Is Sleep Deprivation/Fibromyalgia Ruining Your Life?

At Laughter Yoga classes across the Twin Cities, joy takes over when what starts as forced laughter turns real.
Two years ago, Jody Ross was suffering from fibromyalgia-related pain, sleep apnea, chronic fatigue and mood disorders. In a last-ditch attempt to find relief, she made a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
There, she happened across a Laughter Yoga seminar in progress and cajoled her way in. After an hour of deep belly laughing, Ross was elated.
"It was winter, and I left feeling really light," she said. "I called a friend and said, “I have to do this thing.”

Within weeks, she was trained at the Iowa School of Laughter, and today she's a Laughter Yoga leader and teacher, and the only Laughter Life Coach in the Upper Midwest. On a personal level, she's also pain-free (unless you count some aches when she goes roller-skating for hours with her 7-year-old daughter).

For Ross, Laughter Yoga changed her life. She no longer uses drugs for pain or sleep. She practices good nutrition, she prays and meditates, and seeks medical help when needed.
"I can still live," she said. "It's a miracle. Most of us give up. Faith and laughter gave me an open mind and buoyancy to keep seeking."

Read more about Judy Ross by going to this link.
http://laughingwithlaura.blogspot.com/2010/07/laughter-may-be-good-...

The theory is that you take an active role in your joyfulness. Instead of being a passive laugher, we reverse the process and move the body to laugh, to change the mind and provide a better outlook.

An aspect that is overlooked is that it’s a peace movement. Laughter is the universal language. There's no pressure at Laughter Yoga except to being open to being a little kid. It's inherently peaceful.

The benefits appear wide-ranging, perhaps from heightened oxygen levels during sessions. Laughter Yoga leaders also work with specific populations: the elderly with dementia and Alzheimer's, schools, in businesses as part of morale- or team-building workshops.

Some people might think, laugh for no reason? No jokes?
The only way to find out if the benefits of Laughter Yoga are what people claim them to be is to try it for yourself, what do  ‘YOU’  have to gain?

“Laughter is happiness applauding itself and then taking flight to embrace everyone and everything in this world.” --Hafiz

Kathryn Kimmins, CLYL
905-574-1765
info@LaughYourselfHealthy.ca
www.LaughYourselfHealthy.ca