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Laughter Yoga Taster session 12/02/21
Time & Location
About the Event
You are invited to attend my Laughter Yoga taster sessions this weekend.
Sessions will be running on Friday 12/02/21: 18:00-18:40, Saturday 13/02/21: 11:30-12:10 and Sunday 14/02/21: 11:30-12:10 GMT.
I am offering these sessions for free / donations based in order to raise awareness of Laughter Yoga and as an introduction to Birthscapes Laughter Clubs that I will be running from March 2021 for expectant parents, new parents and families.
Right now, whilst we are living through a pandemic, we are facing increased loneliness, isolation and disconnect with less opportunity to engage in regular joyful laughter.
The invitation to attend these sessions is open to everyone.
What have you got to lose?
Sessions will include:
- Mini introduction to Birthscapes & Laughter Yoga
- Laughter Yoga warm up
- Laughter Yoga exercises
- Laughter Meditation
- Grounding exercise
- Relaxation / Yoga Nidra
About Me:
I am Katy Williams, founder of Birthscapes. I am a qualified Occupational Therapist, Laughter Yoga Leader, 3-Step Rewind Trauma & phobia practitioner and Perinatal Specialist.
I trained as a Laughter Yoga Leader in 2011 and have led workshops at arts & music events, within community centres, for charities, with young carers and within hospice settings. During 2020, I have led multiple online laughter yoga sessions to support with connection and wellbeing due to lockdown.
My interest has more recently turned to Laughter Yoga as a tool to support with positive parenting and also for expectant and new parents, to support with pregnancy, birth and beyond.
Please see my website for further information: www.birthscapes.com and / or Facebook page (Birthscapes)
Further information about Laughter Yoga (its origins & benefits):
Laughter Yoga was created by Dr Madan Kataria in 1995, based upon his extensive research into the benefits of laughter.
Dr Kataria found that the body cannot tell the difference between real or "fake" laughter, so we get the same physiological and psychological benefits. However, in order to receive these benefits, we need to engage in 10-15+ minutes of sustained deep belly laughter. When we laugh naturally, we tend to only laugh for moments and there is no guarantee that we will be able to attain the required levels of laughter on a daily basis by relying on humour and other external stimuli.
Dr Kataria created Laughter yoga as a body-mind exercise, based on the theory of motion creates emotion. Laughter Yoga is so-called as it incorporates deep yogic breathing (pranayama), child-like play and laughter. It has been shown by a number of scientific studies, that the mind and body are interlinked, with whatever happens to the mind having an effect on the body and vice-versa.
With the humour-based model of laughter (adult model) we rely on cognitive abilities and an external stimulus to engage in laughter. However, when hearing a joke / watching something funny, our reaction depends on our ability to understand the humour, the narrative and our mental state at that time. For example, if we are experiencing negative emotions, we are less likely to laugh. Equally, if we hear something that we once found funny over and over, we often disengage or may find it less funny after a while.
Laughter yoga uses the child-like model of laughter, where laughter comes from the body. Think of children playing in a school yard, running, laughing, screaming with joy. This model is a joyful model and laughter is unconditional without a need for a "reason" to laugh.
Laughter yoga has been shown to: improve mood by releasing hormones and neuropeptides to include: dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin and serotonin as well as reducing cortisol, adrenaline and epinephrine. Laughter stimulates the lymph, it improves blood and oxygen flow, it improves our lung capacity and it increases NK cells amongst many other benefits. It reprograms our neural pathways and supports a positive mindset, improved creativity and playfulness.
Joining Instructions /Other:
I ask that during the session, where possible, you keep your camera on and unmute your microphone where asked to do so. This is in order for participants to receive the full benefits of laughter as part of a group.
It is recommended that you wear comfortable clothing and bring a something to drink.
You will be sent further details by email, to include a link to join the Google Meet webinar.
Warmest wishes,
Katy
Birthscapes
katy@birthscapes.com