On the second day of joy

..... laughter yoga

Laughter yoga is a unique exercise that combines laughter with yogic breathing. It is a fun and effective way to reduce stress, improve mood, and boost feelings of joy.

Here are some steps to get started with laughter yoga:

1. Warm-up: Start by clapping your hands and synchronizing your movements. Clap with your hands parallel to each other, which will stimulate the acupressure points on your hands and increase your energy level. Continue to clap with a 1-2-3 rhythm, moving your hands up and down and swinging them from side to side as you clap. You can then try your first chant, in rhythm with your hands. Say “ho ho, ha-ha-ha”, breathing from your belly with deep inhales and exhalations. You can continue clapping and chanting as you move around the room in a circle or from side to side.

2. Lion laughter exercise: Stick your tongue out fully and keep your mouth open. Stretch your hands out like the paws of a lion and roar, then laugh from your belly. You should feel a nice stretch in your facial muscles, your tongue and your throat. It will also help you to loosen up and play around.

3. Deep breathing exercises with laughter: Another key element of laughter yoga is stimulating deep breathing to help you release big belly laughs. You should practice deep breathing throughout your entire laughter yoga session to allow you to access deep laughs. Activate your breath in your diaphragm, which is located just below your ribs. Place your hands on your diaphragm and focus on taking full inhales and exhales through your nose, expanding and contracting your diaphragm. Inhale deeply for the count of four and then exhale through your nose to the count of four. As you exhale, release one to two big belly laughs. Continue to do this, deepen your breath equally on your inhales and your exhales with an even breath cycle, with laughter at the end of every exhale. You can also chant a mantra as you inhale and exhale, such as Forgive / Forget, Live / Let live, Release/Heal.

4. Playful exercises: Loosen up by trying playful exercises to encourage laughter and joy. For example, you can try the “milkshake” exercise, where you pretend to hold a milkshake and shake it up and down while laughing. Or you can try the “greeting” exercise, where you greet each other with different silly voices and laughs.

I hope these tips help you get started with laughter yoga! 😊

Enjoy and see you tomorrow :-)

“Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.”