31 Flavors of Laughter

Laughter everyday in your work and in your play!

As the Laughter of the 31 Flavors of Laughter and the Getting Jolly in July Laughter Experience end today, take a moment and share your experiences from a physical, mental, emotional or spiritual point of view. What have you noticed from the experience of adding one minute more of laughter everyday?

Some may notice a tug on the idea of committing to something everyday even if it is only for a month, it can represent a change in the way of doing, feeling or being and can muster up some interesting effects. This was a change for a way to be more joyful everyday and to build it to create a consistency.

It may have shifted something emotionally as an open mouth while laughing intakes oxygen through the mouth more and heats up the brain, where as inhaling through the nose can cool it. What can happen as well may be the experience of catharsis, where issues stored in the tissues have been shaken loose in the laughing and come up to surface level on their way out of the body. Bid a fond farewell to anything that is ready to go and be appreciative for its teaching while present.

You may notice a physical strength or resiliency, an expansiveness in the lung capacity or a stronger diaphragm. In all laughing everyday and adding more each day up past 15 minutes is exercise as we elevated the heart rate just like in exercise. Since July 15th, everyone who connected received a wonderful benefit of the 15 minutes and more as we added a minute each day, so that would have been 16 days worth of wonderful expansive benefit.

However it affected those who joined us even in a modified way, laughing only a few days, laughing longer than normal or laughing consistently for a period of time…there was a benefit to note.

Share your experiences by posting a comment and note that it is only the experience we are looking for so that comparisons and contrasts can be made in the different experiences. The results will be tallied in August and presented at the Laughter Yoga Conference in Albuquerque and in October in Chicago’s Laugh Fest in the Midwest.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, it is most appreciated and if you would like to know more, feel free to ask.. Lynda@youcansayyes.com

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The Ready Light... On your Mark, Get Set...Laugh!

Laughing up to 28 minutes today, we will indeed be flashing the “Ready Light”  indicating our preparedness for fun and frolic. The Ready Light was created in 1885, I guess before that we just sprang into action and now we can hold it…hold it… and ha ha….let it out with fun flourish! 

Get ready..Get Set….Laugh! 

And we did! 28 minutes from ha to ha ha through the processes of time we laughed shifting the sleepy and unfocused to more clarity and the uncelebratory to elation. This morning a show chuckle began and served me well throughout the call. I am beginning to note the laughing voices and am finding new folks joining in daily…how wonderful as what I am noting is that this is just  getting more adventurers out to laugh a bit, for no reason. 

I have added a little of the vocal ha ha ho ho tossed in to give those on the call the idea of how to extend the laughter to keep laughing along when they regress and that’s only because I can tell they are new to this call. Either way, some days its more of the laughing meditation and others it calls for leading and always it is about holding the space and enjoying the fruits of our fun together. 

Just say those three little words and the laughter is off and running…ready, set…Share your experience!

Eh....what's up Laughers?

 This is the last Tuesday in July that I will be laughing for 27 minutes! Ha Ha Ha! Today we can get animated as we enjoy the remembrance of Bugs Bunny as he made his appearance in 1940, which would make his little heh heh  heh laughter about 70 years old! 

27 minutes of laughing when one watches the clock is a long time. Today laughers came onto the line and laughed along until they had to go and I can only assume that they kept laughing on their own terms. We are into the final stretch so it will be interesting to find what is occurring in the remaining weeks on an emotional and mental level as well as the physical. 

Considering that the two most important factors of time or money interruptions cause us to check into what we are doing and ask is it worth the time? One benefit is to find if it is. Seeing it through and noting results for the agreed upon amount of time will give us the telling answer by noticing the overall effect. The gremlins are popping up to question about this time to derail the purpose and intention, though like any project, goal or dream that one undertakes…staying in truth with it and keeping the focus on the main objective, well that will see us through! Luckily I am aware of this phenomenon having had it visit me during my life time, I’m happy to say that I might notice, then appreciate the reminder of my goal and then the focus is reinforced. 

What fun to remember and what fun to bring what may be buggin us along on the laugh as we have proven over and over again how in the laughter, we unplug what bugs. Chew on that and laugh it out as we laugh 27 minutes to set our own personal records and in the process feel animated enough to enjoy each and every laugh. 

