Heather Joy's Laughter Yoga Happydemic

.... lunchtime laighter yoga is a must do!

Who’s up for some Laughter Yoga (LY)?

Mark your calendars for the first Tuesday of every month @ 1 pm at the South Rocky Library.

Laughter's a wonderful social prescription as a means to connect with others and generally feel good.

It's the perfect lunch break away from work, or if you're a parent with kids at home, are on days off, on holiday or retired, 1pm next Tuesday may work well for you!

This LY session a quick 30 minute activity that will bring much fun & frivolity to your day.

Lock in next Tuesday 2/7 at 1pm - Let's laugh and have some fun!

Please share this out with your work mates, friends and family - the more the merrier! See you there :)

I have been a bit of a busy bee these past few months -- which is very good very good YAY. Even busy bees though need time out, so I'm offline and away until Monday 1 July. As a result, I won't be my usual uber-responsive to messages or comments. Look forward to connecting though -- SOON!

How are your Joyful June efforts going? Today why not bring to mind a favourite memory for which you feel grateful.

This photo is from a workplace laughter yoga session I ran pre-COVID on lawn outside the client's office building. It was an early morning session and we were in full view of the peak hour traffic heading into the CBD. It's a favourite memory not only because the client group were fantastic but because we had so many t***s of horns from people passing by with smiles on their dials too :)

Happy International Yoga Day!

Laughter Yoga is just as much 'yoga' as any other. Why is it that people think it's about downward dog while laughing? I hope this article helps set the record straight and encourages you to have a go.

https://thehappydemic.com.au/what-is-this-yoga-that-has-people-laughing/

Registrations have opened for the LAST in-person laughter yoga leader training workshop for 2024.

Personally I can't think of a more sustainable impactful way of kicking off Queensland Mental Health Week than doing this training on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October.

Yes, it's the Kings Birthday long weekend in Queensland — and we're training on the Redcliffe Peninsula, offering a beachside weekend away location. Community pop-up sessions on the waterfront will be included!

This the certified Laughter Yoga International training.

WHO DOES THIS TRAINING?
Past participants include nurses, psychologists, aged care workers, teachers, counsellors, disability support workers, yoga instructors, life coaches, team managers... PEOPLE who love people and want the best for their community life.

This is a small group training workshop. Cost is $425 when booked direct. Read more about the training at this link: https://thehappydemic.com.au/laughter-yoga-training/

If this sounds like what you're wanting, DM me. I'd be honoured to guide you on your laugh for wellbeing journey.

Highly recommend this new release from Pixar, Inside Out 2. Clever creative explanation of emotions, core beliefs and sense of self.
Thanks for joining me Karen Moran

Supporting Action for Happiness throughout Joyful June, why not get outdoors and feel the joy nature brings...

What a great day to be in a park doing Laughter Yoga as part of the Sesame Lane staff selfcare program. Very good very good yay.

Big news for Rockhampton.
Your laughter club is returning, on the first Tuesday of the month from July at 1pm at Rockhampton Southside Library. FREE.
Thank you laughter yoga leader Michelle for keeping this long-running community uplifter going in the new timeslot. 💛

I had the privilege of training Michelle in January 2023. She's done AMAZING things in her community with laughter yoga since then.

Bay City Laughers Laughter Club is on a council-designated hiatus ahead of school holidays. Back (pretty please Council) mid July! That's way too long for Bay City Laughers. Seven days without laughter makes one weak😉
For something different, we chose a social outing, experiencing a tea meditation at 佛光山中天寺 Chung Tian Temple and enjoying the peaceful surrounds. Well, they were peaceful until we laughed 😂
My thanks to our tea meditation guide Alice and the welcoming nuns.

It's International Day of Play! Make time to play today... what will that look like for you?
The article below explains why play for adults is important for health and happiness.

Playfulness key to adult health and happiness New Australian research says regular group play activity makes for happier, healthier adults.

Where has laughter yoga for wellbeing taken me today?
My travelling companion gives a few hints. And here's another: 170km from home.

This week's suggestion in support of Action for Happiness's Joyful June is... take a light hearted approach. Choose to see the funny side.
Laughter Yoga certainly helps to view life through a lighter laughter lens.

