Employee Health Archives - Laughter Yoga Wellness & Meditation Services London, Bristol, Bath, Glastonbury & UK wide

Lockdown laughter yoga virtual laughter yoga workouts! ++ ask about your special bonus booking gift!

With further lockdown restrictions currently implemented here in the U.K stress levels are high, depressions is rife and we are facing a mental health crisis as we all navigate these challenging times. We have also been told to work from home wherever possible so many corporate teams are physically disconnected once more! So much doom and gloom!

Thankfully we know this time shall pass as everything is impermanent, however we still need to find coping mechanisms and well-being tools that can help us to feel less stressed, uplifted and happier. Laughter yoga totally fits the bill. I often say, it doesn’t matter what makes you laugh, it matter that you laugh although when we are facing challenging times and everything feels so serious it is not so easy to find reasons to laugh or to even access joy!

What if I said, you do not need a reason to laugh? What if I said you do not even need to find something funny or rely on comedy, jokes or humour in order to laugh! And it get’s even better as in laughter yoga we practice intentional laughter, we choose to laugh for the health of it! We are just laughing and we still get all the health benefits as we would from natural laughter. Laughter is contagious so even though we start with simulating sounds of laughter, very soon it becomes real!

This is exactly where laughter yoga comes into it’s own because we do not need to be in a good mood to laugh! We learn how to access our inner joy, to re-start our laughter engine!

We are now offering the following Virtual Laughter and fitness energisers and wellbeing sessions in our zoom room or your chosen platform

From 5 minute training day micro laughter blaster energisers and zoom screen fatigue busters to icebreakers to one and a half hour laughter yoga wellbeing and workout sessions. The choice is yours. We can offer all of theses services virtually thanks to video conferencing technology

Get in touch with Lady HaHa for more info and to book your team ticket to joy!

Click for more info

or call us on 07387 563902

And for an extra laughter bonus which you will receive once you are booked in! Call Lady HaHa and say the following HaHa HiHi HoHo Lady HaHa please laugh with me! “breathe in through your nose and a nice big hearty laugh on the out breath”! (Lady HaHa will do this with you)

Creating a new healthy laughter habit for your workplace team the more you do it, the easier it gets

While historically, people have thought that it takes 21 days to create a new habit (or change an existing one), recent claims have pushed that number up to a average of 66 days. In fact, the most recent significant study shows that it can take anywhere between 18 and 254 days to form a new habit, an average of 66 days. In laughter yoga we have been practicing a 40 day challenge to create a new healthy laughter habit!

The study mentioned above was undertaken by Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre based at UCL Epidemiology and Public Health.

The team has completed a groundbreaking investigation into how people form habits, published last month in the European Journal of Social Psychology. Here Phillippa explains the key factors in creating and breaking habits and how we can help set up for ourselves new patterns of behaviour.

It really is interesting reading!

I encourage all new laughter yoga leaders to participate in what we call the 40 day laughter challenge to help start a new healthy laughter habit which ideally then turns in to an easily accessible daily laughter practice. When we laugh for just 10-15 minutes daily we gain the best health benefits. When we create a new healthy laughter habit, we actually enable ourselves to access laughter more easily and freely. It can then become a powerful go-to tool during challenging times.

So a one off laughter session or workshop is great but for longer term health benefits, we really need to make it a daily practice.

We are now offering this service to help our corporate laughter clients and for you and your team to create a new daily laughter habit! Are you in ? Contact us for details and all from the comfort of your home or office!

We are finding there has never been a more important time than now to bring laughter in to help bring teams together, to motivate, to help release stress, to lift moods and here’s the big one to boost productivity!!! A happy healthy workforce is more productive!

Contact us for details of our laughter sessions online on zoom or the virtual platform of your choice. Also offering our special monthly laughter booster plans helping your team to a healthy laughter habit!

Corporate Laughter services

Laughter Yoga for Mental Health Awareness Week in London Laughter Yoga, it's so much more than just a laugh!!

