THE LAUGH MAN COMETH!

Now many of you that I'm hosting the first annual Laughter Spring Retreat in Ferryville, Wisconsin from April 19 until the 21st. But what you DO NOT yet know is that the world famous, LAUGH MAN, Doug Collins from Memphis, Tennessee, will be our main presenter. His unique laugh gained popularity on YouTube when he was a part of The Comedy Barn show a few years ago. To date, there have been over 23 million views. He was also featured on Laughology, the full length documentary about laughter. Doug is part of my upcoming CD, Laughter Blasters. 

So if you'd like to spend a weekend getting away from all the stress of your everyday life—singing, dancing, playing and laughing with world famous laughers, this is your chance!  I could not be more thrilled to offer this opportunity. It's what everyone needs! Cost for the entire retreat, including delicious meals and housing in the log cabin village (pictured below) is a mere $150. Plus, you'll receive an official Laughing Laura Bird Pen. Register with a friend and you'll both get a FREE CD or DVD from The Laughter Shoppe.

Our AMAZING presenters will include: Carolyn Christopher and Kathy Wilkinson, Deb Olson, Susan Kiefer, Jill and Dan Johnson, Jody Ross, Doug Collins and me, Laughing Laura! You'll learn a lot from these laughing experts!

The retreat is quite full already but there is still room for you if you register soon. The full amount of $150 is due for registration. It is non-refundable but transferable (so if for some reason you can't make it, you can always send a laugher in your place). A few scholarships are available so if you need one, please contact Laura. We want you to be there! Oh, and tell your friends about it. Registration is also on the front page of www.LaughingLaura.com.

See you soon! Ha ha ha! :)

LAUGHTER SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO THE NURSING HOME

As part of the 3-day Laughter Yoga Leader Retreat held March 30-April 1, we took the students on a field trip to the nursing home. This was an opportunity for the leaders-in-training to polish up their laughter leadership skills and gain valuable experience. Best of all, it allowed them to give residents the gift of laughter. 

This component of Certified Laughter Yoga Leader training is being implemented by a number of Laughter Yoga Teachers around the country. It was originally developed by Jody Ross, Director of the Come to Life Project.  Ross is passionate about bringing laughter yoga to nursing care facilities and has developed groundbreaking laughter yoga techniques for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Photographs of her work can be seen at the National Institutes of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and are featured in the 2010 World Alzheimer’s Report. Ross is prominently on the cover of the book Love, Loss and Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer’s Differently by Dr. Cathy Greenblat.  

Jody Ross giving a laughter hug to a resident of Thornton Manor in Lansing, Iowa

Ross, who is also a faculty member of the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga, organized the nursing home laughter yoga session and was the master of ceremonies. Each of the students led a part of the program and everyone shared in the joy. When 26 laughing people came into the small nursing home in Lansing, Iowa, they brought incredible enthusiasm, joy and love. It lifted us all. Below are the video clips and pictures of the amazing event. 

Laughter Yoga Teacher Carolyn Christopher laughing with a resident

Faculty member Michelle Erschen laughing with a resident

Laughter Yoga Leader Josie Milan with residents 

Laughter Yoga Leader Lynette McCormack with her new laughter friend

The group doing a breathing exercise

Laughter Yoga Leader Josie Milan explaining the next laughter exercise

Laughter Yoga Leader Dianne Jones and a laughing resident

More group laughter

Carolyn laughing with a resident as Laughter Yoga Leader Lisa Weis (right) explains the exercise

Faculty member Jody Ross laughing with a resident 

Laughter Yoga Leaders Angie Jensen, Sue Rhodes and Jenna Miner at the session 

Laughter Yoga Leader Kim Doffing connects with a resident

Laughter Yoga Teacher Teddy Bruns and her new laughter friends

Carolyn gives out another hug

Laughter Yoga Leader Betsy Kennedy gives a laughter hug

Carolyn and yet another laughter friend

Betsy sharing a laugh with Glen, a resident who passed away less than two weeks after this session

Dianne and her laughter friends

Lisa and her new friend

Carolyn laughing with her buddy 

Dianne and her friend 

Faculty member Jill Johnson and her laughter friend 

Teddy getting more laughter stirred up 

What joy!