Kicking off Joyful June tonight's North Lakes Laughter Club, 6pm, Level 1, 10 The Corso inside North Lakes Library. No cost. No need to sit on the floor either. Hope to see you!

Laughter Yoga is apolitical and non-religious... unless that 'religion' is rugby league when it's State of Origin season. Game 1 tonight and my memory support lovelies this afternoon declared Queensland the winner. I reckon they were winners too, kicking laughter goals.

Last laughs for the term for Bay City Laughers' laughter yoga in the park. Great to see Camilla from My Local Health come and give it a try.
Thanks to City of Moreton Bay for supporting this body- mind practice that supports physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
Look forward to returning in July 🤞

Over the past few years, I’ve seen what research suggests – that laughter and music help people living with advanced dementia feel calmer and brighter. That research is what informs the laughter yoga sessions I do in memory support units (as well as the training I deliver for aged care workers).

Yet I’ve often wondered about the tunes to use. Ones that MEAN something to the participants. I’ve seen great involvement in ‘You are my sunshine my only sunshine…’ tunefully delivered. Similarly, 'Edelweiss' (Sound of Music) and with older Aussie men, our national classic ‘Beer with Duncan’. But asked the question of 'what is a favourite song', client participants (my lovelies) get flustered trying to remember.

Today I was floored. An adult son visiting his very frail mum mentioned she’d liked AC/DC. I would never have guessed! At the end of the laughter wellbeing session, my inner Bon Scott was channelled and I started HaHaing the tune, and clapping to the beat, of It’s a Long Way to the Top, and the aforementioned fading elder started tapping the beat with a finger and then barely audibly… “if you think it’s easy doing one night stands, try playing in a rock-roll band, it’s a long way to the top if you want top rock and roll…” Tears of joy shared.

The Bay City Laughers laughter club holds its last laughter yoga session for this term tomorrow, Wednesday 5 June at 10am. You can't miss us. Redcliffe's Skywheel has joined our spot down at Bicentennial Park. Woody Point.

Byo bottled water, wear a hat, being a jumper or jacket and let's get playful.

Thanks City of Moreton Bay for including this in your program.

Monday memory...
And this one is relevant to Joyful June because it's about seeing gifts in grim stuff.

https://thehappydemic.com.au/how-a-grateful-mindset-can-ease-loss/

Action for Happiness calls this Joyful June and every Sunday I'm choosing one of their recommendations to share with you. Today it's reframe a worry and try to find a helpful way to think about it.

North Lakes laughter club is on the first THURSDAY of the month. Level 1, 10 The Corso, inside North Lakes Library. And it's FREE. We start promptly at 6pm. (best to arrive a few minutes early).

Pop in for a 30-minute laughter yoga session that will brush off the day, the week, the month -- wind back any cares -- relax you for the evening while letting your body delight in the feelgood chemicals that sustained laughter enables us to tap into. All abilities, all ages.

Thank you Moreton Bay Region Libraries for providing the space.

Joyfully, HeatherJoy

As Meaningful May draws to its end, reflect back on the month. What was meaningful for you?
Then take a look at the suggested action Action for Happiness recommends to enhance the month ahead as we move into Joyful June. Even on our toughest days, when all seems doom and gloom, there are small things that can bring us joy, or give us pause to be in awe or to give thanks -- or indeed to laugh...

I believe this. Do you?

I've championed the notion of social prescription for years: referrals to non clinical activities for improved wellbeing. Link to a blog below. Laughter clubs are a perfect example. Grateful to Camilla from My Local Health for welcoming me today to the Redcliffe group of healthcare professionals.

https://thehappydemic.com.au/laughter-yoga-as-a-social-prescription-for-better-mental-health/

Looking for a team activity to connect and kick off a big day of professional development and planning? Let's talk about laughter yoga. TOLL Group recently did, for their Women in Aviation gathering and here's what they thought.
Start the conversation by emailing [email protected]

Lovely to be joined by friends from Cascade Place - CPL's Redcliffe service on a bright blue sky day down at Woody Point this morning. We all exercised our laughter muscles.

Thanks City of Moreton Bay for supporting laughter yoga's inclusion in the Healthy Active Moreton program.