Have you heard about our Laughter Yoga program? Hear more about it from our very own instructor and guest blogger Francine Shore!
Let’s Unearth our Mirth!
Have no
fear… your Laughter Stylist is here.
As a devoted
Laughter Yoga Coach and Geriatric Counselor for over 10 years, I have developed
creative and compassionate avenues for gen xers, baby boomers and older adults
in expressing themselves. Aside from my individual coaching and counseling, my
laughter groups are designed to teach us to unleash our own joyful spirit and
sense of play, giving us permission to laugh in the face of adversity, trust
your instincts and to be downright silly. Life can become challenging as an
older adult, and aside from the good news and the milestone celebrations, there
are many losses and age related illnesses that older adults face.
Laughter
Yoga was created in the mid 1990’s by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India. He was
looking for a way to stave his patients off of their medications. Remembering
the old adage that “laughter is the best medicine”, he started a laughter club.
The club grew, but he found humor was subjective, and therefore developed his therapy
into non-humor dependent. Hence, laughter yoga was born.
Ten years
ago, I ran a Care -giving Program for Caregivers at The Educational Alliance. It
was there that I started the first weekly laughter yoga club for seniors in the
USA and had an opportunity to present Laughter Yoga in Washington DC at the ASA
Conference on Aging for the first time. Prior to becoming a Laughter Yoga Coach
and Counselor, I worked for 8 years in the entertainment industry as a Talent
Agent and in Casting. My experience working with many comedians and actors, as
well as a geriatric counselor have both given me the perfect platform as a
Laughter Yoga professional.
You can
imagine how delighted I was when I received a call from Patti asking me to
start a weekly Laughter Yoga Club at the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights
& Inwood, an area so rich in culture and diversity.
Laughter
Yoga is the latest cardiovascular fitness craze which anybody at any age can participate.
It involves laughter exercises with movement or while seated, intermittent deep
breathing and stretching, and playful clapping to stimulate our circulation. We
close with a seated laughter meditation and healing circle, and we may pick a
topic to discuss.
Laughter Yoga’s health perks: strengthens the immune system, releases
endorphins, decreases depression and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, enhances
creativity, natural pain analgesic, alleviates asthma and arthritis, burns
calories, deep connectivity factor.
Group members have reported the
following: sense of empowerment,
less stressed, fewer aches and pains, less depressed and anxious, more hopeful,
feeling connected, sense of joy, happiness, calming factor, living in the
present, less angry, feeling centered. With testimonials as these, who needs enemies
:)
Come down to
the laughter club and experience Laughter Yoga yourself. You can’t miss us, we’ll
be roaring with laughter!
-Francine Shore, Laughter Yoga instructor at the Y
