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

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.

Laughter Yoga for for Red Nose Day We made our laugh matter more so than usual!

Laughter Yoga with our London Laughter Club for Red Nose Day

We had a fabulous laughter class with all proceeds donated to Red Nose Day. Following on from the laughter we headed to The Bread and Bean Cafe in Archway where the laughter continued over a cuppa.

In total Laughter Yoga Wellness raised £74 for comic relief. We were part of a team of Laughter Professionals who held Laughter Clubs and events throughout the UK with a Team Total of over £700 raised by Laughter Yogis for Red Nose Day. Special thanks to my laughter colleague Maggie who inspired us all to get involved.

Join us for our next laughter on 15th April in Archway. Bookings via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/laughter-yoga-london-wellbeing-workshop-and-social-tickets-31030251317

Laughter Yoga Wellness Fundraiser for Comic Relief Red Nose Day Make your laugh matter for Red Nose Day

We are fundraising for Red Nose Day Yey 🙂

Red Nose Day is on Friday 24th March.

Our original plan was to hold a Laughter Yoga and Gong Bath on 24th March. Unfortunately building works at the venue have been delayed so this will not be going ahead, however we still wish to support Red Nose Day and will be making a donation from our Laughter Club on 25th March.

Update, We raised £74 for Red Nose Day Woohooo 🙂

Our Fun Raising Page where you can see our final Team Total https://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/LaughterYogaWellness

Laughter Yoga London Club for Red Nose Day

World’s biggest eye contact experiment Laughter Yoga style Where has the human contact gone ?

Wow! such a super laughter club. We had oodles of fun and laughter. It just happened to fall on the same day as the World’s biggest eye contact experiment. Now of course I could not be in more than one place at the same time so we joined in at our laughter club in North London. Laughter connects people, it is an incredible social connector so it seemed perfect to add a minute of eye contact to the start of our workshop. Of course we paired up with people we did not know and our experiment was a little different with an added 20 seconds of laughter after the minute. Everyone seemed to enjoy the new exercise and some of our participants suggested we do it again and we will 🙂

So, what’s it all about ?

Encouraging more human connection by way of one minute of eye contact between strangers.

The annual experiment was created by Liberators International. The Liberators are the global organisers of the annual experiment. They are a peaceful international social movement founded in Perth, Australia and are passionate about creating participatory public demonstrations for peace and videos that allow us to see that beyond our differences there is love and humanity.

Why ? Where has the human connection gone ? You just need to sit on a bus or a tube, worse still at a restaurant with friends and see how many people have their necks bent, heads down focused on their phone or tablet. We are so not in the here and now and not connected with those around us. I would hope that those who took part have come away feeling encouraged to connect more with those around them.

On that note, I came across this super idea on my facebook feed the other day. So simple but so needed! We can all do this when we meet with family and friends. Let’s embrace the concept of being in the moment, being present and appreciating the wonderful people who are there with us in that moment.

mobilelunch

A short video of us taking part in the experiment.

Our session this week was also filmed by a proper camera man from our kind venue sponsors, The Kindness Offensive. They are making a film of different activities that are held at their bookshop. More info via http://thekindnessoffensive.com/ We are looking forward to see their film 🙂 TKO are creators of the worlds largest random acts of kindness and free giveaways, run by volunteers. I must add the short video above is my filming!!! Ha Ha.

Our next laughter club is on 26th November. Hope to see you then 🙂 Rsvp via http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/laughter-yoga-wellness-london-9871639126

#eyecontactexperiment #eyecontact

Happy World Smile Day A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

At Laughter Yoga Wellness UK we Love Smiling too and today we celebrate World Smile Day. World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday of October annually so Today 7th October 2016 is World Smile Day. #worldsmileday

As if by magic you can literally change your mood to a more positive one in seconds. All that is needed is a Smile!!! Try It 🙂

smiledayy

World Smile Day is celebrated on the first Friday in the month of October every year. The idea of World Smile Day was coined and initiated by Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts. Harvey Ball is known to have created the Smiley Face in 1963.^[1] The World’s first World Smile Day was held in the year 1999 and has been held annually since.

After Harvey died in 2001, the “Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation” was created to honour his name and memory. The slogan of the Smile Foundation is “improving this world, one smile at a time.” The Foundation continues as the official sponsor of World Smile Day each year.