Very busy last week with no less than 8 workshops, mostly Laughter Yoga for Mental Health Awareness Week. Fabulous to see so many different organisations and corporations embracing Mental Health Awareness.

I would be really surprised if each and every one of us is not affected by MH issues at some point in our lives, be it us personally or someone we know.

I know how it feels to suffer the effects of stress, panic attacks and depression and I am thankful to have found Meditation at that time in my life. Meditation was my support tool until I had the strength to move away from an unhealthy working environment.

Actually all that pain and misery was to be the making of me, drawing me to explore complimentary and holistic health and wellbeing methods and tools that I now work with to help others.

I now run Laughter Yoga Wellness London & UK. We offer various holistic health and wellbeing workshops and therapies that help people feel better in the workplace, including Laughter Yoga Wellbeing Workshops, Sound Meditation, EFT, Massage, Meditation and more offerings being added all the time.

Did you know ?

Approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year.

In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week.

You can check out more unbelievable and interesting stats over at www.mind.org.uk

Fantastic Feedback from Imperial College where I held two laughter yoga wellbeing workshops for their Staff and Teachers as part of their #mhaw17 programme. How awesome, to be the highlight of their programme. Looking forward to more workshops at Imperial College.

Check out the lovely feedback

Thank you Odette, it was the highlight of our Mental Health Awareness Week programme. Something so different, fun and beneficial to staff stress levels and overall health. “

Some more feedback from participants at our Laughter Yoga Workshops for Mental Health Awareness Week with a few Media companies. All participants remarked on how less stressed they felt after the workshops.

It was lovely. Great to finish on Yoga Nidra

Fully enjoyed the session – really wasn’t sure how I would find it, but I loved it

Loved it !!

Great Fun, Feel energised and relaxed

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but loved it and feel very calm and happy now!

Really different and fun.

Really interesting session – never practised laughter yoga before and I definitely saw a difference in my mood.

I loved this session and would recommend this to everyone!!

Really good fun! Can we do it every Week?

It was great to get out of my comfort zone.

It was great! Very relaxing and uplifting!

Relaxed – like being a kid again.

Laughter Yoga is so much more than, Just a Laugh. Really this is a very powerful Holistic Health and Wellbeing tool.

Why Laughter Yoga ?

1. Elevates Mood
2. Reduces Stress
3. Strengthens the immune system
4. Relieves Pain
5. Social Connecter and Team Builder
6. Helps to improve efficiency and performance.
7. Energy Boost
8. Laughing through Challenges. It provides strength in adversity, a coping mechanism to help people keep a positive mental attitude regardless of circumstances.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month Mental Health Awareness Week 8th to 14th May

Mental health problems are all too common in the workplace and it is the leading cause of sickness absence. A staggering 70 million work days are lost each year due to mental health problems in the UK, costing employers approximately £2.4 billion per year.

It is good to see so many businesses, charities, universities and colleges all embracing Mental Health Awareness month with many events planned and I am pleased to say we have already booked in several laughter workshops.

Mental Health Awareness Week is on 8-14 May 2017 and this is one of our busiest weeks so do book in early!! https://laughteryogawellness.co.uk/contact/

Laughter and Mental Health

There are various scholarly and research articles on the subject of Laughter and Mental Health. Many of the known physiological and psychological benefits are supported by the medical profession and various research studies.

A few links to some interesting articles on the subject of mental health and laughter.

Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter in Mental Health: A Theoretical Review. by Yim J. For the full article please visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27439375

In Summary – In modern society, fierce competition and socioeconomic interaction stress the quality of life, causing a negative influence on a person’s mental health. Laughter is a positive sensation, and seems to be a useful and healthy way to overcome stress. Laughter therapy is a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapies that could make physical, psychological, and social relationships healthy, ultimately improving the quality of life. Laughter therapy, as a non-pharmacological, alternative treatment, has a positive effect on the mental health and the immune system. In addition, laughter therapy does not require specialized preparations, such as suitable facilities and equipment, and it is easily accessible and acceptable. For these reasons, the medical community has taken notice and attempted to include laughter therapy to more traditional therapies. Decreasing stress-making hormones found in the blood, laughter can mitigate the effects of stress. Laughter decreases serum levels of cortisol, epinephrine, growth hormone, and 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid (a major dopamine catabolite), indicating a reversal of the stress response. Depression is a disease, where neurotransmitters in the brain, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, are reduced, and there is something wrong in the mood control circuit of the brain. Laughter can alter dopamine and serotonin activity. Furthermore, endorphins secreted by laughter can help when people are uncomfortable or in a depressed mood. Laughter therapy is a noninvasive and non-pharmacological alternative treatment for stress and depression, representative cases that have a negative influence on mental health. In conclusion, laughter therapy is effective and scientifically supported as a single or adjuvant therapy.

Laughter and depression: hypothesis of pathogenic and therapeutic correlation. by Fonzi L https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20380236

Laughter is a very common behaviour in everyday life, nevertheless scientific literature is lacking in studies which examine closely its nature. The study aims are: to summarise the present knowledge about laughter and its relation with depression and to make hypotheses on its possible therapeutic function. In the first part of the review the main data existing about encephalic structures involved in laughter genesis, which show participation of cortical and subcortical regions, are reported and the effects of laughter on the organism physiologic equilibrium, particularly on the neuroendocrine and immune systems, are described. In the second part, scientific evidence about the influence of depression on the ability to laugh are referred, which suggests that reduction of laughter frequency is a symptom of the disease and that its increase may be used as a marker of clinical improvement. Finally, the main assumptions supporting the hypothesis of the therapeutic action of laughter on depression are examined: first of all, it has been demonstrated that laughter is able to improve mood directly and to moderate negative consequences of stressful events on psychological well-being; in addition, it is possible that the stimulation of particular cerebral regions, involved in depression pathogenesis, and the normalisation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical system dysfunctions, both mediated by laughter, can counteract efficiently depressive symptoms; finally, the favourable effects of laughter on social relationships and physical health may have a role in influencing the ability of depressed patients to face the disease.

Reasons to adding a laughter workshop to your event and just some of the amazing benefits from our laughter yoga wellness workshops.

1. Elevates Mood

2. Reduces Stress

3. Strengthens the immune system

4. Relieves Pain

5. Social Connecter and Team Builder

6. Helps to improve efficiency and performance.

7. Energy Boost

8. Laughing through Challenges. It provides strength in adversity, a coping mechanism

to help people keep a positive mental attitude regardless of circumstances.

Blue Monday 16th January 2017 Laugh away the January Blues with a Laughter Yoga Workshop!!!

Laugh away Blue Monday this year with a Laughter Workshop.

Why Blue Monday is reputed to be the most depressing day of the year:

This day is apparently the most depressing of the year with people’s moods affected by their post-Christmas finances, the bad weather and the long wait for summer.

Researchers have dubbed it Blue Monday after finding that people are at their loneliest, debt levels are at their highest and the weather is at its worst, at this time of year.

A survey by the Co-op found that 26% of British people claim that this month is when they feel the most isolated

History of Blue Monday

Blue Monday is a name given to a day in January (typically the third Monday of the month) reported to be the most depressing day of the year. The concept was first publicised as part of a 2005 press release from holiday company Sky Travel, which claimed to have calculated the date using an equation.

In 2005 a television publicist persuaded psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall.to create a “scientific formula”

It was: [W+(D-d)]xTQ/MxNA – where

W is weather,

D is debt,

d monthly salary,

T time since Christmas,

Q time since failure of attempt to give something up,

M low motivational level and

NA the need to take action.

It really does not need to be Doom and Gloom as this is where us Laughter Yogis come in to play, literally 🙂 spreading Laughter, Joy and ooodles of Smiles and Giggles.