In my animation, I put up the seconds clock and tried several minutes to count the “Ha’s” I was enjoying in one minute’s worth of time..ha ha. It took several minutes as it would be hard to stay in my head counting all. I finally arrived on a system where I could hash mark 10 ha’s. I found I laughed 200 ha’s in a minute and from a previous experiment on the phone my normal pace was 300 ha’s per minute. So, I noticed I have paced myself with the longer laugh duration and have slowed it down to keep on target…. always fun to note the little nuances that are up! 

Eh, what’s up with you today, Doc?

Get Jolly in a Jeep!

 Breathe in all the Jolly you can muster as we take ourselves on in this final day of 31 laughing minutes! This day ends our Jolly in July campaign and the question will be asked…was it? 

Take a ride on the Jolly side and jump into a  Jeep to celebrate its birthday celebration today. Let it take you anywhere you want to go in laughter and let it be the vehicle of Joy! 

Yes, the 31 minutes today afforded great joy and what I notice in a physical sense is that it strengthened the core more solidly as it has been doing each day. It makes my spine feel strong and erect which shifts the diaphragm while expanding the lungs, belly and pelvic regions. It’s like I had an internal burst of well being enter the body. 

On a mental level the mind has had a white wash and the wipers seem to have cleared the viewpoint from my windshield of vision. Relaxed and in the moment, there is an expansive clarity that brings on peacefulness. On an emotional level what I notice is joyousness and peacefulness are intermixed with creativity and openness. Gratitude replaces all. 

Yes, even a spiritual oneness has taken root in the truth center as it is a bit like being in the “Zen” moment where one is all and all is one…in Texas that would be all y’all! So this is what I encountered today laughing along most prominently with a 70 year old nameless laugher who just enjoyed being part of the experience. 

Today ends the continual laughter of our challenge and it has produced some great noticeable effects throughout. Overall it has made an incredible new starting point and one that will be odd to sort out tomorrow as the laughter call resumes in what was a “normal” fashion.  

It seems it is time for me to move on with something new and what I have been fond of enjoying of late…”I’ll laugh on that”.  

Has this been the ride of your laugh today?

The Mirth of Monopoly

 Today on Day 30 with 30 minutes of laughter, you may feel as though you have a monopoly on laughter, yes it’s  that good! 

I enjoyed the experience as we hopped all over the board, collecting all kinds of things on our journey of jolly. After dismounting from the phone as it was a bit like that today, 30 minutes seemed to have an interesting effect or was it the familiar and enjoyable robust laughter that accompanied me on the trip? 

I noted in the testimonials that the idea of laughing in the familiar with people you know or care about has that wonderful ring of enjoyment in it that laughing alone or in the company of those not as robust to continue non stop the longer time frame of laughter does not afford. By having that component it seemed to increase the output and that I am aware of as being more mentally or emotionally driven. So very interesting to note how it actually occurs on a personal level. I would have to say it put more fun into it and that is easily more emotionally enriching. 

That makes me very glad to have experienced the different days where the laughter was invited and I either laughed solo with others on mute, along with others for a shorter period than was our time, or with those new to the experience. It sets the experiences apart and allows for comparison and that deliciously lived opportunity to wade about in. 

As I am writing here I am noting as well a peacefulness that is coming over the body like a blanket of serenity and relaxation. There is of course that feeling of strength to my core muscles and the energetic burst in the body, though the peace blanket is a joyful enrichment I hadn’t expected. What a wonderful side effect to enjoy!

What side effects will you monopolize today in your laughter quest?

Happy Birthday to the Birthday Cake...ha ha ha!

You can have your cake and eat it too… laughing 26 minutes will give a decidedly sweet rush to our day. Celebrating the birthday of the birthday cake from 55BC, we can get into the celebratory mode as we come into the final week of Getting Jolly in July. 

In this final week what fun it will be to see how far we’ve come and what all we have accomplished!

Woohoo 26 minutes! The body is alive, refreshed and ready to take on all…wooo! After laughing all weekend in the class I didn’t know what today might look like in the laughter department. What I have discovered is that there is always a ready supply and the more you use it the better it stretches the muscle and the more pliable and flexible it will be. It also makes it easy to reach! 

Today on the call they were waiting for me and off we laughed. As usual there were several silent laughers, who have found that laughing while doing menial tasks is a wonderful way to oxygenate and use it in a way that is expansive. For those who don’t want to slow down, this is a wonderful technique! 

