Elvie Punzalan-Estavillo (ADB 1969–1973)
When I arrived at St. James Academy in Malabon on 21 October 2011, it was already full with 370 students, teachers, and school officials, including a few bishops and nuns. The Academy, founded by the Maryknoll Sisters, was celebrating its highly successful 85th Foundation Year. The sight of the excited participants instantly inspired me. I had been invited to the celebrations because some of the organizers are regular readers of my column, had received positive feedback from others who had experienced Laughter Yoga, and wanted to try it themselves.
Since the Laughter Yoga session was scheduled at 2:30 pm, I had not been not able to take my usual afternoon nap and felt sleepy. To perk me up, I did Laughter Yoga clapping in the car. Voila! Like magic, I was energized!
To ensure that all participants could see me demonstrate the different kinds of laughter, I joined some of them on the stage. Right at the very start, I could feel the participants’ high energy, raring for action. Young and old alike leaped, swayed, clapped, and danced as they did the positive chanting and the different kinds of laughter I demonstrated. They were so stimulated they initiated positive chanting in between practicing the different kinds of laughter. “Ha ha ha!” I just followed their rhythm and momentum. It was thrilling to see older members of the religious order do the laughter exercises and positive chanting just like the young ones!
As many participants, were wearing spectacles, I shared with them some eyesight exercises. We did a palming exercise for a few minutes combined with proper breathing, and, after taking their hands off they said “wow,” because they saw things more clearly. They roared and clapped approvingly when I mentioned that 8 years ago I had been freed from wearing two pairs of eyeglasses!
The participants who could not contain their excitement, every now and then jumped with joy. Even the technicians manning the sound system were participating delightedly. Laughter is indeed contagious! The participants were amazed to find out about the many health benefits of Laughter Yoga—including lifting depression, boosting the immune system, clearing the air passages, helping to lower cholesterol levels, helping to reduce stress levels, cultivating positivism, and enhancing optimism. I also shared how to use the fingers to help cure some ailments, repeating the exercises to make sure they would remember them.
The participants also enjoyed Laughter Yoga trivia, such as
- 1 minute of mirthful laughter is like 10 minutes of cardio workout on a rowing machine; and
- one Laughter Yoga session can burn as much as 300 calories! And I was happy to receive very inspiring and motivating feedback from the participants:
- Sr. Jo Dumapias said “Super enjoyable! I felt great and relaxed.”
- Rosalinda Cupuyan said “This is the only seminar where we did not feel sleepy. Everybody was alive, alert, and enthusiastic. There was joy and laughter in everyone. We really enjoyed every minute of our Laughter Yoga seminar and … we will benefit a lot.”
- Renante Cealleres summed it up as “Laughter Yoga is good for the health, physical exercise and generates good feelings!”
A 2nd LYoga Leadership Seminar will be held on 14–15 April 2012 in Tagaytay City. For more information on this life-changing experience, visit: www.laughteryogaphils.com, e-mail me at: laughteryogaclub.phils@gmail.com, and on YouTube see lycphohohahaha!