Contact us to lift the spirits of your workforce and make Blue Monday or indeed Blue January a Happy and productive time for your employees.

January in general can be a difficult month for many of us. This time of year, the January Blues! can make even the most energetic of us feel down in the dumps. Cold, dreary weather, lack of sleep, short days and too much food and drink leave us feeling sluggish and overweight.

Some tips to beat the January Blues in the office.

Call out the professional Joy makers 🙂 for a rib tickling laughter yoga workshop in your office or workplace. Contact us for a January filled with Laughter and oodles of Goodness. You will feel the benefits throughout the day ahead and learn some great tips on how to laugh for absolutely no reason.

What you can do yourself.

Focus on lifting your spirits, practising a prolonged smile and learning to laugh for no reason. If you are having a bad day, take a moment, take a deep breath and greet yourself in a mirror with a big beautiful smile, holding that smile for 20-30 seconds or more and inside you will be smiling back and amazingly it will pick you right up. Smiling releases endorphin’s that help to pick up your mood and release stress, just like magic.

If you book your January Laughter Workshop in 2016 we have a special rate waiting for you!!! Please mention Blue Monday when you contact us.

Why Laughter Workshops ?

I love nothing more than a deep belly laugh and I realise that I am very lucky that laughter and humour comes naturally to me, well most of the time although Laughter Yoga has helped me to learn to laugh more freely in the face of adversity.

So why laughter yoga or a laughter workshop ? That is a good question and interestingly enough, initially I did not get it at all. As someone who laughs a lot I found it rather strange that people would need to force laughter when they could laugh freely but laughter is infectious so let it out, forced or real and it soon becomes hearty and real 🙂

Without a doubt laughter yoga is fun, social and a great way to meet people and make new friends. Not everyone can laugh freely and we often do not have enough opportunities for spontaneous laughter in our busy lives. I have just today received an email from a guy who came along to laughter club asking when the next one is, he enjoyed it so much and he realised that he needs more laughter in his life. Sometimes we just take life too seriously and forget to laugh, or even how to laugh. This is why Laughter Clubs are so important and the reason why many Laughter Leaders offer community laughter clubs.

Laughter Clubs provide an opportunity to bring laughter in to your life without leaving it to chance.

The other amazing thing about laughter is how quickly it bonds a group together, a great team building tool and of course the social element. Some amazing bonds and friendships have formed in my own laughter club.

A Laughter workshop provides a safe environment where it is okay to laugh without judgement so it provides a safe space to laugh away, a total release for many.

So what is the difference between spontaneous laughter and the sort of laughter you will get in one of our workshops. There is a big difference in the fact that in an average laughter session you will most likely laugh for around 10-15 minutes where as general day to day spontaneous laughter, tends to be for a fraction of that, at around 5 seconds. You are also leaving laughter to chance, you may or may not come across something funny.

The laughter that really benefits our health is the extended deep belly laughter and this is something we practice in our laughter workshops. We do need that extended 10-15 minutes of laughter to really reap the health benefits. A typical one hour laughter workshop does just that.

Laughter for Depression

I recently had someone come along to my laughter club who suffers from bipolar disorder (aka manic depression). She contacted me the next day to tell me how much the laughter yoga had helped her to “release the demons”, as she put it. Laughter Yoga and Laughter Workshops are very effective for helping people with depression, anxiety and so much more, simple yet effective and a wonderful way to release and re-energise. On that note, I should add that there are some contraindications as with any form of exercise. People suffering from minor and major psychiatric disorders can participate in a laughter session except those who are not in touch with reality e.g. schizophrenia, Hyper mania (manic part of bipolar depression) sometimes known as bipolar II. Even a short Laughter Yoga session can make so much difference, in particular in the workplace where stress is a huge issue causing illness and absenteeism.

I work with a several holistic tools in my Stressbusting Laughter Workshops. A combination of all or some of them, Natural Laughter Skills, Laughter Yoga, Gibberish and Sound Meditation.