang heavy. Let your upper body follow and drop comfortably. Move in whatever way is manageable for you. Please don’t do more than you can.
- Next, focus on the vocal part of the exercise. The body moves downward vertebrae by vertebrae, and you can let yourself just hang. Then, when you’re ready, begin to come up to an upright position. Repeat the vocal exercise: Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
- Repeat this a few more times. Repeat the vocal exercise: Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Ah-loooooooooooooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
- Finally, check in with yourself. What did you notice? Maybe you’re feeling like, I ain’t doing that again. Dig in to how you feel now? Did the practice in fact, even if you’re a very serious person, offer you an uplift in your mood. Do you feel a little bit of juice or joy that wasn’t there before? Sometimes inducing something as basic as laughter can be so helpful (especially if you want to freak your colleagues out).
read more
Can Mindfulness Help Us Dismantle Inequality?
The same mindfulness practices that transform problematic habits and thought patterns can help us tune in to the subtle ways that society cultivates barriers and “draws us to reinvest in segregation,” says mindful law expert Rhonda Magee.
Read More
A Teaching and Meditation to Relax and Welcome Deep Rest
In today’s offering, Jenee Johnson guides us through a teaching on the why and how of deep relaxation practices, along with a meditation you can do anytime.
Read More
12-Minute Meditation: A Grounding Practice to Create Space in a Storm of Emotions
If you feel caught up in difficult emotions and are looking for gentle guidance to find a settled space again, this week’s grounding meditation is just for you.
Read More