Bossy Moments, tehee hehee
Life is full of many experiences; some are stressful while others stress relieving. All humans experience a range of emotions in response to their experiences from interacting with their environment and the actions of others as well as their own actions. Many find their lives generally dominated by just a few emotions, often a hum-drum sort of happy medium tedium interspersed with intense moments of anger, joy, or sadness.
It is said that it’s important to acknowledge feelings for what they are and then let them go. I want that. It seems that emotions have a cumulative effect: each moment of frustration, anger or embarrassment weighs heavily on me and it often distracts me from the problem solving I need to tackle in order to improve my life and grow personally. I benefit from balancing the "negative" emotions by expressing the unconditional joy that I also feel. Through the cathartic act of practicing laughter I can experience and release my joy into the world with no concerns about being misunderstood or thought of as an idiot or a show off.
It’s important to me that Laughter Clubs are non-religious and non-political. LY is about me, the human. It’s not about an idea; it is an experience, an action, and for me it is about a lifestyle that includes expressing all of the emotions. I feel less burdened by my seemingly uncontrollable emotional states now that I have LY in my life. I express joy to counter all of the hurt and anger that my stressful modern life stirs up in me.
One could say the body is a bag filled with goo along with the muscular and skeletal systems. When you fill your lungs with air you can control, to a certain extent, what parts of your body expand to accommodate the air volume. By limiting the amount that your upper ribcage expands you can apply pressure down into your lower abdominal area.
It is also helpful to imagine space expanding in between bones/joints on the inhale.
It takes muscle tissue approximately 6 seconds to relax once extended into a stretched position, so move slowly and mindfully. Stretches should be to the point of MILD DISCOMFORT. This should never be painful, it should be a stretch that is just enough to feel the tension of the tissues being stretched.
Neck stretch
Place hands upon head, relax neck and shoulders, lift up from the base of the spine, pull the lower belly in, relax the low back, relax the legs, and release the muscles in your arms that are not being used to hold your hands up to your head.
Lift hands slightly up so you are only touching hair or if bald feeling the warmth of your skin. Release any extra tension.
Reach up with the top of your head, keeping your hands equidistant to your scalp. This is a neutral position for your head and neck.
Wobble head, inhale deep into shoulders focus on filling the top of your lungs, exhale relax neck and shoulders, lift up from the base of the spine. Inhale, pull the lower belly in, tighten and release the kegel muscles, continue to hold the belly in, exhale relax the low back, relax the legs, release any extra tension in your arms.
Inhale, filling your upper chest and reach up with the tip of your ear adjusting your hands as needed. Repeat on the other side and return to neutral.
Inhale and reach up with the back of your head keeping the neck long and relaxed. Release any extra tension. Return to neutral
Inhale and reach up with the midpoint between your eyebrows keeping the neck long and relaxed. Return to neutral.
Take in a deep breath and on the exhale float your arms gently down coming to rest with palms up and open to receive, elbows hanging at your sides. Keeping the belly engaged inhale into your hips/low back.
Remember to smile! Focusing on smiling on the inhale and relaxing on the exhale is a great way to add beneficial body chemicals to your stretching/work-out routine.
Recently I learned of the unexpected death of one of the people I attended RBBB Clown College with, who I later worked with on RBBB Circus’ Blue Unit, named Ted Ferlo. He was one of those effortlessly funny guys, great timing and a wicked sense of humor. His passing shook me up in ways I didn’t expect. He was one of my primary tormentors while I was on the road. I couldn’t come within 15 feet of the guy without becoming the butt of a joke or the receiving end of a slammed door. And it was hard to avoid him since we lived on adjacent train cars and worked in the tight quarters of backstage areas. There was even a mandatory sign-up sheet that was kept in men’s clown alley, guaranteed to be within his range, making me an easy target.
The abusive behavior only lasted for part of a year; Ted was finally pressured into laying off hassling me for the season of Lent by our illustrious Boss Clown. It was a success; Ted changed his behavior, apologized and I tried to move on and live my life. It was a “night and day” kind of difference. Ted even acted kindly to me on occasion; it just wasn’t enough to erase the confusion his unkind behavior left me with. Those feelings stuck with me for many years.
I loved being a clown on the Greatest Show on Earth, I loved the lifestyle of traveling on the train and performing 10 to 14 shows each week for thousands of people year round… I hated how I was treated by my co-workers though. I thought they were amazing, talented, and possessing knowledge about physical comedy and the world that I craved to learn more of. Unfortunately, most of the times when I tried to be an active part of the group I was awkward and seemed to mostly say just the wrong thing at just the wrong time. It was clear that few people respected me as a person or as a clown/performer and that was what interfered with my resolve to continue; after 3¾ years I reluctantly declined renewal of my contract with Ringling and prepared to strike out into the world.
