We are so excited about the plans shaping up for this year’s Laugh-Fest of the Midwest, to be held in Ferryville, Wisconsin May 13-15. To help you get a better perspective of the exciting presentations in store, I’ll be posting blogs with interviews of the presenters. This is the first of that series.
THE LAUGHING DJs
Let me introduce you to the dynamos from Salt Lake City (pictured above): Delan Jensen and Julie Pugmire. They have been working together as Laughter Yoga professionals and have come to be known as the “Laughing DJs”. They teach at Salt Lake Community College and since 2013, they have been offering an accredited Certified Laughter Yoga Leader class—the first of its kind in the country. The Laughing DJs founded the Spin-A-Grin Laughter Club, which released its own laughing album. They are also the originators of the Laughter Heartbeat Station LOL.1. Delan and Julie were speakers at the All American Laughter Conference in Los Angeles, California in October, 2014, held by Sebastien Gendry. They presented “Laughter in Higher Ed-THE BREAKTHROUGH” along with a corresponding workshop, and a Round Table Discussion entitled “How to Use Integrative Body Movements to Enhance the Impact of Your Laughter Sessions”. Julie is a twenty year retiree. She has an AAS Degree, is a Certified Meditation Instructor and remains at the college as an adjunct instructor teaching Laughter Yoga and meditation classes. Delan teaches full-time at SLCC. She has her MEd, Instructional Technology and is a certified Spin instructor. She teaches Laughter Yoga, Spin and Computer Science classes at the College. They both just completed their certificate in Positive Psychology this past April.
I got to know the Laughing DJs last fall at the Laughter conference in Portland and I laugh with them all the time by listening to their hysterical, contagious laughter CD. They are absurdly FUN and I am so honored they accepted my invitation to be presenters at the 2016 Laugh-Fest! I can’t wait for you to get the opportunity to get to know them and benefit from their expertise. So here’s my interview with the Laughing DJs.
LAURA: Delan and Julie, we are SO EXCITED to have you as first-time presenters at the Laugh-Fest! You will be coming all the way from Utah. What made you decide to come to Wisconsin?
DELAN & JULIE: You, mainly! You are so much fun to be around! We had talked about going to laughter conferences in other places and yours was the one we focused on. The timing of the Laugh-Fest was perfect as our semester ends and all grades would be completed and submitted by then. Besides, we hear Wisconsin is beautiful and has some great people who know how to really laugh so we wanted to check it out ourselves!
LAURA: Now you have developed an accredited college course of Laughter Yoga. That is great to have made it such “serious” form of study. Tell us, how did you do this?
DELAN: It all started with a workshop presented at Salt Lake Community College. I told Julie, Julie got all excited and took a Laughter Yoga class, then we both took the Laughter Leader class offered at the College. We are the first to graduate from an accredited LY course in a college atmosphere. The many doors of opportunity started opening up for us immediately after we became Certified Leaders. We were asked to start teaching the Laughter Yoga class at the College which was still in the early stages of development. Using the guidelines of what was being taught; we started to develop the class into a more formal program. We were able to bring new life and a renewal of interest back into the Laughter Yoga program making it possible to have more classes available for students. We are now the only instructors teaching the class and through word of mouth and promoting the class we have seen and continue to see a huge jump in our enrollment. Most often, our classes are full before many of the other department classes and we have a waiting list if someone drops out. Every semester, we get to know some of the greatest and happiest students on campus!
LAURA: That’s amazing! What will you be covering in your presentation at the Laugh-Fest? What can we expect?
DELAN & JULIE: We are planning on holding a sample class where we learn, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. It will be typically what we do in a scheduled Laughter Yoga class session. It will include a mini lecture or presentation of the subject we are discussing and laughter exercises that correspond with the subject matter. You can expect to learn what the effects of laughter and the topic we will be teaching has on your body and why it is good to laugh.
LAURA: How long have you been practicing Laughter Yoga and what has it done for you in your lives?
DELAN & JULIE: We have been laughing all our lives (hahaha) as we both have a great sense of humor. But we have actually been practicing Laughter Yoga since May of 2012. The difference in our laughter now is that we understand how it helps us. The coping skills we have learned and now teach to others has changed our perspective on how to deal with challenges. It has made it easier to laugh at life, and we all know how sometimes life just gets the best of you. Now we just have to laugh it off.... As you know, laughter is the best medicine!! Ask Dr. Kataria! So, for us, we not only laugh for no reason, but we laugh for our health, happiness and sanity!!! (You need to laugh when you are teachers!!)
LAURA: Delan, you will be flying into the Laugh-Fest from Africa! What will you be doing there?
DELAN: Well, I basically planned the Africa trip around the Laugh-Fest and the end of the semester. The others in the travel group agreed to switch dates around so I could make it to the Laugh-Fest. This a trip of pleasure and it is on my bucket list – visit 100 different countries. So far I have visited 50 - I’m half way there! The itinerary includes Cape Town, Johannesburg, Zambezi River, Kruger Nation Park and the spectacular Victoria Falls. The idea is to see nature at its best. And, of course, we will be doing plenty laughing during this safari adventure.
LAURA: Wow! You’ll love it! My husband and I went to South Africa on a laughing tour a few years ago. Julie, you’ll be driving all the way out to the Laugh-Fest with your significant other. What are your plans for your road trip? And does he have any corny jokes to share with us?
JULIE: Our plans are to make a road trip before the Laugh-Fest. It is at least a two-day drive so we are going to extend that by a few days. Our usual way of traveling is to stop along the way and see the sights that interest us then move on. We have not decided what our destination sights will be just yet but even just seeing the beautiful country will be enjoyable. Our travel goals are to visit every state in the U.S. by the time we get old. And, old is just a state of mind, so we have a lot of time to reach our goal as we are so young at heart. HaHaHa!!!!!
Oh, Yes!! Terry will definitely have some corny jokes.
LAURA: What are your hopes for the Laugh-Fest?
DELAN & JULIE: We are coming with high hopes of feeling and sharing the inner spirit of joy through laughing with others. We are looking forward to having a delightful three days filled with laughter and learning. We are also hoping to meet others, share ideas, make lifelong friends and come home filled with warm and wonderful memories of our Laughter Yoga family.
LAURA: I’m looking forward to that, too! I can’t wait to see you both again!
Let me just say how much this annual festival makes my heart sing. It is a beautiful group of souls from all over the country converging in a quiet Wisconsin valley just coming to life with the green of spring. Together, they will laugh, play, sing and experience pure-heart joy!
Couldn’t you use a joy-boosting retreat like that? I bet you can. This event is majorly affordable thanks to the volunteer work of many, many people dedicated to world laughter. It is so easy to register and make this dream a reality. Just click this link to go to the Laugh-Fest page and register by mail or on-line. Remember, you can save on your tuition if you register by April Fool’s Day. Tee hee!
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