THREE ADJUNCT FACULTY-HE-HE ADDED TO THE UPCOMING LAUGHTER RETREAT

I have incredible news: 3 of the most amazing professors will be joining me in Southwest Wisconsin March 30 through April 3 as together, we facilitate a laughter yoga retreat. These faculty-he-he will be Jill and Dan Johnson from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Jody Ross from Minneapolis.

Dan and Jill (left) are Certified Laughter Yoga Teachers and owners of Joyful Living, a business that brings more joy to your personal and business life through laughter. Dynamic presenters who specialize in uplifting and experiential presentations, they have a synergy and enthusiasm that truly crackles. Dan and Jill were recently keynote speakers at the All America Laughter Yoga Conference in San Diego, California where they knocked everybody’s socks off. They were so good, in fact, that I still haven’t been able to get my socks back on!

Jill has over 15 years experience in corporate America. She is also a yoga teacher, a “Yoga of the Heart”® certified cardiac and cancer yoga therapist, and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She received her cardiac and cancer therapy training through Nischala Joy Devi, creator and director of the stress management/yoga portion for Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease. Jill’s soothing voice is featured on their CD “Deep Relaxation,” and believe me—it takes you to a whole new level of bliss.

Dan is a Certified Laughter Coach with The Levity Institute’s Certified Laughter Coach Training Program. Laughter Coaching employs laughter as a powerful modality in the field of personal and professional development by empowering clients to connect with their desires more deeply and let go of their blocks. Through his life coach training, Dan discovered that teaching is one of his greatest gifts, and through his ability to listen and reflect, and also through his love of laughter, he makes a genuine connection with those he comes in contact with. He’s also a certified massage therapist and during the retreat, his massage services will be available. Contact Dan now to schedule an appointment.

The Johnsons have also produced the CD “Laugh for the Health of It!” It’s one of the most delightful and professionally produced laughter yoga resources on the market. I sell it in my Laughter Shoppe and can hardly keep it in stock because it’s such a hot item. Their fantastic laughter can also be heard on my CD “Holy Hysterics,” as they came all the way across the state of Iowa to support me in this project. That's how we first met in person—the laughter brought us together.

As a result of their dedication to increasing world laughter, Dr. Kataria and Laughter Club International have recently awarded them the esteemed honorary title of “Laughter Ambassador.” Congrats, Jill and Dan!

The other fabulous faculty-he-he member is Jody Ross, founder of the Come to Life Project. I have to brag that I was the one who first introduced Jody to laughter yoga. She happened in on a lecture I was giving with Anne Marie Gullickson at Mayo Clinic and immediately, she was hooked. She trained with me to become a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader in Ferryville, Wisconsin. See her graduation picture here (she's front and center in the pink wig). So her participation in this upcoming retreat will be an exciting homecoming, as it is happening at the very same place on the exact 3 year anniversary of her first training!

Ever since then, Jody has been on fire. Laughter yoga dramatically improved her health. She’s truly a poster child for the miraculous benefits of laughter (read about more about that here). She started Minneapolis’ first, and now longest-running, laughter club and frequently hosts “Laughter and Chocolate” events, which are immensely popular.

Jody found that one of her passions was laughing with seniors, particularly those with memory loss.  She has developed groundbreaking laughter yoga techniques for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Photographs of her work can be seen at the National Institutes of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and are featured in the 2010 World Alzheimer’s Report. You can see her prominently on the cover of the book Love, Loss and Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer’s Differently by Dr. Cathy Greenblat. 

As a result of her accomplishments, Laughter Yoga International offered Jody a scholarship to become a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher. They knew she had to take her laughter work to the next level. Since gaining this auspicious credential, she has trained loads Laughter Yoga Leaders from around the country and become a well-loved motivational speaker.

Jody also serves as the only Certified Laughter Life Coach in Minnesota, working one-on-one with clients to achieve their wildest imaginings, one step at a time, by combining sound principles of life coaching and the proven benefits of laughter. Like Dan, She was trained by Katie West, founder of The Levity Institute.