When I finally broke down and started a Facebook page I found that many of the people I worked with in the circus were online and actively sharing jobs and social events via the social networking site. One of the showgirls spotted my profile and sent a friend request; instantly I was confronted with a maelstrom of emotions about my time in that world. It was suggested to me that I “friend” Ted… and it froze me up! I couldn’t believe how strongly I felt, that the hurt was just waiting under the surface ready to distract and demoralize me. I did write to Ted and explain that I hadn’t forgotten but understood how important it is to let go of the hurt and forgive the instigator who was also young, at the time, and immersed in a peer group that thrived on pressuring and egging each other on to do more and more outrageous behavior. He apologized again, very graciously extending friendship, even going so far as inviting me to circus and clowning events in his neck of the woods and introducing me to more of the circus folk on Facebook.
I am very grateful for his generosity and that we were able to “clear the air”, I was hoping to see him again, along with many others who now live on the East coast.
Then I received a startling phone call from another person from our Clown College class… Ted had passed away; he died after experiencing a brain aneurysm. Complications from the surgery did him in after only a few days of fighting, leaving his wife and two young boys to grieve his loss along with hundreds of friends, relatives, and audience members who were touched by Ted’s life.
Laughter Yoga has made the sorrow of losing an old friend easier to bear... mainly in how I can bring to mind many memories of laughing with wonderful laughter filling the air around me and it puts a smile on face. Every time. YAY! Instant change of the brain's chemical mix and uplifting emotions! The pain we caused each other was wiped away by a renewed determination to follow my path towards happiness, clowning and sharing laughter with the world. You can take the girl clown out of the circus but you can’t take the clown, or the circus, out of the girl.
I think Laughter Yoga has raised my general body awareness as well. Much of the physical comedy, acting, and acrobatic training I received helped me understand the nature of tension/relaxation of the body. A lot of the time was spent focusing on alignment and the emotional content of different body shapes. LY tied that style of awareness with practicing joyful living and childlike playfulness.
I'm more able to notice now when my posture becomes that of sadness - slouched, head down, back bowed, no lift to the facial muscles... and I’m more able to straighten up and think of laughter memories or take the time to look outside and search for the top of the tallest tree I can find or... just move around and I feel better. I walk my dogs more now because I’m starting to crave physical activity again, like I did in my youth. I think I have to keep working on the percentage of my days that I’m sedentary: working on the computer, eating, and watching media with the family adds up to a lot of relative stillness.
I remember reading on the Yahoo Group Laugh4Health - a good exercise to do when grieving is cry on the way down/laugh on the way up laughter, showing how emotions can change and how they can pass... how one can choose to laugh or cry (and that laughing doesn’t produce as much mucus or tears, lol).
Laughter is healing my childhood wounds, emotional hang-ups and insecurity will no longer be in my way if I continue to work to enhance my better nature by supporting the positive and celebrating each small success, each smile, each laugh, one at a time.
There is a question, in some circles, that laughter is effective exercise for physical fitness. I am sure, from the evidence of my own personal experience: from extensive professional acrobatic training and from formal academic studies in Fitness and Gerontology (the study of aging) that Laughter is exercise… the intensity of laughter can be carefully paced through an exercise system like Laughter Yoga© making it possible to:
In addition, many have recognized the value of a “good attitude” for any training program. Laughter Yoga actually supports our ability to feel good about ourselves. Positive affirmation, shared laughter, acceptance of spontaneous expressions of joy and playfulness all strengthen our ability to accept limitations as hurdles to overcome!
There is also neurological research currently underway with the latest whippy-doo MRI machines that prove connections between specific brain chemicals and specific emotions which have corresponding reactions throughout the body’s various systems, affecting everything from eye dilation to the production of adrenaline … the body and the mind are connected; we need to start exercising the “whole athlete”, not just the body they walk around in.
MIND/BODY LAUGHTER
1 Laugh At A Time presents:
an introduction to Laughter Yoga
Lead by Laura Lou
a local Certified Laughter Yoga Leader with a background in
physical theater / circus clowning / fitness.
Humans of all ages-
Refresh your zest for life!
Practice joyfulness and experience unconditional laughter.
Have the best time getting an aerobic workout ever!
Practice projecting a positive image by supporting your
inner spark of joy.
Condition your respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Remember, playfulness is invigorating!
Laura Lou presents this fun exercise system in a proactively supportive way that allows participants of all levels the freedom to find their own true laugh.
Laughter Yoga cultivates child-like playfulness and
explores the joys of choosing to laugh.
Give yourself the treat of an exercise system that connects people to each other effortlessly without any intellectual, political, or social agenda.
Offered at the Kenton Family Wellness Center
- 8315 North Denver Ave -
Friday, November 19th from 4:30 to 5:30 PM
Harness the power of FUN for your workout regime
We take life so seriously. It begins to feel a little off-putting that there are so many important things/activities to keep track of every day. I think there’s a misconception: to do something right you have to focus your attention like a laser beam on as narrow and specific a track that there isn’t enough attention left over to have feelings, much less something so frivolous as enjoyment. However, emotions happen and the relevant internal work is to find balance and expression and release through the experience of those emotions.
Finding a fun activity that provides fitness benefits is often what keeps long-term exercisers coming back for a lifetime.
What did you like to do as a child during playtime? I loved playing on the monkey bars and swings, climbing trees and slides… Climbing and hanging off of things is great exercise!
