Shift Your Mood With A Laughter Experiment:

“The best yoga posture is the corners of your mouth turning up to the sky.  Smile”.  Sonia Choquette

Feeling grumpy, tired, annoyed,stressed, frustrated or simply flat ?  Then this weeks post may be just the medicine you need.  It’s a 60 second laughter experiment that will hopefully have you feeling lighter, and a little less stressed on the inside.

Research shows that a smile can change your mood, release tension (particularly in your jaw and neck), help you stay positive, boost your immune system, comfort another person, helps you relax and even makes you look younger.

I was inspired to write this post by the lovely Kathy Popplewell after reading one of her newsletters.  Kathy is an awesome Laughter Yoga Teacher right here in Australia (Sydney).  A big thank you to Kathy for allowing  me to share her 60 second Laughter Experiment.  You rock!

Words of advice on laughter from Kathy:

* You don’t need a sense of humour to laugh.
* You don’t need to be happy to laugh.
* You don’t even need a reason to laugh.
* The more you laugh the more you will develop a sense of humour, the happier you will feel,  and the more reasons you will find every day to laugh.
* Laughter can instantly lift your mood, make you feel great and give you more energy.  The more you practice the easier it will become.

60 second laughter experiment:

Step one:

Notice how you feel in this moment, right now.  Notice your mood, your energy levels, how your body feels, if you are frowning or slouching.  Change nothing.  Simply observe.

Step two:

Now simply laugh (fake it if you have too) for the next 60 seconds.

Start by curling the sides of your lips up and then follow with a few giggles.

If that feels really impossible with how you are feeling right now, then use a visual prompt from “you tube” to get your laughter muscles engaged.

• laughter clip – 1 minute
• woman goes back to work after 35 years (4 seconds)
• finding your “poo chi”
• skype laughter chain – 2 minutes

Step three:

After 60 seconds of laughing on your own or watching a laughter clip , reassess how you feel.  Notice your mood, your body, your posture, face muscles and energy levels.

The chances are you will feel a little lighter, have more relaxed  face, neck and shoulder muscles, let go of some inner stress and tension and disconnected from any worrying thoughts.

Think about how many times a day you laugh and whether you need to add more deliberate moments of 60 second laughter exercises into your day.

10 Impressive reasons to laugh more often:

1. Laughter is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to relax your body.
2. There is no right nor wrong way to laugh, anyone can do it. No skill required
3. Laugh to reduce your stress and tension. Laughter really is a release.
4. Laugh to feel young again. Yes, they say laughter is anti-ageing.
5. Laugh to strengthen your immune system. Yep, its been proven.Your immune system is boosted for at least 12 hours after watching a funny movie.
6. Laugh to let it go and move on. Literally laugh it off, you’ll feel better.
7. Laugh to invite play and joy into your life. Kids laugh 300 times a day. How about you?
8. Laugh to reduce depression. When you laugh your body releases endorphins so you actually start to feel better. Fake laughter works equally as well says Dr. Kataria.
9. Laugh because life is too precious to be filled with excess seriousness
10. A good belly laugh is great exercise – go figure. It works both the stomach and face muscles.

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