Jody holds a bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications from Drexel University. She writes a blog for the International Laughter Yoga web site about her work with laughter yoga and seniors, and another blog about her adventures as a mindful mom seeking unconditional serenity at www.jodysatva.blogspot.com. I must also add that can hear her unique and contagious laughter on my Christmas CD, “Yule Laugh.” Jody lives near the laughing waters of the Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis, MN with her husband, daughter, and their hilarious dog, Rosie.

Getting all three of these laughing professors to join me as adjunct faculty-he-he for this upcoming retreat is a dream come true! To say it is like planets aligning is an understatement. So if you are thinking about coming to gain certification as a Laughter Yoga Leader or Teacher, or if you’re already certified but just want to increase your enthusiasm, don’t delay! This is an opportunity like no other. Get registered immediately at this link. It will be here in just a few weeks and it is going to be such an exciting gathering of prolific laughers. I can’t wait and I know you can’t either. See you soon! 

LAUGHTER MAY BE GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU

The following article is from the Charlotte Observer. I'm reposting it here because Jody Ross is a graduate of the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga and I'm just so proud of her. She's also a certified laughter yoga teacher now. She studied with Dr. Kataria in Chicago in April—so I got to share the learning experience with her. Go, Jody!

Jody Ross' story starts like many others.

For 15 years, she suffered from chronic health problems - pain, fibromyalgia, insomnia and bipolar disorder. She had searched in vain for a doctor or a treatment that could provide relief.

Two years ago, she found an unexpected resolution.

She was visiting the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. And as she left, still feeling desperate and hopeless, she passed a sign for a "Spirituality of Laughter" workshop. It was for employees only, but she ducked inside uninvited.

There she heard a Lutheran minister, Laura Gentry, discussing the medical benefits of laughter and leading the group in something called Laughter Yoga.

An hour later, Ross left the clinic feeling refreshed.

"What I noticed, aside from the fact that it was absolutely hilarious, was the connection with these people that I didn't even know," Ross said. "There's a sense of connection when you're laughing and looking into each other's eyes and having a shared experience. I felt great for hours afterward."

Ross became a certified Laughter Yoga leader and started the first Laughter Yoga Club in the Twin Cities.

Next month, she will visit Rock Hill to lead a class and a weekend workshop for anyone who wants to learn and teach this unusual exercise that got its start in India.

The exercise is appropriate for anyone, Ross said. She teaches people from age 5 to 80.

Classes incorporate light stretching and yoga breathing, but no difficult poses. No downward-facing dog. No bridge. No tree.

She starts by having people introduce themselves and laugh.

"I'm Jody. Ha. Ha. Ha."

At first, the laughter is fake, but "very quickly it becomes the real thing," she said.

Research shows that a fake laugh offers the same benefit as a spontaneous belly laugh, she added. And the benefits she lists are many - reduced stress, improved heart health, improved sleep and pain management, strengthened immune system and deeper breathing to improve bronchitis, hay fever and asthma.

"It's an incredible aerobic workout," she added.

After introductions, Ross said the class might create a "laughter car wash," with some participants moving their hands as if they're washing a car and others walking through the line, pummeled by laughter instead of water. Another exercise might involve talking in gibberish in a particular situation, such as persuading a police officer not to write a traffic ticket.

As you might guess, Laughter Yoga is not for everyone.

But Ross said even the skeptical find themselves joining in.

"In Minnesota, of course, people can be quite stoic," she said. "But it's so contagious, very quickly you lose that inhibition, and they're just in the moment. Even the ones that are really shy, they're the ones who end up laughing the most."

When she leads her Laughter Yoga Club in an outdoor park in the summer, Ross said she often sees people walking their dogs who pass by multiple times. "By the third or fourth or fifth time, they're walking by laughing with us."

Dr. Madan Katarian, the Indian physician who created Laughter Yoga in 1995, advises every Laughter Yoga professor to practice laughing daily, Ross said. She laughs alone or with her husband and 6-year-old daughter. "We laugh in the car, we laugh at the dinner table, for no reason."

"When we use laughter as a practice, we begin to find laughter throughout our day. Things we wouldn't have found very funny all of a sudden become amusing when we're in the habit of laughing as an exercise."