The message of the World Smile Day 2010 is “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.”

Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today I started smiling too
I walked around the corner and someone saw me grin
When he smiled I realised I had passed it on to him
I thought about that smile and then realised its worth
A single smile like mine could travel round the earth
So if you feel a smile begin don’t leave it undetected
Lets start an epidemic and get the world infected 😀

When we smile we feel good, the recipient of that smile feels amazing and better still smiling, like laughter is infectious. We then create a day filled with many smiles. How Awesome is that 🙂

Each time you smile you throw a little feel-good party in your brain. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness.

worldsmileday

Warning, you can seriously bring Joy to someone’s day, Just Smile!!! A smile creates that warm fuzzy feeling inside, that feeling that someone cares, someone took the time to share a smile with you.

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, inside you will be smiling back and amazingly it will pick you right up. Smiling releases endorphins that help to pick up your mood and release stress, just like magic.

Some Smiling Facts

Smiling is Contagious
Smiling lowers stress and anxiety
Smiling strengthens your immune system
You’ll be more approachable
Smiles make you look more attractive
Smiling releases endorphins

dont-forget-to-smile-smile-quote

Smiling is an act of kindness. Create a ripple of kindness today with an infectious smile.

Happy World Smile Day

Laughter Workshop at St Mungo’s Wellbing Day

Every Tuesday not far from Clapham Common there is a beautiful hidden gem of a space offering a day filled to the brim with laughter, creativity, holistic therapies, support, drama, film making, art therapy and and a full range of activities to help improve peoples confidence and creativity. It is run by a lovely lady called Jeanette and a team of wonderful volunteers. This is the St Mungo’s Wellbeing Day. You walk in through the big black gates and hidden behind them is a gorgeous garden where they also run a gardening project, another hugely therapeutic activity. You are greeted with a warm smile and made to feel so very welcome.

Laughter Yoga Workshop at St Mungo's Wellbeing Day — Laughter Yoga Workshop at St Mungo’s Wellbeing Day

There are a number of therapy rooms where they offer everything from acupuncture to Reiki to Massage. I could see a queue of people, some with acupuncture needles sticking out from their ears! and other patiently waiting for acupuncture which seems very popular. St Mungo’s is an amazing charity where they help homeless people. They not only help people back in to housing, they then help them to rebuild their lives, their self esteem and so much more.

There are so many reasons for people finding themselves homeless, which can be anything from breakdown in a relationship, to mental health break down, to loss of a loved one, loss of a job and the list goes on to just being down on ones luck! So at a time when people find themselves in desperate need of support, they find themselves losing their homes! Homelessness can literally happen to anyone and I for one have met homeless people from all walks of life, very much like laughter has no boundaries, nor does homelessness! They say we are literally just a few wage slips away from potential homelessness! This is a fact.

I have been involved in helping to connect the St Mungo’s wellbeing day with holistic therapists for a few years now and have offered Reiki there previously. It now gives me great pleasure to bring the magic of laughter and cheer to these beautiful people who have been down on their luck. A much needed “pick me up”.

St Mungo’s Vision is that everyone has a place to call home and can fulfil their hopes and ambitions.

I invited my laughter yogi friend Suz to join me for yesterday’s laughter workshop and we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience which I can only describe as magical! to see so much instant positive change in people in such a short space of time. One lady told us after the workshop that she hasn’t felt so good in a long time. If I have ever wished I had taken a before an after shot, this was it WOW! This lady was just beaming and almost unrecognisable after the session. She remarked that she could not believe how she felt so full of energy. In fact she was actually hesitant to join in at the start worried it would be too energetic as she was feeling tired and low in energy. WOW! I am sure pleased she gave it a go! We ended the session with a grounding dance which everyone just loved.

Not everyone was brave enough or willing to join in so we did have a group of onlookers who appeared to be laughing almost as much as we were so all in all everyone, even those who watched from a distance got so so much from the experience.

So Suz and I will be back for a longer session next time which will allow for an extended yoga nidra meditation and sound healing.

Just amazing, so so happy that I have the tools to help create almost instant positive change for those who so need it. A beautiful experience and really looking forward to the next one.

