Relax , De-stress , Re-energise , Team Bonding, Boost Creativity , Boost Immune System , Enhance General Wellbeing , Motivate Staff , Team Building , Feel Better, Work Better, Work Smarter
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.
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
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’sThank 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 have a fabulous day of spontaneous laughter along with some laughter yoga exercises. We will start the day off at Trafalgar Square and then head off as a group, hopefully picking up more people to join us along the way for more laughs around London.
Researchers studying the process of ageing know that laughter improves blood circulation to the head and to the heart. Laughing is good for you. A good belly laugh every day improves mood, improves physical health and improves emotional health.
Laughter can also help you look younger too! No jokes, really. Did you know it requires as many as 15 muscles to squeeze facial muscles into a smile? Now what does this mean? It simply means that laughing actually helps increase the blood flow around the face, helping you look and feel younger.
Stumbled upon this fabulous clip of a lady at just 102 years young! Now, no surprise to me that this lady has reached this ripe old age.
So it all began on April Fools day after a few failed attempts at April Fooling my friends, I decided to call a friend of mine who really needed cheering up and I challenged her to a one minute laugh and timed her. It was completely hilarious and allowed her to let go, release and laugh in the face of adversity. That is something we can all learn to do by bringing in more laughter in to our lives. Laughter Yoga is the perfect platform for all of us to laugh wholeheartedly in a safe non judgemental environment. This can really allow us to release, feel better and give us the strength we need during hard times.
The day continued with around 8 or 9 laughs on the phone in person and on facebook voice chat. Wow, what a day! so much fun which had me completely buzzing and full of energy for the rest of the day.
I had my laughter yoga club the next day which provided an opportunity to video a few more one minute laughs as well as one more on April Fools day from an unsuspecting friend who visited. He is a full time carer and boy oh boy did he need it! He loved it 🙂
Check out some of our One Minute Laughs.
This has followed on giving me the idea of bringing more laughter in a really fun way to not just my friends but their friends, friends of friends and so it will go on creating a massive chain, a ripple of laughter.
So now I begin my mission to bring laughter to as many people as I can 🙂 Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha.
The idea will be to nominate some friends, they in turn nominate theirs, have your timer at the ready as although one minute does not sound like a long time, when you are laughing continuously it seems like forever! Ha Ha and it feels like a workout. It really is a workout, so they will need to be fit enough for the challenge! Apparently 10 minutes of laughter is equivalent to 30 minutes on a rowing machine! Better still if you can video your friends laughing, with their permission of course, I will be happy to showcase the best clips on my youtube channel.
Let the Fun Begin 🙂
Using my contact form, you can send me a link to the recorded clips and those that are selected will be showcased on Laughter Yoga Wellness London.
Here’s the link to my Youtube Channel and be sure to subscribe if you want to keep in the loop on the laughs.
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.
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.
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/ .
Yesterday was World Cancer Day with lots of events happening worldwide.
As a recent Laughter Yoga Leader graduate, I was invited by my mentor Lotte from United Mind to participate in a laughter yoga session she was facilitating for Macmillan nurses and cancer patients at the Whittington Hospital in London.
This was part of the final offering of the day at the Macmillan cancer conference run by Macmillan Cancer Support at the Whittington.
Wow!! Wow!! Such an incredible afternoon. It was a real honour to witness what I can only call “laughter medicine” in action and where it is so needed. A truly incredible experience and to see so many people taken away from their worries and illness for that moment was wonderful. This is powerful stuff!!!
My highlight was at the end when one lady literally could not stop laughing. I am so thankful I have added laughter to my holistic toolbox, it feel so right and I can’t wait to get started and add some Gong!. The session ends in a grounding meditation so it will be like a perfectly fitting glove to end in a gong bath meditation.
I will soon be taking bookings for Laughter Gong Workshops tailored to suit and benefit both Corporate and NHS well-being clients.