I found I laughed different sounds in support of others and found myself enjoying it too. Though everyone popped off the call as it ended at 9:27am CST to give us that last full 26th minute. I just received a text from someone who said they were on mute though exercised her way laughing through the call… love the change this is making!  

In hearing one woman share of her silent meetings for religion yesterday, it also reminds us that this is a laughing meditation and a way to be of no mind, just laughing. Let the mirth bubble up and take over for a while while we sit back into it and just enjoy. A great rejuvenater. 

So that’s what having your cake and eating it too is all about! How will you take in your slice of laughter today?

Color yourself Happy... World Body Painting Festival

 25 minutes of laughter today and you can color yourself happy in the process. In Austria the World Body Painting festival is going on and many people are tickling themselves and painting on a new image. Imagine then the image we paint with 25 minutes of laughter on the inside…amazing what will show up on the outside as a result! 

This morning with so many calls for flexibility, I felt I could actually use the laughter to reframe intention and beingness and surely it worked. I knew it could be the equalizer and realizer that 25 minutes of laughter unfolds and so I looked forward to the fact that I would find this time to relax into it, no matter what. 

I thought I might have to be up and moving with a ha ha ha, or maybe relaxing reclined, or still maybe laughing with attention to others in the visual physical sense as opposed to the phone’s aural sense. Any would serve well, though today the flexibility paid off as all fell into place. 

As I laughed today I had opportunity to recline and in assisting a caller on the phone to continue I began the ha ha ho ho chant near the end and found that it helped the callers and for me it sent the sharp bursts of laughter, like the khalbati laughter into the pelvic region as I was on the incline….different, interesting and wonderfully oxygenating!  

It gave me a new avenue to consider….what avenue will you consider today?

Happy Birthday Amelia... where ever you are!

 Enjoy the high-flying laughter that celebrates the wiles of the wild blue yonder. Amelia Earhart’s adventures our celebrated on this day celebrating her birth. Take a note from those who believe and go after their dreams, and let the laughter flow because it simply feels good to do so! 

Oh yes, this morning the laughter flowed and all things flowed along with it. I am leading a certified laughter yoga leaders training and participants in the class were told about the project and given the opportunity to join in before class or simply come later. 

A few wanted to stretch out on the floor and so we put our tarp down and I got on my call while they laughed along laying down as if in a laughing meditation. More arrived and some lay down and just closed their eyes to take in the laughter peacefully while others filtered in and joined in with the laughter soaring in the air. Twenty four minutes arrived in no time and it was interesting to bring down the energy peacefully. The call ended and then we moved into some waking exercises easily. 

The transition flowed along and all remarked on how wild it was and one commented on feeling stronger. For myself  I felt relaxed and instead of going into a meditation place as I wanted to continue to hold the space for the call and the individuals present, I laughed along and wrote quick notes of appreciation, which today was easy to do. Each one had a laughing presence attached! 

The time flew by, spirits soared and we were in the stream of laughter consciousness…sounds like a flight of fun to me. What flight of fancy did you experience today?

The invention of the Ice Cream cone (1904) gives a new flavor to laughter!

 Whooo Hoooo…23 minutes of laughter today! The flavor of this day is entirely up to me and if licks were laughs I would have slurped up quite a number. Something to contemplate on this day of the invention for the Ice Cream Cone… lick or get licked. 

Well those might be good words to ponder as this morning as I attempted to get on the laughter call I had more use for laughter as I dialed, redialed and practiced the hang up and call again laughter throughout. By the time I reached my destination callers had made for a beeline exit as asking them to laugh by themselves for two and a half minutes can be a challenge, particularly in our instantaneous world. Most who know me would just laugh along and get there fill, though this is just solid laughter. 

So there I was just laughing along and I thought, hey maybe I can organize this desk or delete some of this email and ha ha ha I laughed along instead, like whistle while you work mindfulness. And while things whisked along, I also noticed I was literally in the mind. As there’s no right or wrong way to be in this challenge, it was just different for me. I noticed the laughter wasn’t as full when obligating the mind so I just let it all go and noted the difference. 

It is different in the way that the body opens naturally and more gets expanded. So today I licked up a little of the constructive laughter and the unconstructed. Noticing both were flavorful and it would depend just upon what I was looking for. 

What sweet 23 minutes will you take for yourself to find joyful laughter? Or will it be another flavor of laughter?