If you are a holistic complimentary therapist, the St Mungo’s Wellbeing day are always looking for volunteer therapists for Tuesday’s in South London. Please get in touch with Jeanette who relies solely on volunteers for this fabulous service. More details can be found at http://www.mungos.org/services/recovery_from_homelessness/wellbeing_days

A lovely testimonial from Jeanette at St Mungo’s Wellbeing Day from our facebook page 🙂

St Mungo’s Thank you, Odette and Suz for coming along to our very special Wellbeing Day and doing such an amazing and heart felt workshop. It was such a joy to have your amazing energies with us and thanks for passing it on!

We look forward to welcoming you back soon.

Jeanette, The Wellbeing Day

World Laughter Day in London with Odette and Suz A Day without Laughter is a Day Wasted - Charlie Chaplin

Wow what a gorgeous day we had for World Laughter Day in London on 1st May 2016.

The day was hosted by myself and Suz from www.laugh4life.uk

We were met by a fabulous group including two Laughter Yogis and Oscar the delightful little dog.

WP_20160501_001 World Laughter Day Meditation

It was unbelievable to be totally blessed with Glorious Sunshine which seemed to appear from nowhere, such a beautiful day. We crawled just a few minutes walk away to enjoy the sunshine and laughter in a local park at Embankment. The flowers were out in abundance, just perfect.

I must say this is as far as we crawled and this turned out to be perfect to enjoy a few hours! of laughter, fun and games in the sunshine.

Just a few snapshots and a short video clip of our day, a day to celebrate Laughter Yoga, Love, Peace and Happiness.

Love Peace and Happiness exercise created just for World Laughter Day by Suz.

Laughter Club in London Feeling Good with Laughter Yoga in London

We have just launched our new London Laughter and Socials allowing members of the public to experience regular laughter classes with optional socials after the class. Frequency varies but usually at least fortnightly.

Laughter workshops are ideal for social bonding, team building and so much more. We are on a mission to get London laughing and make it a happier and healthier place to live 🙂

Laughter Yoga has so many Health Benefits ranging from boosting our confidence and motivation, enhancing creativity, stress relief and generally helping us to feel good. As the saying goes ” Laughter is the best Medicine” and for some people those words have rung true!

A laughter yoga workshop is ideal for almost any group setting. We offer our wellness workshops and services to private groups and parties too. Our Health and Well-being workshops range from a one hour laughter yoga workshop to a full half day which can include various holistic stress busters including a Gong Bath or Sound Meditation. Contact us to discuss your requirements for your group.

Our Laughter classes are usually fully booked so early booking is advisable.

If you wish to join us, please visit our profile page on eventbrite for news of our public laughter classes where you can register to join us via http://laughter-yoga-wellness-london.eventbrite.com/

Laughter Yoga in London with Odette and other news

So the mission to de-stress London continues. The holistic tools I work with include Reiki, Laughter Yoga , Meditation and Gong and Sound Baths. Basically holistic tools that can really enhance our general health wellness and well-being. Laughter is a serious contender and the effects of laughter and exercise are very similar. An interesting statistic for you from William Fry, a pioneer in laughter research. He claimed it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter. After a laughter yoga workshop you will feel like you have had a really good cardio workout.

A little more about Laughter Yoga and how I work with it. I am a professional Laughter Yoga Leader and Laughter Skills Facilitator. My workshops are a fusion of my various holistic tools and are specially tailored to suit different groups. A lively and energetic workout for high spirited giggly Hens or a slower paced, perhaps seated session for those who are elderly and frail. We can focus on more team building and bonding games for corporate groups. Which ever method we use, those who participate will most likely come away feeling lighter , brighter and re-energised.

Laughter Yoga has so many more Health Benefits . Click through to https://laughteryogawellness.co.uk/health-benefits/ for information on how Laughter Yoga can benefit your group or employees.

As the saying goes, Laughter is the best Medicine !! When we laugh we release and let go of negative emotions and thoughts. That is something so incredibly powerful to our well-being. I am forever grateful to have found this amazing tool so I too can help people feel better. This is life changing, this is something else for sure.

If you would like a Laughter Yoga sessions or workshop for your group or organisation in London or further afield please get in touch via https://laughteryogawellness.co.uk/contact/ .

#laughteryogalondon