Laughing with the Greater Manchester Police

I was pleased to be invited to participate in a Carer's Day, organised by the Women's Group of the Greater Manchester Police. So, if you've ever wondered what a Happystance workshop looks like, this is it!

Here, a Laughter Chorus performed Happy Birthday with laughs of different tones rather than in song.

We finished with a laughter conga line and some ingenious shoulder and neck rubs.

The picture is generally bleak for carers in the UK but it is essential that carers have some attention paid to their own needs. After the Happystance slot a number of the participants came up to say how much they had enjoyed the event. They had been a little apprehensive that the day would be worthy but very dull and had appreciated the unexpected levity.

Wellness for the Lifestyle Challenged

Wellness for the lifestyle challenged offers 12 general principles for healthier living. The steps are all the generic advice that is popular in magazines and newspaper sections. I would include the benefit of counting our blessings. However, I particularly approve of the following as it re-iterates my usual theme that laughter is good for you.

Resolve to go out of your way daily to experience humor, lightness, fun, joy--good times by whatever name you prefer. Laughter and assorted pleasures strengthen your immune system, metabolize bad vibes and act in 1001 ways to make your everyday life richer and fuller. Unlike frustrations, setbacks, tragedy and disaster, however, initiative is needed to bring these sensations up beyond the minimal level of occurrences.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

Springtime for Families

Well, it's that beautiful time of year again, Springtime.  New buds popping up all over the place, new life in the fields, baby lambs skipping and hopping everywhere. 

Today, I want to encourage families everywhere to breathe in the Spring air and have a new lease of life in the family. 

Mum if you haven't relaxed with your children lately, take time off even if it's sitting in your own back garden and play with them talk with them, laugh with them.  Play a silly game that will encourage you all to laugh. Dad's have a game of football with them, challenge them at playstation, read a story together or better still invent one.  Build them a playhouse in the garden out of scrap material and a giant packing box, so what if it rains, who cares? You won't shrink!  Children, plague your parents to play WITH you, they need it too!  Life is too serious today, no wonder we have high levels of stress.  Just taking time to play with your children, really play with them can be as de-stressing for you as it is fun and exciting for them.

 I challenge you all to go out and do something together that you haven't done before.  Only one rule! It musn't be organised entertainment like the cinema or a fairgound or Circus or Alton Towers!  You have to be creative in keeping your money in your pocket and entertaining the children yourself.

In this age of technology and entertainment, it is all too easy to lose touch with your children as we 'pay' for them to be entertained by someone else.  Some of the funniest and most memorable times I have had with my son have been making cardboard swords that eventually get smashed to pieces and we laugh as we battle with two stumps of cardboard giggling hysterically as another piece drops off.

The Fun And Benefits Of Laughter

Time magazine has a good article, The Funny Thing About Laughter.

There is some discussion about whether laughter is good for us because it is primarily a social activity and implies the presence of others; or whether laughter is good for us because of its beneficial effects on hormone levels and our cardiovascular system. As always, it is probably a combination of both.

Laughter has many benefits for our well-being. And, above all, it is fun, it can make us happy and can be cost-free. I believe that it can help us build resilience and develop a Happystance.

I do sometimes come across people who are hostile to the notion of laughter and developing a Happystance. I respect that some people are angry at the notion of laughter which seems mocking in the context of what else is happening in their lives. And yet, I do know that some of the liveliest groups that I run are the ones with homeless people who are beset with a multitude of problems. There have been laughter projects with homeless people that have offered a way back into society. There have been research projects looking at the link between laughter and improved immune system functioning and greater self-confidence. As Oscar Wilde never put it, "We are all of us in the gutter. But some of us are chortling at the stars".

Laughter-Filled Tuesday

I ran two laughter sessions yesterday. The morning session was at a meeting of the Harlow Care Co-ordinators. There were 15 participants representing a wide variety of carers groups from disabled children to strokes and the Alzheimer's Society.

Before I ran my segment of the meeting, most of the participants were in a dour mood. The topic under discussion was the raw deal from the caring support services experienced both by themselves and the members of their groups. It seems that the care packages that are so glibly talked about in television dramas are the stuff of fantasy compared to the reality of what is available in Harlow. The issues under discussion are those that are so commonly highlighted by Carers UK: many of the health issues are those that I outlined in a previous post on the varying health costs of caring.

Such experiences and stories are run of the mill for carers. Nonetheless, I do believe that it is worth cultivating a Happystance and learning how to harness the power of positive emotion in our lives. Despite the mood of the participants before the session, our time together was a success, and we tried out a range of laughs. People found that they were able to put aside their present concerns. Everybody joined in the laughtercises after the usual reticence to share positive emotions with strangers in public. The co-ordinators went away with a better understanding of what I am offering with the Happystance workshops.

Laughing With The Fun Federation

With a slight blush, I bring you the latest announcement from The Fun Federation. There is an open invitation to the event; for further information check with Hannah Merriman.

The Fun Fed has the delight of bringing you fully trained Laughter Yoga practitioner Tony Plant to our next play session. Tony is going to lead us through an evening of laughter to wake up the heart, invigorate the body and soothe the mind.

 

Laughter Yoga combines simple relaxation and healthy breathing practices from Yoga with playful exercises to induce healthy, hearty, hilarious laughter. Sharing an evening of laughter with a group of unknowns not only offers an oasis of joyful madness within our busy lives, but research has also shown that laughter is a great natural way to reduce stress, take exercise (it’s like internal jogging), boost immune systems, encourage positivity and create wonderful new relationships with others.

Grumps and gigglers alike – all are welcome. Come along and enjoy the delight of mindless, mindful silliness.

When: Tuesday 7th February, 6.30 – 8.30 pm. Prompt start.

Where: 13-17 Rosemont Rd (5 mins walk from Finchley Rd tube and Finchley Rd and Frognal BR station

Cost: Donations basis.

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Talking about the Fun Federation

I occasionally wish that children’s playgrounds were available in adult sizes. Swings, slides, pirate’s rigging, trampolines-I love them all. More adults would be involved in that everyday sport that they promote so earnestly if we had opportunities for readily accessible, free, good-hearted fun that was also healthy for us.

I’m particularly prone to these idle thoughts when travelling home on the train, and I’m surrounded by 20-somethings who are unstinting in sharing the after-effects of their most recent binge drinking episode. Recently, one couple discussed a colleague who had needed to call in sick after his third night that month when he had gone to the bathroom, blacked out, and come to to find himself bedded down in the bath. It’s like a variation of that craze for DIY trepanning twenty years ago that still resurfaces from time to time. Bingeing probably kills as many brain cells and is considerably more expensive. But then again, it’s not likely to give you a severe infection or other post-operative trauma (unless you count punch-ups after letting-out time). But then, the more I think about it...I saw a plastic surgeon on some BBC item who was lamenting that he now regularly sees the extensive sort of facial injuries that he thought were relegated to history along with the multiple-vehicle motorway pile-ups that used to cause them. He says these injuries are the result of savage post-binge beatings in which the out-of-control participants stamp on the faces of those who are unfortunate enough to fall to the ground.