Laughing With Yourself

Most of us tend to take ourselves very seriously. Have you ever found yourself walking down the street, peering into a shop window only to be startled by the stern face that you see reflected back at you? Just what did happen to that little laugh box of a person I was as a child? When was it that the thought of the day ahead ceased to conjure up smiles, excitement and an insatiable desire to play?

Well, yes, evidently we grew into adults, but did that require us to shed our giggling apparatus? And did we intentionally become such accomplished Frowners? Quite alarmingly so, recent research has indicated that children laugh about 300 times a day and most adults fewer than 15! We all know that laughing feels great, but did you realize that your frequency of laughing significantly contributes to the releasing of endorphins (happy hormones) into your blood stream? It really is rather comical when we think of the lengths we go to in pursuit of happiness when a good ol' chuckle can quite literally open us up to being so right here, right now!

So let's give a go. It will take just one minute and, please, if you need to, do take yourself off to a quiet, secluded corner so as not to taint your perhaps sensible reputation.

Place yourself in front of a mirror. Begin by looking into your eyes and widening your face with the biggest cheesy grin you can muster! After about 30 seconds, please continue by repeating

Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, hee hee hee 

- slowly at first and then picking up speed, moving into rapid repetition - for a further 30 seconds.

So you may well not have broken out into wild hilarity, but I'm sure that even the most straight-laced of us finished with a smile at our perceived absurdity of what we've just been doing - and that is: laughing for no reason! So despite our lives generally being quite a serious affair there is every reason to laugh, for the crux of the matter is that we all want to be happy. Laughing without need of justification, reasoning or motive is a great method of connecting us with the innate joy at our heart. We see this very readily in small children and babies who will chuckle away to their heart's content for no apparent reason, simply for the fact that being alive prompts laughter and elation in little ones!

The wonderful thing is that we can return to this place of spontaneous jubilation through practicing laughing. And a great bonus in doing so is that our bodies don't know the difference between so-called real laughter and its pretend counterpart; so it really is a case of fake it until you make it! Either way you'll still receive that laughing happy high as well as all the other numerous health benefits that regular intervals of laughter offer.

Laughing for no reason is really such a boon. So give the above exercise a go and maybe even try it out daily for a week - or more!

With chuckles aplenty,
Sadhu

Sadhu is a Laughing Yoga Leader and offers Laugh-shops to groups and businesses and at parties (for children and adults). Contact Healium if you would like to organize one!

First Things First: The Power of Early Morning Yoga

Today's entry is by Sadhu Prager-Macholl, who leads classes in Anusara Inspired Yoga on Tuesday mornings and Fridays at midday.

How we begin an endeavor has a huge bearing on the nature of its unfoldment. The phrase "got out on the wrong side of the bed" is testament to this, for it intimates that the quality with which we awaken and begin our day reverberates throughout it.

At the beginning of our day, before our daily hustle and bustle has begun, the screen of the mind by which we perceive the world is relatively clear, for we have yet to fully initiate the massive input of images and other sensory data that goes on over the course of a day. At work too many of us find that our degree of focus is greater in the morning and that mornings are preferable for business meetings and important decision making, since our clarity of mind is heightened at this time.

An early-morning yoga practice, then, is fertile ground in which to plant the seed of our intention for the day ahead; to infuse our awareness with the rich presence of our heart. We are then better equipped to imprint a remembrance of what is precious in our lives into our system and being, which then enables us to keep the challenges we move through in our day in perspective; to see them in the light of what really matters to, and moves, us.

Our bodies are stiffer in the mornings, which may seem a bizarre fact to highlight when addressing the benefit of practicing yoga at this time. But because of this we can more readily calibrate and map our movement, imbuing it with awareness and optimal patterning. Thus the steadying resistance of stiffness can be used to steadily imprint conscious motion, permitting deeper understanding of our actions.

While we will reap many of the rewards of practicing first thing even if we were to wake up at 12 noon and do our yoga, the early morning time is particularly potent in itself. The level of activity is far greater at 12 noon when most people's day is in full swing, especially in comparison to, say, 6 am when many people are still asleep. And hence at this early morning time there is a very evident quality of stillness, the world is after all only just beginning to awake, and in winter time is still cocooned in the soft embrace of darkness.

In cities that enjoy thriving activity throughout the day and often much of the night, harnessing the power of this quiet time is especially advantageous in instilling the foundation of peace into our day before its plenitude of comings and goings. We then stand in great stead for carrying the resonance of this peace throughout our day.

When at peace we are without the pulls of wanting things to be other than how they are. Instead, we are enriched with an appreciation of the moment; what is being offered to us right now.

How we set the foundations for our day determines how it unfolds and what we go away with at its end. So let's begin by cultivating our internal infrastructure of peace, to harvest a more harmonious involvement in our lives and the world.

Warm smiles and blessings,
Sadhu

Morning Yoga With Sadhu!

So, we've had lots of requests for morning yoga classes. That's something we've wanted to offer, too, and now the Opportunity arrives in the shape of the Man In Purple. He showed up by way of England, India, the U.S. and Guatemala, and he was keen to teach yoga in the early AM. That's way too early for Jenifer and I'm not a yoga teacher. So all ye early birds, get ready to rock and roll: Sadhu Prager-Macholl is your man.

Beginning Tuesday, 2 August, Sadhu will be offering ongoing six-week courses in Anusara Inspired Yoga at 7:30 and 8:30 AM. Cost is $60, though walk-ins are welcome too ($12).

And if lunch-time classes are more your style, have no fear: Sadhu will also be teaching the 12:15 and 1:15 classes on Fridays starting this week, also Anusara Inspired Yoga. (As we reported last week, those classes were being led by Bonnie, but life has gifted her some tremendous work and educational opportunities she couldn't pass up. We're sad to see her go, but wish her the very best and hope to see her on the mat.)

The world is his pumpkin.

Back to the business at hand. Sadhu has heaps of training with John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga, logging the kind of hours typically required to pilot fighter jets. But we think you'll find his presence less martial and more grounded in lovingkindness.

Here's how Sadhu describes his approach to teaching:

"I look to create a relaxed, friendly environment in which students have the space to practice within their own ability whilst enjoying a playful level of challenge. I encourage everyone to have a go at the postures I introduce. However, I always emphasize that students find the optimal place in each pose for them, which may well be one of the preliminary stages I presented.

"Of course, I keep a very watchful eye on my students, offering verbal and hands-on adjustments where required, and if welcomed, ensuring their safety throughout. I look to cultivate a balance of strength and flexibility in my classes, and find that my students leave class invigorated yet relaxed."

Welcome to Healium and to Wellington, Sadhu!