LAUGHTER YOGA GRADUATES IN ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA

I have just spent a most amazing time with a group of laughter yoga students in Rochester, Minnesota. It was a class through the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga, which is affiliated with the Laughter Yoga University of Bangalore, India. We held the certified Leader/Teacher training retreat at Assisi Heights Spirituality Center at the Sisters of Saint Francis. This is a gorgeous retreat center on a generous portion of green space right in the heart of Rochester. Read more at their website.

The pictures below tell the story of our fabulous adventures together. Double click them to view in a larger format.

This is the Sisters of Saint Francis facility where we stayed and laughed. It felt like a bit of Europe as we strolled around the beautiful grounds.

We invited the sisters to do a laughter yoga practice session with us. Here we are with the laughing nuns (note that the one behind me is wearing a flower headband on top of her habit). We all had a fun time together, as you can see.

To experience the glorious spiritual power of laughter, we laughed through the sacred labyrinth. Here a group of laughers are rejoicing in the center.

Kristin and Amber laughing in the labyrinth

Ann Marie laughing in the labyrinth

Lily Bear, Mary Ellen's dog, laughed in the labyrinth with us

Laughing Laura and Kathryn at our costume party

Terri, the clown princess

Kristin, the cute banana

Ann Marie in her fabulous clown wig

Phoenix in the crabby hat

Helen as the laughing fairy (her shoes light up, too)

Laughter dancing

The teachers and teacher students

The Laughter Yoga Leader Graduation picture. Back row: Phoenix Soleil, Kristin VanDyke, Laughing Laura,  Mary Ellen Schmidley. Front row: Amber Cahue and Jane Schmidley

This is the entire group at the Laughter Yoga Leaders' graduation

Mary Ellen and Jane Schmidley—the laughing sisters with the retreat's laughing dog, Lily Bear

Laughing Laura & Phoenix from Berkeley, CA

The Laughter Yoga Teacher Graduation picture: Laughing Laura, Kathryn Kimmins,  Helen Juknelis, Ann Marie Gullickson and Terri Reasoner

If you would like to study laughter yoga in Alaska, you are in luck! I have just scheduled my first certified Laughter Yoga Leader class in Anchorage, Alaska. Read more at www.LaughterYogaIowa.com and please spread the word to any friends you may have in Alaska.

LAUGHTER YOGA IN THE ROCHESTER WOMEN'S MAGAZINE

Anne Marie Gullickson, a graduate of the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga, is featured July August issue of the Rochester Women Magzine. I'm so proud of her and her outstanding laughter work to spread the laughter movement in Rochester, Minnesota. Very Good, Very Good, YAY, Anne Marie! Below is a reprint of the article. To read the entire magazine as a PDF file, click here.

When Ann Marie Gullickson walks into a room donning a pink fluorescent wig and matching boa, it’s hard not to laugh.

Gullickson, a certified laughter yoga instructor, recently conducted a seminar for employees of the Division of Preventative,Occupational and Aerospace Medicine at

Mayo Clinic, helping employees realize the benefits of laughter.

“There are four dimensions of the benefits of laughter: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual,” Gullickson said.

“Laughter is a tool that can decrease blood pressure, increase employee morale and relieve pain or fear.”

Gullickson became interested in laughter yoga by accident. “I had gone to the library to check out a movie on planning a trip to India and instead I got a video on laughing yoga,” she said.

“I watched it, and when I got to India, I actually went to the birthplace of laughing yoga in Mumbai and decided when I got back to Rochester to look for a training program.”

In the two years since Gullickson has been a certified instructor, she has given approximately 24 laughter yoga sessions.

“It is stress relieving and can change the way you think about problems,” she said.

“After a session, we all still have the same problems, we just don’t care as much.”

Participants were introduced to a myriad of laughter yoga techniques, all based on the theory that the body cannot differentiate between real and fake laughter.

Self-triggered laughter was the result of activities such as “scales of laughter,” looking through “laughter binoculars” and singing Happy Birthday using laughter.

Also included were calming chants and breathing exercises, tying in the yoga component.

“We are always trying to look for things we can do to inform employees while at the same time making it fun,” said Dr. Donald Hensrud, Division Chair of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine at Mayo Clinic. “I think it was a success. Even if they didn’t laugh during the presentation, they will laugh thinking about it afterward.”

Participant Esther Heath, a registered nurse, enjoyed her first experience with laughter yoga. “It’s pretty silly,” Heath said. “Laughter is good for us though. We should all laugh more often.”

Co-worker Marta Fuentealba, also a registered nurse, said “I’m open to a new way to explore feeling better so I participate. You always feel better when you laugh.” It is that sentiment that Gullickson hopes to spread during the sessions.

“Most people are still brand new to laughter yoga,” Gullickson said. “It catches people off guard at first, but people find that sharing in laughter is a great way to build bridges.”

Julie Amy, a patient appointment coordinator, couldn’t agree more. “This is my first experience with laughing yoga,” she said. “I laugh all the time anyway, but I had a co-worker who came today in a bad mood and she feels better now, so it works.”

