Shaking and Laughter - Try It You May Become Hooked

I've enjoyed teaching and presenting for years and in the 80's, I had a fabulous opportunity to run the Health Promotion Department at my local hospital.  Since health promotion in the workplace was quite popular, I created and ran sessions on fitness, nutrition, smoking cessation and stress management at corporations as part of my overall "gig".

Fast-forward to this year and the opportunity presented itself once again and I decided to jump back into the arena.  What is interesting is that the demand has been great for stress management, depression prevention and this past week, laughter therapy.

The presentation was to include some of the science and physiological changes that occur with laughter and there was to be a practical part - doing activities that would stimulate laughter.  Immediately, I was drawn to the "shaking song" that I learned during my yoga training  a year and a half ago.

I contacted my instructor to review some of the basics and it's quite simple - an increase in oxygen to the body and brain, movement of the diaphragm which massages the internal organs, thus increasing metabolism and an increase in the "happy" neurotransmitters.  Great - this 3 1/2 minute exercise was perfect for this group of 25 young folks, stressed to the max while studying for multiple exams to achieve the license they desired.

As I prepared my presentation, I thought back about a funny story involving a holiday dinner at my home during this yoga training.  Our body-workers, now close friends, came for dinner and the owner was studying to become yoga certified as well.  Steve has multiple certifications - acupuncture, massage, other bodywork modalities, and now, he was completing his training to open a studio.

Following dinner, I invited them into the living room for some "fun".  Having everyone remove their shoes, I put on the Shaking Song and told them to follow me.  Linds, Ash and Scott were here as well and mind you, Steve and Scott are well over 6 feet tall.  We started shaking, laughing incessantly and then I ran upstairs to grab multiple scarfs and kerchiefs to create a yoga-dance effect.  We were swirling and twirling around, having so much fun!

To this very day, I smile and recall with fond memories, not only a wonderful friendship, but the fun that we all shared on that evening.

Next time, you are down in the dumps, google the Shaking Song - Marutiraya Balabhima.  You won't be down there for long!

With love and giggles,
Julie