Before she started Laughter Yoga, Ross was in pain all the time. Today, at 40, her pain is 99 percent gone.

"I cannot tell you what a relief that is," she said. "I'm able to do so much more than I've been able to do before. I never would have thought that I would actually be able to be free of those things that plagued me for 15 years....It's very powerful stuff."

IOWA SCHOOL OF LAUGHTER YOGA STUDENT FEATURED ON THE INTERNATIONAL LAUGHTER YOGA SITE

Jody Ross attended my laughter yoga leader retreat last year. Ever since then, she's been laughing, loving, and spreading the joy. Her wonderful work with Dementia and Alzheimer's patients has garnered her a lot of media attention. Currently, her smiling face is on the homepage of www.laughteryoga.org. Here is the article Dr. Kataria has posted about her. Way to go, Jody!

How Laughter Yoga Changed Me And Others With Dementia & Alzheimer's

Jody-Ross

Jody Ross USA: After meeting several physicians for years trying to find an answer to my longstanding problem of a debilitating mood disorder, chronic pain & fatigue, I stumbled into a new way of being with Laughter Yoga. I laughed, breathed & clapped, and felt a joy that I could savor – for hours! I called my dear friend shouting, “Guess what? I feel great! I have to do this. Everyone should have a chance to feel this way!”

This friend had faithfully listened to me for years as I described not only my physical problems but also my emotional challenges as well. In the past year, I had lost four family members, one of whom died by homicide. I was filled with sorrow. I cried every day. He thought I sounded a bit crazy, but he was all for anything that would make me feel and sound as alive and happy as I did after my laughter session.

I attended the Iowa School of Laughter for my Laughter Yoga Leader certification. There I discovered that crying is not the only way to release sorrow. Deep belly laughs are a nice alternative. I stopped crying and noticed some important physical changes. My pain was reduced by 90%. I had more energy. What’s more, I began sleeping restfully for the first time in years.

My own journey with physical and emotional pain has been a blessing in my work doing Laughter Yoga with persons with Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. I know what it is like to want to participate in life to the fullest, but having limitations that make it impossible. In my first session at Lakeview Ranch in Darwin, Minnesota, an innovative facility for people who have Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia, I expected some would laugh and others would simply hang out and enjoy the positive feelings. But in spite of low expectations, almost all of 15 residents or so laughed!

One of the residents had decided she would not laugh, but very quickly, the contagious laughter won her over. She has become an enthusiastic member of the group. Residents who began the class unable to clap their hands suddenly started clapping enthusiastically. They had forgotten how to raise their hands over their head, and then, suddenly, they could do it. Many residents seemed irritated. At the end of the session, they couldn’t stop smiling. I’m told their happy mood continued throughout the day. One asked, “When can we do that again?”

Not only are the residents blessed by Laughter Yoga, but also their families. Often, families feel as though their relatives are gone. They’re in body only. The daughter of a resident, who was unable to speak with an expression seemingly frozen in a scowl, connected with her father and they shared something positive for the first time in a long time.

Of course, Laughter Yoga is a marvelous boost for the staff at a dementia care facility. Their work is hard and thankless. Often, they must assist residents who do not want their help and will fight not to be helped. Laughter Yoga allows them to connect in a positive way. As one staff member said, “I usually go home and crash on the couch when I get home from work, but today I think I will go home and clean my house.” Instead of feeling drained, she felt renewed.

I am continually inspired and amazed by the incredible results I see each time I work with people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. They don’t remember my name or what Laughter Yoga is, but as soon as we start, they pick up right where we left off. They remember the emotional connection. In fact, their enthusiasm grows with each session.

I am very thankful for my life – all of it. Everything I have experienced thus far has made my work with these people possible. I feel so blessed to have a new way to live, and a renewed sense of purpose with Laughter Yoga.

About Dementia & Alzheimer's disease

Dementia is a brain disorder of declining cognitive abilities. The likelihood of experiencing dementia increases with advancing age. Alzheimer's disease is the major cause of dementia. The main symptoms are loss of memory, confusion, intellectual decline, depression and personality, disorientation and agitation. In advanced stages the patient becomes incapable of performing even simple tasks of daily living. They become totally dependent upon others and need help round-the-clock.