Gullickson urges participants to “tap into your self-care using laughter to find a playful, fun way to interact with others. Laughter truly is a universal language.”

Anne Marie Gullickson leads a laughter yoga session with the Rochester Women staff and friends.

Laugh With Us!

Connie De Lorme is a retired health care

professional willing to help develop laughter

yoga clubs around southeastern minnesota.

If you have a group of people who want to

laugh regularly for 30 to 45 minutes once or

twice a week, contact dr. connie de lorme,

507-289 8495.

Ann Marie Gullickson. to schedule your

laughter yoga session, contact ann marie at

507-282-2308.

Laughing Laura Gentry runs the Iowa school

of laughter yoga, with laughter yoga leader

training. she also has laughter cds available

for purchase. she certified all the instructors

listed in this article. Visit laughinglaura.com.

Deb Olson lives in rochester and, as

a Franciscan skemp health Promotion

consultant in la crosse, wisc., gives laughter

yoga presentations to businesses, schools

and organizations and leads a laughter club at

Franciscan skemp. “It is difficult for employees

to allow themselves to take a break from their

busy day and do something as ‘silly’ as laugh

and deep breathe,” she says, “but so many

comment on how good they feel the rest of

their day.” contact her at 507-358-3331 or

livingalive2010@gmail.com.

Benefits of Laughter Yoga

• reduces stress

• Improves heart health and lowers blood pressure

• burns calories

• lowers blood sugar

• boosts immune system

• manages pains

• slows the aging process

• Improves bronchitis and asthma

• Facilitates sleep

• enhances mood

• Improves self-confidence

• creates a sense of well-being

• complements your traditional health care

• benefits are felt almost immediately

• you can never overdose and addiction is not harmful

LAUGHING AT MAYO CLINIC

The following article was published in the Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minnesota on February 6th, 2009. Click here to visit the Post-Bulletin site.

Laughter Yoga Leaders Rev. Laura Gentry, left, and Ann Marie Gullickson lighten the mood at a lecture held on Laughter as Medicine Thursday in the Geffen Auditorium.

Laugh off stress, literally

By Matthew Stolle

Ann Marie Gullickson stood in front of a packed auditorium last week and burst out laughing.

Nothing had caused the outburst. No joke. No punch line. It was simple, unreasoning, unprovoked laughter, and that was the point: You don't need a reason to laugh.

"(We think) we laugh because we're happy. The reality is that we are happy because we laugh," Gullickson told an audience of Mayo Clinic employees in Geffen Auditorium.

Gullickson is Rochester's first certified Laughter Yoga Leader. If the thought of a certified laughter leader begins to make you feel a bit mirthful, then you get a sense of how effective she is at her work.

Before long, Gullickson and her partner-in-laughter, the Rev. Laura Gentry, founder of the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga, had the audience of Mayo employees rolling in the aisles after putting them through an assortment of giggling and laughter exercises.

"Close your eyes for just a second and feel the joy coursing through your whole body," Gentry exulted, a hat in the shape of a red flamingo resting atop her head. Gullickson wore a pink wig and was wrapped in a flamboyantly colorful boa.

Studies have long credited laughter with the ability to reduce stress, increase pain tolerance and promote healing. The innovation in laughter yoga is to dispel the notion that you need a reason to laugh. Just the physical act of laughing can bring the same tension-releasing benefits as humor-based laughter. The breathing associated with laughing mimics the breathing exercises of yoga.

The philosophy of Ha! has now spread to the extent that there are 6,000 laughter clubs in more than 60 countries. The first such club was started in Mumbai, India, where a physician named Madan Kataria became so convinced of the therapeutic and healing effects of laughter that he began organizing impromptu laughter sessions at a local park.

Gullickson's first exposure to laughter yoga happened by mistake. She was planning a trip to Mumbai in 2007 and found what she thought was DVD travel documentary about the city. It turned out to be documentary about laughter yoga.

"It was one of those perfect mistakes. Right away, I thought, 'This is something I want to find out more about. I want to incorporate this into my life,'" said Gullickson, who, while in Mumbai, joined in one of the sessions at the park.

Afterwards, Gullickson attended a two-day session at the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga run by Gentry to get her certification. She has put on laughter yoga presentations at the University of Minnesota and Olmsted County, as well as Mayo Clinic.

It's a balm that people may be in need of now more than ever. With a downtrodden economy, jobs vanishing by the thousands and a general mood of uncertainty, a cheap, easy remedy that's available to anyone may be just want the doctor ordered. Laughter can reframe an issue so it doesn't seem so oppressive.

"Your body will feel better. They've even done studies where somebody smiles at themselves in the mirror for six minutes a day, and that helped improve their mood," Gullickson said.

Anne and Larry Jost of Alma, Wis., are all smiles as Laughter Yoga Leaders Rev. Laura Gentry and Ann Marie Gullickson lighten the mood.