Worldwide with a new case every seven seconds, the number of dementia patients is more than 24 millions worldwide. In India alone 3.2 million people suffer from dementia.

Laughter Yoga plays an important role in helping people suffering with Dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It is ideally suited for such people because they cannot comprehend humor due to lack of cognitive abilities. Therefore, when laughter in Laughter Yoga is dome in the form of an exercise, it brings about the same health benefits.

Laughter Yoga helps to increase the net supply of oxygen to the brain cells thereby improving the brain functions. Also, by releasing certain chemicals from the brain it helps to elevate the mood states and lift depression. We also incorporate physical exercises to improve bodily functions. Laughter Yoga has been very well received in senior care centers and people suffering from Dementia and Alzheimer's disease have really benefited.

Dr. Madan Kataria

LAUGHTER YOGA GAINS POPULARITY IN THE TWIN CITIES

This article by Nancy Ngo of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press was picked up by the AP and ran all over the country in October. Since Jody Ross, the leader of the laughter club mentioned in the article, is my student I wanted to bring this great bit of press to your attention. Congratulations, Jody!

Yoga is hilarious.

Seriously.

With the growing popularity of various forms of yoga, it was only a matter of time before a practice called laughter yoga made its way to the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

From Roseville to Burnsville, groups are gathering to laugh to their heart's content.

Laughter yoga has been spreading across the globe since a doctor in India created it in the mid-'90s as a way to relieve stress and anxiety in his patients.

The exercise is believed to have health benefits that include strengthening the immune system, minimizing upper respiratory infections and decreasing sleep deprivation.

"It's been clinically proven that when you laugh, you feel happier," said Mary Margaret Anderson, a laughter yoga instructor who teaches at Fairview Community Center in Roseville, Minn.

"People are coming because they realize they can do something about their health and state of being."

Anderson, who has taught several forms of yoga for 15 years, started offering laughter yoga three years ago because she liked how it concentrated on releasing endorphins in the brain associated with happiness.

She believed the practice was a natural complement of other forms of yoga.

The practice is similar to other yoga classes in the sense that it is about focusing on the moment, finding inner peace and improving one's health.

Yet there are no downward facing dogs or other poses. Rather, a session focuses on laughing and breathing exercises.

"You don't necessarily have to be athletic," Anderson said. Still, participants end up strengthening their abdominal muscles and burning calories in the process.

Jody Ross has offered a free outdoor laughter yoga class at Lake Harriet every Monday night since May. The get-together has attracted all types -- kids and seniors, working professionals and retired people.

"I think folks are looking for ways to lighten up. Especially with the economy, there are so many things that can stress us out or give us anxiety," she said. "Laughter yoga is different from hearing a joke or watching a film. It's a type of laughter that affects your body differently."

At Ross' class this week, participants came as they were, including in jeans and a sweatshirt.

The class involved impersonations and role-playing, and participants found themselves needing to be social, lively and interactive.

Ross even brought a bag of props including wigs, hats and feather boas to get participants in a mischievous mood.

Ross drew out forced laughter by having participants impersonate how a girl laughs -- drawing high pitches -- and how a man laughs -- drawing low pitches.

Participants also pretended to ride in a rodeo and to blow out candles on a cake. Breathing exercises were also part of the mix.

After suffering a heart attack a year ago, Erv Chorn of Edina, Minn., started attending laughter yoga classes regularly to improve his health.

"I wouldn't have kept coming back if I didn't feel like it was helping me," said Chorn, who's in his mid-70s. "No matter how hard my day has been, how tired I am, I come here and feel relaxed and re-energized by the end of the class."

Renee Taylor, 40, of Maple Grove, Minn., tried laughter yoga the first week of October for the first time. "I showed up with my yoga mat, but I guess I didn't even need it," she said.

Taylor found the exercises contrived at first. As she warmed up, she found herself laughing naturally -- especially when a fellow participant couldn't stop laughing, which she found contagious.

"I liked that it was one of the few times you get to be spontaneous and be in the moment," she said. "By the end, it was the real thing."

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